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6.5 STW-Ok guys talk me out of it

WildRose

WildRose

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2011
Messages
15,226
Location
N. Texas and S. Africa
This is a caliber I've toyed with getting since I first heard of it over 20 years ago.

The 7mm STW is my all time favorite caliber but I admit to having an addiction to the 6.5 bullets and already own several.

When I look at my 6.5 collection twenty years from now deciding on who will get what I want to have to split up starting with the 260, a 6.5x284, .264wm, and the 6.5 STW.

There are things you can do with the the STW over the others that just make it one I want to own.

I know of course about the barrel life issues, but I don't plan to shoot it enough to matter.

I have some future desert mule deer and antelope hunts in mind, along with one or two tundra caribou hunts that I just think this would be a blast to have along, not to mention it's utility value on long range coyotes.

I came across a custom that already is exactly everything I'd want in a 6.5 STW other than not quite as much barrel as I'd use if I were building one of my own and who knows, I may shoot it out and put a longer bbl on it one day when I do.

I know we have a few 6.5 STW shooters here, while everyone else might think me nuts for having this fixation, if you guys could go back and do it all again are there any negatives you can think of which would preclude you from doing so again?

Thanks
 
You want ME to talk you out of anything with the letters "STW" behind it? Pffffft! You're barking up the wrong tree!

You've been around...You know what the barrel life will be like, but you also know the insane ballistics it's gonna have, and how hard it's gonna knock on some whitetials with a 140 VLD stuffed in it... :cool:

Now...Go order your barrel, and do what you gotta do, and post some dang pics in the STW section! :D
 
MudRunner2005 said:
You want ME to talk you out of anything with the letters "STW" behind it? Pffffft! You're barking up the wrong tree!

You've been around...You know what the barrel life will be like, but you also know the insane ballistics it's gonna have, and how hard it's gonna knock on some whitetials with a 140 VLD stuffed in it... :cool:

Now...Go order your barrel, and do what you gotta do, and post some dang pics in the STW section! :D
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Well, you're no damned help! gun)

I only know of a handful of guys who have ever had one and I don't think I've heard one of them say they regretted it.

On barrel life, I have my LR 260 so if I just want to shoot one of the 6.5's a lot and not worry about barrel life I've got that one covered.

I've also got my heart set on owning a custom 6.5x284 at some point and they have great barrel life compared to most of what I shoot so that's another high volume 6.5 I won't have to worry about.

To get the most out of this case I know that at some point I'll want to go to at least a 28" tube so I can really make them scream so even IF I shot this one out, I'd probably be over the addiction before I do the re barrel job...

Dang it, where's the 6.5 STW guys that wish they'd gone another way?
 
Unfortunately for you...I don't think there is anyone who's ever regretted going with ANY STW caliber... :D I know in 12 years I've never doubted my 7STW, other than the meat damage at close range. But I blame SGK's for that, and my stupid decision to take a shoulder shot instead of a rib shot...So, other than that 1 incident (which was actually MY fault), I have never regretted my decision to go 7mmSTW.
 
Well I don't have a 6.5STW but I do have a couple 6.5-300wm's and have shot a few animals with the first one I built. It took two elk at 100-125yds with 140gr Amax's doing 3225fps (RWS brass gives up about 100fps) and a deer at 1006yds with the same load. The first one has a 28" Sendero contour and the second one has a 26" Sendero contour (it's a cheap CM barrel I paid 50.00 for. The first groups with 123 Amax's was 1/3 MOA @ 100yds and 1/2MOA @ 300yds). In Nosler brass I get 3325ish for velocity with 140's using Retumbo. R-33 adds roughly another 80fps.

I chose the 6.5-300wm because brass is usually easier to find, it has plenty of HP, and it will fit in a standard 3.68" Remington mag box with the edge of the boattail at the bottom of the neck.

I have a 6.5STW reamer I bought before I did my first 6.5-300wm too.
 
IdahoCTD said:
Well I don't have a 6.5STW but I do have a couple 6.5-300wm's and have shot a few animals with the first one I built. It took two elk at 100-125yds with 140gr Amax's doing 3225fps (RWS brass gives up about 100fps) and a deer at 1006yds with the same load. The first one has a 28" Sendero contour and the second one has a 26" Sendero contour (it's a cheap CM barrel I paid 50.00 for. The first groups with 123 Amax's was 1/3 MOA @ 100yds and 1/2MOA @ 300yds). In Nosler brass I get 3325ish for velocity with 140's using Retumbo. R-33 adds roughly another 80fps.

I chose the 6.5-300wm because brass is usually easier to find, it has plenty of HP, and it will fit in a standard 3.68" Remington mag box with the edge of the boattail at the bottom of the neck.

I have a 6.5STW reamer I bought before I did my first 6.5-300wm too.
Click to expand...
Thanks. That's what originally got me thinking hard about it. I knew a couple of different guys who'd built wildcat 6.5's on the 300wm and 300wby formats and they were just amazing. I'd already bought my first 7mm STW before learning about the 6.5STW which is why I've now got 3 of them. Had I not, I'd have probably gone with the 6.5-300wm or 6.5STW originally.

I fell in love with a friend's .264wm and 6.5x55 as a kid and have had a fascination for the 6.5's my whole life as a result.
 
C.O. Shooter said:
What about the 6.5 SAUM?
Click to expand...
Shh, I'm starting to think about one of those in the future as well based on what I've read about them so far. Either that or the 6.5wsm. the 6.5wsm is really pretty similar to the 6.5Rem Mag in many ways and I'm thinking very hard about getting one of those for the wife IF and it's a big IF, I could for sure find at least 200rds of good 6.5Rem brass. It's harder to come by than hen's teeth.
 
C.O. Shooter said:
Two guys at work recently sent there GAP rifles back to GAP for this conversion! I wish I would have seen this before my build! Only downside for me would be brass prep/steps. Caliber's We Load : Copper Creek Cartridge Co.. Copper Creek loads for the 6.5 SAUM or 6.5 (4S). Two names for it!
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Yep, it looks like it's going to be a very popular wildcat and would not be at all surprised if it get's standardized and SAAMI approved sooner rather than later.

The short magnums have been sorely lacking a 6.5 for too long and with the popularity of the short magnums in general it's really a no brainer.

If this does start gaining ground though you can bet Winchester will jump in hard and fast with their own standardized 6.5wsm.

I have one of my 7stw's that shoots the factory nosler ammo so well I'll just keep buying and feeding it with that and I'll never run out of good brass as a result so other than possibly the need to do some neck turning brass prep won't be a problem.

There used to be a custom brass maker out there that would make and custom stamp brass for you but I can't remember who it was. It was good brass as I remember though. If I get the 6.5 and can find them again maybe I'll get them to run me a couple of hundred for me and head stamp them "6.5STW.
 
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