6mm BR Remington ammo

[JayHutch]

I recently came into a custom made 6mmBR. My very good friend of 35 years died last year. I now have the rifle. Beautiful rifle, but I don't know much about it. 2 questions. First info on the rifle raising these questions: The barrel is marked 'Jim Greenawalt-6mmBR Rem'. I'm very much a newbee in the benchrest world. I'm an AR guy. He was an avid re-loader. He didn't fire this much. Rifle has a 24' stainless barrel, VERY light custom trigger and it looks like a remington action, with straight fluted bolt. 24x Leupold scope mounted. Absolutely gorgeous tiger grain walnut stock. Not typical benchrest stock with flat grip. Maybe set up for varminting? Jerry only bought the best. I suspect this is a good one. 1) Does anybody know anything about the gunsmith, Jim Geenawalt? 2) I have been told I should rechamber in 6BR NORMA. Would that hurt the value of this rifle, or simply allow me to use factory NORMA ammo? Seems like 6mmBR Remington is no longer avaailable. Bought some Lapau 6BR and it does not chamber. I realize it is slightly different and this rifle IS 6mmBR Rem.

Soooooo - are 6mmBR Rem cartridges even available should I start to reload? I've never done it, but sounds like fun. If not and/or they are hard to come by, doesn't it make sense to re-chamber to 6BR NORMA specs? I read on this forum that you can shoot 6mmBR Rem in a rifle chambered for NORMA spec. Is that true. Thanks in advance to any and all who can help me out learning about this rifle. Sorry for the long post. Sentimental value here, so I wanna do this right. - Jay

 

[RICHP]

The Remington ammo can still be found, saw some at a gun show in Mesquite, Texas last summer. I have three hundred rds myself. Richard

 

[Travelor]

Read here: http://www.6mmbr.com/6mmbr.html

Be careful as there are two versions of the 6mmBR Rem out there. The shorter ones can be made for the 6mmBR Norma length cases. ,I ahve about 200+ of these shorter cases made by Remington if your gun turns out to be for that verson of the cartridge, let me know.)

But if you 'assume' you have the shorter necked chamber and shorten your cases when you actually have the longer neck cases - crying will commence.

Best advice wuold be to do a chamber case to see whihc version you have. That is, unless you ahve some cases that came with the gun - of so measure them.

Sounds like a great gun!

George

 

[expiper]

Hi Jay...sounds like you have first class varmint rig there...Im shure the quality of materials and workmanship is stunning...
As u know and have been told...make shure what chamber dims are and check the twist in the bbl...it is proly a 14 twist which was in vogue 30 yrs ago...I have had em since the early 70's and in the day the thooughts of using bullets bigger than 68gr was unheard of.
Most loade ammo today is 80 or 105 gr and prolly wont stablize in your bbl....and the brass is Norma/Lapua which is dimensionally larger at the .200 line and 1.560' long vs. the old 1.520 original Rem. BR dims....and it is prolly tight neck..too,,.262' or thereabouts!!)),,,check and verify everything...!!!!!
If you are gonna shoot groundhogs and pucnh a lil' paper just find some old Rem brass and have a ball,,of course turn em to fit!!))....BUTTTT ...if you want to use the NEW stuff you PROBABLY will have to re-chamber it...either way I bet your ole' buddy wuld want you to shoot the thunder out of it and enjoy it for all its worth....Roger

 

[JayHutch]

Thanks for these replies Roger, George & Richard. I'm learning 6BR fast. Sounds like I will need to get serious about reloading. Having a hard time finding the older 6mmBR Rem ammo or brass. Think I'll rechamber in order to use the newer factory ammo and have more options. Now I'm seeing here that NORMA spec's an Lapua spec's are different! Geeez.

I guess if I'm going to want the best brass it's lapua, so I should chamber to that and I can reload AND buy factory ammo? Am I on the right track here?

Last - If I take this rifle to a good smithy will he be able to measure the exact chamber spec's and determine the barrel twist? Sounds like I need to know the barrel twist for sure huh?

HEY - by the way I left something out - the barrel actually says the following: 'Jim Greenawalt-6mm BR Rem.-262 N.D.' What does the 262 N.D. mean?

Jay

 

[expiper]

the gunsmith did a great job...that is the way it shuld be marked....
ND --Neck Dia.
FB--Free Bore
a # like 14 or 8 and a 'T' usually mean TWIST
...and the fact that it says Rem BR ...'probably' means the old base dia. or the orginal Rem BR brass....so as you are realizing the old stuff is all that will go without lots of problems...and the overall length is prolly 1.520...tooo short for the Norma/Lapua brass without trimmng....
YOU are thinkin right....get the chamber reamed out to the modern specs and enjoy a fine rifle...Roger

 

[JayHutch]

Roger - THANKS again for your thoughts. It really helps. I'm reading and absorbing everything I can find. I've changed my mind. Gonna keep the rifle just as Jerry used it. Already bought reloading gear. Looks like fun. Seems kinda complex at first, but not. Once set-up and adjusted it's mechanical, and precise. I'm a careful guy. Apparently Remington does still make the 1.520' brass a couple times a year. Jerry's son's found some prep'ed brass already sized & primed ready for charging. Found his die set too. They are looking for his recipies too. He was a seriou reloader for over 40 years. Be nice to know what he liked to feed it. The brass is exactly 1.520 case length, .262 OD at the neck. Sure looks like the original size and once fired, since the neck is exactly 262. Nothing on the barrel re: twist tho. Be nice to know.

I think I'm picking up everything I need to get a serious start to this rifle. Any 'can't do without' suggestions? - Jay

 

[js223]

You can find out the twist yourself.
If you don't have it yet, get a bore guide and a good cleaning rod like a Dewey. Then put a patch on the jag and start it. Mark the rod, slowly push it in and watch it turn. Measure the distance it goes for a complete turn and you have the twist,14' to make one revolution is a 14 twist, etc).

 

[bglenn]

Jay
This is a tight neck chamber. Tight neck meaning the outside of the necks have to be turned to fit the chamber. loaded rounds should not measure Any larger than .261 over the neck. On the first loading I Mike all the necks to be sure something didn't slip through. Could be very high pressure if a neck measures .262 the some as your chamber. More than likely they will all fit from the former owner but better to be safe than sorry.

Glenn

 

[JayHutch]

THANKS Glen - I'm learning fast. I did the barrel twist thing Friday. Looks like it's 1:14, so no large bullets here huh? Thinking 65 gr would be tops? Good advice on the necks. Picked up the rest of the stuff today. Some priceless pieces. 1) A 4 pound plastic pretzel case full of 6mm BR Rem brass - ALL PRIMED and most new. 2) a Redding 6mm BR Rem neck sizing die 3) a Forster Benchrest Die set containing a Forster 6BR Rem sizing die AND a what looks to be a custom made seating die. Says 'Neil Johnson Custom Products' on it and has a micrometer like head on top. It's set,not sure what for), so I won't mess with it other than fitting to my press. Like to find out how it works. On the Forster box written in permanent marker '30g-2015-70SPHP BT'. I'm new at this but think the last part is 70 grain bullet, Spire hollow point, boat tail? Have no idea what the '30g-2015' means. The dies had two dummy rounds that I can measure for exact case length, ND and OAL. If yer interested the cases are 1.502 on my dial calipers and the ND .261. They chamber nicely. How did he turn those necks down like that? An outside neck turner? The brass in the big container all has a much larger neck and I'll have to trim the cases down. No problem there. 4) last were 300,3 boxes) of Berger 6mm 65 gr moly bullets. A gold mine Glen.

Looks like I'm nearly ready to roll. This is exciting. I'm a little leary of making sure I have the bullets seated properly for the chamber FB. I know I have the case length measurement. The one's he had in a jar 'ready to charge' ranged from 1.500 to 1.503. The ND is very small/tight. I measure .262, but I'll recheck as the .261 you mention makes sense.

Thanks for the great advice and if you have any more advice or answers my ears are wide open. THANKS again. - Jay

 

[bglenn]

I did the barrel twist thing Friday. Looks like it's 1:14, so no large bullets here huh? Thinking 65 gr would be tops?
A 14 twist will shoot a 68 gr. bullet maybe a 70 gr.

A 4 pound plastic pretzel case full of 6mm BR Rem brass - ALL PRIMED and most new.
A lot of Remington brass comes new with the primers installed so don't assume they have been worked because of primers being installed.

On the Forster box written in permanent marker '30g-2015-70SPHP BT'. I'm new at this but think the last part is 70 grain bullet, Spire hollow point, boat tail?
-70SPHP BT = '70 gr. Spire Point Hollow Point boat Tail' I believe

The dies had two dummy rounds that I can measure for exact case length, ND and OAL. If yer interested the cases are 1.502 on my dial calipers and the ND .261. They chamber nicely.
I like to have .oo2 to .003 clearance on the neck

How did he turn those necks down like that? An outside neck turner?
more than likely a outside neck turner I use a lathe.

The brass in the big container all has a much larger neck and I'll have to trim the cases down. No problem there. 4) last were 300,3 boxes) of Berger 6mm 65 gr moly bullets.
What does it say on the boxes? Match - mef

Looks like I'm nearly ready to roll. This is exciting. I'm a little leary of making sure I have the bullets seated properly for the chamber FB.
As long as you start at a book starting load the only thing a bullet seated to long causes it the bullet has to be pushed back into the case for the bolt to close. load a empty case,no primer or powder) with a bullet seated into the case measure the over all length,OAL)try the dummy if the bolt has a lot of Resistance seat the bullet in further. When the bolt will close take the dummy out and check the OAL again.

I know I have the case length measurement. The one's he had in a jar 'ready to charge' ranged from 1.500 to 1.503. The ND is very small/tight. I measure .262, but I'll recheck as the .261 you mention makes sense.
Are these measurements from fired cases?

Glenn

 

[JayHutch]

Thanks agian Glenn - this is very helpful. Hope I'm not wearing out my welcome. The large plastic container is new brass with primers for sure,brass shiny inside). It hasn't been worked at all. He had a butter tub with 20+ casings marked 'ready to load'. Those clearly had been worked,length trimmed and neck turned). I'm suspecting I would use the full length Forster die on the new cases. The fire formed cases you would only neck size with the Redding right?

I understand you would like to see the necks at .002 or .003 chamber clearance. My Lyman dial caliper is saying .261 on the 2 dummy rounds,one has a 65 gr Berger moly & the other a jacketed something). Haven't even fired the rifle yet,dang-it) so I don't have a fire formed case. Just went down and measured every one of the already worked cases. Interesting. 10 are new and 10 fired) The ones which have clearly been fired ALL measure n.d = .260. The worked brass still shiny inside is measuring .262 in most cases. Too tight? If I'm understanding, you'd like to see that at .260 or .259 right? Should I turn further? All are measuring .010 neck skin. Cannot find an outside neck turn tool @ Gerry's house. His son's are selling everything he has at a garage sale this coming weekend. They will let me have everything that is 6mmBR specific. If I can't find his outside turn tool do you have a suggestion for a good tool I should buy for simple outside neck turning of cases?

By the way, all it says on the Berger bullets is '6mm 65gn Burger Bullets' 'MOLY' is stamped on the top. Black box /yellow label. They measure .830-.832 in length.

Thanks for all your help Glenn - it's valuable. - Jay

 

[bglenn]

Jay
I'll get with you later.

Glenn