.244 Remington Accuracy With 100 gr?

[Chumango]

I recently came into possession of my grandfather's Sako .244 Remington. It looks almost new. I am interested in working up a load for it (it came with press and dies) and I would prefer to use a 100 gr for flexibility for deer hunting in addition to target practice.

I read that the 1 in 12 twist is not enough to stabilize a 100 gr slug. But just what does this mean in terms of accuracy? I am not after a single hole at 300 yads. Reasonable accuracy for hunting will do. If I eventually get into very high accuracy, I will work up a load with an 85 grain slug.

Is there a way to load around this to maximize accuracy with the 100 gr slug? What specifically should I do (type of bullet, etc.)? Or is it hopeless? Like I said, I would prefer 100 gr, but I see that the Nosler Partition is available in 85 gr, which would probably also work on deer.

I shot it for the first time the other day, and fired a few 100 gr factory loads at the end of the session. Without a real rest I had 2.5-2.75" groups at 100 yards. By then my groups were opening up due to a sore shoulder and fatigue, so I don't know how much better it would be with a hand load and a real bench rest (and a shoulder that was not sore).

I am new to loading rifle ammo, and I am trying to decide where to start with this rifle. Any suggestions will be welcome.

 

[Geno]

The twist is perfect for 100 Grain bullets!

The twist is perfect for 100 Grain bullets! It might be a bit slow for the 115 grain bullets, but you won't know until you try them. Fast twist rate is for heavy bullets. Slow twist rates is for lighter bullets. The normal range that I encountered for my .244 Rem (6MM Rem) were 85 to 115 grains. I usually hunted with Nosler Partition 95 grain bullets. I consistently maintained 3/8 inch groups at 300 yards with my handloads in a Rem. 700V. It should be excellent! Post an update please.

Doc2005

 

[Chumango]

Thanks, Doc. Was that rifle the 1 in 12 twist, or the 1 in 9 of the 6 mm?

Would I be better off accuracy wise with this twist rate using a regular 100 gr spitzer or can I expect good results with a boat tail (for example the Scirocco II)?

Would you mind sharing some good loads?

 

[GooseGestapo]

Conventional wisdom has it that the .244 twist rate was too slow for the 100gr bullets.

However, I'd try some and see.

I have a Remington Mod7 w/18.5"bbl that shoots the 65gr Sierra BTSP quite well when driven over 25.0gr of RL-15 to ~3,000fps. Sierra recommends a 1/8-1/10twist for this bullet.

My 1/12 .223 didn't "get the memo".

However, you couldn't go wrong with the 95gr or even 85gr Nosler Partitions. The 85gr Part. was developed expressly for the .244/6mmRem with the slower twist. You'll likely have a problem with the longer 95gr ballistic tips, or any of the boat-tailed 100gr or heavier bullets. But then again, you never know until you try.

Most of the "complaints" I've heard have been with the Longer boatailed bullets.

Remember too, that you'll have a splendidly accurate varmint rifle too!

The Remington 80gr Ptdt has a large following in this area as a DEER bullet. I've found them to be a little frangible for my tastes, but at longer ranges where it has slowed down, it does very well.

The Remington 100gr CorLokt is "short" for a 100gr bullet and will probably do well.

Just remember, run the bullets to the high end of velocity potential, and you'll probably get good results with your .244.

Let us know how it does. Many long time "myths" have been debunked in the past 10yrs of so. This may be another one that needs to fall by the wayside.

 

[Geno]

My barrel (I believe) had 1 twist in 12"

My barrel (I believe) was a 1 twist in 12 inches. As you can note, 3/8" at 300 yards is definitively accurate! I loaded with form-fired brass, neck-resized only. I used Federal 210 benchrest primers and IMR 4064 powder. I will not post the powder load, but will say that I was able to work up slowly to velocities that exceeded the max-indicated by over 200 FPS before I observed any primer blow-back/setback around the firing pin!!! It was a very hot load. In fact, I exceeded the velocity of the "famed" .240 Wea Mag's velocity. For added accuracy, I used to seat the bullet about 1/16 of an inch into the rifling. If I tried to extract the cartridge, it would leave the projectile stuck in the rifling. I think you can note by my excitement that this was one of my favorite varmint and whitetail loads. It was over-kill for varmint, but the accuracy and velocity were tremendous!

Doc2005