Wanting to convert a 243 to 6mm Remington

[horsemen61]

Alright guys my buddy concocted a wild idea to buy a savage 243 and have the barrel swapped with one in 6mm Remington a would this work if done by a pro b how much would you have to change IE bolt face extractor any and all advice is appreciated

Thanks horsemen61

 

[frankenstein406]

On some savages you just need a barrel wrench, barrel and no go gauge and your in business if I remember right. Sometimes you need to do more.

 

[Jim Watson]

The bolt face is the same. I don't know about the magazine, but anybody going after the small gain of 6mm vs .243 is probably a target shooter who loads singles anyhow.

Agree, Savage barrel replacement is a reasonable DIY. The nut wrench and barrel vise cost less than what a gunsmith would charge to change the barrel on a Remington etc.

I used a Go gauge, not No Go on mine.
Screw the new barrel down until it contacts the Go gauge, tighten the nut, and you are about 1.5 thousandth over minimum.

 

[Kp321]

Frankenstein 406 is right, all you need is a Savage barrel nut wrench, a barrel vise and something to headspace on. Some people use a factory cartridge. I prefer go and no-go gauges. Some of the new Savage rifles have a smooth barrel nut which is very difficult to deal with. If you have one of these rifles, you will need an action wrench rather than a Savage nut wrench. Either way, it is a lot of tools to buy for one job. Is there a local smith who works on Savages? He might be cheaper than the tools. Personally, I don't charge as much for Savage barrel swaps as Remington or Winchester since they are more straight forward on the head spacing.

 

[LAGS]

I traded a rifle for a Savage 10 for the same reason.
I have the wrench and a barrel vise, so All I need to get is the barrels and I have the headspace gages already to change it from .308 to .243, or 6mm or 7mm-08, 7x57 and even the 257 roberts.
All those cases use a .473 Bolt face, and take the same extractor, as do many other of the Medium length rifle cartridges.

 

[frankenstein406]

Also I think on the axis model the back of the magazine basically moves back and forth to adjust for different cartridge lengths.

 

[rcmodel]

my buddy concocted a wild idea to buy a savage 243 and have the barrel swapped with one in 6mm Remington

There is no logical reason to re-barrel a .243 Win to 6MM Rem.

Except when it comes to hand loading.

The 6mm has a longer case neck, and a little more shoulder taper, which helps slow case stretch.

Realistically, they are almost ballistic twins, and there is no performance gain worth the cost of converting.

Slightly longer case life is not worth the cost of conversion either.

rc

 

[dubbleA]

Alright guys my buddy concocted a wild idea to buy a savage 243 and have the barrel swapped with one in 6mm Remington a would this work if done by a pro b how much would you have to change IE bolt face extractor any and all advice is appreciated

That's a wild idea alright. I would have to ask why?

 

[horsemen61]

To all who offered advice thank you I was curious how hard it would be seems doable to all who asked why well here it is my buddy likes something different in his eyes being able to buy 243 anywhere is a problem he likes to stand out so to say not for bragging purposes he just enjoys being a little bit odd from time to time and his hobbies reflect that

 

[LAGS]

Actually I prefer the 6mm over the .243 and have had both at the same time.
Yes, I do handload, and the 6mm will shoot a 120 gr custom bullet better than a .243 for use on larger game like Deer.

 

[rcmodel]

But would you pay a few hundred dollars for a new barrel or professional re-chambering & stuff to switch one of your .243's to a 6mm???

I thought not.

rc

 

[LAGS]

@ Rcmodel
But I would.
I do most of my own work, and like to have the calibers that I want to shoot.
I would have both barrel for the Savage, but I doubt if I would hog out a .243 factory barrel and make in into 6mm. that is kind of counterproductive when I can build a barrel from a good blank.
Right now I lost access to a lathe and mill due to the economy, and that is why the Savage with interchangable barrels fits the bill.
It is no different then the guy who has a safe full of Wildcat caliber rifles .
Because a caliber is not currently Popular, does not mean it is dead.

Hmmm
Come to think of it, Weren't the .243 and 6mm's Wildcat calibers at one time ?

 

[Jim Watson]

You CAN'T "hog out" a .243 barrel to .244, the Winchester reamer will not clean up the Remington chamber. You could set the barrel way back to get a new chamber, but as you say, why bother?

The original .240 Paige on .308 brass was given a steeper shoulder. When Winchester started mass producing it, they stayed with the same shoulder angle as .308, it probably saved them money.

There was the .240 PSP which was based on .257 Roberts and looks an awful lot like a .244 Improved.

The .243 Rockchucker was close to .244; the .243 Super Rockchucker was a 6mm-'06.

 

[witchhunter]

Doesn't make sense to me Horse, you might want to have your buddy shoot the .243 BEFORE he orders a 6mm barrel. He might fall in love with the .243 like a lot of other guys (like me). There isn't a nickel's worth of difference between them, which doesn't add up to the cost of the barrel. It might be cheaper to have it reamed to 6mm than buy a new barrel though...or ream it to Ackley Improved and get the better case and the better velocity.

 

[dprice3844444]

buy a single shot with interchangeable barrels.easier and cheaper.scopes will be on a stable platform.so no need to rezero. you can get match grade barrels to any contour.no wrenches needed

 

[LAGS]

I have to agree with Witchhunter.
For 99% of the people the .243 is a darn good round, you can find the ammo and it is good for everything from Gophers to Deer.
But if you try to set back a .243 barrel and rechamber it for the 6mm , your benifits don't cover the cost or your time if you can do it yourself.
Very few rifles are built in the 6mm any more, so geting an old one, or having one custom made is your limited option if you like shooting that caliber.
But there are the Die Hard Old Schools guys still around that wont let a caliber die.

 

[witchhunter]

Lags, I agree about us "not letting a caliber die", I am guilty of that too. I have had a .220 Swift and a .22/250 since the 70's. I know, there isn't a nickel's worth of difference in velocity there either. I get that he wants a 6mm. Just trying to talk some dollars and sense about this conversion. I recently bought a .243 to rebarrel into a .22/250 for a new coyote rifle. After a few rounds through it, I am going to keep it a .243 as it is a shooter. It shoots 58 grain Vmaxes into a 1/2 inch. I can't take that barrel off now!

 

[LAGS]

@ Witchhunter.
Why cant you take the barrel off.
You are right in Prime Gunsmith area with the school over at the college.
There are an abundance of options to you.

 

[morcey2]

@ Witchhunter.
Why cant you take the barrel off.
You are right in Prime Gunsmith area with the school over at the college.
There are an abundance of options to you.

I don't think he was referring to the physical capability of taking the barrel off, but to the fact that it shoots better than he expected and wants to keep it now.

I'm building a 6mm rem on a 1909 Argentine receiver and specifically chose the 6 over the 243 due to the longer neck and somewhat better case capacity. (and I have a thing for the 57mm cases.) As for the OP, the 6mm would work in a short action, but you wouldn't be buying much at all over the 243. If your friend wants to really stand out, convert it to something like 6mm-250 or 6mm Creedmore.

Matt

 

[frankenstein406]

But would you pay a few hundred dollars for a new barrel or professional re-chambering & stuff to switch one of your .243's to a 6mm???

I thought not.

rc

Many times you can find someone willing to trade barrels.

 

[witchhunter]

Lags, I keep my gunsmith busy, don't worry. Just not ready to switch this one out, it's a keeper. Yup he went to school here a long time ago. Horse, if your buddy wants a 6mm go for it. I think most of us were just sayin there isn't a whole lot of difference for the cost to switch. If he is buying a new barrel make sure to get the right twist for the bullet he wants to use. If yer gonna do it, do it right!

 

[CCW1911]

You could rechamber to 6mm Ackley Improved. Don't know about Savage but Remington 243 magazines need a lot of work to fit 6mm Remmy.