6.5x284 or .300wsm??

[TexasHunter]

What 300WSMMAD said is right on. The 6.5-284 is a barrel burner. We've found that the 300WSM is a good round if you handload. Hard to get great accuracy from most the factory stuff in our experience. We expect sub half moa with factory ammo from our rifles.

So let me offer a couple of suggestions as well. If I wanted to do everything you mentioned in one rifle, I would probably go to the tried and true 7mm Rem Mag. Not that I don't like the straight .284 - I love it but virtually no factory ammo. You have to handload. We very easily get sub half moa from our 7mm Rem mag builds with multiple factory loads. The second suggestion for bigger game at longer range would be the 300 Win Mag. Tons of factory ammo. Easy to handload for. Slightly bigger 30 caliber bullet for the bigger critters. The single caveat for both of these is that you HAVE to use a muzzle brake. Our hunting weight 7 mags with our brakes recoil about like a .243. The 300 mags feel about like a .308. You will only get the practice you need to be competent at long range if you spend alot of time on the trigger sending rounds downrange. if the rifle wears you out with recoil, you won't spend the time. The traditional downside to brakes is the noise. We have partially solved that problem on our hunting guns by angling the ports 11 degrees forward which sends most of the noise away from the shooter. So far, no complaints from other shooters on the line either. Or from multiple African PHs.

Good luck and safe hunting.

Dale

 

[Time Killer]

I keep hearing about barrel life on the 6.5/284. What is considered the average round count for this caliber? And what is the average count on a barrel that is considered normal wear?

Signed,
Very Curious!

 

[liltank]

I keep hearing about barrel life on the 6.5/284. What is considered the average round count for this caliber? And what is the average count on a barrel that is considered normal wear?

Signed,
Very Curious!

Most calibers that are considered over bore will have the shortest barrel life. A .308 Win. is a caliber that rocks the edge of over bore. But it has proven to have a long barrel life. It is said to have gone to 10,000rnds in some rifles. It depends solely on how well you take care of the barrel (cleaning, watching temps, loads, pressures, etc.). An avg. barrel life for .308 is around 5500 rounds. A .243 will go 3000+, 7mmRM will go around 1500, but can go up to 3000rnds. It's been said that a 6.5x284 has really good accuracy to 1000-1200 rounds. There is functional accuracy probably up to 2500rnds. I don't own the caliber, but these are common numbers I have seen posted. Some are as low as 800rnds (6.5x285, 300RUM, 7RUM). 338 Lapua is around 1200rnds or so.

An over bore caliber is a caliber with a small projectile with a large quantity or powder capacity. So when you have a round that was designed for a larger bullet and necked down to a smaller caliber, you enter a level of ammo that will shoot hotter and fry a barrel.

Tank

 

[Greyfox]

I keep hearing about barrel life on the 6.5/284. What is considered the average round count for this caliber? And what is the average count on a barrel that is considered normal wear?

Signed,
Very Curious!

The 6.5x284 can maintain its baseline accuracy from 800 to 1200 rounds depending on a few factors like frequency of shooting, load, velocity, etc. Unfortunatly, I think a lot of shooters are wrongly discouraged from using this great round bacause of its lable as a "barrel burner". While it has about half the life of other cartridges out there, you can easily be mislead. It's reputation as a barrel burner was born in the competitive circles where barrels are shot in high volume and at high temperature. When compared to 308's, 6BR's and the like you will replace barrels at twice the rate. You would likely be in the same boat if you were shooting a 7mm magnum. But you get what you pay for. People use it because it has low recoil, its extemely accurate, and produces excellent ballistics and wind drift resistance at long range. In reality, I have seen the 270, 30, and 7mm magnums burn out at the same rate or even faster. You just aren't going to hear about it because they are hunting rounds and not shot as frequently, or, shooters using them never realize the degradation.

 

[squirrelduster]

The main reason that the 6.5x284 has the barrel burner reputation is during competition they shoot quickly with no cool down period between shots.
If you are reasonably careful and don't use it for a branding iron you should get pretty good barrel life.
I built mine on a Savage action and when it cooks I will screw a new one on and with a minimal amount of work be back at it. gun)

 

[rscott5028]

Barrel life is subjective.

Take the cost of rebarreling. e.g. $500

Divide that by your expected round count for whatever cartridge you choose. e.g. 1,000

$500/1000=$.50 per shot

Add that to your kitty for the cost of ammo/shooting.

As others have stated, you can be kind to your barrel or you can abuse it. If it's a hunting rifle, then the round count you can expect will likely be higher than a competition rifle and it'll take a lot longer to get there.

-- richard