My 6.5-.284 stretched it's legs a bit.....

[goodgrouper]

My 6.5-.284 stretched it\'s legs a bit.....

Uncle B and I got to spend a few awesome days hunting chucks this weekend and we spotted a few WAAY out there that I decided to take a crack at.

Temperature was a cool 50 degrees so the chucks weren't staying put very long. We had only a few minutes to find them, range them, get out the appropriate gun, dial in, and shoot.

I got the 1328 yard chuck on the third shot after using one of those to foul the barrel and get a sighter out. The 1556 yard chuck was perched atop a huge boulder with no backstop for 200 yards further out so every shot that went high actually looked like it was 6 feet low. I finally figured out where I was missing and dumped him on the 5th or 6th shot. This is currently the farthest living thing I have shot with the 6.5-.284. The previous record was 1508 two years ago. It has rung my 15" gong at 1 mile many times but a moving target is much harder to hit even if it is 200 yards closer!

Here is the pics. I apologize for the ugliness of the guy behing the rock!

(All ranges were found with a Swaro 1500 rangefinder ranging from the chuck's impact point back to the shooting bench.)

So much for the man who told me a few months ago that the 6.5 was done at 1000 yards! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Ernie]

Re: My 6.5-.284 stretched it\'s legs a bit.....

Good Shooting! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Mysticplayer]

Re: My 6.5-.284 stretched it\'s legs a bit.....

Great shooting indeed.

Any thoughts on the bullet expansion/performance on the chucks? Exit wound size/shape? Suitable for deer/larger game?

It is so funny when people consider lethality of a rifle cartridge to go south after only 1000yds. Would you stand infront of a 357Sig or 357 Magnum at 1ft?

Well, the 6.5 140gr arriving at over 2000fps at 1000yds hits a whole bunch harder. 0.625BC w/G5 drag function w/3000fps launch.

Jerry

 

[lerch]

Re: My 6.5-.284 stretched it\'s legs a bit.....

Well I am just glad you went ahead and apologized for the ugliness!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Nice shooting GG, you never cease to impress. That rifle looks good also, nice and simple looking, just clean and mean!!!

I am so jealous of all you guys up northern, you have coats on and I am ****ed cause I sweat my butt of in jeans at work.

good job
steve

 

[goodgrouper]

Re: My 6.5-.284 stretched it\'s legs a bit.....

Thanks guys.

Jerry,
The 140 grain Berger hit the first chuck in the lower back center and he was facing away from us. It flipped him about 2 feet in the air and he did 1 1/2 backflips. The bullet pretty well gutted him and big disruption was evident. Great performance.

The second chuck was facing to left and going uphill and the bullet hit it in the shoulder. Total penetration but a smaller exit hole than the first. In the 1556 yard pic, if you look very closely, you can see the shoulder exit wound. There was a marble sized hole in the rock about 1/2" deep from the bullet after it went through both shoulders. The shorter range chuck probably also had complete penetration but there were no visible holes in the rock.

As for Berger vld use on big game, I am in favor of it for longer range shots (450+). This is a pic of a desert ram that was shot with the same gun/bullet last season at a distance of 355 yards:

The ram was standing below us at about a 7 degree angle and was quartering toward us with it's head up and to the right. The bullet entered in the top of the neck and totally fragmented to pieces before going into the opposite shoulder. It did not break the shoulder blade. It did however blow apart just about every blood vessel in it's neck and the ram literally tucked it's legs up under it's body before hitting the ground. It was dead instantly and didn't even wiggle. However, I would have liked to see a more intact mushroom. The high impact velocity at this close range was too tough on the Berger and it can ruin lots of meat.

This is a pic of another ram that was shot with the same gun and load about 2 weeks earlier that was shot at a distance of 803 yards.

It was standing below us at the noted angle and was broadside. At this longer range, the bullet performed much better with total penetration and some fragments going every which way into the vitals. I couldn't have asked for better results with this particular setup. Penetration was probably doubled by reducing the impact velocity.

On an antelope hunt two years ago I harvested a doe at 1030 yards with the same bullet from the same gun and similiar results were noted. Very good penetration and good wound channels. Major disruption and a two inch exit wound. No pics of this hunt have been found unfortunately. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

My load of 53.5 grains of RL22 seems to be a super hot load in most other 6.5's but runs fairly mild in mine although my mv is 3125 fps from the 30.5" barrel! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[Mysticplayer]

Re: My 6.5-.284 stretched it\'s legs a bit.....

Great pics. Great success. Nice report.

Nice rams...

Jerry

 

[Buffalobob]

Re: My 6.5-.284 stretched it\'s legs a bit.....

Looks like you got a new fold up, wooden table there made by ole Rube himself.

 

[bailey1474]

Re: My 6.5-.284 stretched it\'s legs a bit.....

I bet a guy would be suprised @ how far the 6.5-284 is good for @ 10,000 ft!!!!!! Nice shooting and thanks for the pics.

 

[longgunshooter]

Re: My 6.5-.284 stretched it\'s legs a bit.....

GREAT Shooting!

NICE Rifle!

BEAUTIFUL RAM's, how old were they. The second one looks awefully busted up.(maybe just his "bad side") /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
how many points did you have??

Excellent terminal preformance of the Bergers, im hoping to get the same out of my 6.5 this season on some big mulies with a similar load.

 

[JD338]

Re: My 6.5-.284 stretched it\'s legs a bit.....

GG,

Congratulations on some fine shooting. That is one nice looking rifle. I have actually had an interest in the 6.5-284 for a couple of years.
If I may ask,what stock do you have on your rifle?

JD338

 

[wildcat]

Re: My 6.5-.284 stretched it\'s legs a bit.....

As always, great shooting GG. It must be nice to live in such a beautiful area. I hope, one day, I will be able to go chuck hunting. I just do not know who to contact and or where to go. Can you give us the specs on your rifle, it looks real nice.

Wildcat

 

[goodgrouper]

Re: My 6.5-.284 stretched it\'s legs a bit.....

Thanks.
The larger one was about 9.5 years old.
The really beaten up one was about 11.5 years old and had been fighting with another ram who was famous in this area because he would have scored in the 180's and been ranked high in the B&C book. This famous ram beat the heck out of our ram every winter for 8 or 9 years! Everyone I show these pics to thinks these rams fell off a cliff after being shot but they didn't. They just like to knock the snot out of each other all the time. We never saw any rams without broken noses!

Both these hunters had maximum points (13) when they drew these tags.

Good luck with those mulies!

 

[goodgrouper]

Re: My 6.5-.284 stretched it\'s legs a bit.....

The six-five is hard to beat in my book. Accuracy, speed, uniformity, and decent barrel life all in one nice package. It is undoubtedly one of my favorite cartridges and I will always have one in my arsenal.


My stock is an H.S. Precision sendero stock that I modified with the help of a couple friends who are auto collision repair specialists. I wanted to add weight so I wrapped some wheel weights around the forend and then built up long- fiber body putty and sanded it down to shape. It took several weeks and about 30 man hours to finish and paint.

Looking back on it, I should have just bought a Mcmillan but I wanted to see if we could make a true custom stock. It is surely one of a kind!

 

[goodgrouper]

Re: My 6.5-.284 stretched it\'s legs a bit.....

The rifle is a blueprinted 700 with a Pac-nor 30.5" barrel. It wears a Performance Guns muzzle brake and a Jewell trigger. The scope is a Leupold 8.5-25x50 LRT with a fine duplex reticle and it sits atop Ken Farrel 20moa bases and uses Burris Sig rings with 10 minute inserts. The stock is a modified HS Precision sendero stock which has been glass bedded.