Rem. 600

[Ghost101]

I have just found a Remington 600 in .243, at my local gun store. Haven't done a detailed check of the firearm as of yet. They want something along the lines of $550.00 for it. I remember as a young kid seeing one in my local gun shop. I would always pull it off the rack an admire the thing. Don't know anything about the model or the caliber. No idea if it is a good caliber to cast for either.
Should I think about this rifle or leave it to the dreams of that young man?

Ghost101

[NuJudge]

There were two very similar Remington rifles, the 600 and 660. The rifles were primarily in .243, .308, 6.5 Rem Mag, and .350 Rem Mag. I have fired rifles in .308 and .350. My father loves his, but get ready to have your tooth fillings reset if you fire the .350.

Do not trust the safeties: if you pull the trigger with the safety on, then push the safety off, there is some chance that it will fire.

[w5pv]

My brother bought one in the late 60's that was the hardest recoiling 308 that I ever shot.Good accuracy and no miss fires just a bad recoil.

[frkelly74]

Very easy to carry around though. 6lb or so. If you hand load you can regulate the recoil for fun shooting.

[captaint]

To answer the original question - The .243 is probably not the BEST caliber to cast for. Do people cast for the 6mm's ?? Yes they do. But.....
Mike

[Goatwhiskers]

NuJudge, FWIW, any Remington that suffers from "accidental" set-off does not have correct trigger-sear engagement, either from the factory or from a "Bubba" adjustment. It is correctable, or you could just replace the assembly if preferred. GW

[Bret4207]

Had a 600 in 308. Wonderfully accurate, not bad recoil at all IMO. I foolishly sold it and have kicked myself for 30 years! The 243 is the least desirable caliber IMO and not all that cast friendly. The price seems high to me, but I'm still stuck in 1983......

[Kraschenbirn]

In the late 60s, I had an M600 in .308 that I used for a deer and (wild) pig gun while I was stationed at Ft. Bragg. Was short, light, and quick-pointing but recoil and muzzle blast were downright obnoxious. Probably could have corrected both with by handloading but was living on post at the time with my reloading equipment in storage at my folks place in Illinois. Besides, at that specific time, I had access to about all the M80 Ball a man could desire for practice/plinking.

Bill

[Roosters]

Here is a 600 that will make you feel good about the $550 price. They want $15,000.00 for this one.
http://www.gunsamerica.com/992868674...ever_Fired.htm

[oldpapps]

Have and love two of them, 1 is in the dreaded .308 and the second started life as a .222 Rem but was rechamberd to .223 shortly after I got them, cira 1974/5.

The problems:

Un-safe trigger/safety - check the serial numbers with Remington, if this weapon falls in the 'bad' list, Remington will 'fix' it or, preferred, replace with a better after market trigger group. If the serial number is not in the effected list, you will be fine.

That d@# plastic floor plate - it just isn't solid. Replace with a solid aluminum one. Not expensive or difficult, but makes a great difference.

Bolt release - to release the bolt from the action requires a jab with a pin punch at the correct place, pain in the @$$. I bought a commercial fix for both of mine, put one in and the other is in the box it came in. I clean my Garands from the muzzle, so...

Not a problem for old fat men like me. The .308 fired from so light a weapon (8.2 pounds with scope, mounts, sling, loaded) produces a calculated 17.1 foot pounds of recoil energies! (My .223 version has free recoil set at 3.1 foot pounds) It hurts to shoot many shots. My fix is to load back to a muzzle velocity of 2468 FPS and a free recoil number of 11.6 foot pounds. Doesn't sound like much but it is. I also shoot my .375 H&H mag with 300 grain solids and enjoy it, so who's crazy?

The positives, well just a few:

Very handy, light, quick to get on target, very accurate and more. Oh, if short like me, the muzzle doesn't get close to the ground

Enjoy and be very careful,

OSOK

[GabbyM]

Any used 243 you need to be cautious of condition. 243 Win is a 1,600 round barrel life chambering at best. I've never had one go over one thousand rounds as they always endured rapid fire on prairie dogs. Problem comes because most people take a rifle in to tradeoff when they quit shooting. I don't see $550 for any M600 more less a 243 Win. But I'll admit to holding a fancy to the vent ribs. Any good gunsmith with some shotgun rib experience would have no problems attaching the old rib to a new barrel, I'd assume.

Friend of mine's brother brought a M600 in 308 Win up from Arkansas back when we were all kids. We shot that thing at night and the fireball from its' short barrel was about as long as the rifle. Cast boolit loads with fast powder and lower pressures would of been much more pleasant. In 243 Win the short barrel will penalize your velocity more than in the larger bore diameters. I have a couple of 243 A.I varmint rifles that I shoot cast in one. It does great with a 84 grain bullet over 11.0 grains of Unique for about 1,950 fps. That's the max velocity I've been able to run with a 1:10" twist barrel. It shoots sub MOA (.850") at 100 and in light wind does nice at 200 yards. So it's a 100 yard squirrel gun. Bullets I shoot are soft enough I'd expect them to expand and do a good job on coyote and smaller vermin out to 100 yards or more. But I've never tested any of that. Muzzle blast and report are very low from the 26" tube and small powder charge. It cracks about like a 22 Win Mag. This makes for a good late night varmint gun that won't wake up sleeping neighbors past a quarter mile or so. But for the price they are asking I'd just buy a Tika T3 Light. $521 most places. You'd have about ten times the rifle.

[bobthenailer]

In years past i owned 600 rem in 243 & 308 both were handy & very accurate . they shot almost every handload to a inch or better at 100 yards the 308 also shot cast well
I also have a 350 mag built about 35 years ago on a ruger tang saftey short action, 18.5" shilen magna ported barrel . and fajen XXXfancy walnut mannlicher full length stock it weighs 7.5 lbs with a 1.75x6 leupold and is sweet to hunt with and kills game very quickley! . yes it does kick a little more than my 9.5lb 7 mag but the recoil doesent bother me. unless your shooting a 378WB from the bench. .

[243winxb]

Trigger recall info http://www.remington.com/pages/news-...0-and-660.aspx Is it a 600 mohawk or one with a rib? Makes a difference in $. Not for cast, best with J.

[376Steyr]

Over the past few years I've bought several guns only for the reason that they were ones I wanted as a kid, but there was no way I could have had them then. Considering the cost of some of the other things I lusted after as a kid (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) a $550 rifle is a bargain.

[Caliboose]

I bought my 600 in 308 used. I sent the trigger to a competent gunsmith to smooth to no more than 3 lbs. I have killed a train load of deer with it and I can shoot cast into 1 inch. It is light, handy(short) and deadly. What more could you want? They got a bad rep initially due to the plastic. I agree that it is not pretty, but is not a big deal in a functional rifle.

[762 shooter]

My 660 - 308 with a cheapo 30 year old Ram-Line synthetic stock is my meat gun. Deer and pigs apparently don't care how it looks.

762

[CastingFool]

I was gonna mention the trigger recall but a couple of guys already posted it. Good job guys! A friend has a M600 chambered for .308 Win. He claims it kicks like a mule. I have never shot that particular rifle so I can't say whether it does kick. Different people perceive recoil differently.

[orangezuk]

Love my 600 in .308. Great hard hitting brush gun, points well mine has a straight/English grip.
(dad had me start with it for big game, lets just say its mine now "sorry pops")
RN style "30-30" bullet 150-180gr has always performed well.
.243 I'll save that for open country shooting & there's better rifles for that IMO.

[tengaugetx]

I have a 660 in 243 and it is a great gun to carry. About $450 and up was the market on the standard caliber 600 rifles in good condition last time I looked. I haven't looked for a while but you should check gunbroker to see what they are bringing. If you have always wanted one and have the money to buy it, why not?

[telebasher]

Of all the guns that have come and gone thru my hands the one that I truly wish I had back was a model 600 in the 222 Rem. It was homely as a mud fence but was a tack driver with just about any load I shot thru it. I have a 3 year old grandson that loves to go make pow-pow. He has his own eye and ear protection and he loves (with help of course) to shoot my 22 Rem rimfire rifle. Oh well I guess he will have to settle for some old Ruger #1's I have laying around. The older grandson likes Black powder guns so he will be well armed when I leave this earth LOL!