.243 Laser

[waxonagain10]

I'm building what Winchester SHOULD have done when they created the WSM series of cartridges, I have appropriately named this wildcat: .243 LASER. In essence, it is simply a .243 WSM.
In my opinion, Winchester missed an opportunity to create a superior ELR cartridge when instead of following the 300, 7mm, and .270 WSM with the same casing necked down to 6mm, they created the .243 WSSM instead.
If you study the "Heavy for Caliber" offerings of high BC bullets over 100 gains currently available in this caliber, what it would reveal is that all they need to really show their potential is a little more velocity. This is something that the WSM case can provide.
I'll keep you posted on this build.
W. Palmer

 

[Taylorbok]

6mm Doesn't even belong in the chat for ELR. Doesn't matter what your dial is if 1/4 mph wind switch takes you into the next county.
Ya you can shoot it far and have fun but it's not going to be better than the larger projectiles.
It might be a great wildcat but I'd be more realistic about it.

 

[QuietTexan]

Sounds similar to the 6mm PRC Primal you can get via Stratton right now.

6mm PRC Primal

Rifle built by Taylor Stratton at Stratton Custom Rifles in Delta, Colorado - (970) 417-5718 · [email protected] Bedrock Badlands Cerakote by Daniel at Primal Finish - www.primalfinish.com Lone Peak Fuzion Action Triggertech Diamond pro curve trigger Manners LRH Carbon stock...

www.longrangehunting.com

ELR also starts at a mile, so no 6mm is realistically in play. It takes the top end of 7mm to even make it to the starting line, and the top end of .308 calibers are maxed out by midcourse. That's why Light Class is dominated by 338s, it's easier to be competitive. I'm doing a 30-338 Lapua Improved and want to try the 30XC/300 Raptor to really reach the pinnacle of what 308 is capable of, but each will have to work to stack up against what a 338 Edge or 33XC can easily push a 300 OTM to.

I love stupid overbore rounds and have shot a lot of 100+gn 6mms out of everything from 6BR to 243 AI, but past 1000 yards, why? If it makes you happy and you like it though, good enough and go have fun with it.

 

[Taylorbok]

@QuietTexan @ButterBean
.243 Cheytac get on it

 

[Idaho Lefty]

6mm Doesn't even belong in the chat for ELR. Doesn't matter what your dial is if 1/4 mph wind switch takes you into the next county.
Ya you can shoot it far and have fun but it's not going to be better than the larger projectiles.
It might be a great wildcat but I'd be more realistic about it.

AGREE with THIS ^^^
Take, a .270 WSM ( Norma Cases ) and Neck them down to shoot, the much Higher BC, 6.5 dia Bullets for, "close to", the BEST of, ALL worlds,..
Speed, good Flight characteristic's and, LR ish,.. accuracy ! ).
YES, using the 7 MM dia. Bullet like, a 7 SAUM or 7 PRC will get you "out there", even, a little further BUT,..
Personally, I'd Build, the 6.5 WSM around, the 156 grain, Berger, for descent LR Accuracy with, a bit lower, recoil impulse than, the big 7's or .30's !
PS; I'd also order, 2 Barrels, tho !

 

[rman]

2 barrels would be about right. Shot a 243AI to some decent distances, but it was a lot more challenging than anything with heavier bullets. This gets very evident at around 800 yards or so. The short flight time will be good, but only to so far.

R.

 

[QuietTexan]

I've ordered everything for a 240 Gibbs since this post. Because I LOVE stupid overbore 6mms.

 

[waxonagain10]

Right?! I'm still (impatiently) waiting for the reamer to complete the barreled action.

 

[rman]

Right?! I'm still (impatiently) waiting for the reamer to complete the barreled action.

Do you have a second barrel on order? : )
This thing will be hell on a throat!
Really looking forward to the chrono and target results tho!

R.

 

[QuietTexan]

Do you have a second barrel on order? : )

I bought four Kreigers in 6mm and six in 6.5mm all at once. Bugholes shipped them three at a time to me, the delivery guy was pretty confused that week.

One of those 6.5s is now a 33" 26 Nosler, the rest are supposed to be 6.5-284s, but who knows? One might end up a 6.5 RUM.

 

[sable tireur]

I'm building what Winchester SHOULD have done when they created the WSM series of cartridges, I have appropriately named this wildcat: .243 LASER. In essence, it is simply a .243 WSM.

Everyone has the opportunity to design and build any form of wildcat cartridge they desire. Presentation of the ideas and design features is what drives discussions regarding the potential for success. Some of us dance the dance without mention of an idea to the general public whether on a forum or otherwise. Occasionally, the ideas die a quiet death or lay relegated to the back of the bench or some storage area in the shop. I have a handful of custom reamers which I wish I had never spent the money or time creating.

If you're convinced that you have the path to the next super cartridge, have at it!

One of those 6.5s is now a 33" 26 Nosler

Speaking of design failures...

Nosler, in it's infinite wisdom, designed this cartridge for the wrong reasons. As a result, it is failing to capture even a small portion of the public's awareness and purchasing attention.

Personally I like the basic idea although their execution is wrong. So I decided to try a couple of changes to 'improve' their design and create a slightly better cartridge to promote longer barrel life.

First, I put the Nosler brass I overspent on, away. Low quality and far too high a price to pay for that lack of quality.

Second, I bought Peterson brass in bulk in order to minimize the cost and have the buffer of more brass than I needed right away.

Third, I ordered the reamer with my print as a guideline to avoid problems with communication during a phone call. The print is a hard copy, evidence of all dimensions and location of those dimensions. Yes, I own an Optical Comparator to check their grinding accuracy.

All I really did was push the neck back from 2.331" to 2.270", allowing for a longer neck to control some of the blowtorch effect caused by slow burning powder gases directed into the throat of the chamber. This is a similar type design employed in the 6mm Remington except using a better shoulder angle. The loss of a couple of grains in powder capacity is negligible.

Weatherby, with their 6.5 Weatherby RPM, has solve both problems by creating an excellent cartridge design providing efficiency and the velocity needed for longer range hunting.

As far as the 6mm is concerned, their .240 Weatherby is my usual choice when hunting for Coues deer in southern AZ. I do have a 6mm-06 AI which is also a good choice. I did build a .240 Gibbs but I switched back to the Weatherby and 6mm-06 AI.

Choices are a wonderful thing to have!

Enjoy the process!

 

[Taylorbok]

Everyone has the opportunity to design and build any form of wildcat cartridge they desire. Presentation of the ideas and design features is what drives discussions regarding the potential for success. Some of us dance the dance without mention of an idea to the general public whether on a forum or otherwise. Occasionally, the ideas die a quiet death or lay relegated to the back of the bench or some storage area in the shop. I have a handful of custom reamers which I wish I had never spent the money or time creating.

If you're convinced that you have the path to the next super cartridge, have at it!

to this end I did a 284 Win-imp. Reduced body taper and 40* shoulder. Get the reamer and dies, get it all built, tune a load. Shoot's 180's at 2850 ish. I was hoping for more but hey good enough. Like immediately when I was done 7 PRC was released which checks all the boxes of what I wanted.

 

[Lapuatom]

I've ordered everything for a 240 Gibbs since this post. Because I LOVE stupid overbore 6mms.

I have two /.240 Gibbs rifles. Wish I had faster twist but when these were built, long heavy weren't a thing yet. 75gr vmax @4k.

 

[yobuck]

AGREE with THIS ^^^
Take, a .270 WSM ( Norma Cases ) and Neck them down to shoot, the much Higher BC, 6.5 dia Bullets for, "close to", the BEST of, ALL worlds,..
Speed, good Flight characteristic's and, LR ish,.. accuracy ! ).
YES, using the 7 MM dia. Bullet like, a 7 SAUM or 7 PRC will get you "out there", even, a little further BUT,..
Personally, I'd Build, the 6.5 WSM around, the 156 grain, Berger, for descent LR Accuracy with, a bit lower, recoil impulse than, the big 7's or .30's !
PS; I'd also order, 2 Barrels, tho !

The 270 WSM case and the 300 WSM case are the same as for capacity. And yes, the Norma cases are better than others.
The advantage of using the 270 case is its a bit easier to neck down to 6.5 than the 300 case is.
If you were paying attention 15 years or so ago, you knew there were alot of people going nuts over a 6.5x300 WSM.
Now i suppose one could have called it a 6.5x270 WSM as well if they chose to.
Anyway having felt a bit slighted over never having a rifle in a (hot) 6.5 cartridge, i decided to have one built.
I chose to use a lefty Savage action that had been a 243.
Also used a heavy sporter contour 26" 8 twist stainless Brux barrel.
The gun shot very well with the 140 class bullets with velocities in the plus 3350 range.
But only as a single shot, due to magazine issues which were beyond me to correct.
I did kill 2 antelope with it, one in Wy. at 400+ and another in Montana at 600+.
Like most antelope they died very easily with one shot.
No doubt i could have been just as successfull had i used the 25/06 i already owned before building the 6.5.
And while in Wyoming i found a gunsmith who knew how to fix the magazine.
But when back in PA at our camp, i decided to compare the (hot) 6.5 to my 7x300 Wetherby, in which i use 162 gr bullets to achieve the same velocity.
Short version of the story is that shortly after that the (hot) 6.5 found a new home.
I found out first hand that i hadnt missed a thing by not having a (hot) 6.5. lol
In hindsite, which is usually better, i wish i had used that very good barrel on my 700 Rem in 30/06, which never gets used.
And had it chambered in 6.5 x 06 AI, i would no doubt still own a good gun that i used quite often.