just wondering on how many 6 mm Remington users are out there.

Although Remington is really waiting to can the round, I have worked with it over the past year, and really like it for being user friendly over a 243 ( which I own 6 of).

I rebarreled an /06 Remington to 6mm Rem, with a Stainless 24 inch barrel and put a Boyd's laminated stock on it. The barrel is a heavy sporter with a 1 in 8 twist. It really comes alive over the 243 with bullets of 95 grains and up. It also turns in some awesome velocities with Hornady 75 grain HPs, Barnes 85 grain XLCs,
and is very accurate with 107 grain Sierra Match bullets and 115 grain Berger Match bullets.

It gives me 240 Weatherby velocities often.

Am thinking about building a bull barreled bench gun out of this caliber on a Mauser action.

Would enjoy hearing from anyone else who has gone this route.

thanks.

I am one of the diehards that still shoots a 6mm Remington. Actually, I first got one when I was 12 years old, they called it a .244 Remington back then.

I shot about a jillion squirrels and jack rabbits with that rifle and a fair share of coyotes and deer. It always worked for me. The largest deer I have mounted in the house I shot in Wyoming with that gun and a 90 grain Speer.

I currently have a custom built 6mm Remington that I had made up for long range prairie dog shooting. It is a 700 Remington action that was trued and wears a Shilen SS barrel. I went with a 1 in 12 twist since I wanted to shoot varmint bullets. (Heck that was what the old one had.)
It is pillar bedded into a McMillan stock and has a Jewell trigger and a Leupold 6.5 X 20 scope.

It is the only rile I own that will shoot "honest to God" quarter inch groups. With H 4350 and the Sierra 70 grain HPBT it will keep five shots in a quarter of inch any time I do my part.

However, I found that bullet to be erratic on varmints and shoot mostly the Sierra 80 grain Blitz. With IMR 4831 this bullet shoots lousy groups of around 0.4 inches, yeah right! I have also had great luck on varmints with a 70 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip and get some great velocities with that bullet.

It is unfortunate that the 6mm Remington is not more popular. I think it is a better cartridge design than the .243 Winchester, personally.

R F

The 6mm just may surprise you and hang on quite a while. Even the Wal-Marts in these parts stock 100gr core-lock ammo . If it was not selling fairly well , wally world would not bother with it........

I came late to it (last November) but absolutely love it!

Apologies for flogging a dead horse but here is my one.

[url= http://"http://www.hunt101.com/?p=49605&c=500&z=1"] [/url]

My 6mm is a 788. Great rifle cartridge combo. I used to have one in a 600 that I liked as well. It really is a better cartridge then the the 243 and the AI version is the cat's meow. - Dan

My only "gripe" with the 6mm/.244 is that since they were going to "monkey" with the shoulder angle, increasing it from about 20 degrees on the parent 57mm case to around 24 degrees on the .244, why didn't they also blow out the shoulder and move it forward a bit? Such a round would be at the upper limits of the practical capacity of a 6mm bore and would be a better design than either the .243 or .244.

I had an original 722 with a 26" barrel which I let a good friend have. His first experience after owning the gun was to put a 90 grain factory load through the spindly neck of a central Texas whitetail doe at a measured 196 yards. The old rifle always tumbled any 100 grainers I tried, but it is hell-for-accurate with 58 through 90's.

My 1-8" barrel shoots everything I've tried (58 V-Max, 90 Berger and 105 A-Max) into bugholes after a bit of fiddlin'.

Without moly though, it'll copper-plate a bore FAST! It's my 1000 yard prone gun.

Redial

1894,

That is a pretty darned nice Roe you have there!

John

I had a telephone conversation with a Barnes tech rep today. He seemed to think that the 95 grain X bullet would do nicely for elk. He made that claim because I'd asked him whether he thought the 115 grain Barnes Original and the 6mm Remington would reliably take elk. He said that yes, it would be an excellent combination but he felt the 95 would penetrate much better--28% better in fact. "Doesn't the lower sectional density rule out a bullet that light?" I asked. "The integrity of the X bullet makes up for it", was his reply. I told him that it sounded crazy and he said he knew that it did but people are taking all species of North American game with light 6mm X bullets moving very fast.

The rep believed that the 85 grain XLC coated bullet at ~3500 fps was the bee's knees for deer and antelope.

Parker Ackley had this to say about the .220 Swift: "If I were forced to choose only one rifle from my rack and forsake all others, the choice would be simple--I would reach for the .220 Swift." He was careful to point out that the bullet had to be able to stand up to the velocity and be placed accurately. His "Controlled Expansion" 50 grain .224 bullets sound alot like a cross between today's Barnes X and the Trophy Bonded Bearclaw. Ackley was selling them in the late 1940's though.

[ 07-15-2003, 09:00: Message edited by: Pre64 ]

My father used a 6MM for his final 30 years of deer/antelope/coyote hunting. Rarely did he miss. I have been using one since 1985. My most recent Remington 700 was acquired around 1992 and is a great shooter. My oldest son (12 years old) used it this past fall to take his first buck and doe whitetail. He now claims the rifle to be his. This caliber has now worked for three generation in my family and I am sure it will make it easily to the fourth!

I have only had two bullet failures. One was a 100 grain Speer boattail, the other a Hornady of the same style. The Nosler Partition is a sledgehammer.

Coyotes just stop and stare when I draw a bead on them with the 70 grain Hornady - it seems they know that if they run they will just die tired!

Case life seems to be forever. I still have casings that are over 30 years old that have been loaded 10 to 12 times. Primer pockets are still tight and have required very little trimming. These casings will not be reloaded again just for safety's sake.

If there is a better choice than the 6MM Remington in the .243 bore size I have not met it.

seafire,

About the time my daughter turned 12, we picked up a Win. M-70 in .243 for her to use as her first centerfire. I wanted to have something we could talk about and since I'd had a few .243s, I picked up a Rem. M-700 BDL in 6mm. Katie's.243 was her introduction into handloading and we both had a lot of fun razing one another about our two rifles. That 6mm was an education. Of the two, the easiest, less finky to load for was the .243. The 6mm never achieved the same velocity as the .243 with 80 grain bullets or heavier. The 6mm had the higher velocities with the lighter bullets. I enjoyed that 6mm, but if I were going that way for the first time, I'd stay with the .243. Good luck.

Pre 64:

Good post, thanks. I also acknowledge Parker Ackley as way ahead of his time and a man who knows what he is talking about. Everything I have read that he had written makes a lot of sense.

6mm:

Thanks also. I have one other one, Remington 700 Adl that was a 30/06 that I restocked with a laminate stock and put a heavy sporter 24 inch stainless steel barrel with a 1 in 8 twist on. I love what that rifle can do, it is a major step up from the 243 in my opinion. It really negates the need for the existance of the 240 Weatherby.

Hey, Living in Nipawin, You don't know Doug and Gloria Borg do you? They raise buffalo up that way. Use to work with Gloria in my previous job. Real nice people ( as are most Canadians up that way)

[ 07-16-2003, 10:29: Message edited by: seafire ]

Seafire,

The 6mm Remmington was my first "real" hi-powered rifle. My dad inherited his dad's Remington 700 Varmint Special in 6mm Rem. topped with a very old 12X Leupold with a very fine crosshair. It is one of the first 6mm's that Remington produced, do not know the age, but has the ugly pressed checking and high-gloss finish. At the time I had just turned 16 and was a fanatical shooter lucky enough to have my own 300yd range on our property with a proper benchrest and such.

As soon as I could get my hands on it, I promptly disassembled it, cleaned it very thoroughly and much to my despair I found a pit the size of a dime about 4" from muzzle in the bore, I almost retired it to the sentimental section of my gun safe, but decided to work up some loads for it and see what it would do. Much to my shock it was putting 5 70gr Serria HPBT's inside 5/8" at a 100yds.

So after some head shaking, I returned to the gun room, dropped a Jewel trigger in it, set for about 6 oz. and floated the barrel, loaded some flat base Serria 60gr HP's and promptly started shooting groups averageing less than 3/8".

I did find that because of the rough spot in the bore it would group flat base pills better than boat-tails.

The only other modification was to attach a Harris Bi-pod, and I practically shot the barrel to death.

My absolute favorite load was from a very old Serria manual, using the 60gr. HP Match King in front of 4064 producing a mind-blowing velocity averaging around 3900 fps. This load was very accurate, producing 5 shot groups just over 1" at 300yds and was a flat as a stretched string. I proceeded to slaughter every groundhog within a 20 mile radius, shots to 350yds were very common place and with that light 60gr bullet, impact was very impressive, under 200yds, it would usually launch them several feet into the air. Because of the weight of this rifle I used it exclusively for varmints and small game, yes, I used to have a ball head-shooting squirrels out to about 200yds.

My next 6mm was a Ruger #1-B with a 26" tube and I mounted a 24x Leupold Target on it. My only disappointment with the #1 was the trigger, I could never get it to let go like my Jewel on the M700. But it was very accurate, spitting out 60gr pills at less that 3/8" and with the extra 2 inches of tube, I shifted to 4350 powder and was getting a verified 3950fps plus from it. I took my longest shot with this rifle, a headshot groundhog at a honest 478 paces. What a trip that day was, in less than an hour I shot 14 pigs using a round bale as a rest across a huge hay field, the shortest shot was just under 275 paces. And when I left the field, I had only 14 empty cases. That is the truth, I felt like Zeus with a lightning bolt that evening.

As you can tell, I am endeared to the 6mm, and yes I have used the .243, never liked it much.

I never used the 6mm on deer, for that I grabbed my trusted old .30/30, but if you are looking for a crushing longrange machine, grab a 6mm, load it with 4350 behind the Serria 60 gr HP. Absolutely devastating on varmints. Note do not use this load if you are pelt shooting foxes or coyotes, while most times the bullet will never exit, when it occasionally does, the hide is history. As was previously noted on this thread, the cases seem to last forever, even with the load mentioned above, which by way the never showed any signs of high pressure.

I sold the #1 and have not shot the M700 for almost 7 years, since I have had to grow up and leave home and my latest residence does not seem to accomodate my own range, around here they barely tolerate shooting at all.

Oh to have those summer evenings back again,

Lynn Miller

Lynn,

Thanks for your post. and the story of your old Model 700. No wonder I love you Aussie guys.
When I was 11 to 14 I lived in England as my dad was an Air Force officer stationed there. It was the first time I was exposed to Aussies over there, but they became my best friends.
Thought the Aussie kids had a lot of balls and were very outgoing and fun loving. The English kids seem to be wusses, and were real gang orientated. ( To any english friends reading this, I am sure that it was just MY Neighborhood is all) I still love England to this day also!

Ever though of just rebarreling the old 6mm and maybe getting another stock for it. Check out the web site www.boydboys.com. They have some really decent laminate stocks. They are nothing to refinish, and are real reasonable. About $65.00 in US money.

Every time I pick up a firearm with some age to it, I wish it could tell me stories like you just told about yours. Even more than the hunting or shooting, it is the stories and comradery that make me love firearms so much.

And even the old 30/30. I just love handloading that old cartridge. Sort of like the kids story, the Little Engine that could. It May be old and humble, but in the hands of a good rifleman, it sure gets a lot done, without a lot of bother and fuss, or fanfare for that matter.

Thanks again, Mate!! G'day

I began my hunting at the age of 8, using a Remington BDL in 6mm. I guess that was in 1966. Many deer and turkey were taken over the next 15 years with it. My dad still prefers this over his 300 savage or 30-06.

I since have gone to the 7mm Mag, but on occassion, will use the 6mm.

The 6mm is potent enough to take any whitetail or mulie in the US. And very accurate out of the box.

As to the sharper shoulder angles. It seems that the factories have avoided them in the past. None of Ackleys cartrtidges have ever seen production for instance.

Also back when the 6mm's were being promoted Fred Huntington was a major influence and he favored 28 degree shoulders for his improved and wildcat designs.

The Speer manual #4 has a good discussion of both Warren Page's and Huntington's designs. Alas, I don't have my book here but I believe that when Page finished his work on his 6mm on the T65 case (308 Win) it had a much sharper shoulder than the 20 degrees that the 243 Win ended up with. Many feel to this day that a sharper shoulder in that cartridge would be desirable.

When the 6mm's came out in 1955 Winchester was the big dog in rifles. The M 70 was dominant and nothing was in second place in terms of gunwriters or hangers on. Thus most of the press bad mouthed the ugly, way too heavy and long Remington M 722 rifle and it's 90 gr bullet.

Both cartridges would work on game about the same one would theorize but just look at the neat and trim M 70 Featherweight in 243 and compare it to a 26" barrel M 722!

Thus the 243 Win was touted as an all around game and varmint cartridge and the 6mm Rem in a rifle suitable for varmints only. It never had a chance regardless of it's other attributes.

/QB][/QUOTE]Personaly I'm glad they didn't. It seems better balanced (to me) as it is but the reason I think that is I love Mauser cartridges and as is the 6mm rem is truly a 6x57.

IMHO 90gr is THE bullet weight for the 6mm.[/QB][/QUOTE]

Well, it WOULD be a true 6x57 if the shoulder angle had not been changed. I would have preferred that they simply neck-down the .257 Roberts/7x57 case OR, go full-blown Ackley-type improved. But nonetheless, I agree that the .244/6mm Remington is an excellent cartridge just as it is, and is unfortunately much overlooked.

While I feel a little more confident with a 100 grain bullet on larger whitetails, I would be a rare occasion that a 90 grainer didn't do the job as well.

seafire:

I have just moved to Nipawin and I do not know the Borg family. My family does like to eat buffalo meat, so I will keep my eye open for the Borg's. I will say hello for you if I run into them.

Mine is a customized 1909 Argentine Mauser built in 1967, and it shoots 1 MOA or better with every bullet and load I've tried including 80, 85, 90 & 100 grain bullets.

Two years ago I switches from a 220 swift to a 6mm Remington for coyotes etc. and have never looked back. I also have a 6mm Ackley on a Remington action and use it for long range shooting and it is amazing. Yea, I'm stuck on 6mm's for the right game.

Good Hunting, "Z"

This has been a most interesting thread, sort of a primer to me in the delights of owning a 6mm Rem. I recently purchased a Remington VLS in 6mm Rem. At 9.3 lbs. plus scope it's certainly not a lightweight. My reloading gear for it hasn't arrived yet so I'm limited to factory loads which I'm not wild about using. It groups around .8" (5 at 100). Damn trigger must have about a 10lb. pull. That's ridiculous. I'll get is glass bedded and make sure the barrel is well floated. When I take it out of the stock I'll probably find it with a pressure point at the tip. That won't stay there long. I'm really looking forward to this being an accurate rifle. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

I have 2. A mdl 7600 rem and I know this combo is a rare bird. Bought it as new no box a number of yrs ago. Sighted it in with 100 grainers using a 3-9 vari X II. Took it out doe hunting and filled both tags and retired it to the safe. The second is a Ruger #1B. Never have had the time or bothered to shoot it. Just bought it for the pretty wood it has. Too many rifles and too little time.

Thx Lofter

I have 2, a custom G33-40 Mauser and a factory FN Deluxe Sporter in 244. And I once owned an early Ruger #1-B. Using 46 grains of IMR4350 behind an 87 grain spitzer, I prefer the 6mm to all other calibers for Texas whitetails.

[ 07-29-2003, 21:49: Message edited by: fla3006 ]

I just got a Ruger #1B in 6mm Rem so far it shoot anything I feed it with outstanding results. Have not drawn any blood with it.

I have a Remington model 600 and it is a great gun. Shoots straight and hot, and does the job on everything I have shot with it. In fact, I shot a 170 class whitetail 2 years ago, and he didn't go 100 yards before he was dead. I think that caliber is one of the most underrated on the market today.

Glad to see this thread is still rolling along, and without any of the negativity and name calling on some of the other threads.

If some of the bullet companies would give a little attention to the 6mm Remington and come out with a heavier game bullet, I think this cartridge would really shine. I would love a game bullet that has the profile of the 115 grain Berger bullet.

Even though the 243 was said to be a better cartridge, I think it is poetic justice that Winchester makes a lot more brass for the 6mm Remington than Remington does. Remington quit giving it attention and Winchester focused more on it then.

A gunsmith friend told me he also sees more people wanting a 6mm Rem on a Model 70 action than he does on a Model 700 action.

While I have enjoyed and loved the 243 for years, after starting working with the 6mm Remington, my love for the 243 has dropped a lot.

Granted if must be in a long action to do it justice, but It has amazed me of how much more you can do with that 6mm Rem case over the 243.