6mm Rem 700 Varmint Special - Trial and Error

[RossRR]

Back in 1974 I purchased a Remington 700 Varmint Special for fox and coyote hunting but then left home for four years to see the world in the US Navy. When I got back home I was off to school for another four years and just never got back heavy into varmint hunting. Fast forward a lot of years and I decided that being retired with little to do in the winter, now might be the time to give it another whirl. I looked for fresh ammo at local sporting good and farm stores but could only find 100 gr Remington Core-Lokt so I picked up a box. Today I took the gun out to see how it would handle the 100 gr. bullet. I have to say I was pretty disappointed. At 100 yards, I had a 5 shot group that was 5" in diameter. Some of that might have been me since it's been over 30 years since I have shot that rifle and my first 5 shots were the 100 gr. cartridges, but my expectations were a lot higher. I was not using my sled or bags, just resting my forearm hand on top of my soft gun case.
I had brought some old ammo along, also, that I had loaded way back when; 50 rounds of 80 gr FMJ loaded in 1983 with 47 gr of 4350 using Herters casings and primers and 20 rounds of 80 gr. hollow point with same powder and casings/primers that I had loaded in 1974. I shot three rounds of the 1983 vintage and had a decent 1-1/2" group. I tried three rounds of the 1974 vintage and the bolt wouldn't close on any of them. The fact that the 80 grain shot as expected but the 100 gr. did not leads me to believe that the gun can't handle the heavier bullet. Any feedback would be appreciated.

BTW, I intend to deconstruct the 1974 vintage rounds (I have 60 total) and tumble and fully resize the cases, leaving the primers in the cases, and then reload with new powder. I think I had shot these cases in a Herters J9 rifle back before I bought the Rem. 700 and had just resized the neck when I reloaded them. Any thoughts on this decision to try to salvage everything but the powder?

 

[jimbires]

I "THINK" the slow twist rate was a known thing with the 6mm REM . this is what gave the 243 WIN an advantage . I'd do a little more shooting to get more familiar with the rifle , before I wrote off the 100 grain ammo though . but 5" group is excessive , when you shot 1 1/2 " with the other ammo .

you can check twist rate with a tight fitting patch , on a cleaning rod .

I would not tumble the empty brass cases without removing the primers first . media gets stuck in the primer flash hole and could cause misfires , or hang fires . just slow and steady push the primer out . they can be put back in for target use . I've never had a problem , but I would not use them for hunting , or cold weather .

I'd try to salvage everything you can .

 

[salmonchaser]

30 years sitting is a long time but I would as you have planned do some reloading, maybe give the old girl a good cleaning and enjoy retirement. You and I are both old enough to remember when a rifle that gave consistent 1 1/2 inch groups was considered a keeper. I don’t remember when Remington changed the twist rate on those rifles, I do remember when they came out and they had a bad reputation for heavy bullets. If you bought it used in 74 that is likely why it was for sale.
74 was a tough year, end of the Vietnam war, thank you for your service when most were doing every thing they could to avoid it.

 

[SJB358]

I’d probably clean up everything nicely, ditch the powder, check the twist rate and start with that. I’d almost find it hard to believe the 100 grain CL didn’t work since it’s a fairly stubby bullet, even in a 1-12 if it’s that early of a rifle.

Give everything a good once over, figure out your twist then you can know exactly what you’ll have. Cool rifle.

 

[6mm Remington]

That rifle should have a 1-9 twist from the factory. The .244 Remington stamped rifles were 1-12 twist. The .244's shot up to 90 gr. bullets well. I passed my 6mm Remington to my son when he got old enough to hunt. It is a Remington Model 600 built in 1964 Centennial Model honoring the 75th anniversary of Montana Statehood and the 100th of the Montana Territory. It has a 1-9 twist and shoots very well. All of the 6mm Remington rifles marked by Remington as such should have 1-9 twist on them as far as I know. The first year I shot it, we used a factory 100 gr. Remington Corelokts. They shot very well in the rifle. Your Remington 700 should also be 1-9 twist.

AS other have said I would give it a good cleaning and make sure all the bedding screws and scope mounts/rings are properly torqued. I'd also suggest a better shooting set-up just to help take out human error as much as possible. A Harris bipod on the front and a sand-bag on the rear would work pretty well off of a bench or prone on the ground. There are lots of excellent rests to use and shooting from a solid platform cannot hurt . Best of luck. An 85 gr. Sierra boattail hollowpoint or an 80 gr. or 90 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip should work very well. IMR4350 or H4350 both great powders to start load work with in the 6mm Remington. Let us know how it pans out for you!!