6mm Remington
6mm Remington
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6mm Remington

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6mm Remington

The 6mm Remington rifle cartridge, originally introduced in 1955 by Remington Arms Company as the .244 Remington, is based on a necked down .257 Roberts cartridge (itself a necked-down 7×57mm Mauser) using a .24/6mm bullet. Known for a combination of high velocity, long range, flat trajectory, and accuracy, it is suitable as a dual use hunting cartridge for both medium-sized big game and varmints. When used in the less common earlier slow twist barrels, it offers exceptional range for varmint applications. While not as commercially popular today as the .243 Winchester, the 6mm Remington enjoys a slight ballistic advantage and continues to be popular with handloaders and custom rifle builders.

By the early 1950s, there had been a significant amount of experimentation and 'wildcatting' in developing the .24 caliber bullet as a dual purpose hunting round. Popular cartridges necked down for this purpose included the .257 Roberts (based on the 7x57mm Mauser) and .308 Winchester.[citation needed]

The existing Remington Model 722 was chambered for the new .244 Remington cartridge with a 1 in 12-inch twist. Remington originally offered this cartridge with 75 grain bullets for varmints and 90 grain bullets for medium-sized big game such as deer and antelope.[citation needed]

Remington determined that a 90 grain soft point .244 hunting bullet was well suited for medium-sized big game hunting purposes. For the length and weight of its 90 grain soft point hunting bullet, Remington selected a 1 in 12-inch twist. By selecting the slowest twist possible, Remington was seeking to avoid excessive spin. By avoiding excessive spin they were able to maximize velocity, range and accuracy of their 90 grain big game hunting bullet as well as lighter varmint loads.

The 6mm Remington has the advantage of a relatively low recoil of about 10 ft/lbs depending on load. Some gun writers, including Chuck Hawks of Guns and Shooting Online believe that this has the advantage of allowing shooters to be comfortable with the rifle without developing a flinch, allowing them to focus on accurate shot placement.

Inevitably the 6mm Remington cartridge is highly comparable to the 243 Winchester. Both were intended for the same purposes, both developed out of wildcat loads and both were introduced in the same year. In 1963 Remington produced both cartridges using their own sourced brass, primers, powder and bullets. This allows for comparative data from a single manufacturer and in the case of the 100 grain bullet, identical bullets were even used. The following table summarizes performance data published in Remington's 1963 catalog:

The following summarizes comparative trajectory data between the 6mm Remington and .243 Winchester using the same 100 grain bullet:

The .244 Remington lagged behind the .243 Winchester in the marketplace of the mid-1950s. Winchester also introduced a similar dual purpose cartridge of the same caliber with greater success in 1955, the .243 Winchester, but with 80 and 100 grain bullet options for its Model 70 with a 1 in 10-inch twist to allow for the slightly heavier bullet.[citation needed] Two common myths have been attributed to this difference in the marketplace: (A) The .244 being erroneously considered a varmint only cartridge and not suitable for deer and (B) the perceived 'plainness' of the original 722 Remington rifle it was offered in.

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