Originally Posted By: ChupathingyOriginally Posted By: CatShooterOriginally Posted By: Rich44Should be a 9 1/8"
Yup!!
I'm inclined to believe Rich and Cat, but I thought they were a 10 twist as well.
Chupa
They started with a 12" twist (when the cartridge was called the 244 Remington), cuz Rem saw the cartridge as a varmint round. Winchester saw it as a combo rifle for light deer and some varmint - so they came out with a 10" twist, and took the sales.
Remington tried to save the situation by "re-introducing" the 244 as the 6mm Remington, and giving the new name a 9-1/8" twist.
But it didn't catch on, in spite of the 6mm Rem being a better design cartridge.
Some say it was just too late, but others say that if Rem had kept the name 244 and just changed the twist, it would have caught on and taken over.
There is evidence of that - at that time (mid 60's) we (America) were not ready for metric sounding names that ended in "mm".
Remember the Remington "7mm Express"?? Nope - dead as a door nail.
It was discontinued quickly because of poor sales... but wait (if you call in the next 10 minutes
)...
... the same 7mm Express cartridge reappeared a year or so later as the .280 Remington and it is a top seller.
So there is a lot of evidence that the 244 would have stayed alive (and beaten the 243), if they changed the twist and kept the name.
And now back to your regular programming.