6MM Remington

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jperos

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I was wondering if any gun manufacturers are still making guns chambered in the 6mm Remington? The only one I could find is Remington. I'm curious why the 6mm isn't more popular as it is an excellent round?
 
None that I know of.
It is a great cartridge. It was introduced at the same time as the 243 Win, and it was called the 244 rem. The developers intended the gun to be used on medium sized game i.e. coyotes, wolves etc, which it is ideally suited for. So with that in mind they made rifles with a slow twist rate that stabilized lighter bullets well, but did not handle anything over 90 grns. The 243 Win however had a faster twist rate and could handle the 100 gr bullets. Hunters quickly found that the cartridges were great for deer, but the 244 rem was at a disadvantage because hunters could not use 100 gr bullets. So the 243 Win got a lot of popularity. Remington changed the twist in the barrels and hoped for more success, but by that time everyone just wanted a 243, and the rumors of the 244 Rem not stabilizing bullets was hard to overcome. As a last hope, Remington re-introduced the same cartridge as the 6mm rem a few years later, hoping a new name would spark new interest and help forget the short comings of the past. But the 243 was now a bread and butter cartridge and it was too hard to displace, so the 6mm Rem never took off like it should have.
The ironic part is that with the added velocity, the 6mm rem was more suited for larger game from the beginning over the 243. If you are lucky enough to find an older Remington chambered in 6mm Rem don't let it go. Any "244 Rem" made after 1958 also has a fast twist rate. I picked up a Rem 700 made in 1979 for a song, and I will never let that baby go.
It's encouraging to see Remington do a limited run of them again, it means that ammo may come more available. It is ideal if you handload. If you were absolutely set on buying new, then the other easiest way would be to get a savage and put a shilens barrel on it.
 
StevieK said:
None that I know of.
It is a great cartridge. It was introduced at the same time as the 243 Win, and it was called the 244 rem. The developers intended the gun to be used on medium sized game i.e. coyotes, wolves etc, which it is ideally suited for. So with that in mind they made rifles with a slow twist rate that stabilized lighter bullets well, but did not handle anything over 90 grns. The 243 Win however had a faster twist rate and could handle the 100 gr bullets. Hunters quickly found that the cartridges were great for deer, but the 244 rem was at a disadvantage because hunters could not use 100 gr bullets. So the 243 Win got a lot of popularity. Remington changed the twist in the barrels and hoped for more success, but by that time everyone just wanted a 243, and the rumors of the 244 Rem not stabilizing bullets was hard to overcome. As a last hope, Remington re-introduced the same cartridge as the 6mm rem a few years later, hoping a new name would spark new interest and help forget the short comings of the past. But the 243 was now a bread and butter cartridge and it was too hard to displace, so the 6mm Rem never took off like it should have.
The ironic part is that with the added velocity, the 6mm rem was more suited for larger game from the beginning over the 243. If you are lucky enough to find an older Remington chambered in 6mm Rem don't let it go. Any "244 Rem" made after 1958 also has a fast twist rate. I picked up a Rem 700 made in 1979 for a song, and I will never let that baby go.
It's encouraging to see Remington do a limited run of them again, it means that ammo may come more available. It is ideal if you handload. If you were absolutely set on buying new, then the other easiest way would be to get a savage and put a shilens barrel on it.
Click to expand...

X2. Great post, you have described the history of this mostly forgotten and potent dual purpose cartridge to a "Tee".:cheers:
 
Yeah I have a model 700 in 6mm that is about 30 years or so old. Nice rifle, very hard to find factory ammo these days for it though.
 
I have shot the 6mm Remington for about 40 years now, and prefer it over the 243. [Game animals would have a tough time telling the difference, lol]
Since I have never shot factory ammo in any of mine, supply has not been an issue.
I have owned Remington 722's, 700's, [HB and Sporters] Ruger Tang safety 77's, Ruger #1's, Parker Hales, etc, etc.
Never owned a 6mm that was not very accurate.
Presently have 2, a Remington 721 with the 1-12 twist 722 barrel on it, the other a Tang safety Flat bolt Ruger on it's 3rd barrel.
Incidentally, some of the 1-12 twist Remingtons shoot certain 100 grain bullets OK.
For example, my 721 shoots the Remington C-L, the Hornady FB and the Winchester PP just fine.
The 95 Partition and the old 100 Partition Semi-spitzer are fine, but the 100 spitzer will not shoot well. Go figure!
I may have to buy one more, just for S&G.
Regards, Eagleye
 
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Plus the design of the 6mm Remington is much superior for reloading over the .243 Winchester. The 6mm Remington is a fairly long round however and is better in an action longer than Remington's short action.
 
243 Winchester won the 6mm War (against 244 Rem)

Why isn't 6mm Remington more popular?
Because 243 Winchester won the 6mm War against the 244 Remington, not 6mm Remington.
6mm Remington is a faster twist 244 Remington and was introduced after 244 Remington failed in the market.

244/6mm Remington:
  • single use cartridge (244 Rem) (-) , dual use cartridge (6mm Rem) (+)
  • got off to a bad start (not dual use) (-)
  • more powerful cartridge (+)
  • lower accuracy - long action (-)
  • based on "old" cartridge (-)
243 Winchester
  • dual use cartridge (+)
  • got a fast start and never slowed (+)
  • better accuracy - short action (+)
  • less powerful cartridge - not a big difference (-)
  • base on "experimental" cartridge T65 (308 Winchester) (+)
In short, the 243 Winchester did everything well on the first iteration, is based on a modern cartridge and is very accurate (won Hi-Power National Match) while 244/6mm Remington is arguably the best long range varminting cartridge based on a old cartridge. 6mm Remington is 244 with a faster twist allowing dual-use but unfortunately it was too little, too late.

Nonetheless, 6mm Remington (and 6mm AI Rem) is the cartridge of choice used in many custom long range varmint rifles,

Alex
 
If you want to buy a new rifle in 6mm Rem you could always order a Cooper. They are availible in quite a few models and are a great rifle but are a little on the pricey side.
 
AlexF said:
Why isn't 6mm Remington more popular?
Because 243 Winchester won the 6mm War against the 244 Remington, not 6mm Remington.
6mm Remington is a faster twist 244 Remington and was introduced after 244 Remington failed in the market.

244/6mm Remington:
  • single use cartridge (244 Rem) (-) , dual use cartridge (6mm Rem) (+)
  • got off to a bad start (not dual use) (-)
  • more powerful cartridge (+)
  • lower accuracy - long action (-)
  • based on "old" cartridge (-)
243 Winchester
  • dual use cartridge (+)
  • got a fast start and never slowed (+)
  • better accuracy - short action (+)
  • less powerful cartridge - not a big difference (-)
  • base on "experimental" cartridge T65 (308 Winchester) (+)
In short, the 243 Winchester did everything well on the first iteration, is based on a modern cartridge and is very accurate (won Hi-Power National Match) while 244/6mm Remington is arguably the best long range varminting cartridge based on a old cartridge. 6mm Remington is 244 with a faster twist allowing dual-use but unfortunately it was too little, too late.

Nonetheless, 6mm Remington (and 6mm AI Rem) is the cartridge of choice used in many custom long range varmint rifles,

Alex
Click to expand...
Great post..
 
Mine is a B-78 Browning full octagon bbl and it's a keeper.
I started off with 243's years ago and I never cared for any of them.
The 6mm on the other hand is a handloaders dream just like it's fatter brother the .257 Roberts.
 
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My coyote killing machine. A Ruger 77V in 6mm Rem shooting 70 gr BT at over 3500 fps. Such a great gun I found another one as a spare. Buy a used Ruger if you can, with an 85 tsx, they would be a highly effective deer gun with modest recoil. Even more so if you reload, seems to be easy on brass with very little case trimming if ever.
 
Well, truthfully, the difference between a 90 gr and a 100 gr bullet on game is negligible. Mostly it was a matter of the publics' perception and the gunwriters' prejudices concerning heavier bullets. But, the press won out and the 243 became the poster boy. So it goes. the 6mm is the better cartridge though. - dan
 
6mm Rem

I have a Shultz&Larsen 68 DL (original 25" barrel, oiled stock built for me by the factory) 1 in 10 twist which shoots just fine like most S&L's.Biggest problem is saying "NO" to acouple of "friends" trying to pry it away from me---Maybe later ----BTW this ones mates are 68 DL's in 308 Norma Mag and 7x61 Sharpe&Hart built at the same time. Bent Barrel
 
I have a Remington 700 SSDM in 6mm. Had a tang safety Ruger in 6mm that was a real tack driver. Wanted stainless and detach mag, so I let her go. Great round. Light recoil, very accurate. It's too bad that the short action won't allow me to seat the heavier bullets out a bit more. I shoot 55 grain Ballistic Tips at almost 4000 FPS and 80 grain TTSX at almost 3400 FPS. Same point of impact. I love this cartridge. I am buying another stock to cut down for my 9 year old son. This will be his first deer rifle. Spoiled he is. I started off with a crappy old Midland in .30-06.
 
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