Retirement Present To Me - To Use 6.5 Bullets

[CaptnC]

I have the standard bolt face, but that is an easy swap.

Plinker,
I understand what your saying about proper head stamped brass. I have all of the '06 class except the 280. I lost it in a divorce. With two 25-06, one 6.5-06, one 270 and one 30-06 I have to pay attention to what I'm doing with ammo and reloading.

 

[MerlinMc]

The 26 Nosler has similar performance to the 6.5-300 Wby, but in a beltless case. It's my go-to hunting round for deer, antelope, and PG in Africa. Also have 260 Rem and 6.5 CM. The barrels in the 26 won't last forever and neither will I.

 

[Deleted member 107796]

Congrats on your decision to retire. Many here thought I was retarded for even talking about it. Enjoy your new toys, that is, tools!

 

[ofbandg]

Whatever you choose as a caliber, make the rifle extra lite for carrying. Now that you are retired put a big day-pack together with some emergency gear, extra clothing and raingear, and set up some routes for walks in the woods. It's good for the body and the soul, and if you pack a couple of game calls and a camera you never what you might come home with. After working all those years treat retirement as the gift it is meant to be.

 

[CaptnC]

The 26 Nosler has similar performance to the 6.5-300 Wby, but in a beltless case. It's my go-to hunting round for deer, antelope, and PG in Africa. Also have 260 Rem and 6.5 CM. The barrels in the 26 won't last forever and neither will I.

Guys this is kind of headed in the wrong direction...the simplest way to say it is...going to shoot it quite a bit, so less powder, less recoil and cheaper brass. Should equal less barrel wear n' tear. Plus economical to shoot a lot.

Not sure this rifle will ever make a trip to the deer woods...

I'm a big fan of magnum cartridges and own several...264wm, two 7mm RM, 300wsm and 300wm. So when I need more HP I have options.

The more I look at what I want the 6.5 Creedmoor and 260 Remington look really good. The Creedmoor's got the best chance of getting the nod though because of abundant range brass. I rarely see any 260 Remington and making brass from 308 or 243 would lead to the head stamp issue because I own rifles in both chamberings as well...

 

[Ray Fryar]

Got the receiver, a nice chassis and the scope is on the way...

I own a bunch of 6.5 guns already, so I have a good selection of bullets and Dies.

I'm kicking the chambering around. I.plan to shoot it alot, so the amount of powder per case comes into play. I shoot 130gr class bullets in most of my 6.5's. I also would like those 130's over 3000fps.

So I went into Nosler web site to get some general info on 4 possible choices. 6.5-06 (my original choice)...6.5PRC...6.5x284...
6.5 Creedmoor. I already have 3 of the 4 so dies are on hand for those.

I grabbed some info from Nosler site of powders I already have that were in FPS range I'm looking for.

130gr class bullets...
6.5 Creedmoor Hybrid 100v 43.5gr. 2927fps

6.5-06 H4831 50gr. 3074fps

6.5x284 IMR 4831 51.5gr. 3092

From Hodgdon site (I know they are conservative )
6.5PRC H1000 58.9gr. 3041

6.5 Creedmoor brass is everywhere but it's not quite fast enough and it gets worse the heavier the bullets. It was high on my choices but...I don't know.

6.5-06 Even though there is no brass head stamped 6.5-06, 25-06 is plentiful so thats good. I like the velocities and get better than published velocities...big plus to me.

6.5x284 is slightly behind the 6.5-06 velocity wise (one reason I built a 6.5-06 before a 6.5x284), more powder...the one I have is more configured to shooting targets than hunting, so it doesn't see much action.

6.5 PRC newest popular flavor out there right now...not much gain over the 6.5-06 and uses more powder to do it!

Dug around the Internet today and the barrel will most likely come from Northland Shooting Supply, but I don't see the 6.5 PRC listed...

Sooooooooo how errored is my thought process?

OLT- I originally wanted it to be a 280 Remington !

Why not 6.5 x 55 / 1:8 = 160 gr and down pills with plenty of FPS and accurate.

 

[flylo]

Happy Retirement, enjoy it & whatever you build!

 

[Barrelnut]

If isn't not going to see the deer woods, maybe step down one from the 6.5. A 6BR might be real nice. Low powder usage, bullets even a little cheaper, great brass, and accuracy potential.

 

[Tidus56]

Guys this is kind of headed in the wrong direction...the simplest way to say it is...going to shoot it quite a bit, so less powder, less recoil and cheaper brass. Should equal less barrel wear n' tear. Plus economical to shoot a lot.

Not sure this rifle will ever make a trip to the deer woods...

I'm a big fan of magnum cartridges and own several...264wm, two 7mm RM, 300wsm and 300wm. So when I need more HP I have options.

The more I look at what I want the 6.5 Creedmoor and 260 Remington look really good. The Creedmoor's got the best chance of getting the nod though because of abundant range brass. I rarely see any 260 Remington and making brass from 308 or 243 would lead to the head stamp issue because I own rifles in both chamberings as well...

I have purchased thousands of once fired creed brass for around 20 cents per. So I could see a Creed being a very economical choice for sure in regards to brass. As for powder a charge of 40-45 depending on the powder should get you there.

 

[gohring3006]

Guys this is kind of headed in the wrong direction...the simplest way to say it is...going to shoot it quite a bit, so less powder, less recoil and cheaper brass. Should equal less barrel wear n' tear. Plus economical to shoot a lot.

Not sure this rifle will ever make a trip to the deer woods...

I'm a big fan of magnum cartridges and own several...264wm, two 7mm RM, 300wsm and 300wm. So when I need more HP I have options.

The more I look at what I want the 6.5 Creedmoor and 260 Remington look really good. The Creedmoor's got the best chance of getting the nod though because of abundant range brass. I rarely see any 260 Remington and making brass from 308 or 243 would lead to the head stamp issue because I own rifles in both chamberings as well...

Based on this criteria, it's says Creed all the way.
130s recoil like a .223 if you have a brake installed. good enough velocity, shoots flat. I absolutely love the 130 AR hybrid. I'm going to try the 144 hybrid as soon as I run out of 147s.

 

[MerlinMc]

Thanks for the clarification: "going to shoot it quite a bit, so less powder, less recoil and cheaper brass. Should equal less barrel wear n' tear. Plus economical to shoot a lot."

I have both 6.5 CM and .260 rifles/barrels. While the .260 would fit your purpose, the 6.5 CM is a better choice for your objectives. Way more factory ammo available. In addition, the CM works great in an AR platform too, which is a great tool for lots of shooting.

Congrats and best of luck on the retirement. I am a similar vintage, but still working a similar schedule to what you described above. Please update us on how the "extra time on your hands" works as it's one of my concerns as well.

 

[Talyn]

.256 Newton. Been a fan for a long time.

I built one on a 700 action for my retirement present.

Just down-load 6.5/06 loads a bit, and go through the articles of Rifle & Handloader magazines on the cartridge.

Wish they'd do another run of .256 Newton brass like they did about ~8 yrs ago.

My 6.5s...

.256 Newton
6.5 x 55
6.5 CM
6.5 x 284

 

[CaptnC]

I have purchased thousands of once fired creed brass for around 20 cents per. So I could see a Creed being a very economical choice for sure in regards to brass. As for powder a charge of 40-45 depending on the powder should get you there.

I pick up no less than a 100 pieces of Creedmoor brass on every trip to the range. 90% of it is Hornady.

So yeah the CM is really looking like the most sensible choice...

 

[Mike D Texas]

If your not opposed to fire forming or hydro forming 260AI fits your requirements perfectly.
Even a regular 260 will give you a slight velocity edge over the CM.