Author Topic: Is The Popularity Of................ (Read 1290 times)

Lawdog · « **on:** October 27, 2005, 02:05:28 PM »

Our gun club collects all brass in 50 gallon barrels. If someone doesnt want their brass the members and their guests are encouraged to put their fired brass in these barrels. Our club then takes the brass and separates it by caliber. .223, .22-250, .243, etc. It is then de-primed, cleaned, polished and packaged into lots of 50 then put up for sale to the members at very reasonable prices. What is really strange is that over the last couple of years 6mm brass is getting scarce. Either more 6mm shooters are getting into reloading or their isnt as many 6mm shooters out there as there used to be. Is the popularity of the 6mms fading or what? If so why do you think its fading? :eek: Lawdog

mjbgalt · « **Reply #1 on:** October 27, 2005, 04:35:01 PM »

do you literally mean the 6mm remington? or the 6mm and the .243 and the .25-06 and all?

its a segment that is a "do it all" and thus someone with a .223 and a .270 could just not need a 6mm rifle. but its also handy in that you dont need more than one gun if you wanna shoot varmints and deer.

dunno...i hope they arent dying out. might just be the fact that dealers in your area dont stock many 6mm guns or something.

-Matt

warf73 · « **Reply #2 on:** October 27, 2005, 08:04:21 PM »

I've never owned a 6mm in any shape or form, and only know 4 people that do.

Not saying the 6mm caliber is bad but doesn’t seem to be popular with the folks that I hang around.

It seems that the 6mm doesn’t cover a gap that really isn’t there? Allot of folks use 22 cal for critters and the 25-30 cal for everything else.

But that is around here and from what I've seen.

Warf

victorcharlie · « **Reply #3 on:** October 28, 2005, 03:56:19 AM »

Was 6mm Remington ever that popular? I thought the 1 in 12 twist and the resulting poor stabilization of 100 grain bullets pretty much killed it before it ever got started. Now I know that they changed the twist, and the case is slightly bigger than a .243.....but, another poor marketing choice by Remington.........

As for the popularity of the 6mm caliber......If you read the posts, there are loads of people who shoot the .243. I think it's popularity is partially due to using a .308 (or 7.62 nato) case.........necked up or down, cartridges based on military cases always seem to gain a certain amount of popularity. Besides, the .243 is a great round!

Brithunter · « **Reply #4 on:** October 28, 2005, 09:13:31 AM »

Hi All,

Well it sure seems that the 6mm Remington is not very popular :roll: I picked up a Parker-Hale 1200V with heavy barrel for a very reasonable price. In fact it was a bit of a steal $171 US (£95 GBP) but so far I have not shot it due to no ammunition. I have found one shop with some in stock but that is nearly 200 miles away and posting it is not an option :roll: plus due to our dumb laws I cannot buy soft point i.e Expanding bullets or ammo as they didn't put that on my certificate :roll:

However I can easliy buy .243 ammo locally. I have never really liked the .243 and if it was not fro the condition of the rifle and the low price I would not have brought this one at all. I will have to order some dies and cases are reload for it using FMJ's or match bullets and see just how accurate it is. :-)

Lawdog · « **Reply #5 on:** October 28, 2005, 12:32:42 PM »

Quote from: mjbgalt

do you literally mean the 6mm remington? or the 6mm and the .243 and the .25-06 and all?

Matt

Matt,

I meant cartridges like the .243 Win. and 6mm/.244 Rem. Quarter bores like the .25-06, .257 Weatherby, etc. are increasing in numbers, according to what is showing up in the fired brass drums. Lawdog

Ramrod · « **Reply #6 on:** October 28, 2005, 12:42:13 PM »

I think the original logic behind the .243 Win, 6mm Rem, or even some of the .25 calibers is no longer valid. Nowadays a hunter wants a seperate gun for varmints, deer, and other big game. So the dual-purpose aspect has been mostly lost. The 6mm was never as popular as the .243, and the Winchester round has taken whats left of the deer hunting market for youths, ladies, and others who don't want the recoil of the larger rounds.

Lone Star · « **Reply #7 on:** October 28, 2005, 03:31:53 PM »

Even though the 6mms were introduced 50 years ago, they remain popular. I suspect that your case sample is not at all representative of the country at large - it may reflect the changing popularity of the 6mms in your area only.

The 2004 RCBS Top 50 Die Set Chart has the .243 in 12th place, ahead of 9mm Luger, the .30-30, the 7-08 and all the .257s and 6.5s. If die sales have anything to do with popularity, the .243 is alive and well. Perhaps the lack of brass means that someone is doing a lot more handloading than in the past.

Dave in WV · « **Reply #8 on:** October 28, 2005, 03:43:50 PM »

It seems around here the .243 is alive and well. In fact, you hear more are buying them than in years past. The latest magnum craze is helping that along. :wink:

cal sibley · « **Reply #9 on:** October 29, 2005, 05:28:15 PM »

In a way I'm not surprised you don't see more .243Win. and 6mm Rem. brass in the empty brass buckets. Both of these cartridges are used a good bit for varminting, and varmint hunters are most often reloaders, and save their brass. The 6mm Rem. never was too popular to begin with due to Remingtons fiasco with the rifles barrel twist when it was introduced. My 6mm Rem. has a 1 in 9 1/4" barrel twist and handles the heavier 100gr. bullets very well. There's not much performance difference
in the other weights between the two calibers. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

Lone Star · « **Reply #10 on:** October 29, 2005, 05:49:04 PM »

Regarding the Remington .244/6mm issue, I tend to agree with Jack O'Connor as to the reasons the 6mm came in a poor second to the .243. The twist rate was an issue (although shooters like Warren Page fired factory .224s with 100-grain handloads and got good accuracy - I bet they used the shorter Speers) but perhaps the biggest issue was the platform itself. The .243 came in the light, sexy M70 rifle with all the hype and history of that rifle, while the .244 was introduced in the clunky M721, almost as ugly as it's ancestor the Enfield 1917. When comparing them in the gun store, would you buy the lightweight M70 or the clunky, heavy M721? Easy choice.

Don Fischer · « **Reply #11 on:** October 29, 2005, 06:11:09 PM »

I'm probally wrong but didn't the 1917 Enfield in Remington attire get called the Model 30? I thought the Model's 721 &722 were forrunners of the 700?

Ramrod · « **Reply #12 on:** October 29, 2005, 06:20:40 PM »

Don, I believe you are correct. I had a .244, it was the model 722. The reciever was identical to the later model 700. When I broke the extractor, I dropped a 700 extractor in, it fit perfectly. The model 30 was the old Enfield, without the bulky rear sight.

Lone Star · « **Reply #13 on:** October 29, 2005, 06:46:05 PM »

Guys, the M721 was an ugly bird compared to the svelte M70. Remington made the ugly M1917 Enflield and the ugly M30. The Enfield is the M721's ancestor like the M1873 is the ancestor of the M1894; they don't have to be almost the same rifle. :roll:

Ramrod · « **Reply #14 on:** October 29, 2005, 08:12:19 PM »

Lone Star, you are not even close. You have obviously have never seen any of these rifles. I had a 1917 Enfield too, so I know what I'm talking about. Yes, the 721 and 722 are butt ugly, but Remington spruced up their looks and re-named them the model 700. These were brand new actions, and have no more resemblence to the model 30 than the Winchester model 70 has to the Krag rifle.

Mac11700 · « **Reply #15 on:** October 29, 2005, 09:44:41 PM »

Lawdog:

Sounds like a regional problem your seeing.243 users are going strong here...most of the brass left on the ranges around here are 22LR...223...243...30-30...7.62x39...30-06...and... 270 and a ton of pistol brass...

Mac

Lone Star · « **Reply #16 on:** October 30, 2005, 02:22:45 AM »

Quite a supposition there 'rod - and as usual not even close to accurate. I have indeed seen all of these rifles and have owned two of them. What in my posts is so difficult for you to understand? The entire point was that Remington built ugly bolt rifles compared to Winchester.

Apparently you are hung up on my use of the word ancestor. Okay, how about its synonym predecessor, does that offend you less? I thought that my preceeding post had straightened things out by comparing the ancestral M1873 to it's decendent the M1894, both lever actions but sharing no parts. I guess you missed that one though, too bad.

an*ces*tor (an'ses'ter) 2. A forerunner or predecessor.

The Sodbuster · « **Reply #17 on:** October 30, 2005, 04:23:42 AM »

As part of my job I occasionally have to empty the trash barrels at a public shooting range. Being a scrounger, I pick up whatever decent, rifle brass I come across. Not counting rimfire, pistol, and military brass (.223, 7.62X39, 7.62X54 rimmed), the most popular calibers seem to be:

.30-06 Sprgfld
.30-30 Win
.270 Win
.25-06
.243 Win
.22-250

Without a doubt, .30-06 and .30-30 are the most abundant this time of year. Still see a moderate amount of .243 Win, but .270 and .25-06 are more common. This fall I've come across one 6mm Remington case.

What really amazes me is how many people must be out there shooting Russian military stuff (7.62X39 and 7.62X54 rimmed). Don't know if they hunt with these or not, but I'd take a .243 Win or 6mm Rem over them any day.

buzztail · « **Reply #18 on:** October 30, 2005, 11:01:47 AM »

There is no shortage of 6mm brass around here- it's all Lapua 6mmBR