Rem 788 magazine
After receiving my 788 magazine I tested it and what I found was when I closed the bolt it would eject the magazine. I compared it to my other two 788 magazines and couldn't see any physical difference. Tested it with (DUMMY) shells in the mag and without shells in the mag. What I found was that the latching mechanism on the aft end was not locking into place, but if I slightly pushed up on the latch on the rear of the magazine it locked into place, so I disassembled and cleaned it. I also looked closely at the mag latch and could see what appeared to be drag marks on the arms on each side of the magazine latch so I (SPARINGLY) applied oil and actuated the latch a number of times, reassembled, and tested it a number of times and it started to work correctly, this was with and without dummy rounds in the magazine. Also noticed two burrs on the forward end of the magazine so using a stone and oil removed the burrs and some cold blue applied it was good to go. Had I not had to perform surgery on this mag I would give it five stars.
Would you recommend this?
Yes, I would recommend to a friend
I would buy this mag again.
Fits my 788 perfectly. Doesn't seem to be as heavy duty as the original, but it works fine. Plus, you can't go wrong with Brownell's guarantee that you can return it if you don't like it for any reason.
An Impressive Replacement
I just received my new box magazine for my 243 Remington 788. First of all, the overall quality of the box seem very good to excellent. I was impressed. I took it apart to thoroughly clean it and remove the reddish rust inhibitor that was all over the box, flat spring and follower. After cleaning, I attemped to insert the magazine and found that the guide lips at the rear of the box were very tight - so tight that I could initially only get it 3/4 of the way in. I removed it with some difficulty and greased the guide lips and action guide bar (sorry if this is the incorrect nomenclature), then started working the box magazine in and out. With some grease and a little work, the box goes in and out easily and locks-up tight. The best part is that the box does not rattle like my original 788 box magazine does. That just solved a MAJOR problem with the original box magazines. The parts of this are pressed steel. The box does not have a manufacturer name other than it was made in Taiwan. Nothing on it appears to be cheap or plastic. The pushbutton mag release seems to work quite well. The only reason I gave this four stars intead of five was because of the 'finishing' work I had to do to get the box to go in and out properly. I would (and plan to) buy another one without hesitation. Good shooting!
