Having a Terrible Time Deciding on a 6.5 Cartridge...

[Reload10]

Hi all, I'm hoping for some insight from people that have gone through my situation... I'm building a new 6.5 caliber rifle for white tail and mule deer. My "Hunting Rifles" are a 22-250 and a future 300 Norma. I feel a 6.5 cal at ~3000fps would finish off all of my hunting needs. Have used my 6.5 Grendel, 270, and 308 before, but they're not very fun to lug around the swamps or woods.

I have a Savage LA stagger feed blind mag action (Used to be .270) to build off of. Barrel will be a 26".

I have 6.5-06 Hornady dies and 25-06 brass. Thinking this was the cartridge for me. Then I stumbled upon a 6.5x284 Forster benchrest die set for a steal, so bought that and some Lapua brass. Then I was looking at the sharper shoulder angles of the 6.5 Sherman and 6.5-06AI....

My concerns are:

-Feeding issues with the 6.5x284 due to the wider case, and potentially not reaching that 3000fps mark.
-Mag length issues with the 6.5 Sherman (my mag length is 3.4")
-Feeding issues with the 6.5-06AI due to the 40degree shoulder (I have not had an AI cartridge before)
-6.5-06 kind of lacks that hotrod feel I like.

Any advice?

Thank you

 

[Plinker147]

I would go with 6.5-284. It should feed fine in your action. You won't have to deal with forming brass and high quality stamped brass is available. With 26 in barrel you will come close to your fps with 140 gr.

 

[BEEMAN]

You don't mention how far you plan to shoot. If you want the fastest and baddest 6.5 you mentioned, it is the Sherman. My Sherman can drive a 140 Berger to 3339 fps out of a 28" Hart barrel. Now with that said I also really enjoy shooting my 6.5X47 Lapua. If shots on deer are planned out to 1000 yds then I'd go with the Sherman. If deer sized game then the 6.5X47 to 500-700 yds would be really nice. The 130 Berger out of a X47 at 3000 fps is no slouch. On a side note for a X47, 260 or a creedmore a long action would not be needed. You really can't go wrong. Just pick which ever one you like the best. With the Sherman there is also a fair amount of case prep.

 

[RockyMtnMT]

Straight 6.5-06 is no slouch. I would consider it an upper end of the 6.5's. You could AI it pretty easy, although I do not think you will gain much. My son's 6.5-06 in a 24" barrel is running the 124g Hammer Hunter at 3160fps very nicely. Gets him to 800y still maintaining 1900fps.

Have not had time to see what we can really make this rifle do, maybe after this hunting season. It is limited by having an 8.5" twist so we will not run a heavier Hammer in it. Although we are working on a 131g designed for 9" twist. Will see what that one can do.

Steve

 

[65WSM]

I have a host of 6.5s and date to two 1959 Model 70s in .264 Win Mag. My latest is a 6.5 - 06 Ackley. The questions I have are: How much weight and barrel are you willing to walk around with? There is no need for a "Sherman", whatever that is if you are limiting yourself to a 24 inch barrel. Browning and CZ have 26 Noslers off the shelf with muzzle brakes installed. My experience is that a 6.5-06 or 260 AI are plenty for 24 inches of barrel. For 26 inches, I have both a 6.5 -06 AI and 6.5 WSM in Model 70s (blind box magazine in MPI graphite stocks) at 7.5 pounds with a 2.5 - 10X Sightron. 6.4-284 is an excellent 24 inch barrel choice that is more than enough for whitetail if your scope is under 12 power. I think the .264 Win Mag and 26 Nosler are well suited for 28 inches of barrel and VV N-570 powder with 140-143 gr bullets.

For 26 or 24 inch barreled rifles, the Nosler 130 AB and 130 Berger (9 twist) are enough bullet. Look at VV N-560 an Reloader 26. I get to 3200+ in 26 inch barrels with 6.5-284 or 6.5-06 with 130 gr (not 140) bullets.

My favorite Mule deer rifle is a 6.5 WSM in a replica Miroku Highwall but it has 28 inches of barrel (8 twist) and weighs 9 pounds with a Bushnell 4.5-30X 30mm scope. I mostly "stand" with that rifle.

 

[MTBULLET]

6.5 x 55 on modern long action is hard to beat
143 gr @ 2950 fps works well, and easy to shoot/load/find brass for

 

[rcoody]

I like.2 but they are short action cartridges

6.5 Creedmoor and the.6.5 saum

 

[65WSM]

I have a 6.5-284 on a Model 70 short action and regret it. The magazine length of 3.00 kills seating the 130 Berger and 130 Accubonds. They are very deep.

 

[RevJim]

I've had a 6.5x284 on Mod 700 SA on purpose. I only wanted to shoot the lighter weights for deer/etc at normal ranges (not over 400yds anyhow) I used the 125PT and 120BT, both going about 3200 in formed Winchester 284 brass. The Norma and Hornady brass couldn't get me there.
I did have feeding issues in that Remington though. If I went with the standard case today I'd go with the 6.5/06 Ackley. However, if I was going to shoot the heavier bullets at real long range? Make mine the 26 Nosler! Whoopeee!

 

[TXAoudadKlr]

6.5 Saum or 6.5 Gap 4s

 

[Reload10]

Thank you for all of the replies!!

I don't want to limit myself on distance, I'm kind of a "buy once cry once" guy, so don't want to build a rifle and then have to build another after a while. Would like this to be able to shoot 800+ yds.

I kind of like the shorter, fatter cases... almost tempted to go 6.5WSM since I have some 270WSM brass available, but I don't have a large shank action and I think the WSM brass would feed like garbage from the 270 mag box. I'm going to seat some 140 bergers in my 284 brass and see how they fit in the magazine. I know i can't get them in the current 270 barrel, but I'll monitor how they start to extract from the mag.

I have RE22, H1000, Retumbo, and 4831SC powder to try once I decide on a cartridge. I would hope that the x284 would get 3k FPS with 140's on one of those powders...

 

[Predator 22]

Another vote for the 6.5 Sherman. You can use your 270 brass to form it. Pm elkaholic for details, he designed it. I'm planning on turning my 270 into one as soon as I get 2 other builds done.

 

[WildRose]

Thank you for all of the replies!!

I don't want to limit myself on distance, I'm kind of a "buy once cry once" guy, so don't want to build a rifle and then have to build another after a while. Would like this to be able to shoot 800+ yds.

I kind of like the shorter, fatter cases... almost tempted to go 6.5WSM since I have some 270WSM brass available, but I don't have a large shank action and I think the WSM brass would feed like garbage from the 270 mag box. I'm going to seat some 140 bergers in my 284 brass and see how they fit in the magazine. I know i can't get them in the current 270 barrel, but I'll monitor how they start to extract from the mag.

I have RE22, H1000, Retumbo, and 4831SC powder to try once I decide on a cartridge. I would hope that the x284 would get 3k FPS with 140's on one of those powders...

With the 6.5x284 you won't have a problem getting to 3000fps and beyond running H1000 or Reloader 26.

The .264wm will get you considerably more with ease.

You can go bigger but the law of diminishing returns hits you pretty fast.

Reloader 26 is still fairly new but if you read around a bit you'll see it's something pretty special. Compared to the old stand by of H4350 for cartridges like the .260 Rem people are routinely getting 100-150fps more without any hint of pressure signs and it appears to offer very good temperature stability as well.

I'm going to play around with Reloader 26 quite a bit next year in my 260's, 264wm, 7mm STW and 300wm.

 

[jrsolocam]

I'm not a Savage expert, but didn't the op say it's a 270 he will be remodeling??? Bolt face problem with the big ones. Best bet is either 6.5x284 or a '06 necked down. 6.5x284 is proven and has Lapua brass. Easy choice. 6.5 CM and 6.5 Lapua are great but won't get you there velocity wise.