6.5-284 in a sa?

bellboy

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Dec 8, 2008
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I have a left-handed Browning a-bolt chambered in .325 wsm and its a little too much recoil for me to shoot comfortably in the sporter weight. I have been reading about 6.5-284 Norma. It seems like a good balance between light recoil and long range deer capabilities. I would most-likely be shooting the barnes bullets because of the lead restriction in CA. Could I get away with that in the short action. It would be really convenient for me. If that would work then my next hurdle would be to find a left-handed stock. I also have a left-handed saveage LA , but I would rather save that for a 7 stw. If you've got any input that would be great.

thanx
 
A long action is required to take advantage of the full potential of the 6.5-284.
What about a 6.5 WSM?
In a short action you would be limited to cartridges like the 6.5 WSM, 260, 260 Ackley Improved, and 6.5x47 Lapua.

If you are planning to rebarrel your A-Bolt, then the 6.5 WSM would make alot of sence because of the bolt face, but only if the mag lenght allows to load the 140's.

-Erik
 
I think its because you have to seat those high b.c. bullets out so far to get them to perform, you would have loading problems. But like I said I would be shooting barnes bullets, I didn't check to see if the lengths were that much different for the say berger or the other popular long range bullets. I know guys have done it in a short action but I am new to custom rifles so I'm not a viable source. That's why I was asking. I don't want build a gun that is designed to shoot lead bullets for the once a year hunt i do out of state. I want it to be my all-around gun that I grab to go shoot squirrels, coyotes, or deer or for trying to shoot steel at 1000 yds.
I'm not opposed to the 6.5 wsm I just have read a lot of good things about the 6.5-284 Norma. If the wsm is only .07 shorter then maybe I could pull it off with the barned or e-tips (if they come out with a 6.5mm).

Thanx for the input, any more would be apreciated.

jake
 
Referring to the 6.5 WSM, I have a Browning SA in 7mm SAUM. Same kinda thing.
The Barns TSX like to jump. Mine like to jump 0.035" . So, these are the only accurate loads that will fit in the Browning magazine. All of the other loads that the rifle likes are a little too long (Burger VLD ) or a lot too long
( Hornady SST) :)
Just some food for thought.
 
ok that's good to know. The only thing is I don't know what "likes to jump" means :) . I'm sure its something to do with accuracy. Like i said I'm new. I'm used to matching the caliber that's printed on the barrel to what's printed on the box of ammo and goin for it. I really want to learn all of this stuff and get consistant at long range.

My LA savage is chamber in .243 win, is that the same bolt face as the 284 Norma case? My porblem is I'm lacking the knowledge and funds to get this project rolling. So I want to use a gun that I have on hand to use as a donor, So I can get a barrel on it and start from there.
 
Likes to jump means the bullet will not provide the best accuracy when loaded out next to or into the lands.
If you load Nosler AB's or Hornady SST's they will like to be very long so that the chambered bullet is almost touching the lands. These will probably not fit in your magazine.

I cannot tell you what profile the Savage barrel resembles. It's been years since I held one in my hands.
The #4 Douglas profile from McGowan very closely resembles a Browning Stalker profile and fills the barrel groove in the stock very nicely with no gaps.
Some enlarging of that barrel groove will be necessary but not much.
That 26" barrel weighs 3 lb 7 oz. Factory 23" barrel is 2 lb 8 oz.

This barrel did not want to fill the barrel groove in the B&C stock that my 7mm Rem Mag wears. If I had used this barrel on my Remmy, a gap about 3 " long would have been visible near the shoulder on each side of the barrel.

So what I'm trying to say is a 6.5 WSM in a #4 Douglas profile is a good choice for your Browning SA with a Magnum bolt face.

Good Shooting.


.
 
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How about considering the 6.5-7mmSAUM.
The case is shorter and would not require you to seat the bullet as deep.
Also, it should give you performance more than the 6.5-284 and closer to the WSM case.
My 2 cents:)
 
thank you for the help, I appreciate it. I've got a lot to learn, but that's why its fun. If I was an expert already I wouldn't have much of an interest. This forum has a wealth of knowledge. I'm gonna keep studying up until I have the money.
 
I think its because you have to seat those high b.c. bullets out so far to get them to perform, you would have loading problems. But like I said I would be shooting barnes bullets, I didn't check to see if the lengths were that much different for the say berger or the other popular long range bullets. I know guys have done it in a short action but I am new to custom rifles so I'm not a viable source. That's why I was asking. I don't want build a gun that is designed to shoot lead bullets for the once a year hunt i do out of state. I want it to be my all-around gun that I grab to go shoot squirrels, coyotes, or deer or for trying to shoot steel at 1000 yds.
I'm not opposed to the 6.5 wsm I just have read a lot of good things about the 6.5-284 Norma. If the wsm is only .07 shorter then maybe I could pull it off with the barned or e-tips (if they come out with a 6.5mm).

Thanx for the input, any more would be apreciated.

jake

In my Finnlight 300 WSM, which is a long throated bore... if I seat 180 E-Tips to the lands they are about .14" too long to fit the mag. There is no 6.5 E-Tip yet but i'm guessing the 6.5 120 TTSX is going to be about .2" shorter than the 30 cal 180 E-Tip which leads me to believe there should be room to seat the 6.5 mono's close to the lands in a med to long throated bore in a 284 chamber and still load them in the mag. The thing to do would be to find out the legnth of the 120 TTSX's and go from there. The 180 E-Tips are 1.464" long.

I think the 6.5 WSM would be a great cartridge but it is a wildcat and dies are gonna be more spendy. Lapua brass is available for the 6.5 284.

I'm not an expert, but it seems to me the short action should work fine.

-Mark
 
6.5-7mmSAUM? Ok now another one to read up on, that sounds good too being shorter, i could shoot the higher b.c. bullets at the range and shoot the non-lead to hunt with. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
Maybe a retarded question here, but how do you plan on making the bolt face smaller to go with a .284 case?

FWIW, I have a Browning A-bolt in .284 Win. It is the Micro Medallion with a DBM. I have gone rounds with it to find a bullet that would shoot good with the amount of jump required to still fit in the mag. I had to settle for the terribly BC deficient Speer Grand Slam.

If yours has a DBM, check your mag length first and work backwards from there. (unless you want to shoot single shot)

I would most definitely go with a WSM or SAUM case in a 6.5 over the .284 case with what you have to work with.

Or you could add a muzzle brake to the .325 and put the rest of the dough you saved towards your STW........
 
I thought I could have a smith change the bolt face. I really don't know, I just thought that is what you do. Mine is DBM also. Putting a break on the .325 isn't a bad idea, it a loud idea, but not a bad idea. Then I could try out a 7 stw. There are so many options and so many factors that I haven't accounted for.
 
The reason I suggested a Long Action for the 6.5-284 is to seat the long bullets out far enough so that you don't waste case capacity with the bullet inside the case. I had a 6.5-284 in a short action and I could load it but couldn't unload a live round, had to pull the bolt out to get it out - it is now a 6.5X47 Lapua!

If I were you I would built it on the Savage long action, you already have the correct bolt diameter, plus you have enough room to load the 140 gr. bullets that will make the 6.5X284 a true long range gun, but Barnes doesn't make a 140, so 120 might be all you get. You might want to load a 140 gr. Berger VLD, those things rock!

Just my $.02

-Erik
 
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