What do you think about the Remington 600?

[taylorce1]

I still say you would be better off buying new verses used at that price of 460.00. Marlin X7 or a Savage anything. Both have much better rifle technology and materials used in their making. When compared to an experimental obsolete hard to find parts for rifle such as the 600 is.

My question is what is he truly going to get that's better for $460? The way I look at it he'll get a new rifle with a plastic stock and in most cases a plastic trigger guard if it is a blind magazine, and the rifle will weigh around 7lbs. What I see that he gets when he buys a used M600 in .308 win is a compact hunting rifle that weighs in 5.5lbs before adding a scope and mounts, a more rigid stock than any he'll get new in that price range, and the Nylon trigger guard and vented rib can be replaced if he can get the parts imported. The M600 is far from an obsolete design, and there is plenty of parts still available, but since the OP is from Mexico they might be difficult to get.

Where can anyone buy a good light weight compact rifle for less than $500. The only compact hunting rifle he can probably get is the Ruger American Compact for around $400 and it is a full .5lbs heavier, and has a junky stock with no aftermarket replacement. Most other compact models a person can find will be youth models and not offered in .308 Win. Then there is the Ruger Hawkeye Compact that weighs only .25lbs heavier but will cost in the neighborhood of $650, or the Hawkeye AW Compact .5lbs heavier and starts at $700. The only production rifle that weighs less is the Kimber Montana and Mountain Ascent which start at $1100 for the Montana and only goes up from there for the Ascent.

Now before anyone goes arguing my weight of the M600 being 5.5lbs, the M600 Magnum weighs in around 6.5lbs and had a laminate stock and little heavier contour barrel for the 6.5 and .350 Remington Magnums. The Chuck Hawks article referenced earlier was about the M600 Magnum. So depending on the ultimate goal of what the purchaser of the rifle is looking for the M600 may be exactly what they want. Now if a guy just wants to purchase a good rifle then there might be other cheaper options that are just as good.

Another thing that people tend to forget is the M600 action was in production up until 1998 in the form of the XP100 pistol. The M600 eventually evolved into the M7 action that Remington now uses. Where Remington incorporated the smaller action size with features from the M700 to make a more compact light weight short action rifle. M7 and M600 parts are not interchangeable, nor do they fit the same stocks without a lot of modification.

 

[44 AMP]

A lot of people put down the 600 series rifles, because they aren't what those people think they ought to be. I have always loved them for what they are.

My first deer rifle was a Rem 600 in .308 Win. My father gave it to me, and I still have it, 40+ years later.

They are guns meant to be carried a lot, and shot, at game. yes, they have light barrels, and heat up fast. But 2-3 shots (even fast) stay close and my experience is if you haven't gotten your game by then, you are unlikely to.

People point out how the cartridges (especially the magnums) don't get their full performance in the short barrels. How the blast is fierce. At this, I laugh.

If you want full performance (from any gun) you need a long(ish) barrel. I find it humorous some of the same people who decry the loss of velocity from a 600 carbine barrel are just fine with the short barrel of an M4 AR or a SOCOM M1A.

NO other factory rifle I know of (other than the Rem Model 7) comes close to the 600 series rifles, in terms of size, weight, power, and ease of handling as a combination. Sure, there are limitations. You aren't going to get top MV, but then, you aren't carrying an 8lb rifle with a 26" tube, either.

And nothing (not even the Model 7) gives all these things in the price range of a decent 600, even today.

My first Model 600 sold new for $99.95, steeper than the Win & Marlin .30-30s most commonly used in the area. Even fitted with a small scope, and sling, they come in under 7lbs, generally perform somewhere between very good and adequate, carry well, and look neat (to me).

They have their quirks, and have had issues (Rem trigger). I, and others have written about this before, search a bit and you will find some more good information.

Personally, I would take an old 600, at a reasonable price before I would buy a new bigger heavier gun, for the same money. Unless I had a specific desire that a 600 series rifle just cannot do, they are a tough combination to beat.

Remington's biggest mistake with the 600 was making it at a time before the public was aware of its desire for a scout rifle, at a time when plastic, even space age nylon wasn't well accepted by the shooting public, the styling was ..unconventional, in an era when buyers were more conventionally conservative than they are today.

 

[Jack O'Conner]

This is my older 660 in .308 with 2X-7X scope. I've hunted with this amazing carbine for over 40 years - no problems at all. Years ago, the barrel channel was glass-bedded and trigger lightened to 3lbs. This improved accuracy for me.

This heavy bodied forky was taken in Black Hills Nat'l Forest of South Dakota.

Jack

 

[Keg]

One of the best early small carbine size bolt actions....If the gun is clean..that would be a good price around here....

 

[Ben Towe]

Another thing that people tend to forget is the M600 action was in production up until 1998 in the form of the XP100 pistol.

Actually they are still in production as the XR-100 Rangemaster rifle. I have one in .22-250 that's a good shooter.

 

[steveNChunter]

Actually they are still in production as the XR-100 Rangemaster rifle. I have one in .22-250 that's a good shooter.

That rifle was only made from '05-'07. It also came in .204 and .223. I wish they still made it but sadly they don't. Better hang on to your's, there aren't that many of that particular model around.

 

[BumbleBug]

...The rifle has one very good feature over most more "modern" rifles - the scope mount base fits over an upward extension of the recoil lug (sandwiched between action & barrel faces), which obviates any movement there (expecially in the more robust chmberings, like the .308 & 6.5/.350 Rem Mags)...

I always wondered why they made the recoil lug stick up on top on the 600. I still don't see how it helps anything? Thanks for pointing that out.

...bug

 

[oldscot3]

I think that Remington said it all when they remodeled and created the model Sevens. Put one next to a 600 and you'll see exactly what most folks disliked about the 600s and 660s.

 

[steveNChunter]

I think that Remington said it all when they remodeled and created the model Sevens. Put one next to a 600 and you'll see exactly what most folks disliked about the 600s and 660s.

I have a 660 and I have a 7 that the wife hunts with. I love them both, but overall I prefer the 660. Guess I'm weird.

 

[oldscot3]

LOL not weird, just different from some other folks. If sales hadn't slumped, they would be making them right now.

Some may correct me, but I believe Remington's whole purpose in making it wasn't to create a rifle that looked like a space gun, but create a handy carbine that would match, or nearly match, the performance of some of the day's popular rifle/cartridge combinations. Their 6.5 Rem mag for example, was supposed to match the performance of a 270 in a fullsized rifle. Whether they accomplished that or not is still open for debate.

The bottom line is, if you like them, that's great. That's what makes people unique and interesting.

 

[Ben Towe]

That rifle was only made from '05-'07. It also came in .204 and .223. I wish they still made it but sadly they don't. Better hang on to your's, there aren't that many of that particular model around.

My bad, I read somewhere that they were still in production. I won't be getting rid of mine, I'm pretty fond of it.

 

[taylorce1]

Actually they are still in production as the XR-100 Rangemaster rifle. I have one in .22-250 that's a good shooter.

Not that I'm claiming to know all the differences between them but the XR 100 used the 40X Remington action not the M600.

 

[steveNChunter]

If i'm not mistaken the 600/660, model 7, and 40x actions are all close kin. The main difference in the 600 and 40x is that the 40x is a single shot and the bolt handle is different. But other than that I believe the receivers are about the same between the two. I could be wrong though. I know the action screw spacing is different between the model 7 and 600, not sure about the 40x since I've never owned one.

 

[BumbleBug]

I don't have a 40X anymore, but I'm pretty sure the locking lugs are to the rear of the bolt. Maybe that is just on the RF & not the CF(?)

 

[taylorce1]

The 40X rimfire actions are the ones with rear locking lugs.

 

[Ben Towe]

The 40X rimfire actions are the ones with rear locking lugs.

788s also had rear locking lugs.

From what I understand the XR is supposed to be the same action as the XP. I do know the bolt handle was changed. I can't speak about the 40X, however.