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I need a recommendation on a load for 6mm Rem

257izmycal
I have tried 10 different loads in my Remington VLS and cannot get a reasonable group at the range. I have tried 2 factory loads and 8 reloads and cannot break the 2" barrier. I have a Burris 4.5-14 scope on th rifle and the rifle has a 1 in 9 1/8 twist. I am using Leupold bases and rings.

The rest I am using is solid and I (personally) am capable of better accuracy than 2". I cannot get this rifle to group.
The recommended bullet weight is 100 grains with the twist but I cannot get under 2".

I also realize that different rifles like different loads but I thought I would tap into the knowledge bases of the experts.

I have tried 100 Partitions and 95 grain Partitions and 100 sierra bullets and cannot get a decent group. I also tried 70 grain Ballistic Tips and V-max bullets in the same weight range thinking maybe a lighter bullet might accidently work better. I also have tried 3 different powders.

Please list your pet loads and I will try them.

Thanks,
257

You're a statistic whether you want to be or not.
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Comments

10 comments

Date Votes
  • old single shots
    What powders are you useing??
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  • Pearyw
    I have looked at my old records as my 6mm was stolen in 1979 and I never got another. My best load for accuracy was a 75 gr Hornady hp loaded with 47 gr IMR4350 and a CCI BR2 primer.
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  • old single shots
    I have a Rem 700 ADL in 6mm.It hates Rem.factory 100 gr.core lokt ammo.About 2" groups at 100 yds.With Winchester 100 gr. psp it groups around 1".The only handload with 100 gr. bullets i have tried sofar is 44.5 gr. of IMR 4831 with 100 gr. Hornady btsp. which groups 5 shots around 3/4".I am more interested in finding a good load with smaller bullets 65-75 gr.Only had the gun a couple months and haven't had time to work one up yet.
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  • 257izmycal
    I used IMR4350 and IMR4831.

    257

    You're a statistic whether you want to be or not.
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  • bolthandle
    257izmycal; with the 9 1/8 twist, I would stay away from any bullet less than 90 grs. as the twist is made for heavy long bullets.

    I dont know why Remington would even build them with that twist, but thats what there site says, as you did too. Rem. should have put the 6mm into a 1/10 or 11 twist.

    Try the accuracy load that Sierra or Nosler list for their 90 gr. and heavier bullets, then go from there.

    That rifle should group better than that.

    Bolt

    PEACE THROUGH SUPERIOR FIREPOWER
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  • chestsprings
    257izmycal,

    I have been loading for the Rem 6mm for 45+ yrs. I always got/get great results with H-4831 with 95 gr.bullets. For the 75 gr. Hornady V-max I use R19. Shoots better than I can hold.
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  • ohioghog
    the twist rate on that barrel is rediculous. the rate of twist on my barrel (hart), is 12.5. i would try speer 105 grainers with varget powder. work the powder charge up or down within specs. if 105's dont do the trick, try 90 grainers. i have an extensive load inventory for the 6mm however my barrel configuration is very diff. from yours.
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  • nononsense
    http://www.reloadbench.com/cartridges/6mmr.html

    6mm Remington (244 Remington)

    It has been said on more than one occasion that when Remington engineers were developing the .244, their primary objective was to come up with a high performance varmint cartridge and for this reason decided to go with a maximum bullet weight of 90 grains. This isn't exactly true. Instead, after extensive testing of many bullet weights, it was decided that optimum weights for the .257 Roberts case necked down to 6mm were 75 grains for varmints and 90 grains for deer. A rifling pitch rate of 1-12" proved to be the best compromise. The rest, as they say, is history.

    For reasons that no one can explain (or prove), deer hunters decided that the .243 Winchester with its 10 more grains a bullet was a better choice. Or at least this is the traditional explanation. Possibly a factor even of greater influence was the rifles the two cartridges were available in. The .244 was offered in the Model 722, a rifle about as handsome as a fence post. The .243 was available in the sexy little Model 70 Featherweight. When it came to looks, there was no contest.

    Around 1958, Remington started rifling all .244" caliber barrels with the 1-9" twist, but nobody seemed to notice. In 1962 when the new Model 700 rifle was introduced, the only 6mm cartridge it was available in was the .243 Winchester, but during the next year the .244's name changed to 6mm Remington and reintroduced in the Remington bolt action.

    While Model 722 and 725 rifles with 1-12" twists will stabilize 100 and 105 grain round nose bullets, they usually prefer 95 grains or less when loaded with spitzers. Since Remington dropped the 90 grain 6mm factory load, those who hunt deer with the early 722's have no choice but to handload. Later .244 Remington rifles with 1-9" twist will handle the 100 grain factory load.


    Source: Hodgdon Data Manual, 26th Edition
    ______________________________________________________________________

    http://www.huntingmag.com/guns_loads/6mm_remington/

    Guns & Loads
    6mm Remington
    The decline of one of our finest cartridges.

    By G. Sitton

    Remington clearly expected its .24 to be purchased as a varminter and pressed into service on medium game only secondarily. Remington's .244 rifles had a markedly slower twist rate of one turn in 12 inches.
    Remington was wrong. Initial loadings from the Green Box People reflected this fateful error. There was a 75-grain bullet (for varmints) and a 90-grain bullet for deer, antelope and the like. Both were pointed softpoints. Winchester led with a varmint load and a 100-grain spitzer bullet for medium game. Ken Waters, among our most respectable and rational authorities on handloading, has correctly observed that 10 grains of bullet weight is less significant, insofar as lethality is concerned, than bullet construction, expansion characteristics and weight retention. American deer hunters have always failed to appreciate his wisdom, and they have consistently voted at the cash register.

    The folklore surrounding the .244 Remington, which originated early on in the shooting press, has it that the 1:12 twist won't stabilize 100-grain bullets. This isn't true. That twist rate won't reliably stabilize long, pointed bullets appreciably heavier than 90 grains. Speer's 105-grain roundnose softpoint is blunt and shorter than any of the 100-grain spitzers; it reportedly shot with nice accuracy in the old .244s. What the 1:12 twist won't do is keep the longer, pointed 100-grain projectiles singing.
    The case capacity of the .244 Remington (and the succeeding 6mm) was (is) greater than that of the .243 Winchester. Various brands and various lots of brass differ, but on average the .244/6mm will hold four or, perhaps, five percent more water. That won't translate directly to powder charges, but the increase is almost exactly what we expect when a standard cartridge is "improved" by blowing out the taper and sharpening the shoulder, as in the .257 Roberts Improved (Ackley) or the .35 Whelen Improved (Ackley). In the improved wildcats, a gain of 100 to 150 fps can ordinarily be expected, relative to the standard case, and that is about what the .244/6mm affords over the .243 Winchester with any given bullet weight, barrel length being equal, in factory loads.

    The "new" 6mm Remington, circa 1963, was precisely the .244, but head stamps were altered and a 100-grain Core-Lokt load was offered. More important, the twist rate for Remington rifles chambered to the "new" cartridge was quickened to one in nine. The .244 cum 6mm Remington would consequently compete with the .243 Winchester as a deer round.

    However, to ensure confusion among hunters and shooters, Remington continued to catalog .244 ammunition for 10 years. Because the great majority of its potential customers weren't regular readers of the shooting press, the great majority of potential buyers never knew that the .244's problems had been remediated in the 6mm. Worse yet, they didn't know what to make of the "new" 6mm, in relation to the "old" .244. If you want to doom a factory cartridge, replicate the corporate handling of the .244/ 6mm Remington.

    Several years ago Remington quietly removed the 6mm chambering from its rifle catalog. Admirers of the cartridge were hard-pressed. Aside from custom and semi-custom makers, only Ruger listed 6mm Remington rifles--the Model 77 Mark II and the No. 1B Single Shot. After a year or two, Remington began offering its Model 700 Varmint VLS (heavy-barrel varmint rifle with laminated stock) in 6mm, and as of today those are your choices in a factory rifle.

    On balance, the 6mm Remington is a better cartridge than either the .243 Winchester or the .240 Weatherby. It doesn't deserve to die. That's more than my opinion. It's a ballistic fact, and it's buttressed by authority. The godfather of the .243 Winchester and the 6mm Remington told me so. Twenty-five years ago, when I first came down with a yen for a .24-caliber, dual-purpose rifle, I asked Warren Page what I should buy. There was no hesitation. "Buy a 6mm Remington," he said. In his opinion it was a better cartridge. In matters having to do with rifles and cartridges, Warren was never shy and almost never wrong. I still reckon he knew whereof he spoke.
    ______________________________________________________________________

    The reason for this long C&P is to once again bring out the history of why Remington changed the twist rate of the .244 Rem. from 1:12 to come out with the 6mm Rem. and the 1:9 faster twist. The 1:9 twist is neither "rediculous" nor was the change frivolous. It was an attempt to change the public's perception of the original .244 Rem. by accommodating longer and heavier bullets for deer hunting while still being able to achieve decent accuracy with the lighter varmint bullets. In essence, the rifle was to fulfill a dual role, not just a specialized role of deer rifle or varmint rifle. The 9 twist can provide accuracy with the light bullets when the effort has been put into testing for accurate loads.

    257,

    Is your rifle bedded? Professionally?
    Is there a pressure point at the front of the fore end?
    Is your scope mounted correctly, without being torqued out of true?
    Are the action screws tensioned correctly or is the receiver torqued?
    Is your scope repeatable? Have you tested its' repeatability?
    Is the crown perfect, without dings or scratches?
    Is the chamber straight and true with the bore line of the barrel?
    Is the bore rough and in need of polishing?
    Have you measured the chamber by making an accurate dummy cartridge?

    Maybe these appear to be pretty basic questions but I try to answer these questions first before I waste money on powder, primers and bullets. This way, I can be fairly assured that it is a problem with the loads and not the rifle.

    There is some very good reading on reloading techniques and testing at this link: http://www.varminthunters.com/tech/

    This is a good site that covers rifle problems as well as reloading information. Read the list on the left side of the page.
    http://www.cctrap.com/~varmint/arelo.htm

    I have only had 2- 6mm's be a problem. One was a Winchester in .243 that wouldn't shoot factory 100 gr. loadings because the throat was too long, the other was a 6mm Rem. that wouldn't shoot anything because the chamber wasn't true to the bore line. Other than that, they just take time and effort to work loads that the rifle likes. There are a couple of systems that shooters use when trying to find accurate loads for their rifles. If you'd like, I'll locate good instructions and relay them to you.

    I know that this is long but I really want you to be able to solve your dilemma. I hope that this is of some value.

    Best.
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  • 257izmycal
    Thanks for the information! I have not tried a whole lot and have not done a lot of research on problems with the rifle. The rifle was new when I bought it and I am in the begining stages of my research. I thought if I could get a load that shot decent I would just be happy and use it, if not then I would either sell the gun or send it back to Remington and have them look at it.

    Thanks for all your inputs but I am looking for loads to try, so please send me loads you have had luck with, so I can try them.

    You can also send them via e-mail.


    I really do appreciate your inputs!

    Thanks,
    257

    You're a statistic whether you want to be or not.
    0
  • groundhog devastation
    257, I just got a 6mmVLS on Monday. It had been shot 11 times!!! There was a guy shooting a 300WinMag at the range and turning in great groups at 400 yards(1.5 inches!!!!) The guy with the VLS had to have a 300 WinMag!!! This one was bedded in the recoil lug area. The load that the guy had loaded to break in was 50 grains of Re19 and a 70 grain Nosler BT. It did a 3 shot, 100 yard group for me of .700. My first tested load, 41 grains of VARGET, 80 grain BERGER, Fed 210Match primer, COL of 2.800(this is probably too short) turned in a 3 shot group of .102! 6 shots opened it up to .639. The same load with 80 grain Noslers did 6 shots, .825. There is something amiss if you're getting 2" groups!!! Probably need to go through the checklist in the earlier post!!! Once you diagnose a potential problem and correct it, try the VARGET powder! In nearly 30 years of reloading it's the only thing I've ever seen that seems to work from the little to the bigs(with the exception of 3031 which doesn't meter near as nice!!!) Good luck diagnosing it!!! Wish I was there to help! GHD
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