NEW 6.5 WIN. LONG RANGE MAGNUM!!!
- Thread starter Badgerclaw
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lee31
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Yep. I used to run 70 in mine. Backed it down to 69.3 now
lee31
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Yes I think people forget. When the 264 was released the factory 140 grain bullets were rated at 3200fps and the factory 100 grain bullets were rated at 3700fps.
LoneTraveler
Well-Known Member
When Winchester came out with their belted 2.50" case series in 1958. 458 Win Mag, 338 Win Mag. and 264 Win Mag. There was a lot of writing about the 264 WM, The ballistics of the 264 WM was based on the new Model 70 Western with a 26" barrel.
I bought a Rem in 264 WM 24" barrel in 1965 shortly after returning from the US ARMY. It shot good with 100gr. to 140 gr bullets available at the time. My favorite bullet to shoot for S&G was the old Herter's 6.5 mm 130 Gr. RN. The bullet was designed for the 6.5 Europe mil surplus rifles of the era. When taken to 264 WM velocities it turned groundhogs heads inside out. Blew several groundhogs into 2 pieces. It loved the H4831 surplus Paper Bag 75 cents a lb. + shipping powder of the era. I sold it. But never got to replace it with the custom rifle I planned to build.
The old 6.5 that I considered was the 6.5 Rem. Mag. It is a more efficient and less barrel burning round than the 264 WM. It was sort of the parent of the new WSM and Rem. SAUM of around 2004 era.
I planned a custom rifle years ago in 6.5 Rem. Mag. Wilcox improved. Like many factory loads they have a 25 degree shoulder angle for dependable feeding from the magazine of factory rifles. My friend, Gunsmith Chuck Wilcox, Had a drawing for a 6.5 Rem. Mag. Wilcox Imp. reamer with 40 degree shoulder and less body taper. We never got to build it, Mr. Wilcox was killed in a freak accident before the rifle became a reality. RIP Chuck.
I bought a Rem in 264 WM 24" barrel in 1965 shortly after returning from the US ARMY. It shot good with 100gr. to 140 gr bullets available at the time. My favorite bullet to shoot for S&G was the old Herter's 6.5 mm 130 Gr. RN. The bullet was designed for the 6.5 Europe mil surplus rifles of the era. When taken to 264 WM velocities it turned groundhogs heads inside out. Blew several groundhogs into 2 pieces. It loved the H4831 surplus Paper Bag 75 cents a lb. + shipping powder of the era. I sold it. But never got to replace it with the custom rifle I planned to build.
The old 6.5 that I considered was the 6.5 Rem. Mag. It is a more efficient and less barrel burning round than the 264 WM. It was sort of the parent of the new WSM and Rem. SAUM of around 2004 era.
I planned a custom rifle years ago in 6.5 Rem. Mag. Wilcox improved. Like many factory loads they have a 25 degree shoulder angle for dependable feeding from the magazine of factory rifles. My friend, Gunsmith Chuck Wilcox, Had a drawing for a 6.5 Rem. Mag. Wilcox Imp. reamer with 40 degree shoulder and less body taper. We never got to build it, Mr. Wilcox was killed in a freak accident before the rifle became a reality. RIP Chuck.
Weatherby Fan
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WildRose
Well-Known Member
It's just a necked down 7LRM. I bought it from a fellow poster here. The dies are 7lrm hornady custom bushing dies with smaller bushings. Necking the 7LRM brass down is no problem.
He was running high pressure loads with Retumbo which I don't like so I tried RL 26 and RL 33. I had to pretty well guess but a friend here ran the numbers for me on QL and got me to a safe starting load.
It's a Model 70 LA with a 27" barrel.
If I were going to start over though I'd just go with a straight 6.5-375 Ruger with the shorter neck, longer shoulder angle, and greater capacity.
When I shoot the throat out of this one I'm hoping there will be enough room to set it back a few turns and go straight to the 6.5x375.
As popular as the cartridge is and all the wildcatting being done off of the case it's a cinch that sooner rather than later we'll be getting brass from better sources. I've already talked to several manufacturers that said they were considering and/or working on it.
I tried just necking down .375 Ruger brass with .338RCM and .300RCM dies which seemed like a great idea but it ends up crushing/crimping the shoulder.
I'm talking to another custom die maker to see what we can come up with. Essentially the first step needs to be lengthening the OAL by squeezing down the taper and pushing the neck forward to get the shoulder angle and diameter changed and then to start stepping down the neck diameter.
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WildRose
Well-Known Member
Remington doomed the 6.5RM to obscurity with short, slow twist barrels that made it basically a varmint/short range deer cartridge.
About the only thing Remington hasn't screwed up with their proprietary cartridges in the last fifty years were the 7RM and 300 Rum.
It's maddening that such a formerly great company has been consistently screwing the pooch so thoroughly for so long.
Capt RB
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Lake City will be making .300PRC now due to the DOD contract. Imho this is a best case scenario. This is solely for a precision weapon mfg by Barret. Not like the 300/338 norma which they were trying to make a machine gun with also
https://www.shootingillustrated.com...tt-to-produce-mrad-rifles-in-300-prc-for-dod/
As far as Remington goes just look who is on the board. Add in the fact that the name of the parent is translated to Hound of Hades and it would explain alot
https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/board.asp?privcapId=139449
I have a 700LA with mag face that will be in some form of that caseby this time next year
Jerry M
Well-Known Member
On the subject of 6.5 Remington Magnum.
A few years back I got a used 40X in 7mm RM. I pulled the barrel for another project and was looking for a replacement barrel for the 40X. i wanted 6.5X284 performance, but not the expense of replacing the bolt, as this was not my primary rifle. Black Hills had 6.5 Remington Magnum cases in-stock, which are produced every 5 or so years. I bought 500 cases (first) and had the rifle re-barreled with a 26 inch Rem Varmint contour by E. R.Shaw. The end results were very good.
Shot the rifle a few times at local F-class matches with satisfactory results. Most of the time I bang steel out to 800 yards on a friends farm.
2000 rounds later the barrel is still shooting just under 1 inch groups. IMHO, nothing wrong with this cartridge when loaded long and used in a 26 inch (or longer) barrel.
My previous experience with 6.5 was a 6.5-06 with a 28 Kriegher light palma barrel. This rifle was a joy to carry in the mountains of WV when shooting field matches there. Trajectory of the 142 SMK was also very good.
Lately, I have really been thinking about the .264 Winchester as the requirements again have been met: an available Rem 700 action with a Magnum bolt face and recently shot out barrel; a 6.5 caliber 30 inch Border palma contour barrel under my bed; and Black Hills has plenty of .264 Winchester cases in stock. It's like the stars have aligned again...
Good luck
Jerry
A few years back I got a used 40X in 7mm RM. I pulled the barrel for another project and was looking for a replacement barrel for the 40X. i wanted 6.5X284 performance, but not the expense of replacing the bolt, as this was not my primary rifle. Black Hills had 6.5 Remington Magnum cases in-stock, which are produced every 5 or so years. I bought 500 cases (first) and had the rifle re-barreled with a 26 inch Rem Varmint contour by E. R.Shaw. The end results were very good.
Shot the rifle a few times at local F-class matches with satisfactory results. Most of the time I bang steel out to 800 yards on a friends farm.
2000 rounds later the barrel is still shooting just under 1 inch groups. IMHO, nothing wrong with this cartridge when loaded long and used in a 26 inch (or longer) barrel.
My previous experience with 6.5 was a 6.5-06 with a 28 Kriegher light palma barrel. This rifle was a joy to carry in the mountains of WV when shooting field matches there. Trajectory of the 142 SMK was also very good.
Lately, I have really been thinking about the .264 Winchester as the requirements again have been met: an available Rem 700 action with a Magnum bolt face and recently shot out barrel; a 6.5 caliber 30 inch Border palma contour barrel under my bed; and Black Hills has plenty of .264 Winchester cases in stock. It's like the stars have aligned again...
Good luck
Jerry
WildRose
Well-Known Member
Remington though has been blowing it pretty consistently now since the 60's and there have been a whole lot of changes in the board and ownership over that time.
What they need is another board, a board of knowledgeable hunters and shooters who can knock the snot out of the QC boys and girls for letting crap get out the door and beat into the development panel what the future of hunting and shooting actually look like and how then to develop rifles and rounds that the public will actually buy and keep/use for generations like their dad's, granddads, and GGD's did so that the next generation of hunters will have the same hunger for a Remington rifle that we did after growing up with them.
Lastly that board needs to have control over the marketers so that they aren't advertising gold bricks and "pretty yellow metal but not much value in commercial applications because it's too soft".
My brother's first 700bdl 30-06 had one of the trick triggers that if you tried to work the trigger while the safety was engaged would occasionally go off when you did finally take the safety off. It was produced circa 1972.
My first 700bdl was a 7mm RM that was as screwed up as a drunken blind duck. After five trips back to remington for repair it would still never hold zero. You could zero it in perfectly then come back the next day and it would be nine inches left and five inches high almost every single time. Finally they admitted that the problem was an "accumulation of tolerances". The receiver was drilled and tapped out of square to the barrel, the barrel was cut and threaded off center and at an angle to the receiver face.
The bolt face was too shallow and not opened quite properly so it chewed off pieces of brass with every cycle.
Finally after giving up on remington and sending it to three different gunsmits the final verdict was that it would cost more to fix it than to replace it so off it went to the pawn shop and I didn't buy another remington for over 20 years.
Neither of those rifles should have ever left the factory and that experience turned both of us off to Remington's for decades. Unfortunately similar QC issues have plagued them again and again over the last 40 years because they have always cared more about pouring out rifles in mass quantities instead of producing quality rifles just a few less at a time.
We shot nothing but remington rifles and shotguns as a family for more than sixty years prior to those problems. Today I own a handful of them but haven't bought but one one new in over since my custom in 1990.
After the rave reviews about the Gen2 milspec from several members here I gambled and picked one up in .260, it's awesome and has convinced me that when they put their minds to it they can actually still produce a great rifle.
My brothers will simply never own another Remington other than those we inherited from my dad and Granddad.
Personally I've just decided that if I'm going to put my money into new rifles I'll stick to either New Haven built, or the new Portuguese built Model 70's or Montana's built on their beefed up model 70 Action.
At most I'm probably not going to own more than two more rifles, both of which will be customs. One will be a .264wm built on either a New Haven built 90's era stainless CRF action or if I can find an old beat up pre 64 worth the money I'll build it on that.
The other is going to be a .375 Ruger built specifically to see how far rangewise I can stretch the cartridge out so it'll have a 28" barrel and be built on a Newhaven stainless or a Montana 1999.
My collection will be full when I have those done.
Capt RB
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WR
I've had the trigger issue on 4 different 700 classics 300wby 250 sav 257bob and 220swift. They all were very good shooters. The 300 was just stupid.
All had some type of miscue you could see when I bought them. Checkering not right or misaligned. poor bottom metal inlay or misaligned engraving on the barrel.
I have just 1 700 that is not a classic. Of the 4 above I have all but the 300wby, I don't have the 7x57, 7wby .223. Pretty sure I have the rest of the of them though. The rifles I actually shoot are Savages, model 70's or weatherby both howa and mk 5. I have not had a trigger issue with any other brand. The model 70's are the old style trigger stoned and with a spring upgrade. All are very close to the same weight of 1.5#
Mister potato is still apart of the board which explains how Remington still gets the bulk of the precision weapons contracts. Even with much better platforms available
I've had the trigger issue on 4 different 700 classics 300wby 250 sav 257bob and 220swift. They all were very good shooters. The 300 was just stupid.
All had some type of miscue you could see when I bought them. Checkering not right or misaligned. poor bottom metal inlay or misaligned engraving on the barrel.
I have just 1 700 that is not a classic. Of the 4 above I have all but the 300wby, I don't have the 7x57, 7wby .223. Pretty sure I have the rest of the of them though. The rifles I actually shoot are Savages, model 70's or weatherby both howa and mk 5. I have not had a trigger issue with any other brand. The model 70's are the old style trigger stoned and with a spring upgrade. All are very close to the same weight of 1.5#
Mister potato is still apart of the board which explains how Remington still gets the bulk of the precision weapons contracts. Even with much better platforms available
Bbear
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- Mar 13, 2007
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My first foray into the 'magical' 6.5 world was with the Remington 600 in a 6.5 Rem Mag. Talk about a loud rifle! Accuracy was only ok but the gun ended up going away. Next I picked up a Model 70 in 264 WM. Yes, there were all of these other cartridges out there in 6.5 that were suppose to be the cat's behind, but I never saw a box of shells on a shelf for most of them.
My accuracy load is a 142 LRAB pushed by a dose of RL33 and getting 3250. The Winchester cases are on their 4th loading with no problems. I still have it and enjoy taking it to the range.
My next addition was a 6.5x55 SE. Mild recoiling and has an honest .3 - 5 shot group with the same LRAB's going a sedate 2800 fps. Works on everything I've used it on.
My latest 6.5 is another 'old school' round - the 256 Newton in a Newton rifle. Still working on this one so nothing to report on velocity or accuracy just yet.
The new choices are intriguing to me but, not enough to ditch the one's I have.
My accuracy load is a 142 LRAB pushed by a dose of RL33 and getting 3250. The Winchester cases are on their 4th loading with no problems. I still have it and enjoy taking it to the range.
My next addition was a 6.5x55 SE. Mild recoiling and has an honest .3 - 5 shot group with the same LRAB's going a sedate 2800 fps. Works on everything I've used it on.
My latest 6.5 is another 'old school' round - the 256 Newton in a Newton rifle. Still working on this one so nothing to report on velocity or accuracy just yet.
The new choices are intriguing to me but, not enough to ditch the one's I have.
Russ661
Well-Known Member
Check out GIBrass.com for H870.
