I recently bought a Rem 700 VLS 6mm Remington as a longer range ground squirrel and rock chuck gun. My bud and I shoot all sorts of calibers from 17HMR through 458 Lott for varmints but the 6mm range was something we lacked. Our 220 Swifts (Rem 700 VSs) deliver the goods but the 6mm called and now I have been trying to come up with a good load for it.

I guess I have been very lucky in load development before, as I have always been able to come up with a workable and accurate load for ANY of my rifles with not too much trouble.

I have had very good luck with Varget in my 220s and so concentrated on it with my initial loads with the 6mm. I thought the 70gr bullets would be a good choice for the game and so loaded up Sierra 70gr BKs and Nosler 70gr BTs over charges from 41grs to 42.5 grs using Fed Lrg rifle match primers. The "groups" on all these loads was 2-3". No apparent pattern, some would put two into 1/2" then throw the remaining rounds and others would just spray them.

This rifle has had the trigger down to 2.5lbs but has not been bedded. The gunshop messed with the "presuure point" on the barrel but the groups didn't tighten.

Do you think a change in powder type (which I am going to try) will help as much as I want it to? In my experience a good rifle shoots pretty good regardless...sure some fime tuning will tighten things but I haven't had this problem before.

I have some of the lighter 6mm bullets to try also, but like the 70s for their better BC. What are your thoughts?

John

IN my 6mm, I have had good luck with IMR 4064, IMR 4895 and IMR 3031 with the lighter bullets.

H 414 is also a great accuracy/velocity powder.

For the heaviest bullets, I load 115 grain Bergers with 46 grains of RL 19 for an MV of 3250 fps and it is a one hole shooter.

However, my 6mm Rem is a Model 700 Long Action, with a Pac Nor barrel ( 24 inch) with a 1 in 7 twist to it.

I do not particularly care for Varget as I don't get consistency out of it. A good cheap load tho for the 6mm in the 75 grain HP, either Hornady or Sierra.

good luck
cheers and good shooting
seafire

I also have a Reminbgton VLS in 6mm Rem. and have been working up loads for it. Thus far my two best loads have both been with IMR4895 with the Sierra 70 and 85gr. HPBTs.
I know most manuals suggest slower powders but in the lighter bullets I still get my best results with IMR4895 and IMR4064. The same is true in my .243Win. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

My 6 is a custom 1909 Mauser and it's accurate with everything I've tried, though it likes 80 grain Ballistic Tips and H4831SC best of all.

mine was floated and glass bedded and had a Shilen trigger and 24XBR leupold.it shot the 70 NBT and 46 grs IMR-4064 in the .4`s at over 3600fps.

JKS ,
I think that bullet choice is more important than powder given that your powder choice is close to optimum . Varget is a common choice for the .243 / 6mm with 70gn projectiles and should give much better grouping than you describe .
Suggest you try a different bullet . The 55gn Nosler BT shoots well in most rifles . Try around 46.5 gns Varget with it (work up from below) . If you can't do around an inch or better then I think there is likely a problem with rifle , scope or mounts .

Make sure of the basics: scope, action screws, bedding and gun support before evluationg any bullet/powder combination. Do you trust the scope and it's attachment? Are the action screws tightened properly? Is the stock hitting the barrel inconsistantly? Are you positioning the rifle the same way on the rest?
Someone shot up two boxes of shells zeroing his gun on my range...only to find that the scope was loose. Another tightened the front action screw so tight it protruded into the bolt (Savage).Yet another twisted the sling to the point that the stock touched the barrel on occasion causing flyers. Another would shoot with the stock on the rest, then under the barrel, then use a bag, and couldn't understand the poor results.

JKS, I have had a number of Rem 6mil’s in different configuration and brands. Most shot well out of the box, but some didn’t. Some responded somewhat to Floating, and some needing full bedding. Most of the time, no matter what the load or bullet I fed it, if it shot badly with one, none would really out shine the other.

Now I am going to tell you what my experience found out about Remington 6mil’s.

If it shoots badly, try floating the barrel, next bed the sucker. Forget load workup till the thing starts to shoot consistently.

What I have found is the Rem 6mm is very subjective to barrel harmonics. Sometimes bedding or floating will get the job done, but not always. Also that beautiful 24†tube is a waste. You will find that most short barrel 6mil’s will shoot better out of the box than a long tube will.

Here is a little run down on a problem Rem 700 BDL-V Heavy 24†tube 6 mil. I had.

It shot just about the same as yours did. I tried floating, bedding, load work-up, remounting the scope, another scope and mounts and the best it would do was 11/4 inch.

That’s when I came to the conclusion it must be the damn barrel!

I had a gunsmith friend, so I took it to him and had him relieve two inches off the barrel and recrown.

All of a sudden like magic, muzzle velocity increased about 200 fps and it started shooting groups of ¾ inch.
Well that wasn’t the last of it. We relieve another 11/2†off the barrel and recrowned.

The result was the muzzle velocity was back to about the same speed as it had with the 24-inch tube but it would shoot almost anything you feed it in a hole the size of a dime or less. Best part was a carefully worked up load would almost shoot a 5 round hole-in one at a 100 yards!

Needless to say I had a few other 6mil’s around that got the same barrel tuning job, with similar results.

If all else fails don’t be afraid to chop! You just may have a Diamond in the rough, waiting to shine!

This is just one mans opinion, but my last three new rifles have been glass bedded, had the barrel floated and the trigger lightened before ever going for its initial trip to the range. My 6mm Rem in a Remington VLS was no exception.
The new Remingtons are no beter than the others. In spite of all the breast beating and trumpeting todays rifles shoot no better, if as well, as the rifles of 25 years ago. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

I think the Rem Varmints with the HS stock and the bedding block shoot better out of the box than anything they have ever made.saving the 40X of course.