30-06 to 6.5-284

[johnnyk]

I think your idea is a great one and that you will thoroughly enjoy the virtues and benefits of those sleek 6.5 bullets. The 6.5-284 is a great cartridge not only for targets/steel waaayyyy out there but is also great as a hunting round.
Lapua brass shines. With good reloading practices you can expect long life and consistent numbers (ES/SD) from this brass (Of course that could also be said with Lapua .30-06 brass!).
I traded my first barrel (factory Savage 26") and 100 pcs of Lapua brass, that was on its 9th reload, to a buddy who "had to have" it. The barrel was still shooting under .5" and the brass will still going strong.
I went with a 28" Lothar Walther tube and Norma brass this time and have no regrets. I haven't shot it very much (100-200rds) but I don't appear to be getting the same velocities as the factory barrel with the same powder charge but the ES/SD's are a little lower. This could be either the barrel or the brass, I suppose. The barrel is hand lapped at LW and no break-in or seasoning was needed. It has shot .3-.4's consistently from day one and may "speed up" with more use.
I'd would advise to get at LEAST a 26" barrel to get the most from it. Some like 24" but I tend to like longer with every cartridge. Just me. Also, I read all I could find on the 6.5-284 after getting it. A lot of that was on 6mmBR.com and the F-class and benchrest peeps seemed to prefer/use H4350 and H4831. I could not get the performance that I wanted with those powders and branched off. I got great performance from RL25 with the 120gn bullets but Retumbo has been my mainstay for quiet a while now. I have tried RL26 and the numbers (fps/ES/SD) are great but it's hard to find and I have a jug of Retumbo, so until this runs out, that's where I'll be. As we all say, "YMMV". Good luck and keep us abreast of your build.

 

[Riflehunter1776]

last year I had Clarence Hammond take a 30-06 model 700 and rebarrel it with a medium weight Krieger into 6.5-284, then glass bed it into a laminated stock. It shoots around .3 with nosler ballistic tips, and I'm looking forward to Berger finally stocking the shelves with their 130gr hunting VLD's

 

[ar10ar15man]

yes i think a straight/long throat 284 would be great.

 

[RemHutch50]

This is an interesting topic since I just asked a buddy of mine what I could do with the 30-06 I already have. I put it away after hunting with it for 30 years.
Just have a hard time with doing something like this to it since it has so many memories. My dad bought it for me in 1979 ( I think), when I was 14.
It would just sit in my safe from now on.

 

[westcliffe01]

Removed

 

[Rogue]

Not looking to buy. Going to use what I have. Thanks.

 

[Bang4theBuck]

I did the exact same thing that you are proposing to do. I could not be happier with my choice. I did not know the barrel burning characteristics when I had it built, but I figure it will get me a few good years before I need to rebarrel. I used a 26" Hart barrel, and it shoots .25 moa with Berger 140 VLD stuffed in Lapua brass. Love it.
"

 

[Greyfox]

I have a Remington 700 LA ADL currently chambered in 30-06. Don't use it much and considering building a 6.5-284. Want a long range Antelope / Target rifle.

I have a HS Precision PSV 107 stock and plan to have it inlet for the Badger M5.

Considering the 6.5-284 because of the action I already have, the availability of Lapua brass and a stunning history of accuracy.

Your thoughts??

Thanks.

Great cartridge that shoots and feeds suberbly! Did this with a 1970's vintage 30-06, Remington 700 BDL. With little effort, turned out to be one of my most accurate LR rifles! Barrel life will vary depending on shooting conditions and criteria, but 1100-1500+ seems to be quite typical of the 6.5's driven in the 3000FPS range.

 

[alf]

I built my last one on a Sendero II in 25-06.

Feeds like schitt through a goose.....