Build advice for a 6mm Ackley

[RAMhunter123]

Hey everyone, this is one of my first posts on LRH and so I hope I am in the right place to pose my question. I am looking at having a gun built but I have no idea where to start. I am tentatively going with a 6mm Ackley to shoot some predators all the way up to medium game at relatively long distances (greater than 700yds). I was wondering if:

1.) You had any advice on a gun builder that I should look into?

2.) A better caliber recommendation for what I will be using the rifle for?

I am located in the Pacific Northwest so if it was around here that would be preferred but I am willing to widen my radius for a quality gunsmith. Thank you for your input!

 

[toddc]

Hey everyone, this is my first post on LRH and so I hope I am in the right place to pose my question. I am looking at having a gun built but I have no idea where to start. I am tentatively going with a 6mm Ackley to shoot some predators all the way up to medium game at relatively long distances (greater than 700yds). I was wondering if:

1.) You had any advice on a gun builder that I should look into?

2.) A better caliber recommendation for what I will be using the rifle for?

I am located in the Pacific Northwest so if it was around here that would be preferred but I am willing to widen my radius for a quality gunsmith. Thank you for your input!

I ran a 6-284 for quite a while and killed quite a few deer and coyotes with it. 115 Bergers work real well on deer sized critters. However I would choose a 6.5 if I had to do it again. 700 yds is a long ways for any 6mm to reliably work on deer. Yeah it will do it, but make 1 little mistake and its less forgiving than something larger. 6mm on predators all day long.

 

[B23]

Hey everyone, this is one of my first posts on LRH and so I hope I am in the right place to pose my question. I am looking at having a gun built but I have no idea where to start. I am tentatively going with a 6mm Ackley to shoot some predators all the way up to medium game at relatively long distances (greater than 700yds). I was wondering if:

1.) You had any advice on a gun builder that I should look into?

2.) A better caliber recommendation for what I will be using the rifle for?

I am located in the Pacific Northwest so if it was around here that would be preferred but I am willing to widen my radius for a quality gunsmith. Thank you for your input!

Do you already have a good supply of Rem 6mm brass or at least have a source for some?? I ask because having a 22-6mm I can tell you first hand, finding 6mm brass is not an easy thing to do.

For what it's worth, I'm a big fan of the Remington 6mm and I've got many different rifles that are Ackley Improved, but having said that, I would never do a 6mm Ack Imp when you can do a 6-284 that'll have the same performance, or better, requires no fireforming, and best of all I can use Lapua 6.5-284 that only requires a single resize step and I'm shooting full house loads.

If a Rem 6mm Ack Imp is just what you want, it's your money spend how you like, but I'd seriously consider other options before you make a final decision.

 

[toddc]

Do you already have a good supply of Rem 6mm brass or at least have a source for some?? I ask because having a 22-6mm I can tell you first hand, finding 6mm brass is not an easy thing to do.

For what it's worth, I'm a big fan of the Remington 6mm and I've got many different rifles that are Ackley Improved, but having said that, I would never do a 6mm Ack Imp when you can do a 6-284 that'll have the same performance, or better, requires no fireforming, and best of all I can use Lapua 6.5-284 that only requires a single resize step and I'm shooting full house loads.

If a Rem 6mm Ack Imp is just what you want, it's your money spend how you like, but I'd seriously consider other options before you make a final decision.

List of cartridges with better brass and comparable ballistics would include, 243 AI, 6x47, 6 Creed, 6x284, 6-06 and about 100 wildcats in 6mm alone. Go up to 6.5 and add the SAUM or Gap 4s, WSM and the SS line.

 

[RAMhunter123]

I first started looking at the 6mm Ackley when a family member recommended it to me. After reading the replies so far, I am starting to look more at the 6-284 but I do have one concern. How is barrel life with it? Also would you recommend staying with the 6mm or stepping up to a 6.5 variant?

 

[toddc]

I first started looking at the 6mm Ackley when a family member recommended it to me. After reading the replies so far, I am starting to look more at the 6-284 but I do have one concern. How is barrel life with it? Also would you recommend staying with the 6mm or stepping up to a 6.5 variant?

Since medium game was listed I would go 6.5.

All of the larger 6mm will have issues with barrel life as will most larger 6.5s. That's part of the reason the Creed is moving up in popularty while the 6.5-284 is dropping some.
The 6-284 is really too much case for a 6mm if you want it to last. The 6.5-284 is hard on barrels, the 6-284 will be even worse. Mine lasted 900 rds or so and then went south FAST. Of course my reloading protocol is to fill whatever I am shooting to the brim with Retumbo or H-1000 and then compressing the largest bullet I can find into it.

 

[AZShooter]

I also suggest you make the 6mm-284 as brass availability won't be an issue.

As to barrel life, I built a heavy 6mm-284 with a Bartlein 5R 1 in 8 twist to shoot the 105 bergers. It quit shooting at approx. 1100 rounds. I shot one tiny coues wt with this package at 520 yds. It worked but IMO not enough to do it with authority. I think trying to kill any big game animal at over 700 yds this chambering would be a poor choice.

Why not make a 6mm-284 with the intent to shoot varmints with lighter bullets? There is a way to make a inexpensive platform using Rem 243 takeoffs and rechambering them to 6mm-284. The reamer will clean up the chamber without any extra machining if used with a Remington action. I have done it twice with my own reamer, one for a friend and myself. I shoot the 55 gr nosler BT @ 4100 fps. Now THAT is a flat shooting varmint package!

My friend loaded up the 95 gr Berger classic @ 3450 fps with RL-17. The heavier bullets won't stabilize properly with the 1 in 9.25 twist. He killed his largest coues wt to date with it last season. The shot was under 300 yd IIRC.

I agree with others make a big game rifle with a larger bore diameter of at least 6.5 if you want to shoot big game over 700 yds.