6mm Rem or ???

tbrice23 said:

The body die and Lee Collet neck die will give you the absolutly straightest ammo possible

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VERY true! When I was working with the 6mm Remy I also used the collet die in conjunction with the Redding body die and runout was NEVER more than .002 and was frequently .000 (used a Forster Ultra Micrometer seater, though). Can't go wrong with the Lee/Redding combo!

blackaj said: ↑
When you fire from are there any steps needed to ensure the case forms correctly?
I've read that the case can stretch above the head unless a false shoulder is formed, or the bullet jammed Into the lands.

Hi Blackaj,
Before I started fire forming the cases for the 250 Sav AI I asked Sierra what the best way of going about this is. They use the 250 AI to test their 25 cal projectiles on a daily basis. Their email stated to use a max load of powder for the parent case and seat the projectiles hard into the lands (in the 250 AI they suggested IMR 4064). All my reloading experience says don't start at a max load but I followed their advice and the 50 cases came out of the chamber with nice sharp corners and no pressure signs. I see that the Sierra 5th edition has loading info for the 6mm 40° AI so if in doubt just send them an email.
Good luck.
Kiwikid

The reason for the max load is the case has chamber area to expand into and thus pressure is relieved as the brass hits its yield point. Now you would never want to use a max load for the case your forming into as that would make bad things happen.

I've done cream of wheat with false shoulder and jamming bullets to form brass. Thrice has it all down it sounds like. My Smith set mine up with the .004" crush which I've heard varying thoughts depending on the Smith as to do that. For dies I run a Redding standard set fl and seater and love them. I have never used a college die so I can not comment to than but have read a lot of them being used lately.
I played with mine a little yesterday and ran some 87 v max. I maxed out capacity on rl 23 and it gave me 3467 fps with no pressure so that is out. Then gave rl 26 a try since I'm using that with the 100 grain Speer and still have capacity. I found my max which gave me 3697 fps over the magneto! Backed down a little to a good pressure load and will be running them between 3560-3580 once I fine tune. I am also using hbn in this rifle but for a 22" barrel it throws some incredible speeds.

If it helps in the decision Powder Valley has Winchester 6mm Rem brass in stock.

Dave

Haven't seen that in many years!
Norma will be way more consistent though.

About the fire forming.
For several years I did the COW thing. It was always 75% to 85% fully formed and always needed another firing to sharpen the shoulders and fill the upper body diameter.
I know COW doesn't send bullets down the barrel but still dumps a surprising amount of heat into the throat and next few inches of barrel PLUS having another firing of bullets to get the cases fully formed.
So now I just use cheap or unwanted bullets and a full load of cool/slow burning powder and be done with it.

When I fire formed the 250 AI cases I found the fire forming loads to be very accurate. I was shooting 5 shot groups that were smaller than the Cooper 1/2" 3 shot guarantee. Rather than waste them we used them for shooting hares as practice for my wife. She shot one hare at 340 yards.

blackaj, did you ever say what action you were planning on using? Maybe I missed it. If you're planning on using a Remington short action you should reconsider. Like a few people have stated above, the Rem case is too long for a 2.8" mag and action, especially if you're looking at 100+ grain bullets.

I had a 6mm Ackley with a 10 twist barrel, so I mostly shot 75 and 87 vmaxs, it was awesome on rock Chuck's and prairie dogs but it would never shoot anything heavier. I ended up with a 243 with a 7.5 twist barrel. In my opinion the straight 243 is a way better option in a standard short action, the 6mm Creedmoor or 6x47 might be even better. I think people way underestimate how important overall length is and over estimate velocity. With the scopes and range finders that we have now days who cares if you need a few more clicks at a 1000 yards?

Let's say you are running a Rem action, that means you're OAL is limited to 2.8", if you're running a 115 how much case capacity does the base of the bullet take up? If you're using a shorter case the usable volume might actually be the same as the Rem case. Now if you're using an action that allows for longer OAL you can disregard all of this.

One other point. The 6mm Rem and especially the Ackley version are not easy on barrels, I used up half of the barrel life on mine fire forming cases and doing load development, I would never do an Ackley again unless it was something that you could buy formed brass for (280 Ackley). Again, I don't think the extra velocity is worth the work and the barrel life. Just my two cents take it for what it's worth.

Thank you all for the advice, I'm building on a tikka action and plan on seating the bullets out, oal is not an issue.
I'm ordering 6mm Winchester brass today, thinking I'll stick with the non ai chambering since it should easily get me the velocity i want

With the correct twist barrel I am convinced you will have a lot of fun. The standard 6mm Rem is a good cartridge.

blackaj said:

Thank you all for the advice, I'm building on a tikka action and plan on seating the bullets out, oal is not an issue.
I'm ordering 6mm Winchester brass today, thinking I'll stick with the non ai chambering since it should easily get me the velocity i want

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Sounds like it may be too late...but have you ever thought about the 6mm-284 Norma? I have so much 6.5mm-284 brass...

I found a McGowen pre fit barrel, 6mm-284, 1-8, 28", fluted for about $350 (on sale)...no fire forming...commercial dies...chambers throated long...Should get you past your fps with ease...

Just waiting for a long action that I have on order to come in...

Looking for cheap 105gr 6mm? Nosler RDFs...

plus an extra 20% off until to night...

$15.56 per 100...shipping is a flat $13 so order more...

http://www.shootersproshop.com/cata...6mm-105-grain-rdf-hpbt-blem-100ct/category/2/

The point about COAL does not apply here as the action is not a remmy but a tikka so there is plenty of room. But even if it was a remmy; look at the Crusader formed by George Gardners. Parent was a 6 remmy, blew out the taper, and shortened the neck to give it screaming vel. Those using the 105 and H1000 were getting 1500-2000 rounds of shooting. They were using remington actions with AICS CIP mags and able to load to 2.925 IIRC. Go pull the old threads from sniperhide. Again this is all moot for this topic as the op is using a tikka.

With the 6 Rem he will be able to run 105 & 115 hybrids and the 103 & 108 ELDs along with the high bc 110 SMK

I assume you were replying to my post. Not sure if you read all of it, but I did have a 6 Ackley on a Rem short action so I'm well aware that it can be done. You're right that it will shoot the heavies very fast but my point was there are better options for that length of action. Does George or any of the other prs guys still shoot crusaders? No, because there are better options. Plus, this might be heresy and don't take it the wrong way because I appreciate everything that someone like George does for our sport, but at the end of the day he's trying to sell rifles. So everytime he comes out with a new mouse trap how many rifles does he sell? Does that mean that the new mouse trap is the end all be all? No.

Now in a Tikka, like the op is using, the 6mm Rem will be awesome, especially with a fast twist barrel.