Quote:
Originally Posted by LarryG
There have been many bargain guns through the years that I thought I wanted to buy based on what I read. But when I held them in my hands, I lost all interest as they struck me as cheaply made/fitted/finished. After already having inspected the nicer guns like the Remington 700 etc, there was too much disappointment for any serious cash to be laid down.
The old Remington 788 was one such gun. As I recall, in those days, these were in the $400 range in Canada, so not chump change. Other unimpressive guns were the Garcia bronco, Savage axis and T/C dimension.
The Savage 11 is a better gun/yet nothing special for almost the same money that I would pick over the axis. Also preferred is the Ruger American. The first Ruger RAR bolt action .22's were nicely made/blued. A great value for $325.
Also, I give most Norincos a pass because they're so cheap, and clean up to be nice shooters.
Regarding those package scopes, in my experience they are bottom of the barrel junk. I have a number of pretty good but not expensive chinese scopes, but the package scopes don't come close to even them. So in my case I toss them. IMO package scopes are only used by people who have never looked through a good scope or can't afford anything decent.
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The 788 was sold with a Tasco 4× scope for $199 back in the 70s, and they typically sell for double that used these days. They were plain no frills firearms, but the quality was much better than the 710/770 rifles that followed them. The 710/770 was likely the lowest point for Remington , and the 783 is a huge improvement, but if I was looking for a cheaper rifle now, I would be looking for a sale on a Vanguard.