The original 700 Classic Limited Edition (top) had a 25-year run. The current CDL-SF Limited Edition is in its sixth year of a series. Note the prominent recoil pad on the new gun. Sundra likes the stock of the original better.
The 6mm is a bit much as a prairie rat rifl e, but not for long-range work on big eastern woodchucks like this.
or accuracy of the test gun, I nonethe- less took it to the range and ran some 75 rounds through it just for fun. First however, I needed to stick a scope on it. I chose one of Bushnell’s excellent Elite 4200 series in a 2.5-10x42, which I affi xed using Millett rings on Weaver- type bases. Range-ready the rig tipped the scale at 8¾ lbs. I thought the optics a nice match to the ballistic capabilities of the fl at-shooting 6mm Rem. There are eight commercial ammo
offerings for the 6mm Rem., yet only one is from Big Green, a 100-grain Core-Lokt PSP. That really surprised me because Remington offers eight … yes, eight loads for its arch rival, the .243 Win.! Has this cartridge, which is actually better ballistically than the .243, fallen that much out of favor in the eyes of the company that spawned it? I ask that because Federal offers four 6mm Rem. loads for what for them is an adopted cartridge. Even Hornady of-
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fers two loads for the 6mm Remington, a 95-grain SST and a 100-grain BTSP, and Winchester offers one, a 100-grain Power Point. By the time I was able to get out to the range, I managed to round up all but two of the eight factory loads — the Winchester 100-grain and the 95-grain Hornady. I guess Remington’s lack of com-
mitment is a lesson in how important it is for a new cartridge — back when it was introduced as the .244 Rem. — to get off to a good start, with good press and no issues. It kinda reminds me how the .280 Rem. suffered a similar, less-than-stellar reception when it was rolled out in 1958. The .280 was at least the equal of the .270 Win., and more versatile to boot, but it too had teeth- ing problems because it was initially offered only in Remington’s Model 740 autoloader and 760 slide-action rifl es. Though it had more potential than the .270, it could not be factory-loaded to the same pressure levels. Had Reming- ton done so and offered it in their bolt action Model 721, it might very well have been a different story. Like the .244, Remington tried to breathe new life into the moribund .280 by chang- ing its name to 7mm Express Rem. and upping its velocity, but to this day its popularity pales compared to the .270. It should come as no surprise
that the test rifl e performed without a hitch, and four of the six loads turned in at least one sub-MOA three-shot group. The smallest was, appropri- ately enough, the work of Remington’s 100-grain Core Lokts, but the best three- group average was a virtual tie at 0.85" between Hornady’s 100-grain BTSP and Federal’s 85-grain Triple Shock. None of the other three loads averaged more than 1.45" for nine shots. The 6mm Rem. is a very good
cartridge for anyone wanting a rifl e that can span the gap between long- range varmint/predator applications and deer/antelope hunting. However, in recent years the 6mms in general have lost a lot of the following they once had because today’s gun savvy hunters are less interested in versatility; they want two or three rifl es, each of which is meant to excel at a specifi c task rather than compromising at several. Of course in benchrest competition, the 6mm bore pretty much dominates. Bottom line: the 6mm Rem. is as
good a cartridge as it’s always been, and one of the best and most handsome hosts you’ll fi nd for it is Remington’s CDL-SF Limited Edition. It’s a unique rifl e that has a modicum of collectors’ value, yet in no way is it too fancy to discourage its use as a working rifl e.
Phone: 605-341-5211
Fax: 605-341-0431
strum@rapidcity.net
Page 30
First Stop Guns 701 Main Street
Rapid City, SD 57701
Sightron Sport Optics Headquarters July — September 2011
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