cowtown steve, you will love the 721 for the 6mm, It is better to have to long an action than to short, thw 721 will allow better bullet selection for heavier weights, longer seating room. Go for it. Tim.
Bought a 721 with the 6mm Remington in mind. It is a 30-06 right now, but soon it will be re-barreled in 6 mm Remington. Assuming you reload, depending on the bullet used and how deep it is seated, a long action may be needed to handle the overall cartridge length of some combiantions. You will love the cartridges long neck much better than the 243. Great choice and good luck.
Posts: 614 | Location: Miami, Florida USA | Registered: 02 March 2001
The 6mm Rem is based on the 7X57 Mauser case, as is the 257 Roberts. Neither is a true "short action" round. An "intermediate length" M98 such as a M48 Yugo or VZ500 (commercial version of M48) would be ideal with a magazine length of 3.235" COL length of about 3.150" would allow more flexibility with heavier bullets.
Next best length would be a "standard length" M98 (large or small ring) with 3.315" mag box.
A long action M700 or M721 would be next.
My last choice would be a M700 "short" action. The short mag length hobbles either of these rounds. IMO
One might want to fabricate a "spacer block" for the rear of the magazine with a shortened follower. (as Winchester does I believe) I have also seen these "spacer blocks used in FN Mauser magazines (22-250 in a "standard length" FN action)
Posts: 2440 | Location: Northern New York, WAY NORTH | Registered: 04 March 2001
If you plan on reloading anything over factory length, and feeding from the magazine, a long action would be preferable. I have a 6mm Rem built on a M700 short action. I load for it to fit the throat, not the magazine. I put a benchrest single shot follower in it, as I only load one at a time. To make them fit the mag, I'd have to load them a lot shorter than I do.
