Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles 6mm Remington

I'm looking at a deal on a 6mm Remington with dies and brass. It's been rebarreled by Siskiou Barrel Works, Grants Pass Oregon with a 1-10 twist. The barrel looks like new I've done some reading on history and Remington's mistake by initially marketing their 6mm as a pure varmint rifle with a slower twist. Any first hand 6mm Remington experience and opinions appreciated. Thanks.

I haven't been without a 6mm Remington since 1971. I have always preferred it over the 243 Win. The one i own at the present is a Left Hand 700 that i barreled with a Shilen barrel with 1&12 twist I had turned to Factory Rem Sporter contour. My deer and varmint load in this rifle is the Hornady 87 gr BTHP and Win 760 this load groups under 1/2 inch consistently and kills deer like lighting. My Varmint load in the 70's was H380 and the Sierra 75 gr HP. My deer load was H4831 and the Hornady 100 gr SP. The 6mm is the best of the 24 cal's. Here is my 6mm Rem i built on the Left Hand 700.

I have two I load for and shoot. Great shooting rifles and an easy to load round. In my rifles 3200+ is possible with 95/100 gr. bullets with R-22 and IMR 7828.

Siskiyou Barrel Works...

must be a used rifle.....but you definitely can't beat a barrel done by Chick Donnelly, who sadly is no longer with us... he was one of the last guys around, who trained under P.O. Ackley...

I had A chance to share a campfire with him for a few nights while elk hunting... I had a chance to ask a guy, who could make any barrel in any chambering he wanted for himself....

so I asked him, and his response was a 30/06 what he had always used since the original barrel on his Remington 721 was shot out in the mid 50s...he had no idea of how many barrels he had shot out on it...but he used that one rifle for his main big game rifle since right around the Korean War time...

I have three rifles that are more accurate than the barrel he made for me in 30/06.. and that is a 6mm Rem and 22.250 barrels, both made by John Noveske....and my 338/06, made by Bob West, another Ackley trained gunsmith...

you will never go wrong with a barrel made by Chick Donnelly.

I'd say that with modern boutique bullets that punch above their weight the 6mm is better than ever for a varmint/game rifle and definitely a little better than the .243. I have a fair number of cases (circa 1M fresh in reserve) and bullets - I have found that 6mm brass and loaded ammunition is not always on the store shelf - though what is in these days of shortages? - so getting dies and brass is a plus. Easy to load for and delivers good results with a wide range of powders and bullet weights.

I'm not sure Remington ever marketed the 6mm as a pure varmint rifle. Maybe as varmint rifle first and an appropriately shorter range shorter bullet game rifle. I am aware of what's been written and repeated but it's not what I remember from the time.

Just my opinion (and its hard to remember today what I thought and read at the time but I certainly read the outdoor magazines closely - Townsend Whelan was still writing and bunch of others now thought old timers then thought of as widely experienced) but I think the fuss and furor over the .308 as equivalent to a shorter .30-'06 led buyers to think of the .243 as more of a 6mm-'06 compared to a necked down survivor of the Spanish American War in the metric heritage of the 6mm. Maybe not; maybe only some people thought so.

We have had both.. In a short action, I prefer the .243, but the 6mm is still a dandy round.. In a rifle like you describe I would not hesitate.

You're right about the barrel maker. His name, C. P. Donnelly, is on the barrel.

Interesting side note re FC363's post about IMR 3031. I asked the guy what powders worked best for him and he said 4350 worked right away with 100 gr bullets but it took him awhile with the 75s & 80s until he tried IMR 3031. He said it shot so well with that he didn't try anything else.

One of the most accurate 6mm loads i used in a factory Rem 6mm heavy barrel varmint in the 70's was the Speer 75 gr HP and IMR 3031, this rifle grouped nothing better , shooting under a 1/2 inch consistently until the barrel finally went .

43Shooter: One of THE most accurate factory Rifles I ever owned was a Remington 40X in caliber 6mm Remington!
The cartridge is capable of excellent accuracy and lethality on all manner of Varmints and medium sized game animals.
I currently have a similar Remington 40X in caliber 243 Winchester - according to my loading log both Rifles used/use the exact same scope a Leupold 6.5x20 and both shot/shoot equally as well.
One reason I sold my 6mm Remington 40X was because the recoil kept me from spotting my own hits while Colony Varminting.
I had to go down to 40X's in 6mm Remington Bench Rest and a 6x47 Remington to attain/keep sight picture at the shot.
Brass life is great on the 6mm Remington (I still have one in a Ruger #1-B).
I say make your BEST deal and if you find the recoil or anything else un-pleasing then simply resell it.
The 6mm Remington works well on Coyotes and Antelope for me.
I no longer use it for Colony Varminting.
Best of luck to you.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

+1

I have a 40X in 6mm, actually a .244, as it's a 12 twist. It came from the factory with three (5) shot groups into a .38" aggregate, 60 gr. Sierras and 3031.

I bought it in the 70's, reshaped the target stock into a varmint shape, refinished and checkered the grip. It's still a tack driver.

The barrel sure looks better than Rem. factory tubes thru the Hawkeye borescope. I heard that Hart made 40X barrels for Remington. Any info on that?

DF

I tested 15 different powders when I got the 6mm Barrel I have on mine... John Noveske mounted and chambered it for charged me $75, which included the barrel... this was back before he got famous....

all powders gave acceptable accuracy, except two... one being H 4895. but by far with 75 grain bullets, the most accurate were 3031 and H 414...the most accurate being H 414, which surprisingly also had the most stark Deviation spread.... but it was still the most accurate out to 300 yds....

43Shooter , the Rem 700 was never introduced as purely a Varmint Rifle . Its predecessor the Rem 722 in 244 was . The 722 would only shoot stubby 90 Gr Bullets and the Win 243 which was a dual purpose Round beat the tar out of the 244 in Sales . When Rem brought out the 700 it too was made dual purpose with a faster Twist than the 244 . You should be very happy with your find , and it should work well for Varmints and also Deer , Antelope , etc.