6.5-284 or 6.5-06

[slickyboyboo]

Which would you build, if strictly for a hunting cartridge?

Would be built on a Rem 700 LA.

 

[B23]

This is one of those 6 one way half a dozen the other. They are near mirror images of each other ballistically, with on the average, a slight FPS advantage going to the 6.5-06. I think the 6.5-06 case only has something like 2 water grains more capacity than the 6.5-284 does which is almost a moot point, IMO.

Anything off the 06 case feeds like butter that's for sure but I've got a 6-284 and I've NEVER had a single feeding issue with it either.

IMO, the fact that they are so close to one another and you can get 6.5-284 Lapua brass ready to shoot right out of the box would push me slightly toward the 6.5-284 and 1 box of Lapua 6.5-284 brass would last you nearly, if not, the life of the barrel.

One thing is for certain, you can't go wrong with either!!!

 

[Edd]

I'd prefer the 6.5-06.

 

[backwoods83]

The 6.5x284 with norma brass holds exactly the same h2o as winchester 30-06 brass or 1.1 grns more than winchester 25-06 brass, when necked up to 26 cal with the cases listed the 6.5x284 holds .5grns more powder than the 6.5-06. Plus the short fat rebated case of the 6.5x284 with its 35* shoulder is more efficient than the 06 case, the 6.5x284 wins velocity wise until you go to the 6.5-06AI then there is 3.5-5grns more capacity. Another thing is a loaded 6.5x284 round will be between 3.1 and 3.2" oal where the 6.5-06 will likely exceed 3.6" oal but neither is a problem in a LA remington. Anyway my vote goes to 6.5x284, its one of my favorites.

 

[TikkaShooters]

In my opinion 6.5-284. Better brass and the ability to load vlds long and still have them fit in the mag wins for me.

Both.cartridges perform close to the same but the oal of the 06 case would be too long to use the mag.

 

[rscott5028]

Lapua brass is a no brainer for me personally.

-- richard

 

[Trickymissfit]

the 6.5/.284 is a great round for sure, but if you check the 1000 yard shoots the 6.5-06 is much more common. Why? I can't say, but it is. The 6.5/.284 is well known to be hard on barrels, and I doubt the 6.5-06 is easy as well. Still I think it will be easier on them. But in a hunting rifle, you'd never see the difference. The one thing that has always bothered me about the .284 case is availability. I've seen them dry up twice now, and there'll probably always be 30-06 cases laying around. The one serious advantage the .284 case shows is the length when used in a longer action. But on the otherhand it's neck is too short for the caliber. And I think a 6.5-06AI is probably a lot better round in the end. Still for a hunting rifle, I think it'd be hard to do anybetter than the 6.5x57AI. The others are faster, but each has a drawback. The 57mm case length allows big long bullets to fit nicely in a magazine, and cases are real easy to build (just neck up .257 Roberts cases and fire form). Of course you could solve all this quagmire by simply building a 6.5WSM
gary

 

[Trickymissfit]

In my opinion 6.5-284. Better brass and the ability to load vlds long and still have them fit in the mag wins for me.

Both.cartridges perform close to the same but the oal of the 06 case would be too long to use the mag.

think about it a minute. The neck on the 6.5-284 is known to be too short from the start. You load a 6.5x284 to about 2.88" over all length with with the 140 grain bullet. You load a 6.5-06 with the same bullet at 3.260" in a 30-06 mag well. The same 30-06 with 175 grain sierras is about .030" longer in over all length. In otherwords no serious problem. But if you do a short action in the 6.5-284, your looking at stuffing the 2.88" number in a mag well designed for a .308 length round (if its a Remington). The 7.62 service rifle loads are set at 2.80". Now a Winchester is slightly longer than the Remington, and a Savage is a little longer yet (I'd guess .156"). This means that your gonna be pushing the bullet back into the shoulder with those long bullets, thus loosing out in case capacity. That is unless you doing a Savage. But if the action is 30-06 length; you wont have these issues to deal with. The Remington will be somewhere around 3.30" in the long action, so a 6.5-06 will work just fine with the VLD's, and not have the base of the bullet stuffed into the shoulder. I think that whatever I went with it would be on a long action.
gary

 

[slickyboyboo]

Trickymissfit,

That was my worry, fitting the 6.5-06 in the mag, loaded with long 140s. You have made alot of sense out of it though. I am working with a Rem 700 Long Action that is currently chambered for 30-06, so it sounds like I am OK for the longer 140s.

 

[rscott5028]

The neck on the 6.5-284 is known to be too short from the start.

Gary,

You've stated that twice now and I disagree.

6.5x284 has set a whole lot of records and is well respected as is the 6.5-06.

If you're talking about competition, it seems folks are shifting to higher BC 7mm's.

If you're talking about hunting, I don't know that there's much difference at all between performance or barrel life between the two. Plus, many hunters will take decades to burn out either one. For those who do, the cost of a new barrel just goes along with the hobby.

thanks,
richard

 

[Trickymissfit]

Trickymissfit,

That was my worry, fitting the 6.5-06 in the mag, loaded with long 140s. You have made alot of sense out of it though. I am working with a Rem 700 Long Action that is currently chambered for 30-06, so it sounds like I am OK for the longer 140s.

I think you'll come out just fine no matter what you opt on.
gary

 

[Trickymissfit]

Gary,

You've stated that twice now and I disagree.

6.5x284 has set a whole lot of records and is well respected as is the 6.5-06.

If you're talking about competition, it seems folks are shifting to higher BC 7mm's.

If you're talking about hunting, I don't know that there's much difference at all between performance or barrel life between the two. Plus, many hunters will take decades to burn out either one. For those who do, the cost of a new barrel just goes along with the hobby.

thanks,
richard

you know your right, and I know I'm right as well. Time will tell if the short neck length will cause the barrel to errode quicker or will not. In a hunting rifle I doubt (as I said) you'll know the difference. But if you shoot a lot of rounds that 800 round average will tell it's own story. Draw it out in cad, and see where the turbulence point comes out at.
gary

 

[rscott5028]

you know your right, and I know I'm right as well. Time will tell if the short neck length will cause the barrel to errode quicker or will not. In a hunting rifle I doubt (as I said) you'll know the difference. But if you shoot a lot of rounds that 800 round average will tell it's own story. Draw it out in cad, and see where the turbulence point comes out at.
gary

While there are a number of contributors to barrel life, 800 is a number that's often thrown around for 6.5x284. And, it's something I can live with. I bought a used Kreiger with 800 rounds down it, did a setback and built a very nice sub-half MOA hunting rifle. And, I'll change things up again when the accuracy wanes or when I get bored.

For a competition rifle, I can see how barrel life minus load development minus practice equals not much life left. But, then you shouldn't limit yourself to these 2 cartridges either.

I have no idea where 6.5-06 stands in the mix for barrel life. For those that consider 800 a big problem, there are a lot of 6.5's to choose from. I'd like to own one of each.

In the end, Lapua brass with the 6.5x284 headstamp is a big plus for me.

-- richard

 

[jglenn]

owned several 6.5- 06s over the years and building another one on a pre 64 action

brass is easy to find(I use 270 ) and cheap.

sold hunting rifle with 120s or 140s

what's not to like