Free Rifle! Rem 660 in 308

RT03

RT03

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So my Father in law gave me his old hunting rifle as his days in the field are over. Its a Remington 660 in 308 Winchester but it is in need of some real TLC. It looks like there was surface rust on it and someone took that off with 80 grit sandpaper, the barrel has little bluing left but the action is in alright shape. The stock is alright besides being god ugly and square cut and the plastic bottom "metal" is warped which apparently is common on these things. Also the sights are missing and there is no scope.

That all said the thing has grown on me, its a very short fast action and it's slicker than any Remington I've ever played with. The trigger breaks very crisp at 3 pounds with no play or over travel and the 20" barrel makes it really shoulder quickly.

Does anyone know if there is much of a collectors market for these things or what they are worth. It's a project rifle for sure and I've narrowed down my options to.
  • Return it to factory(ish) specs as much as possible including having it re-blued and replacing all the missing and damaged parts.
  • Turn this into a nice little truck gun with a 2-7 scope and a synthetic stock.
  • Re-barrel it for 243, 260 or 7-08 and have it stocked for my kid to use in several years. (anyone have an idea on cost to re-barrel a rifle)

I've got lots of other hunting rifles so this is kind of an unexpected redundant calibre. Just looking for people's thoughts or opinions about the 660's.

Thanks









 
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Those little 660s are the better of the bunch from those days as they came without the ugly vent rib that is reputed to warp.and ruin accuracy when the bbl is heated. I wouldnt rebarrel that as the 308 is perfect in a 20" bbl. It's a very versatile chambering.

If that were mine, I would have the metal refinished, fix the bottom metal, have it beđded and tuned up and top it with Leupold 1-4 in the lowest mounts I would find probably weaver style.

Is there any pitting present on the metal. Those are nice old guns.
 
That is a nice little rifle... send the barrelled action for rebluing, and refinish the stock yourself, it just takes time, sandpaper and Tru-Oil. Leave it as a .308, it probably has not been shot very much.
 
SuperCub said:
Those little 660s are the better of the bunch from those days as they came without the ugly vent rib that is reputed to warp.and ruin accuracy when the bbl is heated. I wouldnt rebarrel that as the 308 is perfect in a 20" bbl. It's a very versatile chambering.

If that were mine, I would have the metal refinished, fix the bottom metal, have it beđded and tuned up and top it with Leupold 1-4 in the lowest mounts I would find probably weaver style.

Is there any pitting present on the metal. Those are nice old guns.
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Can't add much to that, except that I'd be tempted to find aftermarket bottom metal, since I prefer a hinged floorplate. I wouldn't rebarrel unless the bore was dreadful, and if I did, I'd stick with the .308. I'd consider a fiberglass-Kevlar stock, and I'd consider a ghost ring and post sighting arrangement in concert with a scout scope, conceding that most folks are better served with a conventionally mounted 1-4X, or a 1.5-5X optic. Once I had gone that far, I'd probably put a straight bolt handle on it too. That's my surefire way of dumping $2K into a $400 rifle.:redface:
 
Love the 660-600 Mohawks. Great gift !

I'd refinish the metal, swap or the trigger guard to aluminium, find a rear sight..... or consider selling it to me ! It would't be a collector piece, it would get used ...

Nice rifle RT03.
 
Hitzy said:
Is the recoil lug upside down?
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That's what I was thinking too, but it looks like they came like that:

DSCN0461_zps5d9ede39.jpg


Those brass pins in the stock look like a previous repair to me, maybe take a look inside the stock channel and see how it looks. Bedding the action may be a good thing to keep it together and tight...
 
I've restyled a handful of 660's over the years and they can be done up quite nicely with the right work done.

The pins and lug are factory.
 
I bubba'd the hell out of mine and I think it turned out great, but its definitely not a collector piece now...... But if you're looking for some one piece bases shoot me a PM, I've got a weaver style and a windage adjustable redfield (maybe not) that are taking up space.
 
I always thought that plastic bottom metal was ####, but that rifle is a great candidate for a refresh. I'd be tempted to sand/polish the metal myself and then send it off to someone to be blued. With the prep done all they would have to do is give it a final cleaning and then into the salts. Shouldn't cost too dreadfully much. Swap out the "bottom metal" and you're off to the races. There as a guy on the 24HourCampfire that was selling anodized aluminum units (not sure if he still does but it would be worth asking) and Brownells sells one made out of steel. Either one would be a fine choice.
 
Cool rifles looks like a good little project, clean up the metal with a reblue or cerekote as its too for gone to be collectable. Keep the stock. Few places to get bottom metals but all seem to be out of the US, I ordered an aluminum one not long back and with exchange ran me around 130 cdn...... ouch I know. I'm finishing it up now in 222rem a friend of my dad's gave me in pieces I just gotta blue a few small parts and get the barrel back on. Anyone with a bolt stop and vent rib I'd love to hear from ya. Will post pics of what I'm doing to my 600 mohawk this weekend.
 
It doesn't seem to be pitted, the bluing is all worn off the barrel and the actions has some impact marks with some surface rust in them but it's nothing that can't be fixed. I'll be looking into refinishing the metal this winter, not sure if I'll have it blued or duracote/ceracoted though. The stock is my hang up really, I'm really not a fan of the plastic accents with spacer and they are in poor shape on the rifle anyway, Boyd's and Numerich gun parts both have stocks in walnut or laminate that I've looked at. McMillan lists inletting as well but they are very expensive.

I like this build example for a truck gun or nice short carbine.
image_13.jpeg
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I seriously debated building a scout rifle out of this too. In my reading up on it I learned that Jeff Cooper actually used the 600 series as the first scout prototype. Only thing holding me back is a burning desire for a Ruger Gunsite someday.
 
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Too much scope on that rifle. That rifle really begs for a 1-4x or 1.5-5x Leupold.

Talk to Ted bout that bottom metal he has. That will get your project off to the races. Finding someone to reblue the rifle won't be difficult. I wouldn't get too horny about a composite stock and cerakote...you're just spending a bunch of money unnecessarily. Of course, it's yours to spend, but I would recommend doing the metal first and then deciding if you want a new stock later. It doesn't cost much to sand and refinish a wood stock.
 
High Tech Specialties Inc. make a great 600 stock. I put one on mine as well as ceracoted metal OD green. Rifle turned out exactly as I wanted so the money was worth it to me.

Could have easily bought a Model 7 for the cost though. Which is the route I'd go for a new one of this type.
 
RT03 said:
It doesn't seem to be pitted, the bluing is all worn off the barrel and the actions has some impact marks with some surface rust in them but it's nothing that can't be fixed. I'll be looking into refinishing the metal this winter, not sure if I'll have it blued or duracote/ceracoted though. The stock is my hang up really, I'm really not a fan of the plastic accents with spacer and they are in poor shape on the rifle anyway, Boyd's and Numerich gun parts both have stocks in walnut or laminate that I've looked at. McMillan lists inletting as well but they are very expensive.

I like this build example for a truck gun or nice short carbine.
image_13.jpeg
[/URL][/IMG]

I seriously debated building a scout rifle out of this too. In my reading up on it I learned that Jeff Cooper actually used the 600 series as the first scout prototype. Only thing holding me back is a burning desire for a Ruger Gunsite someday.
Click to expand...

This is almost exactly how my 600 Mohawk looks except OD Green and tritium backup sights.
 
BigUglyMan said:
Too much scope on that rifle. That rifle really begs for a 1-4x or 1.5-5x Leupold.

Talk to Ted bout that bottom metal he has. That will get your project off to the races. Finding someone to reblue the rifle won't be difficult. I wouldn't get too horny about a composite stock and cerakote...you're just spending a bunch of money unnecessarily. Of course, it's yours to spend, but I would recommend doing the metal first and then deciding if you want a new stock later. It doesn't cost much to sand and refinish a wood stock.
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Yeah I will definitely be doing as much of the work as possible myself. I think I will go more original rebuild than custom rifle. I agree on the scope too the most I'd go is a 2-7x33 leupold. Thanks for the advice.
 
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