I'm thinking of building (another) nice light mountain rifle for whitetails and antelope. Already got the 25 bores covered, so they are not in the running. I normally steer clear of the 24 bores for deer, but I've got to build SOMETHING! Not gonna do a 243 - too common. Just curious what all y'alls experiences are. TIA.

Build a 6mm-284 you will never regret it.

The plain old 6mm Rem is about as efficient as you can get. All of the whizbang 6mm's use a lot more powder for very little gain in velocity. According to Speer #8, 7.0 gr more powder in the 6mm/.284 resulted in 102 fps more than a 6mm Rem. and that same powder was the fastest load for either caliber. Speer #13 shows the .240 Weatherby is 61 fps faster, with a 105 gr bullet, than a 6mm Rem.

I shot less than MOA the other day with DuPont IMR 4831 and a 100 gr Rem PSP at 100 yards out of a 1965 Model 600 with 18.5" barrel. It's short, light and accurate. What more could you ask for, besides some really good ear plugs to go with it?

I'm in the load development stage with my new Remington VLS in 6mm Rem. and find it quite accurate. I'm getting .5" (5shots at 100yds) easily enough. The only problem is the weight. It has a 26" tube and must weight about 10.5lbs.
That's a load to lug around woodchuck fields. I purchased it for long range work at the rifle range and think it's going to be ideal for that. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

I have shot a custom 6mm rem takedown as my primary roe deer rifle for 2 years. It is a revalation. Feeds fantastic, extremely accurate and is the most effective rifle on roe I have. 90gr BTs at 3,225fps. Not too loud and very flat shooting. The odd fallow I have shot with it has fallen in short order. Very nice round indeed not to mention very pretty to look at.

It should work fine, my .243 easily breaks 3000fps with 100gr bullets, and they do a nice job on deer if the range isn't too far. For a coyote gun, the 6mm's are the best!

Well, the only thing I can say about its effectiveness is that, the most major round I need in my battery is a long action Winchester Featherweight, with a 24 inch barrel in 6mm Rem, with a one in 7 twist.

Just can't figure out what to cannabalize for it.

I am thinking about Rebarreling a 1924 product or so, Springfield into a 6mm Rem. After a 6.5 x 57 it is currently my favorite round. 105 grain Speer at 3250 fps.

Cheers and Good shooting
seafire

I figured you'd chime in before too long Seafire - I recall you speaking of a 6mm LA some time back.

My experience with a .244 Remington (identical to the 6mm, but typically with a 1-12 rather than 1-9 twist) has been extremely positive. Excellent velocity and accuracy from an original Remington 722.

If you are going completely custom, the case is readily "improvable" by blowing out the shoulders to a straighter taper, which will give you several grains more powder capacity. It doesn't really need it, but it makes for a bit "more modern" case that will give you slightly higher velocities OR lower pressures, take your choice.

If you're thinking of a sporter for deer-sized game, you can get better than 3200 fps (and maybe considerably more, depending on how "fast" -and long- your barrel is) with a 100 grain bullet.

I've used 6mm Rems for whitetails for the past 20 years or so (a Ruger #1, FN Deluxe & Mauser G33-40). Every deer has dropped in its tracks or gone maybe 10 yards. Very accurate, little recoil, light (except for the Ruger), flat trajectory, etc. The only knock I hear on the 243/6mm's is they don't leave a big enough exit wound/blood trail if you wound a deer and have to trail it.