6.5-06 issues on new to me firearm

[clacka6mm]

my long deceased uncle had a m1917 enfield sporterized in 1962 and made into a 6.5-06

hubble barrel dated may 1962


i know its not a 25-06 because a .257 projectile slides effortlessly down the inside of the lands

and being the 6.5MM could be either .257 or .264 depending on how you measure the bore i was really hoping the gun measured the std 25-06 for ammo availability but not so much...


so its a lovely true wild cat, i know A Square standardized the loading BUT since this thing was built 35 years prior to that GOD KNOWS WHAT IT IS exactly...


so since nothing is actually known other than caliber..


how would you all go about ensuring you end up with proper brass (in proper headstamp because lord knows someone somewhere will screw things up)

a good safe load to build from
and a ultimately safe firing setup..

start with 25/06 and Fire form with COW?

25-06 necked up and starting load fire form that way

test fit a Asquare brass and work from there??

or get a chamber cast done and assess options

 

[fiftybmg]

Chamber cast.

 

[mtbullet1]

chamber cast

 

[leadman]

I have a pre SAAMI 6.5-06 on an old Turkish 98 Mauser. I actually bought the Redding dies a few years from a retiring gunsmith before I had the rifle built.
I use 25-06 brass and fireform with COW. The chamber is a little on the long side for the dies so this method works well with neck sizing after fireforming. 280 Remington also works well in my rifle as the shoulder is farther forward than 25-06. I don't trim the cases until after it is fireformed as they usually shorten on firing.
A chamber cast can be done but there is very little risk involved in using the COW method to fireform.

 

[MNbogboy]

Have a gunsmith do a chamber cast and go from there.

Don't count on the A-Square brass it often is unavailable.
I have used both 25-06 and 30-06 brass in mine with no problems ( with a tight necked chamber outside neck turning may be required with the 30-06 brass).

I color my head stamps with a bright colored sharpie to prevent mixups with my 25-06 ammo...Have also used nickel plated brass in the past for the same reason.

Also 6.5-06 ammo should not chamber in a 25-06 unless the bolt is pounded down with a hammer!
But you really don't want to rattle a 25-06 bullet down a 6.5 bore either!! (don't ask me about the time I was shooting my 257 Bob AI and my 6.5-257 BOB AI on the same day---
because I won't tell you that My chrono was way off and I didn't even hit the target with
a .257 bullet rattled down the 6.5 bore!!!)...

I hope you find out it is a 6.5-06 you will probably love it...

Good luck,
Randy

 

[clacka6mm]

my plan is to keep it as is but it needs a new stock... im LH and Left Eyed, so a RH montecarlo does me NO GOOD what so ever.. i WAS going to look to a P14 bolt face and make it a .338 magnum... but a 3000 fps or so 147 6.5 i think will do fine and not require anything major... if it has the barrel twist... if it doesnt.. im thinking ditch the barrel for a tight twist .338 set up for 338 edge or similar... it has a 4" mag well and still has the striper clip rails in it so its kinda unique in the fact its long enough to mag feed anything i want
gun will be made a shooter and get a nice rail and optic but first things first see how it works as is...

either way... im gunna wear out the barrel its got... lol im hoping its a std 65-06 vs an Ackley because its over bore as is with only a 23" barrel

 

[clacka6mm]

Have a gunsmith do a chamber cast and go from there.

Don't count on the A-Square brass it often is unavailable.
I have used both 25-06 and 30-06 brass in mine with no problems ( with a tight necked chamber outside neck turning may be required with the 30-06 brass).

I color my head stamps with a bright colored sharpie to prevent mixups with my 25-06 ammo...Have also used nickel plated brass in the past for the same reason.

Also 6.5-06 ammo should not chamber in a 25-06 unless the bolt is pounded down with a hammer!
But you really don't want to rattle a 25-06 bullet down a 6.5 bore either!! (don't ask me about the time I was shooting my 257 Bob AI and my 6.5-257 BOB AI on the same day---
because I won't tell you that My chrono was way off and I didn't even hit the target with
a .257 bullet rattled down the 6.5 bore!!!)...

I hope you find out it is a 6.5-06 you will probably love it...

Good luck,
Randy

its 6.5.... groove measures .2638 lands measure .2573
so that halted the idea of it being a pre standard 25/06

 

[Trnelson]

my long deceased uncle had a m1917 enfield sporterized in 1962 and made into a 6.5-06

hubble barrel dated may 1962


i know its not a 25-06 because a .257 projectile slides effortlessly down the inside of the lands

and being the 6.5MM could be either .257 or .264 depending on how you measure the bore i was really hoping the gun measured the std 25-06 for ammo availability but not so much...


so its a lovely true wild cat, i know A Square standardized the loading BUT since this thing was built 35 years prior to that GOD KNOWS WHAT IT IS exactly...


so since nothing is actually known other than caliber..


how would you all go about ensuring you end up with proper brass (in proper headstamp because lord knows someone somewhere will screw things up)

a good safe load to build from
and a ultimately safe firing setup..

start with 25/06 and Fire form with COW?

25-06 necked up and starting load fire form that way

test fit a Asquare brass and work from there??

or get a chamber cast done and assess options

Cast that chamber. It isn't socially acceptable to wear your rifle bolt in your face. It's true you can make 6.5/06 from 25/06, 270, 280 or 30/06, however, the chamber cast will reveal exactly what you should use and what the proper neck diameter needs to be in your rifle. My friend has one that has a .300" chamber neck and can go straight from most any .30/06 case to 6.5/06 and load them. Mine is .293" and won't chamber his loads. Both are '6.5/06' stamped on the barrel. Know what you have, don't even think about guessing and taking a chance it isn't worth it at all

 

[Clark]

I tried necking down 270 brass, but it is too long for my chamber made with my 6.5-06 A square reamer.

If I don't want to trim, I neck down 30-06 brass.

I don't have to turn the necks. The necked down 30-06 brass works perfectly.

6.5-06 A square.. case per SAAMI 2.494" -0.020
270 Winchester... case per SAAMI 2.540" -0.020
30-06 Springfield case per SAAMI 2.494" -0.020

I am halfway between min and max headspace, a 0.010" range, and I am 0.005" from min when I headspaced the rifle.
The case space is 2.530" [2.528 is go 2.531" is no go]. So some 270 brass might fit. None of the samples of the 40 pounds of 270 brass I have will fit when necked down.

I paid extra to Forster and got them to hone a 25-06 sizer body out from .272" to a .292" neck.
I based my neck request on loaded 6.5-06 ammo with necked down Winchester 30-06 brass.
The SAAMI chamber neck is at least 0.298" so you can see my 30-06 Winchester brass is fitting by a mile. I usually have less luck with necked down Norma and Lapua thick necks in other cartridges, but even THEY might fit in the 6.5-06 chamber, I dunno.

I paid extra to get the 270 Lee Collet neck mandrel cut down 0.013", but no cutting at the top tip. This was still much cheaper than a full up custom 6.5-06 collet neck die from Lee.

 

[clacka6mm]

A square dimensions mean nothing to a gun built 34 years before Asquare ever designed it for SAAMI ...

 

[Clark]

Trying to research this, there are two cartridges:
6.5-06 made with short 30-06 brass 2.494"
6.5-270 made with the 0.046" longer 270 brass 2.540".

P.O. Ackley 1962, 54 years ago, "..is simply the standard 30/06 case necked to 6.5."

A-Square went out of biz 6 years ago in 2010 but were around at least back in the 70s 45 years ago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6.5-06_A-Square "Case length 2.494 in"
A-Square made the drawing in 1997 19 years ago.

In "Cartridges of the World 4th" the 6.5-06 wildcat has the length at 2.49" in 1965 51 years ago.

The exception is Wolfe Publishing Wildcat cartridges II 1992 has an article on 6.5-06 by Donald Roberts. This compilation of articles is not dated in the book, but a GOOGLE search shows a date
https://www.riflemagazine.com/magazine/PDF/hl78partial.pdf
March-April 1979 Handloader magazine. This would be 37 years ago.
The picture shows 2.54" and explicitly says "formed from 270 brass".

11 years ago here on LRH
http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f26/6-5-270-good-choice-14039/
Jerry Teo, Canadian who owns Mystic
About | Mystic Precision
"Re: 6.5-270? Good Choice?
6.5-06 is just so much easier to get dies for. Either will be almost identical."


Yes Jerry, just write "6.5-270" on 6.5-06 dies and they WILL BE 6.5-270 dies.
Nothing about the difference in chamber length of 2.494" vs 2.540" is involved with the dies.