Laelkhunter
Well-Known Member
Brownells (Sinclair) shows two diffeent sets of dies, one for the Winchester and one for the Norma, and two different offerings for the brass. Are they essentially one in the same and interchangeable?
6.5 cartridge selection
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Brownells (Sinclair) shows two diffeent sets of dies, one for the Winchester and one for the Norma, and two different offerings for the brass. Are they essentially one in the same and interchangeable?
shortgrass
Well-Known Member
6.5 x .284 Norma brass fits in my chamber cut with my reamer marked 6.5 x .284 Winchester. Reloads made with Redding dies marked 6.5 x 284 Norma work, also. The difference is mainly in the throat, although, C.I.P shows the head and shoulder to be very slightly bigger in diameter. Loaded ammo (to Norma specs) should be avoided in the 6.5 x .284 Winchester chamber as the bullet could be jammed into the rifling which is not a good situation when the loads were developed for chambers that allow some jump before engaging the rifling. A 6.5 x .284 Winchester reamer would be a "special order" tool since the Norma has been standardized. I had my Win. reamer custom made, quite a few years ago, before the Norma was standardized, so OAL will fit into an extended mag box of a SA. I use a throating reamer, to extend O.A.L., when building on a LA. LA is the way to go to maximize preformance. About the same discussion as compairing the .280 AI traditional to the .280 AI Nosler. Some confusion as both were wildcats before being standardized.
The Winchester is a .284 Winchester and has to be necked down to 6.5mm and is smaller than the Norma or Lapua brass in the critical area of the case head. The rim diameter is the same, but the case 0.2" forward of the rim is smaller.
If your barrel is chambered with a reamer designed for the Winchester case you can have trouble with the bigger Norma and Lapua cases fitting in. If you use a reamer designed for the Norma case, Winchester cases can expand in that area. As mentioned the 264 Win is a remnant from the wildcat days.
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Laelkhunter
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the explanation.
blue avenger
New Member
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AIs are easy. You put it in the gun and pull the trigger. It comes out formed.
For your 280AI-6.5 you size the new 280 brass in your die and load moderate charge. Shoot and remove a formed case. most shoot the preformed very accurately but slower then the formed case.
only draw back could be the extra bullets down the barrel
I think I would buy 280 AI brass and run them thru my 6.5-280 AI die.
Hired Gun
Well-Known Member
I have been using a 6.5x284 Win reamer for ages. Lapua brass works perfect in it and the dies are marked Norma. Never a problem in at least 10 rifles we have built this way including my own personal 6.5x284.
I have not been able to get 3000 fps safely out of this round with any 140's and using as much as 31.5" barrels. It still works fine at 2950. If I really wanted any speed out of a 6.5 I would make it a 26 Nosler.
As far as Ackley's go I never form brass. I load my Ackley load in the standard case as long as it fits and enjoy. It comes out all formed and just keep going from there. Accuracy and velocity is right on par with the standard case. I have a 7-08AI that is going on 2 years old and it has never seen a blown out case. I have like 18 more to go and the first 100 will be all formed. Those first 82 cases have accounted for a lot of dead deer, crows, squirrels and a lot of 600 yard rocks. I would never waste components or barrel life just to form a case.
I have not been able to get 3000 fps safely out of this round with any 140's and using as much as 31.5" barrels. It still works fine at 2950. If I really wanted any speed out of a 6.5 I would make it a 26 Nosler.
As far as Ackley's go I never form brass. I load my Ackley load in the standard case as long as it fits and enjoy. It comes out all formed and just keep going from there. Accuracy and velocity is right on par with the standard case. I have a 7-08AI that is going on 2 years old and it has never seen a blown out case. I have like 18 more to go and the first 100 will be all formed. Those first 82 cases have accounted for a lot of dead deer, crows, squirrels and a lot of 600 yard rocks. I would never waste components or barrel life just to form a case.
None other than it's a wildcat. Yea, I know A-square kind of quasi made it a factory round but it's essentially a wildcat. That's fine but personally I'd rather go with a factory cartridge than form brass. The 6.5x284 Norma is a CIP standardized round with excellent brass available from several sources, and excellent dies available. Plus it has a proven track record in long range shooting with reams of load data available. It would be a lot easier than screwing around with a 6.5x06. Tell the gunsmith you want a 6.5x284 Norma, some Lapua brass and Forster dies & you're done. No screwing around forming brass.
Lapua Reloading Brass 6.5mm-284 Norma Box of 100
Forster Bench Rest 2-Die Set 6.5mm-284 Norma (6.5mm-284 Winchester)
I had read several years ago that the Benchrest shooters believed that the shorter/fatter case design of the 6.5x284 over the longer, narrower 6.5-06 was inherently more accurate with less felt recoil due to powder burn characteristics. The same has been claimed with other BR designs like the 6BR. I'm not sure of the validity of this but if anyone would be able to see subtle differences in performance, it would be that crowd.....and, it's hard argue their success with the cartridge.
