This rifle has been driving me nuts for seven years. Every time I start working on it, I give up in frustration. Not with the shooting or accuracy, but trying to put a load together for the confines of its chamber. The rifle has a SAAMI spec chamber, but he variety of jacketed and cast bullets I've tried require that the case be cut way back, the COAL so short that the Lee Bullet Seating die cannot seat the bullet. As a note, I have had the same issue with several 35 Rem rifles such as the Savage 170. I cut my teeth on Marlins, and they have a generous throat to aid chambering. I need a better bullet than what I have on hand.
So I got to thinking about this rifle and the cartridge a bit deeper. Remington designed the cartridge and chamber, of course, and it was specifically designed around their 200-grain bullet. I would bet anything that the 600 was blessed with this matched fit of the chamber to factory ammo. The bullet used was the #2800, 200-grain RN Core-Lokt. Hmmm, unfortunately, that bullet has been unavailable as a component for a long time. To add insult to injury, I had to bags (250 count) of bulk bullets that I sold over a decade ago.
Here is the Core-Lokt.
The closest alternative might be the Sierra Game King, but they come at a price.
I searched my leftover ammo to see if I could come up with an example of #2800 to see if I could check the throat/leade fit. I was coming up with nothing, and then I remembered a fellow had given me three rounds of Buffalo Bore ammunition that he wanted pressure tested. He sold the rifle, so the rounds of ammunition have been just sitting there for 20 years. When I found them, there was no doubt it was a 200-grain Core-Lokt (king's crown of lead).
I put together a dummy cartridge, and it gave me a very usable COAL with a 1.920" case (spec). The bore contact with the bullet was a 2.515".
Now came the chore of finding the Remington #2800. I googled the bullet, and the opening results did not yield anything, but down some pages, a return was for Duck Creek Sporting Goods that had them in stock. Yeah, right. Well, I was wrong as they were on the ranch three days later. It seems that there is a distributor, Black Hills Shooting Supplies, that is having several older offerings from several manufacturers ordered in bulk and then made available to their retailers.
So with bullets on hand, I got a bit detailed in my work before I start sending bullets downrange. I wanted to measure out the #2800 carefully and then make sure that the results mirrored what I found with the single cartridge above.
I enjoy this work on my projects only, as it can be very time-consuming. Tom Myers', a member here, Cast Bullet Design software, makes it possible.
Here is the bullet.
Here is the fit. At a COAL of 2.505," the bullet is just off metal, confirming that my dummy cartridge is not a fluke.
So from here, it is off to the loading bench today. I plan to load this bugger to 358 Win pressures as the 600 is a stout rifle.
