L579 in 6mm Rem question

[richarde270]

I have a chance to pick up a L579 in 6mm Rem....all original in good++ shape .
I can't find out much about this calibre in a Sako.
How do they shoot with the heavier 6mm bullets?
Did they chamber many in this calibre?
Serial # in the 14000's
Any info would be great
Thanks

 

[paulsonconstruction]

The 6mm Remington is the same case as the .244 Remington. The difference is in the twist rate. Rifles stamped 244 have a 1 in 12" twist & won't stabilize bullets approaching 95 gr. or more. The 6mm stamped rifles will have a 1 in 9" twist & will stabilize bullets in excess of 100 gr. How your particular rifle will shoot any particular bullet can only be determined by shooting it. Are you sure the rifle in question is not a 244 or one that has been rebarreled to 6mm? I don't recall seeing any factory L579's in 6mm Rem, but my recall capacity is limited.

 

[stonecreek]

Paulson recalls correctly that Sako only chambered the .244 Remington and not the (essentially identical) 6mm Remington. Currently, the only ammunition I'm aware of which a major manufacturer makes for the .244/6mm Remington is Remington itself using a 100 grain bullet. However, the Remington 100 grain bullet is apparently fairly short for its weight and it shoots fine in two Sako .244's that I've tried it in. I haven't tried this ammunition on paper past 100 yards, so it is possible that a marginally stable bullet may get a bit wobbly as it goes downrange. As Paulson indicates, only shooting the ammunition in your rifle will determine how satisfactory it is.

I forgot to mention: While Paulson is correct that .244's usually have a twist of 1-12", Sako used metric calibrations, so they sometimes vary a bit from Imperial measure. The best I've been able to measure the twist of my two Sako .244's they come out at a slightly faster 1-11.25", which may be why they seem okay with 100 grain bullets.

 

[sakojim]

Hello all. I have a question to ask of you experts since this thread deals indirectly with the Sako .244 Rem. I have a L57 in .244 Rem, serial # 38x. Yes, three digits. Very doubtful that this was a re-barrel job. Now according to the Sako Oct. 1983 shipping list, the lowest serial number shown was 4925 shipped 7-8-59. Does anyone have any ideas why this 2 year discrepancy? Was it just a fluke caused by a bottom of the bin receiver used at a later date? I am curious as to the earliest known date of a production L57 in .244 Rem. When did Remington actually market that cartridge? Or was Sako involved in an early development stage of this caliber cartridge? What are your opinions? Sakojim.

 

[stonecreek]

Sako Jim: First, understand that the list you reference is simply a collection of information from Sako hang tags. The highest or lowest number and the date of manufacture of any rifle on that list is only indicative of the information on that particular rifle. It is also highly probable that since the information was gathered by snail mail and hand copied that there are transcription errors in it. Nonetheless, it is an interesting set of information and until we had access to the Sako factory records was the only source of information on the dates of manufacture of various Sako models and calibers.

The L57 was introduced in 1957 and made primarily from 1958 through 1959 when the L579 superseded it, but a few L57's continued to be released by the factory up into the mid-1960's. The L57 was chambered in .243, .244, and .308, and a very small number were chambered in .222 Magnum. The prototype L57 was apparently chambered in .257 Roberts, but information indicating that all of the first 50 L57s were of that caliber is erroneous. According to the shipping records the earliest L57 .244's were shipped in March of 1958 and several of them had two-digit serial numbers.

According to the Wikipedia article the .244 Remington was introduced by Remington in 1955 and its design is credited to Mike Walker (long time engineer at Remington) and Fred Huntington (founder of RCBS). Sako was not involved in its design or introduction.

 

[Litetrigger1]

If I had a factory original SAKO marked .244 Rem I would check its rate of rifling twist. The reason being that Remington's introductory rifle in .244 was their Model 722, which initially had a 1/12" twist rate. Which proved to be unsatisfactory with heavier bullets ( 90-100 gr, etc.). So later issues of the M-722 were switched 1/10" before that model was discontinued. So there is a possibility that the folks at SAKO were on to the twist problem and offered their .244's with the quicker twist, or during course of production switched from 12 to 10, following Remington's example. It's worth checking to know for sure.

 

[sakojim]

Good morning stone and Lite. Your information answers my questions very well. Thank you both very much for these answers which sure contain a wealth of information about these old rifles. Learning about these early Sakos is such an interesting and enjoyable way to use this Collectors site that I have found it to be addictive. My favorite recreation is following this site. In my opinion it is the VERY BEST collectors site available for the finest rifles ever made. I want to thank all of you dedicated collectors for sharing information and making this site successful. Also a big thank you to L61r and all who keep it going. To any and all who enjoy creating dissension, please find another pastime. Sakojim.

 

[stonecreek]

Follow Up: I took an L57 .244 sporter out this afternoon to zero a new scope on it. Initial 100 yard group with Remington 6mm 100 grain factory loads was about an inch. Then I shot a three-shot group at 200 yards after getting the 100 yard zero where I wanted it. The 200 yard group was 1.7", or .85 MOA, which isn't bad with any factory load. I can now say that all of the Sako .244's (two L57's and one L579) that I've tried with the Remington 100 grain factory load stabilize the bullet satisfactorily and shoot quite good groups with it.

 

[paulsonconstruction]

That quicker 11.25 twist in the Sako barrel adds a nearly 11,000 rpm to a bullet going 3000 fps over a 12 twist. That, plus the Rem Cor-Lokt being the shortest 100 grainer I know of is, evidently, all that is needed to give stability. Just goes to show what a fine line there is between the fabulous success of the 243 Win & the dismal sales record of the 244 Remington. If Rem had designed their cartridge around a 100 grain bullet instead of the 90 grainer history may have been different, as from a ballistic & handloading aspect it was the superior case.

 

[kirkbridgershooters]

I just measured the twist in my L57 244 Remington and it is 10.5. It shoots 75 grain Hornady hollow points extremely well...

 

[Paul B.]

Hi All - I was searching through GB today and found a L579 Deluxe for sale chambered in 6mm Remington. Figured this was a rare bird as Stone mentioned above that Sako only chambered .244 (and not 6mm). This has to be a re-barrel right? Another odd fact is that the seller is advertising it to be a 26" barrel. I've never heard of such a thing on a Forrester! Any ideas?

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/745127278

 

[stonecreek]

Yes, it is a re-barrel. You can see non-factory markings in one of the photos.

 

[Paul B.]

I think you are correct. Left side of the barrel just in front of the receiver looks off. Thanks Stone.