6.5 comparisons

[WildRose]

I have two 6.5 Creedmoor rifles, Ruger Amer. Predator for hunting and Ruger Precision Rifle for competition. I am very satisfied with with both because they shoot fairly flat, are not barrel burners and seem inherently accurate. PLUS the case is designed to handle long VLD type bullets, something the 260 Rem. will not do without a lot of powder compression and dangerous pressures.. If it would have handled VLD bullets there would have been no need to develop the 6.5 CM.

But... for really flat shooting 6.5 pills the 6.5/284 is it. Yes, at 3,000 FPS plus muzzle velocities it's a barrel burner but it is just so flat shooting and accurate.

A similar round would be a 6.5 Swede AI. The Ackley Improved case gives a lot of room for powder and there are dies made for it by specialty die makers like Jones Precision in Pennsylvania. Of course you have to form your own brass but it's not difficult.

Eric B.

If you aren't abusing the rifle the whole idea that the 6.5-284 is mostly hype.

Even the .264wm can give good barrel life if you don't shoot till your rifle gets hot and keep on shooting.

 

[toddc]

If I was going to re-barrel an existing long action, then I would really be looking hard at the 6.5x55mm AI. There is such an abundance of quality once-fired and new brass available for considerably less than any other 6.5-caliber cartridge. I have been getting once-fired Norma from a guy in Sweden for something like $0.25 each. Even new Lapua in 6.5x55 is less expensive than other 6.5-cartridges (because they produce so much of it for competitive shooting in Sweden and Norway). This is the route that I will go once I have pulled the existing barrel off of my T3 Sporter.

Hmmmmm not to thread jack but cheap brass is not real common anywhere. A 22x55 would be a fun armadillo slayer.

 

[WildRose]

If I was going to re-barrel an existing long action, then I would really be looking hard at the 6.5x55mm AI. There is such an abundance of quality once-fired and new brass available for considerably less than any other 6.5-caliber cartridge. I have been getting once-fired Norma from a guy in Sweden for something like $0.25 each. Even new Lapua in 6.5x55 is less expensive than other 6.5-cartridges (because they produce so much of it for competitive shooting in Sweden and Norway). This is the route that I will go once I have pulled the existing barrel off of my T3 Sporter.

Right now Midway has Hornady Brass for the .260 selling for .72c per round and are awaiting delivery of Silver State Armory Brass priced at .60c per round.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/333579/hornady-reloading-brass-260-remington-box-of-50

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/397225/silver-state-armory-reloading-brass-260-remington-bag-of-50

Even the Lapua Brass can be had for just over a dollar per round at Midway, and .87c at Brownell's

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/420958/lapua-reloading-brass-260-remington-box-of-100

RIFLE BRASS | Brownells

It's hard to find quality brass any cheaper anywhere for any of the bottleneck cases.

As for the VLD's I'm with Cody, I've had no problem getting VLD's to fit my mag boxes on either the Remington 5R 260 or Ruger 77 Hawkeye FTW.

Both of those rifles have factory stock chambers and magazines.

 

[Viking264]

Hmmmmm not to thread jack but cheap brass is not real common anywhere. A 22x55 would be a fun armadillo slayer.

Visit gunbroker and look for once-fired 6.5x55 Norma brass.

 

[codyadams]

So I got to try out my loads with Reloder 26...and needless to say I am quite impressed. So here are my results....

Hornady 147 ELD-M, seated .050" off (C.O.L. of 2.865)
Lapua .260 brass formed
CCI BR-2 primer
Temperature while firing was 20 degrees F

48 gr:
1. 2843
2. 2877
3. 2865 // 2861 Avg., 34 fps E.S. // 1.068" ctc

48.5 gr:
1. 2966
2. 2988
3. 2982 // 2978 Avg., 22 fps E.S. // .394" ctc

49 gr:
1. 2977
2. 3006
3. 3022 // 3008 Avg., 25 fps E.S. // .749" ctc

49.5 gr:
1. 3043
2. 3040
3. 3043 // 3042 Avg., 3 fps E.S. // .801" ctc

50 gr:
1. 3043
2. 3073
3. 3059 // 3058 Avg., 30 fps E.S. // .445" ctc

50.5 gr:
1. 3096
2. 3102
3. 3078 // 3092 Avg., 24 fps E.S. // .213" ctc

.260 AI, 147 grain pill, averaging just under 3,100 FPS, without going overpressure? I am stoked.

FYI, 50.5 grains comes up to the bottom of the neck.

 

[WildRose]

So I got to try out my loads with Reloder 26...and needless to say I am quite impressed. So here are my results....

Hornady 147 ELD-M, seated .050" off (C.O.L. of 2.865)
Lapua .260 brass formed
CCI BR-2 primer
Temperature while firing was 20 degrees F

48 gr:
1. 2843
2. 2877
3. 2865 // 2861 Avg., 34 fps E.S. // 1.068" ctc

48.5 gr:
1. 2966
2. 2988
3. 2982 // 2978 Avg., 22 fps E.S. // .394" ctc

49 gr:
1. 2977
2. 3006
3. 3022 // 3008 Avg., 25 fps E.S. // .749" ctc

49.5 gr:
1. 3043
2. 3040
3. 3043 // 3042 Avg., 3 fps E.S. // .801" ctc

50 gr:
1. 3043
2. 3073
3. 3059 // 3058 Avg., 30 fps E.S. // .445" ctc

50.5 gr:
1. 3096
2. 3102
3. 3078 // 3092 Avg., 24 fps E.S. // .213" ctc

.260 AI, 147 grain pill, averaging just under 3,100 FPS, without going overpressure? I am stoked.

FYI, 50.5 grains comes up to the bottom of the neck.

Nice. That's similar to what a lot of people are seeing with RL23 in the SAMMI spec .260 Rem. About a 100-150fps increase over H4350 without any pressure signs.

 

[Greyfox]

There is 1 word in this post that explains most of it......RETUMBO. The 6.5-284 SHOULD have been run forever with powder in this class but it wasn't. Jump up 15 places in burn rate AND.......bye bye barrel.
This one more example of powder advances changing the game in cases.

Absolutely. The irony is that the same benchrest/competition shooters that established the 6.5x284's reputation as a barrel burner are likely responsible for its birth and popularity. Unfortunately, even though the right powder choice yields barrel life comparable to many of its popular ballistic counterparts, the stigma of "barrel burner" persists. I think this is because some 6.5x284 shooters continue to use the fast burning powders, and worse, the Internet butterflies unwittingly parrot "barrel burner" at every opportunity ......all this keeping the reputation alive and well. Too bad, but interestingly, even with this ill deserved reputation, the 6.5x284 continues be a top choice amongst long range hunters....and, at least based upon my personal experiences, rightfully so.

 

[Tucker65]

I have a Cooper model 52 in 6.5x284 and have been working up a load using Reloader 26 and Berger 140 VLD hunting bullets. First off I'm not an expert shooter by any means and this rifle will be used for hunting and long range target shooting. I've been loading 55gr Reloader 26 in Lapua brass with cci br2 primers. I ran this load over the chronograph when getting the scope zeroed with an average of 2986 fps. The speed was very consistent with the the first shot at 2976 the last shot at 3001, and three in the middle at 2984,2985,2987. I did a seating depth test as Berger suggests and at .020 off the lands it put them all in one hole at 100 yards. Seated farther off the lands in .030 increments the groups progressively got bigger but the largest group was only about 5/8"

I loaded up more and wanted to see what they would do at 500 yards, and also kind of verify what my chronograph readings were. I entered all the info into Strelok and it gave me a correction of 6.9 moa. I dialed it and proceeded to send some rounds down range. After the five shot group I was pretty happy to see the results. I'm not sure what happened with the flyer but most likely it was me and not the equipment. They all were a little high and after I made a velocity correction in Strelok the corrected velocity is 3090 fps. Next outing I'll take them out to 800 and 1000 to see if that holds true.

This load doesn't seem to show any pressure signs at all but I must be getting up towards the upper end going by the velocity I was getting. Maybe next time I can work on my technique more and get rid of the flyer.

John

 

[Viking264]

A question that I am pondering is what the barrel life on a 6.5-284 would be when firing a load with 51K PSI using 55.5 grains of propellant.

 

[Greyfox]

A question that I am pondering is what the barrel life on a 6.5-284 would be when firing a load with 51K PSI using 55.5 grains of propellant.

IMO, while pressure does play a role in a cartridges barrel life, in the case of the 6.5x284 I think there is a greater influence on barrel life due to the choice of the propellents burn rate, and the heat generated when shooting. The reputation of the 6.5x284 established by the Benchrest/competition crowd typically did not use maximum pressure charges but did use faster burning propellants, H4831sc/H4350 in particular.... and more critically, were shot "hot" during the warmer climates. Thus the barrel burner reputation. I personally would not trade off the performance of the 6.5x284. Use a slower burning powder like Retumbo or R26 and don't allow it to get hot and the 6.5x284 will a yield typical barrel life comparable to a 7mmMag and many other LRH rounds, about 1500 rounds.

 

[toddc]

IMO, while pressure does play a role in a cartridges barrel life, in the case of the 6.5x284 I think there is a greater influence on barrel life due to the choice of the propellents burn rate, and the heat generated when shooting. The reputation of the 6.5x284 established by the Benchrest/competition crowd typically did not use maximum pressure charges but did use faster burning propellants, H4831sc/H4350 in particular.... and more critically, were shot "hot" during the warmer climates. Thus the barrel burner reputation. I personally would not trade off the performance of the 6.5x284. Use a slower burning powder like Retumbo or R26 and don't allow it to get hot and the 6.5x284 will a yield typical barrel life comparable to a 7mmMag and many other LRH rounds, about 1500 rounds.

I'll buy that.

My 6.5-284s that died quickly were H4831 loaded and shot on turtles in the summer. Turtle shooting is a lot like PD shooting. I would shoot over a 100 a day in hot conditions. Barrels never made it thru the summer. Our lake drained and I quit doing that and barrel life rose accordingly. However my 338 Edges I treated like this lasted a lot longer as they should.

I would say barrel life is 50% case and 50% usage, no matter the caliber. All of my barrels are lasting longer now that our turtles are gone.

 

[Viking264]

Well, I'm going to ask another question, which is semi-related. Consider the .243 Win, which is bar far the most economical 6mm to reload for (this is not taking barrel life into consideration), is the approach of slower-burning powder and lower pressure likely to improve the barrel life? Generally speaking, I mean.

 

[toddc]

Well, I'm going to ask another question, which is semi-related. Consider the .243 Win, which is bar far the most economical 6mm to reload for (this is not taking barrel life into consideration), is the approach of slower-burning powder and lower pressure likely to improve the barrel life? Generally speaking, I mean.

I would 100% say yes. I am not a metallurgist, doctor of physics or even a gunsmith.

However, back in the day when we loaded lighter stuff to maximize PBR barrels didn't last as long as when we went to heavier bullets and slower powder. Some of that could be material improvements in the last 30 yrs but even recently I have seen differences between the two on a 6-284 and 22-284.
Screaming lightweight stuff seems to torch a throat quicker in my experience. Back in the day a 264WM with 100gr pills would get hinky at 800 rds. Nowadays running 140s they seem to last a lot longer.
Barrel materials and powders have improved a lot in the last 30 yrs.

 

[jakelly]

There are some guys using a 6 comp match (243 w/31* shoulder) and getting barrel life that challenges belief. 5000+ rds, using H1000 and 105-115s.