LH Stainless 700 build- what calibre? (Now .308 length)

bassman

bassman

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
220   0   1
Location
Halton Hills
I have my medium/heavy rifles covered off quite well (.338 WM, .35 Whelen, and the new King :dancingbanana: lol). I don't have much interest at this time with much of anything that falls between a 270 up to say a .338-06 (have a 280AI). Spent a few years with a couple different 25-06's which I loved but grew bored with.

Which leads me to the 6mm bore. Fascinated by both the .240 Wby and the 6mm-06. Not looking for an overly complicated cartridge to load so want to avoid tedious case prep if at all possible. I already have a nice little lh Savage in .243 and I can't seem to get enough of this bore size.

Any comments on my two 6mm choices? Any foreseeable issues building either on a Rem 700 standard (long) action?
 
Last edited:
What about the 6mm Rem AI ? Action length is perfect, performance is excellent.

I have a reamer I would sell you and a bunch of brass - no dies though. PM if interested...
 
"In terms of velocity, the .240 Weatherby is the fastest commercially produced 6 mm cartridge. There are of course several faster wildcat rounds available, but the .240 Weatherby outclasses the 6 mm Remington and the newer .243 WSSM by about 150 ft/s (46 m/s).[4] While favoured by some varmint hunters, the .240 Weatherby Mag. is not much liked by some reloaders because the case cannot be formed out of any other brass; one either has to buy Weatherby ammunition or reload used Weatherby cases which tend to be more expensive than those for more common cartridges. With the heavier bullets the .240 Wby. Mag. makes for a good deer hunting cartridge, but it does tend to require a long (>23 inches (580 mm).) barrel in order to achieve peak performance." - Wikipedia.

240 weatherby sounds real nice as long as you are willing to deal with the associated ammo costs. I certainly wouldnt, but Im a cheap-ass.
 
Since your looking at something a bit smaller, don't over look the 25cals as well.

A 257Roberts or 25/06 would be a very nice fit into any set of rifles. I had a 257Roberts built on a 700 BDL LA several years ago. It has become a favorite.
 
I think the .257 Bee is a better choice than the .240, due to the fact that .240 brass is expensive, but .257 brass can be made from 7mm Mag. SC is right, the .25-06 gives up little to it's Weatherby cousin, and the .257 Bob is not far behind it. If you insist on a 6mm, perhaps a 6-284 would be the best option, as capacity is similar to the 6-06 or the .240, excellent 6.5-284 commercial brass can be had from Lapua and is easily necked down, and in a long action 700, those heavy long VLDs can be set out so as not to interfere with the powder capacity of the cartridge, provided the lead is long enough to accommodate it.


Never mind what I wrote, Guntech has your answer.
 
Last edited:
I would go 6-06 every day over the 240 wby for the better case designs, the no freebore and the easy to find brass. Make mine barrel a 1-8" twist to shoot any bullet under the sun. 6.5-06 with a 1-8 to fling the heavy 140vlds would be a second choice.
 
I'd go 6-06 or 6MM Remington. I too have had a couple 25s and wanted something different, so had a 6MM Rem. built on a LH M70 action. Should be fun. Lots of good 6MM bullets to play with.
 
Ok, this has taken an interesting turn. The stainless lh 700 deal fell through but today I picked up a nice little lh 700 BDL in .308 Win.

I have also picked up a SS Gaillard barrel in 6mm bore with a 12" twist that will finish as long as 26".

So my question has now changed...what should I build on this new short action, keeping in mind the relatively slow twist of the new barrel.

Any suggestions other than something based on the 6mm bore are also welcome :)
 
You have the perfect set up for a 6mm-284, I have made 4 or 5 of them on short 700 actions and with the velocities you can get you'll still be able to stabilize up to about 90-95 gn bullets, and possibly even 100 gn flat base. This is far and away my favorite 6mm wildcat and every one I have built has shot exceptionally well, but all have been 1-9 twist.............still the best option even with a 1-12 barrel in a short action. IMHO.
 
c-fbmi said:
You have the perfect set up for a 6mm-284, I have made 4 or 5 of them on short 700 actions and with the velocities you can get you'll still be able to stabilize up to about 90-95 gn bullets, and possibly even 100 gn flat base. This is far and away my favorite 6mm wildcat and every one I have built has shot exceptionally well, but all have been 1-9 twist.............still the best option even with a 1-12 barrel in a short action. IMHO.
Click to expand...

I will research your suggestion. Sounds intriguing.
 
bassman said:
You guys must have missed the fact that I'm now working with a .308 short action :D
Click to expand...

Lol, yeah I did. The original post mentioned a '06 length action - I didn't see your second post. As C-FBMI suggested, the 6-284 is the obvious choice. Dies have been offered by pretty much everyone, load data is in most manuals and it's a great parent case. My only suggestion is to try some dummy rounds in your action, I built a 25-284 on a remington model 7 and it took a great deal of work to get it to feed. I have read that most don't need a thing, but my experience differed.
 
6mm-.284 is your best and easiest choice... and even if you weren't working with the components that you have, it is a cartridge that I would recommend...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom