Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Remington Model 7 6mm velocities...

I am considering thinning out a few extra rifles, and one I am debating on is a Remington Model 7 in 6mm Rem. I've always liked the Model 7's, but an 18.5" 6mm Rem seems a little less than ideal. I picked the rifle up for one of the kids, but have yet to actually shoot the thing.

Anyone actually chrono'd 6mm ammo/loads though an 18.5" barrel? If velocity loss isn't too severe, I may consider keeping it....would 80gr bullets at 3150-3200fps be possible?

I’m guessing it probably makes about the same velocity as a .243 with a 22” barrel.

My old Remington 700 BDL Varmint Special in 6mm has a 24” bbl.
And my Remington Classic in .243 has a .22” bbl.

I’ve never chronographed either of them, but I can’t tell a bit of difference in how well they wil kill a deer or hog. I seriously doubt that they can either. 😜

It will still be a great little deer rifle for your kiddos.
And a pretty rare Model 7 to boot. I’d certainly hang on to it if it was mine !

I’ve got it’s twin in .223 and it’s an accurate little sob.

Maybe Mule Deer will weigh in on the velocity loss.

A Remington 700, 243 with a 22 inch barrel, will chronograph an 85 grain Sierra HPBT at 3300 fps, so I'd think you could achieve your goal in the 6mm.

Killed a pile of deer and antelope with a 18 1/2" Rem 600 6MM. They all thought it was plenty fast

I've been working up handloads for a 6mm Remington (Remington Mohawk action) with the same short barrel. My current pet load is with 41.5 gr of IMR 4064 behind 80 gr Barnes TTSX bullets @ 3242 fps (Hodgdon lists 42.0 gr as their max, which gave me 3290 fps, but was not quite as accurate). 80 gr bullets, IMHO, are fairly pleasant to shoot out of this rifle.

I have tried 95 gr Nosler BT bullets with up to 48.0 gr RL-22 @ a touch over 3000 fps. I've also tried 100 gr Hornady BTSP bullets with up to 43.9 gr N-204 @ 2982 fps. But, accuracy overall was inconsistent for me with the heavier bullets, and recoil felt significantly worse. YMMV.

For comparison, Winchester Super X 100 gr SP factory ammunition chronographed at 2890 fps out of this rifle.

An 80gr TTSX @ 3200fps should be a great deer load...

This is with my son's 30 year old youth Model 7 now in a full size Stocky's Stock.

Actually, I've not hunted with those 80 grainers yet. I expect to have some first-hand experience sometime around Christmas though . . .

Out of an 18.5" Model 600, I got to 2850fps with a 100gr interlock (42gr of IMR 4350 I think)...it felt like a pretty stout load. In fact, it didn't feel all that different from a 120gr 7-08 load, so I ended up selling the gun.

Give me a chance to buy it if you’re going to sell it. Love the Sevens and the 6mm’s.

The way I always rationalize a shorter barrel is to look at MPBR and energy.

This really doesn't have to be exact, but will give you an idea of the practical "effect" of the shorter barrel.

Use a ballistic app and calculate for the lower expected MV (I just use the often expected 30 FPS for inch of barrel) and a 6" kill zone. I also use the standard recommended 1000 lbs of energy for deer (again, it's just a criteria for comparison). I also check against remaining velocity for bullet expansion, so around 1800FPS minimum remaining.

Run the same numbers for the higher expected MV and compare the two.

Once I figure that the delta is about 50-75 yards in effectiveness (IF that), and it still exceeds my normal hunting conditions, I stop worrying about it.

Gotta be quite a 'pop' out of that short barrel at those speeds. Wear hearing protection- always!

I've got a small quantity of 85 gr npt's I am going to use in my m7 6mm rem unless Bugger throws ALOT of money at me...mb

In my wife's M7 6mm we have always shot the 95 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip with IMR4350. It clocks 2950 +/-. Never had an issue on any deer and hits plenty hard even when taking on bone.

The 6mm Rem. is a better round than the .243 in my book, but the ammo is not to be found on the shelf these days. I don't have a problem with ammo for anything, because I roll my own, but many folks don't want a caliber that's not common. I had a Remington BDL in 6mm many years ago and like a dummy I sold it. I beat myself up for that one.

Shot 243's for years because I could not find a 6mm they didn't want an arm and leg for it. Bought a used m77r but it had inconsistant accuracy so it went down the road , followed by a m7 that needed a new stock and sold it. finally stumbled into a Grice AM predator model it was OK. Shot some antelope with then stumbled into a 700 ss with bdl bottom metal. It shoots fine the ruger _ Grice gun went down the road. Then found a mint m7 and got a deal. Sometimes by God you have to sort through a big pile of chaff to get the wheat you want for what you are willing to pay. Factory ammo? Fug that $50 a box stuff roll my own...mb

The 6mm Rem does really well in a Winchester Model 70 short action seating the projectiles out to about 3.04" with it appropriately throated for such. That's when you really start to get a difference in velocity between the .243 and the 6mm Rem.

Jason, I've had that exact rifle in that caliber for about 36 yrs now. The last decade or so I've been running 95 NBT's right at 3000 fps, so I would think 3200 with 80's would be easy. I ran 85-87's in it back 25+ years ago but I don't remember the exact velocities I was getting then.

Bill

Oddly enough, I found 3x boxes of Hornady 100gr BTSP's a couple days ago for $25/box.

Damn good buy. I like the old hornady100 gr SP flatbase myself with a max dose of 7828 they were the tits.mb