6mm Remington 40X w/28" barrel and 1/10 twist...stabilize a 105 A-Max?

[MQ1]

Guys,

I have a co-worker who has an absolutely beautiful Remington 40x repeater that has a factory stainless 28" 1/10 twist barrel that he purchased new from Remington in the 80's. he has shot this less than 100 times, and once he found that I was into reloading and wildcats, he asked me if I could work up a couple loads for him.

Without any load development, this rifle shoots a 55 grain Nosler BT over a near max load of Varget into an easy 3/8" group. (a load that works very well in my 243AI). The barrel cleans slick as a whistle, and doesn't seem to copper much at all. this thing has an ungodly long throat, and will not load into the mag at all if I am anywhere close to the lands...

I talked with my friend, and he'd like a larger bullet for longer distance critters, and initially I thought that maybe a 105 Amax would be a good fit, but I'm wondering if it will stabilize. As a second choice I'm thinking a 87 V-max load would probably be pretty optimal for the task.

Does anyone have some live data to share regarding the 105 amax in a 1/10 twist to share? Will this bullet stabilize, or would I be just wasting powder and bullets?

Let me know your thoughts,

MQ1

 

[pd721el]

I have a 10 twist Montana barrel on a 700. It will not shoot the 105's of any type, but really likes the 95 gr VLD Bergers. You may want to look there.

 

[40X Guy]

As previously stated, your 40X probably will not stabilize 105's. And those Remington factory barrels do have a long throat. Perfect combo of bullet weight and speed in a 10 twist may be found with the 87 grain V Max bullets you mentioned. Very devastating on varmints and can be loaded to spectacular accuracy especially in your friends 40X. I have found with the 87 grain V Max bullets that your handloads will benefit greatly by sorting the bullets by weight and at least measuring base to ogive. Keep us posted!

Frank

 

[jonbearman]

I had a heavy barrel mossberg model800bv.It had a ten twist and I regularly shot 105 grain speer bullets out of it and it shot sub-moa groups.It really shot about high .2's.I dont understand as rem,federal,winchester all load 100 grainers for these rifles.

 

[Kenny474]

The issue with the 105 A-Max is that it's so long. The 100gr hunting bullets are much shorter and will usually do well in a 1-10 twist, though not always. Stability is actually dependent on bullet length, not weight.

My Savage has a 1-9.5" twist and will not shoot the 105gr A-Max, it just won't do it. Even at 100yds some are hitting sideways, and others just group like a buckshot pattern. But it loves the 95gr Berger VLD's, and the 88gr Varmint High BC FB is super accurate.

If you want a nice long range load for varmints, I would try the 88gr Berger FB, the 95gr Hunting VLD, or the 87gr V-Max. I really like the 88gr Berger and would try that before anything else.

 

[MQ1]

Guys,

Thanks for responses...I talked to my buddy, and he is comfortable with me speding my time developing a load around the 87 V-max, since he is primarily going to shoot rock chucks with this rifle anyhow.

Kenny, I will get back to you on your take on the 1 and 9.5 Savage experience that you had. I am in the process of putting together a low dough, all around, drop me in the mud hunting rifle, and it is essentially a long action Savage 110 with a 1 and 9.25 twist factory varmint barrel that has been shortend and recrowned at 24"...I have heard from many that the 105 Amax shoots very well in the Savage varmint weight barrels, and I'll be disappointed if that is the case for me...I'm counting on the 105 Amax as my deer round, and the 80 grain Berger Varmint Match as my go to coyote medicine.

MQ1

 

[Kenny474]

MQ1,

I have an older Savage that actually has a 1-9.5 twist rather than the new 1-9.25, and it's a pencil barrel as well. I too had heard the Savage barrels would shoot the 105 A-Max, hence my trying it. But this barrel just will not do it. You may have better luck than I, and I hope you do.

Kenny

 

[tunered]

I have never heard of Rem making a 10 twist .243 barrel, All i have heard of is 1x9 1/8 twist. Winchesters standard is 10. ed

 

[bheadboy]

Tunered is right, the Rem 244 was introduced with a 1x12 twist and was killed by the 243win,

Rem then changed the twist to 1x9" and renamed the cartridge to 6mm rem.

your 40x is surely a 1x9 twist and the 104 should work, however the comment that bullet length is the decieding factor in stability not weight, is correct so you will have to test to see.

anything under the 100gr level should work great.

Bob

 

[RJinTexas]

MQ1, A 80's model 700 BDL Varmint Special completely stock except for a well tuned trigger was my first accurate rifle and the 6mmRem and 6mmAI are still one of my favorite cartridges. I believe they out performs the .243 Win by a long shot and I always made sure I take at lease one along when I plan on doing any long range work in a p-dog town. I have several time proven loads that have worked well for me over the years. The following load data is taken from Quick Load. Please be absolutely certain that you observe the OAL and if you need to seat bullets deeper that you reduce the powder charge. These loads are safe in both my my model 700's and 40x but always reduce the chage and work up when developing a load for any rifle. My barrels are 9.25tw, 27.25" & 10tw, 30" long. Like Kenny have not had any luck stabilizing 105 Amax's but have no trouble shooting 100gr hunting bullets. In fact the 9.25tw shoots 100gr Hornady like target bullets.

* LOAD SAFE *
RJ

ALL DATA FROM QUICK LOAD - 6mm Remington SAMMI list as 65000 PSI as MAX!

87gr Vmax - 39.0gr IMR3031 - F210m - oal @ 2.925 = 60016 psi @ 3350 fps

87gr Vmax - 46.3gr H4350 - F210m - oal @ 2.840 = 63839 psi @ 3420 fps

87gr Vmax - 40.5gr Varget - F210m - oal @ 2.830 = 56916 psi @ 3213 fps

87gr Vmax - 45.2gr RL17 - CCI 200 - oal @ 2.840 = 63935 psi @ 3419 fps

80gr Berger - 46.7gr N550 - BR2 - oal @ 3.002 = 63935 psi @ 3535 fps

 

[MQ1]

Thanks for the loads, RJ!

I packed up my buddies rifle and it is back in his hands...he has the test loads for the 87 Vmax and is going to call me with the results when he gets the time to test.

I think that the highest I went was book max on the h4350...which should do well, and without pressure if it responds in a similar fashion as the 55 gr Varget loads that proved to be very accurate in this rifle.

This 40x has a custom barrel 1/10 in twist for those who care to know. I know the history of the 6mm Remington, but I also measured the twist to verify, and it is 1/10.

MQ1