6mm Rem

[Old Savage]

Malamute asked me about experience I described with this cartridge in a Ruger 77 R. I put over 1400 rds through through mine with two stocks and two barrels involved. I began to modify the first stock, with each change degenerating the accuracy. The second stock solved that. The first barrel had an out of round chamber which Ruger fixed by replacing the barrel.

Looking at the records from the second barrel/stock combination it seemed to be accurate to 1” to 1/2” with any combination. I tried bullets from 55 gr to 105 gr. and powders as fast as 4064 to RL 22/IMR 7828 on the slow side. On a couple antelope hunts I decided on IMR 4831 with a Sierra 100 gr flat base because of its consistency at about 3050 fps. The slower powders I used later were quite a bit faster with excellent accuracy.

There were so many combinations that any interest I would have to look into specifically.

[AJMD429]

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My first centerfire rifle was a Ruger m77v and 6 mm remington, which I still have. Using reloads from a Lee hand loader kit (the kind where you use a wooden mallet) it would consistently get 8 to 10 shots at 100 yards you could cover with a dime. In all fairness, the loading kit was the now discontinued the target odor yet which added an inside neck reamer and a micrometer seating die. I weighed the charges by hand on a laboratory chemistry balance, converting charges to grams from grains. I used 4831 powder exclusively with bullets either 85 or 88 grains.

One time a friend came over who wanted to shoot, and he had never shot a centerfire rifle, but I didn't have any loads made up. Since the 4831 loads I had were always compressed, I just poured a bunch of the powder and a little yogurt bowl and scooped it up with the cartridge cases filling them to just below the neck. We went out and shot 10 shots from a bench, five shots each. He shot first and his shots were all grouping in about an inch and a half, so I thought maybe that load just wasn't going to be as accurate as if I weighed the charges. Then I shot from the bench as well, and my five shots could be covered by a dime. That convinced me that with that particular case and bullet and powder, I really didn't need to get all that attentive about the exact powder charge. My theory is that the powder was slow burning enough that it more or less 'metered' at the muzzle with whatever burned past thee not affecting velocity anyway.

[Nath]

I once tried to get the last 1b in 6mm Remington in Britain at the time. I just missed out and had to settle for the Winchester 243 in a vanguard.

The 6mm is a better barrel burner than the 243 and should of been more successful in my opinion.

[GunnyMack]

I had put together a 6mm on a Mauser action. I decided to case harden the action and upon quenching the left rear bridge warped. When I tried to twist it the thinnest of the bridge cracked( bolt stop area). The colors were fantastic and I was distressed. With nothing left to do I had to anneal the action, weld the crack, reshape and fit the bolt stop. I decided against trying to case harden and sent it out for heat treatment. After all that I did a really nice English walnut stock. It was a very good shooter. Wish I still had it...

[elmo123]

The first high velocity center fire rifle that I fired was a friend's Remington 600 in 6mm. I shot a metal gallon can full of water which evaporated. Years later I reloaded the 6mm for another friend who had a 760 in 6mm. I remember the 760 shot pretty good with 100 grain bullets. I have owned a couple of 243's but never a 6mm.

[6pt-sika]

I’ve owned a bunch of 6mm REM rifles . First was a 77R tang safety , then 700 Varmint Special , another Varmint Special , a Ruger 1V and the last was a Remington 722 in 244 with the slower twist . The 77R only shot factory as I’d not started loading yet , but it was still good enough for deer . All the others were handloads only . Without a doubt the pair of 700 HB’s shot the best . The 1V was okay but never better than 1/2 MOA . The little 722 I acquired because my grandfathers brother had one and like a fool I let it slip thru my hands . I will say the slower 244 twist rate takes a little extra to make it work but that little gun still shot very well provided I didn’t go over 85 grain bullets . Now with all that being said I prefer the 243 WIN and at the moment I’m hung up on a 6mm-06 I built with a 1:7.5 barrel so I could shoot the Berger 115 VLD . Early antlerless season starts in my county of Virginia this Saturday and that 6mm-06 will go if I can get out the bed !

[Malamute]

Thanks for posting this OS!

Ive used mostly larger (than 6mm) caliber rifles in the past, 30-06, 35 Whelen, 338, and medium to perky 45-70 loads, but a serious injury almost 10 years ago has profoundly changed my shooting habits and abilities. Ive come into an older Ruger 77 tang safety that has a junk 260 barrel, I have a pretty good factory 6mm barrel Im putting on it for a general purpose medium hunting (deer class), fun longer range shooting and walk around gun when not in grizzly country. It should be soft enough shooting yet enough gun for my planned winters in Az in the future. A grumpy Black bear or invasive wild/feral hogs being as much danger or excitement as I could realistically anticipate.

I have a small amount of brass, and a few odd boxes of bullets ive gathered up as i see them on store shelves, I think 85 gr Hornady V max predominating. Ill likely stay in that weight range for most of what ill do with it, perhaps have a few copper bullets for whatever larger or tougher critters I may run into, or for Cal visits.

The powder and load ideas are helpful, Im starting in the dark, I dont know anyone with a 6mm. I have some IMR 4831 and maybe 4350. It looks like Im off to a workable start.

[6pt-sika]

I once tried to get the last 1b in 6mm Remington in Britain at the time. I just missed out and had to settle for the Winchester 243 in a vanguard.

The 6mm is a better barrel burner than the 243 and should of been more successful in my opinion.

The biggest downfall the 6mm had to overcome was the slower twist barrels Remington put on the initial 244’s . The changing the name to 6mm as well as the twist helped but the cartridge never seemed to overcome this first marketing strategy .