6.5 wsm questions?

[Brent]

My dad is building a 6.5wsm too and wanted me to ask you about what twist to get, what velocity he could get with a 30" tube using the 140's? What bullet do you all have the best luck with that can be bought in 500rd bulk boxes too? He's looking at the 142gr SMK. Thanks.

 

[BountyHunter]

Brent

In the 6.5 bullets the sierras are ok but all over the scale on weight and bearing surface length. They just require a lot of sorting work. Better are JLK and Clinch River. Both have higher BC (over .600)

Twist for those bullets, 1-8. Some are using the 1-8.5 with a special 136 gr bullet and lighter.

As for a standard 6.5 WSM, (ie necked down WSM brass not shortened) all reports except one have it a big time barrel burner, most list 400-800 rounds max before requiring rechambering. Dan Lilja's 3 groove barrels give about a 20% increase in life according Dan based on the testing he has done and field reports given back to Dan as of two weeks ago when I talked to him specifically about the 6.5 WSM. Dan would like to be able to document any extraordinary information, but he has no proof of claims that are 2-3x over normal 3 groove barrel life and said "do not plan on it". If that issue is no problem, then go for it!

Good luck.

BH

 

[Guest]

Once again, going against popular opinion(myth):

It is a simple matter to double or triple your throat life in a typical long range hunting set up. Follow these three steps to sanity and long life.

1) Prelube your barrel after cleaning with a synthetic oil. DO NOT FORGET TO DEGREASE AND DRY THE CHAMBER BEFORE FIRING.

2) Shoot Danzaz coated bullets seated gently into the lands. (NOT MOLY)

3) Do not rapid fire your rifle like a 1,000 yard BR shooter.

 

[Brent]

Thanks guys, I'll forward the info to him.

 

[4mesh063]

Brent,

Most barrel makers don't give you much choice in 6.5 Barrels 8, 8.5 and 9 twist is all you get. A 9 will work fine with a 140 grain bullet. I don't know how much heavier they get in 6.5. Your WSM is gonna blow bullets up at 3400FPS and above (speaking from experience) so I'd get the 9 twist. Actually, I just ordered another 6.5 barrel in a 9 twist so there's my vote.

 

[4mesh063]

Hey S1,

I see your another Synthetic user. I asked some guys at the range what they thought about the idea (after begining to use the stuff) and many of them had tried it and didn't like it. I find that cleaning is almost not necessary so I like it. I can't see any difference in the way my gun shoots. I'm told that time will tell. After a while, it'll go south. I'm not gonna subscribe to that.

Have you ever tried Marvel Mystery Oil? It's just a real high detergent oil that's real low viscosity. I love it for cleaning. It doesn't eat brushes and it removes copper as well as sweets or any of that amonia crap.

 

[Guest]

Unless you are a metalurgist, you may not know that metals of similar hardness tend to gauld. What this means to a shooter is that once a bullet leaves copper, that area of the barrel will continue to grab more copper jacket material at a much faster rate, greatly increasing the rate of copper fouling. I know that shooting the first shot through a barrel with Synthetic oil in the bore greatly reduces the copper left behind. The second shot fired largely rides on the powder residue of the first shot. Guys that clean their barrels and then dry them before shooting are increasing the wear and fouling of their barrels.

I use Mobil 1 Synthetic 0w-30 (NOT 10w-30)
It will perform below -40*.

[ 02-05-2003: Message edited by: S1 ]