6.5 WSM- First Day at The Range- **UPDATED-10-8

[Outlaw6.0]

Hey all, I was finally able to sneak out for a little range time with my LRI 6.5WSM, here are the specs:

Stiller LoneStar LH/SA
Murphy Precision 20MOA Pic Rail
Obermeyer 1-8.4" AMU Contour finished at ~30" w/LRI Brake Fluted by Kampfeld Customs
Manners MCS-T5 w/ LRI adjustable Cheek Piece & Hardware
Sunny Hill Trigger Guard, No Magazine- LRI Single shot Follower
Jewell Trigger
LRI Forend Pic Rail & Atlas Bipod
All 'smithing done by LongRifles Inc- Sturgis, SD.



For testing I'm using the Leupold 6.5-20x50 MK4 M5-A 34mm Locking Turret Mil/Mil & American Rifle Company Rings from my 338 Ultra.



My family owns a small spread in NE Wyoming, near a little town called Recluse. I sure am greatful to not only have a place to shoot, but to be the only one within sight when i'm doing it!




Here is a little more gun porn looking from my prone station to the 100yd target.




Stay tuned MORE to come Shortly!


gun)

 

[Outlaw6.0]

Re: 6.5 WSM- First Day at The Range

Ok, so where do we start?

Quality component? Check.... Top Tier assembly? Check.... Looks? Well, I'll let you be the judge of that. I went for broke with this rig. There is somewhere north of $6K in this package, a cost which is justified to only a select few; I am nearly shaking with anticipation of firing the first string.




At first I was worried about the LOP being too short & i'm still wondering if I should send it back in to add another inch.... but it isn't nearly as bad as I was worrying about. As you can see in the pic below, there is plenty of vertical adjustment in the LRI cheek piece. It is designed differently from that which is offered by Manners, being the LRI piece does not extend as far forward as the Manners setup.
We ALL know how Jewell triggers function so, I won't bore you with the ooh's & ahh's there. at 15.8lbs ready to hunt & wearing a rather large LRI break, i'm sure you all can guess that there is a very dismal amount of recoil involved in the situation.

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

Re: 6.5 WSM- First Day at The Range

Beautiful rifle! I hope it does what you want on the range. I think you will love the cartridge. I did one and it was one of my best rifles. Unfortunately a guy at the range wanted to bad and he now has it. Mine was extremely accurate and a pleasure to shoot. You should be able to stay on all your targets to watch your hits.

 

[Outlaw6.0]

Re: 6.5 WSM- First Day at The Range

Alright, enough about me. Lets get down to the load components.


I bought a set of Redding dies from Len a while ago, after which time you may or may not have seen my post regarding the bullet seating die:

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f28/ive-got-bullet-seating-blues-update-7-30-a-95650/

After getting the correct micrometer VLD seating stem, my problems have gone the way of the dodo... I hope!

Brass: Norma 270WSM-- Necked down in two steps to finish with a .294 bushing.
^^Trimmed to 2.093"
Primer: Federal 210Match-- Yes that's a 210
Bullet: Cutting Edge 130grn G05 LD HPBT-MAX
Powder: VV-N570 -- Which as the burn rate chart shows, is slower burning than Retumbo.



I would like to share the COAL however, lightbulbit escapes me right now.... my bad.
I can tell you (& you can see from the pic below) that it is FAR too long to function through a 2.800" Magazine. On the LEFT is a dummy from my 7mmSAUM & 180 Hunting VLD @ Alph Magazine length which holds 2.985" inside. On the right is the 6.5WSM with & 130 CEB somewhere in the 3.100" area.




The Cutting Edge Bullets have really caused a stir & I have to admit, I was bitten by that bug as well. We all know that monolithics are longer than their "conventional" counterparts. Here you can see the .264 130grn CEB flanked on the left by the .264 140grn Hunting VLD & on the right by the .264 140grn Hybrid.




Stay tuned!

 

[Outlaw6.0]

Re: 6.5 WSM- First Day at The Range

Beautiful rifle! I hope it does what you want on the range. I think you will love the cartridge. I did one and it was one of my best rifles. Unfortunately a guy at the range wanted to bad and he now has it. Mine was extremely accurate and a pleasure to shoot. You should be able to stay on all your targets to watch your hits.

Thank you sir! I'm pretty stoked to see how it comes along. I've only put 12 rounds thru it so far... you can most definitely spot your hits. Thank you for the kind words.

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

Re: 6.5 WSM- First Day at The Range

I think your best loads will end up being with a much faster powder. Something in the RE-19 burn rate is where I got my best loads. Magpro did well also with the heavies. It is slower but a fine ball powder that packs really well in the case. If you have any RE-19 load a few of those up and see what it does with the 130 grain. You are right on with the primers. This case doesn't do as well with the 215's.

 

[Outlaw6.0]

Re: 6.5 WSM- First Day at The Range

I do have a good bit of RL-19 & RL-17 as well. I appreciate the heads up. I thought the VV would end up being too slow... I will throw the MagnetoSpeed on next go-round.

 

[GNERGY]

Re: 6.5 WSM- First Day at The Range

You're rifle looks great.
I built a 6.5 WSM a couple month's ago and have done a little testing.
Here is my rifle
http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f53/rem-6-5-wsm-long-range-hunter-91152/
I have been testing the 140gr. Hybrids and so far it likes 67gr Retumbo with a Fed. Mag match primers. 3.100 OAL. I used 270 Win. brass with the necks turned just to clean them up. I an getting ready to test different seating depths. My best group at 200 meters is .216 for 3 shots zipping at 3300 fps.
Keep us informed on how those bullets shoot.
Tarey

 

[Outlaw6.0]

Re: 6.5 WSM- First Day at The Range

You're rifle looks great.
I built a 6.5 WSM a couple month's ago and have done a little testing.
Here is my rifle
http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f53/rem-6-5-wsm-long-range-hunter-91152/
I have been testing the 140gr. Hybrids and so far it likes 67gr Retumbo with a Fed. Mag match primers. 3.100 OAL. I used 270 Win. brass with the necks turned just to clean them up. I an getting ready to test different seating depths. My best group at 200 meters is .216 for 3 shots zipping at 3300 fps.
Keep us informed on how those bullets shoot.
Tarey

Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad to see you up and running. I have a box of 140 hybrids & two sample packs of 140 VLD's to try if the CEB's don't pan out. I know everyone is anxious to see how they do & wouldn't you believe it. I can't find my target pics anywhere, they must be on my other computer...

All 100yd test groups are <1moa with 2 of the 3 at or just above 1/2 moa... I am going to use my magneto speed next session (hopefully tomorrow) to determine whether or not I need to switch to a faster burning powder.


t

 

[Kiwi Greg]

Re: 6.5 WSM- First Day at The Range

I found N570 the best in my 26" 6.5wsm, closely followed by Retumbo, then H1000.
I use Norma 270 wsm brass & 215 primers in a 700 action, Shillen barrel.

 

[trebark]

Re: 6.5 WSM- First Day at The Range

That is simply a badass rig! What's your intended use?

 

[Outlaw6.0]

Re: 6.5 WSM- First Day at The Range

That is simply a badass rig! What's your intended use?

Thank you trebark, I've pretty dern happy about the finished product. I intend for it to be my LR deer/'lope rifle primarily... although I could see a Woof hunt soon...

gun)

 

[Outlaw6.0]

Re: 6.5 WSM- First Day at The Range- **UPDATED-9-24

Ok fellas I was able to sneak out to the ranch yesterday for some more load development.

Case: Norma 270WSM
Primer: Fed 210M
Bullet: CEB 130 MTH_G05 LD-HPBT-MAX
Powder: VV-N570

5-shot velocity was right under 3400fps with zero pressure signs & a SD of 15fps. Not the best but this is with VIRGIN cases, I would expect that to shrink some with once fired cases. I know I can get more speed, but will it be as accurate?


I think we have a winner so far!







I was finally able to play with my new Magento-Speed as well... What a kick butt little unit! WAY easier to set up & use than a traditional chrony with the wires & sky screens.... I was worried that it might not pick up the Monometal bullets but am happy to report it worked just fine with the CEB's & TTSX's out of my father's 300Winmag. I'm sure someone will get all bent out of shape seeing something clamped to the barrel.... This is the second time I've shot this load, accuracy didn't change but there seems to be a 1/4moa shift in impact if memory recalls correctly.




**Photo courtesy of MagnetoSpeed Website**

 

[C.O. Shooter]

Re: 6.5 WSM- First Day at The Range- **UPDATED-9-24

Outlaw,

Curious to know if that would effect the barrel harmonics?