cmdc
Member
I have a left hand 788 in 6mm. Great gun. Found it at my LGS three years or so ago. Think I paid $300 for it.
Used 6mm Remingtons
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thewillweeks
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If you need to go cheap, the old converted large ring mausers (k98 style) are a good option if they're head spaced correctly (check that!).
cmdc
Member
Thank you 900F. The one I have is left-hand bolt but right eject. I assume they were all made that way. Being left handed, I am always on the lookout.
cmdc
Member
If I do, you'll be the first to know!
35 Whelen
Member
My choice would be a Ruger 77 flat bolt tang safety sporter.
My Dad bought me one of these over 40 years ago when I was about 12 years old. I shot my first buck with it and many more. My youngest daughter got her first buck with it (210 yds.!),
....her older sister shot her best buck with it,
my wife shot a big ol' smelly boar with it,
...as well as a bcuk or two.
What's not to love?
I've lost count of the number of friends who said "Hey, do you have a deer rifle I could borrow?" that shot a buck with it.
I load 43.0 grs. of IMR4350 over either a 100 gr. Hornady Interlock or the old 100 gr. pre-Interlock bullets and it's same story ever year; almost exactly 3000 fps, 1" triangular groups, and the old Redfield 4X holds the zero and has for well over 20 years.
35W
My Dad bought me one of these over 40 years ago when I was about 12 years old. I shot my first buck with it and many more. My youngest daughter got her first buck with it (210 yds.!),
....her older sister shot her best buck with it,
my wife shot a big ol' smelly boar with it,
...as well as a bcuk or two.
What's not to love?
I've lost count of the number of friends who said "Hey, do you have a deer rifle I could borrow?" that shot a buck with it.
I load 43.0 grs. of IMR4350 over either a 100 gr. Hornady Interlock or the old 100 gr. pre-Interlock bullets and it's same story ever year; almost exactly 3000 fps, 1" triangular groups, and the old Redfield 4X holds the zero and has for well over 20 years.
35W
cmdc
Member
Very impressive track record with that rifle 35 Whelen, and I must say it has done the women in your life justice. That old blue and wood rifle looks good leaning on your wife's shoulder. How big was that "big ol' smelly boar"? Looks to be pretty good sized.
35 Whelen
Member
How big was he? He was just the right size to leave right where he fell!
I'd say 200 lbs....maybe 250 at the most.
35W
GooseGestapo
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Or:
You can do what I did, build a .257Roberts on a M98 action. With a nearly identical load to .35Whelen's (100gr Hornady's, 45.0gr IMR4350), it has done the same things his 6mm has, since I built it in 1983.
Seems some of my brass is even head stamped 6mmRem! And some 7mmx57, even a couple have 8mm stamped!
But, I did always want a LH 788 in 6mm.
You can do what I did, build a .257Roberts on a M98 action. With a nearly identical load to .35Whelen's (100gr Hornady's, 45.0gr IMR4350), it has done the same things his 6mm has, since I built it in 1983.
Seems some of my brass is even head stamped 6mmRem! And some 7mmx57, even a couple have 8mm stamped!
But, I did always want a LH 788 in 6mm.
Dr T
Member
On the Remington 788 action strength: In my earlier comment, I observed that the action is not as strong as the 700. Note that the 788 locks on the rear of the bolt, not the head. In VERY HIGH PRESSURE LOADS (not found in reloading manuals), the bolt will tend to flex under the backward thrust of the fired cartridge.
The 788 is perfectly fine for the loads that can be found today. However, when working up a load, it is still a good idea to back off 10% from the max and come up slowly.
Now for the specifics of my observation that led to this comment. When I was much younger and less experienced, I did some experimentation with various 6 mm loads using Ken Waters' tome "Pet Loads" as a guide. As I recall, Mr. Waters used a M700 as his test platform. Being young, I was looking for high velocity with good accuracy, and I came across a load that was very accurate with high velocity. There was also the note: MAXIMUM LOAD. DO NOT EXCEED.
I dutifully backed off 10% and fired the first group. The primer was flat and the bolt a little stiff. I went up 1 gr and fired the next group. The bolt was stiffer. Being young and stupid, I did not heed the signs (After all, I was still below the MAXIMUM) and went up another grain. This was 2 gr. of powder below the MAXIMUM load. I still remember clearly what happened when I touched off the round. I can assure all of you that the 788 has very good gas porting for when a primer ruptures. Gas poured out and did not come close to my eyes. I had to hammer the bolt open.
I went home, pulled the remaining 8 test load bullets (lots of 3 used for testing), and started work on learning what went wrong so I would never, ever do it again. One of the conclusions regarded the relative action strength of the 788 versus the 700. Most of the other conclusions have shaped my approach to load testing.
Still, a 6 mm in a 788 can be a marvelously accurate and useful rifle. One kept me fed in graduate school. I still own it and intend to keep it.
As a side note: About 20 years ago I located and bought a 788 in 243 for my brother and his son to use. I have never been able to get it back from them. If you can find one and can afford it, grab it.
The 788 is perfectly fine for the loads that can be found today. However, when working up a load, it is still a good idea to back off 10% from the max and come up slowly.
Now for the specifics of my observation that led to this comment. When I was much younger and less experienced, I did some experimentation with various 6 mm loads using Ken Waters' tome "Pet Loads" as a guide. As I recall, Mr. Waters used a M700 as his test platform. Being young, I was looking for high velocity with good accuracy, and I came across a load that was very accurate with high velocity. There was also the note: MAXIMUM LOAD. DO NOT EXCEED.
I dutifully backed off 10% and fired the first group. The primer was flat and the bolt a little stiff. I went up 1 gr and fired the next group. The bolt was stiffer. Being young and stupid, I did not heed the signs (After all, I was still below the MAXIMUM) and went up another grain. This was 2 gr. of powder below the MAXIMUM load. I still remember clearly what happened when I touched off the round. I can assure all of you that the 788 has very good gas porting for when a primer ruptures. Gas poured out and did not come close to my eyes. I had to hammer the bolt open.
I went home, pulled the remaining 8 test load bullets (lots of 3 used for testing), and started work on learning what went wrong so I would never, ever do it again. One of the conclusions regarded the relative action strength of the 788 versus the 700. Most of the other conclusions have shaped my approach to load testing.
Still, a 6 mm in a 788 can be a marvelously accurate and useful rifle. One kept me fed in graduate school. I still own it and intend to keep it.
As a side note: About 20 years ago I located and bought a 788 in 243 for my brother and his son to use. I have never been able to get it back from them. If you can find one and can afford it, grab it.
Lloyd Smale
Member
I already have it. Mine is a 700 rem classic. Made back when they were cataloged, not the limited run guns. Shoots like gangbusters and has put a pile of venison in my freezer and about everyone that goes to my camp has used it at one time or another to kill there buck. It was my first bolt action deer rifle. I bought it used but like new in 1975 for 150 bucks. Had a chance at the same time to buy a rem pump in 6mm of the same guy for a 125 bucks and passed. Not much of a fan of pump or autoloaders for deer hunting but wish I would have bought that one too.
35 Whelen
Member
Interesting story, but what happened to your rifle had nothing to do with action strength. The action is quite strong as attested if nothing else by the fact that Remington chose to chamber in relatively high pressure rounds such as the 6mm and 22-250 (Both 65,000 psi). Rear bolt lugs in older rifles CAN cause problems, but it's usually in short case life and head separations. Been there, done that in a couple of No.4 Enfield's.
Not having been present when the incident occurred makes it impossible to know exactly what caused your symptoms, but things such as an undersize bore, cases longer than spec, wrong powder, wrong bullet for data, incorrect o.a.l., out of calibration scale, short throat/leade and other things come to mind.
I had a similar incident happen many years ago. I was helping an old man friend of mine shoot a couple of his 6.5x55's with his handloads. One was a commercially sporterized 1896 Swedish Mauser and the other a new production Ruger 77. I sighted in the Mauser first and everything was fine with the cases extracting normally and the little rifle grouping the loads into neat little 1" clusters. I moved on to the Ruger and the first round blew a primer. Odd. Tried another, same result. Now we all know the 1896 is a HumVee and the Ruger an M1 Abrams, so action strength had nothing to do with this anomaly. To this day I don't know what happened.
So, rest assured the 788 is anything but a weak(er) action.
35W
Dr T
Member
In any case, the incident made me MUCH more careful.
And, with the right bullet, case, etc., the 788 will shoot 0.5" 5-shot groups all day.
Not bad for a gun that I bought on sale for less than $200 because it came with a scope and I was tired of getting beaten up by my Dad's 30-06.
And, with the right bullet, case, etc., the 788 will shoot 0.5" 5-shot groups all day.
Not bad for a gun that I bought on sale for less than $200 because it came with a scope and I was tired of getting beaten up by my Dad's 30-06.
Offfhand
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When looking for a used 6mm Rem. don't overlook the fact that the 6mm Rem is just a renamed .244 Rem. Under that name they were first offered in Remington's M-722 rifle back in the '50's. Though the 722s were as plain as a fencepost they could also be wonderfully accurate. The slower twist of the 722s in .244 chambering ruled out good accuracy with heavier bullets, but with bullets 90 gr. and lighter they match the accuracy of 700s and other makes. They occasionally show up for sale on net sites, etc. Check them out.
Fella's;
As a furthermore to the above post, Speer developed their 90 grain spitzer for those 244 Remingtons. The 1:12 twist guns would stabilize it, and they built it tough enough to handle deer sized game. It remains a very good 6mm/.243 hunting bullet if you can find them.
900F
P.S. The 6mm is everything the .243 wants to be when it grows up.
As a furthermore to the above post, Speer developed their 90 grain spitzer for those 244 Remingtons. The 1:12 twist guns would stabilize it, and they built it tough enough to handle deer sized game. It remains a very good 6mm/.243 hunting bullet if you can find them.
900F
P.S. The 6mm is everything the .243 wants to be when it grows up.
GooseGestapo
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DrT;
That's not a sign of weakness of the 788actio. The 788 was in fact a very strong action. Witness the fact that Remington marketed the action as borrowed from an artillery action design.
What you saw I have personally witnessed several times with .243cal rifles. It is common with .243 cal cartridges. I believe it is due to the long bore contact surfaces of the heavier bullets combined with normal manufacturing variations in components. A long bullet, (i.e.Speers 105gr Spitzer) combined with thicker brass, and a "fast " lot of powder, and you have a pressure spike! That and add in a short, tight, or rough bore and all sorts of things happen. An acquaintance damaged a 788 bolt using a load of H4831, and the Speer 105. He cracked and pealed the ring around the bolt head at the extractor rivet. He hammered the action open....
The first blown up center fire rifle I ever saw was the first Savage M110 I ever saw. Beautiful walnut stock splintered, barrel and action ruptured at the receiver ring. Caliber .243win, supposedly, Remington factory ammo.
So, it's not just the 788 or 6mmRem.
That's not a sign of weakness of the 788actio. The 788 was in fact a very strong action. Witness the fact that Remington marketed the action as borrowed from an artillery action design.
What you saw I have personally witnessed several times with .243cal rifles. It is common with .243 cal cartridges. I believe it is due to the long bore contact surfaces of the heavier bullets combined with normal manufacturing variations in components. A long bullet, (i.e.Speers 105gr Spitzer) combined with thicker brass, and a "fast " lot of powder, and you have a pressure spike! That and add in a short, tight, or rough bore and all sorts of things happen. An acquaintance damaged a 788 bolt using a load of H4831, and the Speer 105. He cracked and pealed the ring around the bolt head at the extractor rivet. He hammered the action open....
The first blown up center fire rifle I ever saw was the first Savage M110 I ever saw. Beautiful walnut stock splintered, barrel and action ruptured at the receiver ring. Caliber .243win, supposedly, Remington factory ammo.
So, it's not just the 788 or 6mmRem.
Dr T
Member
Thanks for the note on the powder. I need to consult my notes to verify, but I believe I was using H4831 and a 100 gr Nosler solid base (pre-ballistic tip) bullet when I had my incident. Personally, I have never had much luck developing an accurate load with that powder in anything.
With other loads the 100 gr Nosler would go 0.5" and its 85 gr. little brother would keep things inside of 0.75". I believe that I still have a 100 of the 85 gr tucked away. To this day, I regard the 85 gr to be the best all around 6 mm bullet i have ever used. I just wish that Nosler would make some more.
With other loads the 100 gr Nosler would go 0.5" and its 85 gr. little brother would keep things inside of 0.75". I believe that I still have a 100 of the 85 gr tucked away. To this day, I regard the 85 gr to be the best all around 6 mm bullet i have ever used. I just wish that Nosler would make some more.
GooseGestapo
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Side note: The lot of H 4831 we were using was some WW2 surplus circa 1990, or in other words, 50yr old powder of unknown history.
H4831 is good stuff, but the .243 is quite over bore and sensitive to small variations in components, imp.
H4831 is good stuff, but the .243 is quite over bore and sensitive to small variations in components, imp.
I got my first LH 788 6mm in 1976. I think at the time Remington only made the 700 LH in 30-06. I wanted a rifle that could be used for deer,bear and varmints.I bought a bbl action and had Bishop make me custom stock for it. as the years passed I got both a Ruger #1 and a Browning B-78 in 6mm.
An option would be a Rem 700 rebarreled in 6mm
An option would be a Rem 700 rebarreled in 6mm
Steve H
Member
Reading this thread about the 6mm remmy it got the bug going for me to get that Parker Hale out of the shop and see how it does. Started searching for components this morning and cnnot find brass anywhere. Looks like it will start out with factory ammo so I can get the brass.
Any thoughts on the Parker Hale 6mm???
Any thoughts on the Parker Hale 6mm???
Steve H;
Yours is probably a model 81 Classic and a Mauser action. They were well made guns, but enjoyed no particular reputation either for or against in this country. I would suspect though that with typical handloading practices, the gun will return at least MOA accuracy provided the barrel is in good condition.
I don't know that Parker-Hale ever bought barreled actions & marketed them under it's name, but I do believe that I'd check for that if it were me. The most likely suspects would be FN, Husqvarna, and Zastava.
900F
Yours is probably a model 81 Classic and a Mauser action. They were well made guns, but enjoyed no particular reputation either for or against in this country. I would suspect though that with typical handloading practices, the gun will return at least MOA accuracy provided the barrel is in good condition.
I don't know that Parker-Hale ever bought barreled actions & marketed them under it's name, but I do believe that I'd check for that if it were me. The most likely suspects would be FN, Husqvarna, and Zastava.
900F
Steve H
Member
CB900F I believe you are correct about the gun I have. 81 Classic Mauser action. I just spent a couple of hours taking it apart and cleaning it. I ordered some factory ammo to see how it does, if it's a shooter I'll keep it and get some dies and bullets and see what loads I can work up for it. First gun I have ever had that has a steel bar thru the stock that the recoil lug rests against. Right now it is open sights only so with my old eyes I'll test it at 50 yards and go from there.
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