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...In 1965. (this is entirely Orygun's fault for the ad he posted).

He wants state of the art in a heavy thumper timber rifle, along with optics appropriate and since buying his last rifle in 1951, he again has the cash for the barrelhead.

Here's what he might have gone home with:



P9040181.JPG

P9040176.JPG

Remington Model 600 Magnum (1965 Manufacture) in .350 Remington Magnum caliber. (Another NWFA Member purchase). This pound puppy was sold to me with mutual agreement with the seller that it was a "shooter grade" 600 rather than a collector gun. It was missing both front and rear sights. Tiny peppers of surface rust were on the metal surfaces. The wood was dinged up pretty good but nothing deep. A couple retainer screws for the vent rib were missing, and it exhibited the characteristic "wow" in the floorplate (Zytel) from incorrect reassembly in relation to the magazine. One swivel stud did not match the other (indicating a failure and/or detachment at one point).

This was put together almost in parallel with the 721 .270. E-bay produced the sights (and in that process I learned that different 600's had different height front sights, so for the .350 it was important to get the right one if irons were to be operational).

Another lesson along the way was learning about the curiously semi-frequent appearance of these rifles in print (including at least one gun annual) with the rear sight installed backwards. When seeing this for the first time, my reaction was, "Ha-ha! Dum-arse! Took yer gun apart and didn't even know how to put the sight on correctly!"

Perusing my "island of misfit toys" of optics, a 2x-7x Redfield "of the period" surfaced. A worthy opponent to the Leupolds (some say better) of the day. I had some older Redfield rings in my pile, and so naturally an e-bay search ensued for a Redfield base. The goal was Redfield, top to bottom.
.
What was discovered might well bring some ready cash to a tweaker at the scrap yard: Look at the monolithic structure of that thing! New Old Stock, in the box, anti-corrosive paper, the works.
Weight concerns? With a light .350 Magnum, " Sen'or, wee don' have no steenkeeng weight concerns!"

I considered it a welcome arrival toward concerns for future comfort.

Putting it all together instantly explained to me the curious repeated appearance of contrarian-positioned rear sights. You see the explanation in these pictures.

Private "Dum-arse" reporting for duty, Sir!

Rib screws came out of Numrich, perfect match for extant ones. The rib was originally in very good condition with no warps. (The harmful environment for them was hanging on the hot window rack of a pickup.) The warped triggerguard/floorplate took a trip to a warm oven (this "tip" out of an old gunsmithing book of that period), where it remembered its original molded shape. Zytel is pretty amazing stuff.

Stock was overhauled only with fourple-ought steel wool, stock sheen and Johnsons Paste Wax. Recoil pad was amazingly still soft and pliable. White accent spacer was cleaned.

I shot it BEFORE restoration. Factory loads did 1.5 inches easy. The "Cat's Meow" bullet for this caliber is the 225gr Nosler Partition. Cannelure is just right, weight is just right. Those are hen's teeth right now. So, I buffed the Ballistic Tips off Ballistic Tips (a bullet for the Whelen) and shot those. Back and forth around 1".

Haven't shot it with this scope and THE MONOLITH. (I still think ape-like Hominids might appear at any minute to worship that mount base and throw bones in the air.)
 
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Update: Finally got some bench time with the "Monolith" base. After a rodeo (this little gun moves Heaven and Earth in the recoil department) where the scope began walking inside the rings (discovered early, thank God, and remedied with friction tape), a productive day was spent.

Turns out, this gun got squirrelly with those discontinued Nosler Ballistic Tips designed for the Whelen. My theory (subsequently reinforced by some written material I found) is that the ogive on a streamlined bullet occurs far enough to the rear of its profile that when seated to fit in the short magazine (even with the plastic tip buffed), the bullet must jump quite a space before rifling engagement.

Excavating in the bullet drawer produced 200gr Round Noses in Hornady and Sierra.
And the clouds parted and the angels sang: Group sizes were .75" and .65" respectively.

Both bullets shot extremely well, and I also noticed the holes in the paper seemed to be more "cookie cutter" in appearance with the Sierras: perhaps indicating a better measure of "stability". But if the Hornadys suffered from lack of it, it sure didn't show in group size. Shooting VERY little groups was not difficult at all (aside from the mental preparation toward the recoil: much like a martial artist's "kime"...with this gun it really IS a psychological exercise).

So, for any of you who will not tolerate sand kicked in your face while at the beach with your best girl, fancying yourself to be a real "He-Man", I've got a rifle that would be quite interesting for you to spend a whole day with in a Prairie Dog town.

Any deterioration in accuracy would be sourced from tears welling up in the eyes, a quivering lower lip, or retina detachment: NOT from the gun (as evidenced by this final target from Saturday).

P1110360.JPG
 
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I purchased a pre 64 model 70 in 358 norma magnum from a board member. With full bore loads I would put it easily up against your rifle in recoil. As I get older I am becoming a wimp. I am a great fan of 9.3 and 358 caliber rifles - thank you for posting this.
 
Beautiful 600! I have one that is a spitting image of yours in 308. Mine is all original and no bows or wows in the plastics. I've never shot it with a scope but I do 300 yard 2/3IPSC steel with it and that massive front sight dot. Great little rifle. Not the most pleasant thing to shoot all day because of its weight and I have nothing between skin and bones and I'd prefer a little lighter trigger but a great rifle none the less.
 
I don't know what took Spitpatch's imaginary character so long to get to the hardware store. May he have known to wait a year for the shoulder-breaker 350 Mag? Or, was he just older and wise enough to not react on impulse?
When Remington introduced the 600 in '64 this was the ad (it's the one referred to earlier).
M600-1964-Ad-800.jpg
The guy in my story saw that ad and went straight to his hardware store with five $20s and left with the 35 Remington. He didn't have enough money for ammo... Must have been young and foolish. Since then nobody else bought ammo for it either.

I'd had one of these on my mind even before @Spitpatch earlier thread prompted me to post that advertisement. They aren't easy to come by, especially if looking for a nice one. I found a few that would make a nice project rifle, but I already have enough of those. When I saw the ad for this one, I knew this was "The One".
Like the fictitious story, this gun was rumored to have not been shot. It came to me with two boxes of ammo.
So,
Shot it.jpg
I shot it! I'd like to report fantastic grouping, but the rear sight was adjusted high and wide to the right, barely on my target board. I'd forgotten the allen wrench at home...
Then with a little time on ebay, Leupold mounts and rings appeared and the Leupold Compact scope was mounted.
with compact.jpg
In this instance the rear sight remains in it's "proper" fashion, but barely. It may have to be reversed to gain that last 1/4" of eye relief.

As a kid I'd wanted nothing less than the 350 Mag. As an adult I know that kid fit in the "dumb-arse" category. The 35 Remington rocks and rolls enough, thank you.
 
"Gun Talk" we never see:

"My Prairie Dog rifle has a pencil thin barrel with all sorts of stuff attached to it for its entire18" length and launches a bullet over a third of an inch in diameter at speeds approaching 2300fps."

"Oh, yeah. And (in the widely spouted and shopworn braggart phrase) it actually DOES shoot 'half inch groups all day' ":cool:
 
Update: Finally got some bench time with the "Monolith" base. After a rodeo (this little gun moves Heaven and Earth in the recoil department) where the scope began walking inside the rings (discovered early, thank God, and remedied with friction tape), a productive day was spent.

Turns out, this gun got squirrelly with those discontinued Nosler Ballistic Tips designed for the Whelen. My theory (subsequently reinforced by some written material I found) is that the ogive on a streamlined bullet occurs far enough to the rear of its profile that when seated to fit in the short magazine (even with the plastic tip buffed), the bullet must jump quite a space before rifling engagement.

Excavating in the bullet drawer produced 200gr Round Noses in Hornady and Sierra.
And the clouds parted and the angels sang: Group sizes were .75" and .65" respectively.

Both bullets shot extremely well, and I also noticed the holes in the paper seemed to be more "cookie cutter" in appearance with the Sierras: perhaps indicating a better measure of "stability". But if the Hornadys suffered from lack of it, it sure didn't show in group size. Shooting VERY little groups was not difficult at all (aside from the mental preparation toward the recoil: much like a martial artist's "kime"...with this gun it really IS a psychological exercise).

So, for any of you who will not tolerate sand kicked in your face while at the beach with your best girl, fancying yourself to be a real "He-Man", I've got a rifle that would be quite interesting for you to spend a whole day with in a Prairie Dog town.

Any deterioration in accuracy would be sourced from tears welling up in the eyes, a quivering lower lip, or retina detachment: NOT from the gun (as evidenced by this final target from Saturday).

View attachment 805821

I dunno.... looks like she's still shootin' a wee bit high. :D
 

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