I would just go with conventional scope mounts and scope if you don't want to use the existing layout? It really does not look like a true target rifle nor collectable, but that round was generally associated with slow twist and may not like heavier deer type bullets? It might have been intended to be a long range varmint rifle, maybe leave the longer barrel for now and see what happens?
craigd, I agree with you on the conventional scope and mounts. But it was the .244 Rem that had the slower 1:12 twist. Remington changed the name to 6 mm Rem and changed the twist to 1:9 to better compete with the .243 Win. The Douglas barrel on this gun is most likely 1:10 twist.
Judging by the contour, it doesn't look like a 12 pounder to me. But all the same, I think I'd probably check its' potential as a long range varmint gun before trying to turn it into a sporter weight deer rifle. I think the result would be as unsatisfactory as all those ill-conceived attempts to turn heavy 30" duck guns into an upland gun by chopping the tubes.
Another point... when I began deer hunting, the very first gun I carried was my Dad's 26" heavy barreled .244 Model 722 Remington, equipped with a 10x Weaver scope. It was not the ideal rifle for a 12 year old kid, but if I could lug that thing up our mountains, a grown man should have no problem. That .244 with the 1:12 twist stabilized 100 gr. Nosler partitions well, but it was outstanding with lighter Sierra varmint bullets. My Dad sold it when it started shooting dime sized groups at 100 yards, because he thought the barrel was shot out. I then bought a Model 700 6mm with my paper route money, which I used for several years until I switched to using a .50 cal. flintlock. The performance of those big slow lead balls turned me against small bore rifles for deer. When I finally used a centerfire rifle again a few years ago, it was a .45-70. Elmer Keith was right.
