243 AI vs 6mm on 6.5x55 case?

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308

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I have a friend with a couple of Rem 40x's with 27 inch barrels chambered in 6mm Remington, I love the performance he gets with these rifles, 70 Nbt's @ 3700 plus.

This is the best crow busting combo I've ever seen and I've tryed a bunch of diff combos.

I don't like the fact that no one makes match quality brass in 6mm rem.

If I were to build a rifle to duplicate this perormance, (70 grain Nosler ballistic tips at 3700 or a little more)

Which rifle would be the best choice in your opinion, a 243 ackley improved with a 27 or 28 inch barrel or a 6.5x55 necked to 6mm, I think this is the 6mm vais.

You can start with Lapua brass in either version, what is your opinions?

Thanks, JS aka 308
 
I shoot a Remmy 788 in a BR stock with a 28.5" 10 twist tube that shoots the 70 grain Sierra Blitzkings @ ~ 3850. It turns crows into gray smoke @300 yards.. I have killed groundhogs @ 515 & 880 yards with this rig... can't say enough good about it. I wuld build another one in a heartbeat!

I had a standard 6mm Rem & it shot ok, but not as flat as the 243AI... now you could go with a 6mmAI , but still have a quality brass issue. Good luck on your choice. Sam
 
You may want to try a 6mm Rem (or AI) using Norma 7x57 mauser brass to start with. If I recall, wasn't the 6mm Rem based on the 7mm mauser anyway? I'm a big 243 Win fan, but the longer neck and slightly larger capacity off the Rem would be very nice. If you don't mind fireforming, I'd go with a 6mm Rem AI.

Check out this one:
6mm Remington Ackley Varminter
 
6x55mm Swede would be something like the 6x55mm Vais would be a great pick... Very ballistically similar to the 6x284 Win I thought the 6mm/.244 cases was a little stronger {web} than the original 7x75mm Mauser case. Fred Huntington thought the .243 Rockchucker was about as good as it got in the 6mm varmint cartridges, base on a 6mm with a 32 degree shoulder. Me I think I'd try the 6mm Vais.
436
 
High-quality barrel, good reamer with geometry to match the bullet, barrel indicated in perfectly straight by the gunsmith makes for some very fine accuracy.

I have had a number of 6 Remingtons, and I love the 6 AI on a long action 14T, 80g at 3800 with R19 is magic, 70g at 4100 on a 26", 14T is real world. Zero freebore reamers with these varmint cartridges stoked with AA2700 powder gives some very good barrel life compared to stick powders with Very low SD and ES!
 
After finally burning out my 243 barrel, I took my time and studied up on what to rebarrel it with. I ended up going with the 6 creed. 8 twist Shilen shooting the 108 ELDM's. 3150 fps. It's just my deer and fun gun (hopefully wolf gun) (someday). Found lots of good brass and plenty of those tips back then so I'm happy.
 
The 6-6.5x55 sounds like a good idea I may also go that route soon. My second 6mm ai is on its last leg, I've just been babying it shooting coyotes and occasional 3 shot groups I really like the 6mm ai for all around use in its heyday my first one could crank out those 87 gr. Vmax's at 3750, never could get that out of the current one. But its still fast enough with those to do major damage to a coyote, in fact my partner won't let me use it in a contest where they have payouts for big dog on account it blows too much meat off of them.
Those little 70 gr bullets are nice and they sure shoot good but the 87 vmax has it on the wind and the distance especially if you can kick it out the muzzle over 3500.just be careful of those closer shots you might get some on ya.
Would be very interested to know what you think of your 6x6.5x55 if you decide to go that route.
 
Wl652 said:
The 6-6.5x55 sounds like a good idea I may also go that route soon. My second 6mm ai is on its last leg, I've just been babying it shooting coyotes and occasional 3 shot groups I really like the 6mm ai for all around use in its heyday my first one could crank out those 87 gr. Vmax's at 3750, never could get that out of the current one. But its still fast enough with those to do major damage to a coyote, in fact my partner won't let me use it in a contest where they have payouts for big dog on account it blows too much meat off of them.
Those little 70 gr bullets are nice and they sure shoot good but the 87 vmax has it on the wind and the distance especially if you can kick it out the muzzle over 3500.just be careful of those closer shots you might get some on ya.
Would be very interested to know what you think of your 6x6.5x55 if you decide to go that route.
Click to expand...
Why not the 6-284 and use 6.5 -284 Lapua brass necked down with no other changes . I'm getting 3874 fps with my 25-284 and 90 gr hammers you should be able too get 4000 fps with the 6-284 and 6 mm hammer bullets . The 284 case has been one of the best cases for wildcats than any I know of it should work in a short action I'm loaded too a oal of 2.875 most mags in a short action will go too 2.980 .
 
I shot out two of the 6/284's in the1980's shooting 85g Sierra's at 3600. The cartridge is so long it is impossible to chase the lands in a short action Remington 700, long action for this cartridge for me. If you can not chase the lands due to mag length, then usable barrel life is much shorter to retain 1/2" accuracy.
 
When I was a kid I chased the FPS bragging rights clear out to my 30-378 W. But when it was time for its 3rd 30 inch barrel I gave up! :)

I had also bought a ballistic calculator program for long range competition shooting. You need to plug in your 70 gr at 3700 and see what they are doing at 300 or more yards and compare it to heavier higher BC.

I'm a 243 person and I made some high quality cases starting with 308 Lake City brass first sized to 260 and then 243. Then did inside and outside neck turning to set the neck tension and perfectly concentric to the barrel. The Lake city thicker brass hold @ 3 less grains of powder and brings up the efficiency.

I almost built the 6mmXC instead

Good reads on 243 & 6mmXC on below, just click on the redirected



 
Last edited:
budlight said:
When I was a kid I chased the FPS bragging rights clear out to my 30-378 W. But when it was time for its 3rd 30 inch barrel I gave up! :)

I had also bought a ballistic calculator program for long range competition shooting. You need to plug in your 70 gr at 3700 and see what they are doing at 300 or more yards and compare it to heavier higher BC.

I'm a 243 person and I made some high quality cases starting with 308 Lake City brass first sized to 260 and then 243. Then did inside and outside neck turning to set the neck tension and perfectly concentric to the barrel. The Lake city thicker brass hold @ 3 less grains of powder and brings up the efficiency.

I almost built the 6mmXC instead



Click to expand...
Stiller actions
 
you guys are considering the 6.5x55, look at the dia of the rim in a reamer drawing. This rim dia does cause fits in some bolts....so beware!

I have a custom Rem 700 with a 26", #6 contour, 8T Lilja barrel in 6.5x55. Some brands of brass do not work well due to the rim, the case just sticks in the bolt after firing. I am using Win and Lapua with no problems.

Op(308), when your barrel is shot out, I would urge you to consider a 6 Rem AI with a 14 Twist, my accuracy node in several rifles using Win brass shoots bug holes with the 70g Nosler BT going 4100-4150 fps...tiny, tiny groups with Win 760 and AA2700 that give very, very long barrel life compared to other powders.

I had one Douglas barrel chambered with the same reamer with zero freebore in a 10 twist, and the accuracy node was at 3980 fps with the 70g Noslers.

The only heavy bullets I could get to expand in 8 Twist barrels were the 105g A max and they are long gone.

Winchester brass and Rem brass in 6 Rem have shot very small groups for me, but the Rem may give up the primer pockets a tad sooner. I made some brass from PRIVI 6.5x57 brass, and it has performed very well, also.
Norma brass does not have tough case heads, so why bother?

After several barrels with zero to .030 freebore on 10-14 Twist barrels, the 70g Nosler ballistic tip in the 14T is a fantastic performer out to 550 yards. Spend some time on a ballistic's program, speed trumps a lot of BC to a certain distance. 80g Sierra bt Blitz is real world in the 14Twist at 3800 fps with R#19 with a cci 250 primer, 26" barrel.
 

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