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Old December 24, 2013, 11:15 AM   #22
44 AMP
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Join Date: March 11, 2006
Location: Upper US
Posts: 28,675
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.
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