McGowen Remage Barrel Review: Spoiler Alert- It Shoots!

Finally, the weather broke and I got a chance to shoot my Remington 700 Remage conversion. If you didn’t read the installation post, take a look at Rebarrel a Remington 700 without a lathe: McGowen’s Remage barrel conversion.

A Remington 700 that has a Remage (REMington savAGE) conversion, uses a barrel system similar to a Savage; a barrel nut, instead of a tenon shoulder, adjusts headspace (no lathe, no machining required). In the world of barreling a Remington 700, it is the simplest system available to shooters. This barrel and barrel nut were made by McGowen Precision Barrels.

This Remage barrel is chambered in 6mm BR Norma, however, a wide range of chambers are available.

In addition to the 6mm Bench Rest (BR) Norma barrel and barrel nut from McGowen, the rifle is completed with the following parts from Brownells:

You may notice that the rifle is in a pre-production MDT HS3 chassis. The HS3 is equipped with an AICS magazine system, however, the 6mm BR Norma will not feed from an unmodified magazine. Because of this, each round was individually loaded into the chamber.

A side view of the Remage barrel nut. I don’t think it looks too bad. The recoil lug was recycled from another project and is coated in green spray paint.

Loads were created with the following components from Brownells:

I loaded 25 rounds with 108 grain Berger BT bullets .008″ off the lands and headed to the range. All shooting was conducted from a bench (I didn’t feel like lying in a puddle), with a Harris bipod and a rear bag.

Ballistic information was recorded with a Magnetospeed V3 barrel mounted ballistic chronograph.

Range conditions were poor. Temperature was 49F, winds gusted from 13-21 MPH, precipitation ranged from light to heavy rain and all groups were shot within an hour of sunset.

WARNING: The loads shown are for informational purposes only. They are only safe in the rifle shown and may not be safe in yours. Consult appropriate load manuals prior to developing your own handloads. Rifleshooter.com and its authors, do not assume any responsibility, directly or indirectly for the safety of the readers attempting to follow any instructions or perform any of the tasks shown, or the use or misuse of any information contained herein, on this website.

One sighter was fired at 50 yards to adjust zero and the remaining 24 rounds were fired at 100 yards. Group 1 is 4 rounds, groups 2, 3, 4 and 5 are 5 rounds each.

The chronograph slid to the front of the barrel during group 5. The first two rounds went into the same hole and rounds 3 and 4 went into a different hole. I checked the chronograph and noticed it moved. I suspect group 5 would have performed better if it had not moved (see bottom right group in picture below).

Average accuracy for the 5 loads was .645″ (.616 MOA). Removing group 5 from the average, it was .558″ (.533 MOA). Best group was .360″ (.344 MOA).

Groups 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. The hole in-between the bottom target dots is the 50 yard sighter shot.

Best group of the day, .360″, 5 shots at 100 yards. Not too shabby.

While this barrel is still very new, I am impressed. All groups were under 1 MOA, with the best approaching 1/3 MOA! I think with further load development, this can be improved upon.

If you were thinking of doing a Remage conversion, I’d give it serious thought. Remage barrels seem to shoot well (I lost a match to one last year) and are a great value for the money. In fact, I haven’t met anyone with a Remage conversion that didn’t love it.

Take a look at the rifle shown in this post, a factory Remington 700 action with no accuracy work, HS3 chassis system and a Remage barrel- all screwed and bolted together. This is without machine work or bedding.

I’ll post an updated review, once I shoot the barrel more.

To order a Remage barrel and nut, contact McGowen Precision Barrels. To accessorize your Remington 700, check out Brownells.

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