6mm Remington Please Bring it back !

[6mm Remington]

I'm sure there are more folks out there like me that feel the 6mm REMINGTON is one VERY SPECIAL cartridge.... I own a Ruger #!B in 6mm, and my son shoots a Ruger Model 77 MKII in 6mm. He also has a Remington Model 600 Centenial model in 6mm that I gave to him. My father watched this brand new rifle sit in a small store window in Nye Montana for 4 years before he walked in and bought it for $99.00. I believe it was 1968 or 1969when he bought it. All three of these are great rifles, and this cartridge sure deserves a lot more attention than it has gotten as of late. It really is a shame if they let it die except for those hard core folks who handload or have custom rifles chambered for it. Is anyone out there with me that we shouldn't let it die on the vine?

 

[Guy Miner]

I think it's a darned fine cartridge. Have been shooting one since 1974... Somehow that got to be 35 years ago.. Funny, I don't think I've gotten 35 years older... :grin:

Does Remington still chamber any of their models for it? Only a couple of years ago I know it was still offered in the varmint model 700 with the laminated stock. Pretty good shooters too.

These days my youngest son shoots ours the most. Silly kid thinks it's his... Wonder where he got that idea? He uses it for varmints, coyotes and mule deer. Not bad - that's what it's been used for the whole time, since Dad gave it to me all those years ago.

Regards, Guy

 

[Desert Fox]

Love mine. 6MM Remington is a true varminter!!! superior to 243 in every respect IMHO. I'm surprised there's not enough interest in them.

 

[30-338]

Only thing better than a 6Rem is 6RemAI.

 

[Divernhunter]

I have one in a tang safety ruger M77. Nice rifle and cartridge.

 

[roysclockgun]

Like the 280Remington, the 6mmRemington may one day be re-introduced under a different name. Sure, it is superior to the .243Win. but in the race to sell rifles in 6mm, the .243Win. won. For years, the 6mmRemington has had a very loyal following, most of whom hand load.
What needs to happen is for the 6mmRemington to be reintroduced as something called the 6mmExpress. Or another spiffy name. Then the gun rag writers have to be paid off to tout the thing as the greatest new cartridge to come along since the 30-06. Heck, they did that with the 260Rem and that cartridge still died. But maybe the 6mmRem. could gather a wider target market, since it is a better deer/varmint compromise cartridge than are most.
If I were a betting man, I would bet against the 6mmRem ever making a comeback.......But anything is possible.
Edging out the .243Win. ballistically, was just not good enough to launch the 6mmRem into stardom.

 

[Desert Fox]

Like the 280Remington, the 6mmRemington may one day be re-introduced under a different name.

Funny you've mentioned these two cartridge - They're my two favorite! As a matter of fact my first choice of chambering for my first bolt gun is the 280 Remington after a thorough and careful deliberation on my part. I did the same when I choose the 6MM Remington for my first varmint rifle. I like underdogs. In my opinion, ballistically, the 280 is superior cartridge than the 30-06. I know I'll be stepping on people toes when I make bold statement like these but I'll stand by it. The only edge the -06 had over the 280 is the wide variety of bullet available for the .308 bore. For longrange work, all else being equal, the 280 is superior to -06 or even the 270 in every respect. Remington did deservice to the cartridge by loading it at a much lower pressure. I go beyond SAAMI spec when loading my 280. For those of you who shoot and load for this cartridge know what I'm talking about.

 

[roysclockgun]

Desert Fox wrote : " For those of you who shoot and load for this cartridge know what I'm talking about."

I will not be the one to dispute that the 7mm bullet flies better than does the .308 bullet. Up to the heaviest bullet in 7mm, it ballistically looks better than the 30 cals. Only in the ability to handle much heavier bullets, does the 30 cal beat out the 7mm.
It can be argued that since we now have much better bullets, in terms of penetration and weight retention, no one needs a bullet heavier than 175 gr. anyway, given that hunting is restricted to N. America. Premium bullets today, in the 175 gr 7mm can do what the older designed bullets needed 220 gr to accomplish.
Even Jack O'Connor, in his later days, allowed as how the 280Rem. was a better cartridge than his beloved 270Win. But that made little difference to the general rifle buying public, who since 1935 has had a love affair with the 270Win.
Cartridges are like dentist! Everyone believes that the one that they use is the best.

 

[FOTIS]

An updated 244 Remington? Why not!

 

[BK]

I like mine - a Remington 788 - but I have to admit I don't use it much. I don't do as much varminting as I'd like, and I'm infatuated with my .25-06 for deer. If Remington still made the VLS in 6mm (pretty sure they don't) I might think about picking one up.

 

[JD338]

The 6mm Rem is a classic. I did the 243 Win back a few years ago but sold it. If I were to get back to a 243 cal, it would be a 6mm Remington.

JD338

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

6mm, 280, 264 Win Mag. 3 very under rated cartridges, all victims of poor marketing. It's amazing what too slow a twist, an underpressured action, or too light an initial bullet offering can do to a cartridges reputation. These are the Rodney Dangerfields of cartridges.....but I always did like Rodney.

 

[roysclockgun]

I genuinely believe that the problem for those cartridges lies more in the availability of shelf space, rather than in "poor marketing". The 6mmRem. went after a niche well covered by .243Win. and did not present enough reason for any .243Win. owner to switch, or for new buyers to gamble on a new cartridge that would not do more than did the older .243Win. Same goes for .280Rem. which would've needed to unseat the venerable .270Win., in order to gain a spot in the line up. .280Rem. was unable to defeat the strengths of the entrenched .270Win. One can argue that the newer cartridges are better than the old, but that is like arguing with the N. Vietnamese, in terms of who won all the battles on the field! They stayed, we left. Those "better" cartridges are gone from current lines of production rifles, while the old ones are still around and produced by just about everyone who makes rifles.
The .264 Win. Mag. is perhaps the saddest tale of all. Too many "expert" gunsmiths built rifles for that caliber using the wrong twist and the .264 Win. Mag. got the early on reputation of being a barrel burner. If introduced today, the .264 Win. Mag. might have made it, as we now have a raft of barrel burners offered in production models.
The 220Swift, branded a barrel burner, nearly disappeared, then made a miraculous comeback. Early on, "Smiths" were using barrels designed to fire the .22 cal. Long Rifle, rimfire cartridges. That mistake cost the 220 Swift dearly.
Today's sports are willing to rebarrel sooner than those sports of old. It is said that the 300RUM can begin to lose accuracy after only 1200 rounds. Some claim sooner, and yet the 300RUM appears to be selling well. Go figure!

 

[C.Smith]

Does anyone still make the 6mm in prodruction rifles? I'm looking for a rifle for my 9 year old son. What cartridge is it based off?

Corey

 

[roysclockgun]

Corey, the only way that I know of getting a new rifle in 6mmRem. is to have one built. The cost does not have to be great. Several barrel makers can provide the barrel of your choosing, both in caliber and weight. If you get a large ring Mauser receiver, that can be the basis for the rifle. Many stocks of various quality are produced and are inletted to nearly be a drop-in for the Mauser action.
Doing this is not only a way to get a new rifle in 6mmRem. but also a way to give your son a totally unique hunting rifle, in which he played a part, regarding it's developement.
In the past, I have had four hunting rifles built and I was pleased with every one of them.
Midway had a stock/barrel sale, not too long ago. The barrel, in the white and the stock to fit the large ring Mauser, was only $130. Decent receivers can still be found on old military rifles at flea markets. I recently bought a German K98k barrelled action for $50. The bore had been neglected, but the receiver was perfect for a custom rifle platform.
Other than building a rifle, you'd have to search for someone with "new, old stock", who may be sitting on a rifle, NIB, in 6mmRem. The odds of finding that are slim.
Steven

 

[jmad_81]

If they still made them I'd be getting a 6mm Rem instead of a .243 for sure!

 

[Kawabuggy]

I came across a used Remington 700 in 6MM. I got it from the original owner who has had it for years & years, and never shot it.

He sold it to me because he never used it, and needed cash. I gave $450 for the gun and it looks like it's brand new. I knew there were early guns with a slower twist, and then later guns with a faster twist. This gun has the 1 in 9" twist.

I honestly did not need it, and have not shot it yet myself, but after reading this post, I feel there is a mythical air to the cartridge and I may just have to pull it out of the safe and shoot it.

I'm not sure that it will un-seat my current favorite-the 25-06.. But I'm willing to give it a shot-or several.

 

[JD338]

Kawabuggy

Welcome to the forum.
Get that 6mm out of the safe and out to the range! Give us a range report please. :grin:

JD338

 

[roysclockgun]

Kawabuggy (does that mean that you ride a Kawasaki? I still ride my old '82 KZ750 four!)...You wrote: "I feel there is a mythical air to the cartridge "

I clearly remember the intro. of the 6mmRem. and everyone who knew rifles and cartridges, viewed the intro. as an attempt to grab some of the shelf space from the .243Win. Most of the shooters of that day recognized the advantage of the longer "neck" on the 6mmRem. However, the 6mmRem. did not hold up against the entrenched .243Win. As with most things that "you can't get them anymore", many would like to have a rifle chambered in 6mmRem. I wager that in a real head to head range test, one would be hard pressed to tell the difference between what those two cartridges can do. If the 6mmRem. really did stand head and shoulders above the .243Win., then why did it go away?....It went away because it did not carve out enough of a niche in the grand array of cartridges. For those who own a rifle chambered in 6mmRem., and hand load, it is a nice cartridge. If you do not hand load, good luck finding factory ammo.
Steven

 

[Kawabuggy]

Steven,
I do hand-load, and already have a batch of 50 rounds (ladder test with 2 different powders RL-22 & 4831 using Nosler 100 Grain Flat base bullets) to see which charge weight it likes. I simply never got around to shooting it at the range. I loaded the bullets, and then boxed them, and there they sat.

I have the user name Kawabuggy because I had the bright idea to put a motorcycle engine on a man-cart (think adult version of kids go-cart). My kids go cart has 6HP.. The man-cart has over 100! So Kawasaki engine & man-buggy equals Kawabuggy.