6.5-06, or 6.5-284

[7stw]

7stw,
I just joined to comment on 6.5-06.My smith is just finishing my 6.5-06 I had him build.Built on a vz24,timney trigger h.s precission stock,and hart 1:9,ordered a 1:8 specificly for 140 vld's but showed up a 1:9 should have sent it back but wanted cool weather for working up load I should have first rounds through it early next week will let you know how combo works.

What was the reason for going with the 1in 9 twist? I am just asking, because I anm TOLD that and I beleive that the 6.5 performs better with a 1in 8 twist IF the intent is to use those wonderful 140 grain high BC bullets of either flavor, SMK's or Berger VLD's. I have the 7mm game pretty much, and though they both are SIMILAR, each has there own favorings. Was that a recomendation from the smith or was it a your own decision? Or was it Harts recomendation? Those folks at Hart know their !@@#^ !Looking forward to hearing from you. Good luck and have fun. I can't wait to figure out my ploy.Talk about excited, YAHOO!lightbulbgun)STW

 

[loaders_loft]

sounds like an error. He says he ordered 1:8 but it showed up as a 1:9. That will likely restrict bullet weights to 130 and less but there are several great bullets in that category, 130 accubond, scirroco II, 130 berger, 120 Amax, 120 ballistic tip, etc etc... The berger site recommends 1:8 for the 130 and 140 so that might be an issue.

Regardless, I'm anxious to see & hear all about the new 6.5-06!!

 

[Outlaw6.0]

Morning gents,

My vote would be for the 6.5-06AI, I had one built 2 years ago as a christmas present for my father with a 26" tube 1-8" twist. This thing LOVES 140grn bullets, fire forming 25-06 brass is really easy once you get the hang of it & achieving or in some cases exceeding .264 win mag velicities is quite doable. As a hunting only rifle the barrel will last for years to come; I do have a buddy who shoots a 6.5 WSM and at this time is getting more velocity but we aren't talking much +/- 100fps.

Just my 2 cents, hope it helps-

 

[7stw]

Morning gents,

My vote would be for the 6.5-06AI, I had one built 2 years ago as a christmas present for my father with a 26" tube 1-8" twist. This thing LOVES 140grn bullets, fire forming 25-06 brass is really easy once you get the hang of it & achieving or in some cases exceeding .264 win mag velicities is quite doable. As a hunting only rifle the barrel will last for years to come; I do have a buddy who shoots a 6.5 WSM and at this time is getting more velocity but we aren't talking much +/- 100fps.

Just my 2 cents, hope it helps-

That sounds like a really sweet deal. I like the AI feature as well, and did that once wiyh a .257 roberts. WOW. On another note, is that 6.5wsm the full size short mag, or is it the win super short. What are the velocities that your freind is getting, and MORE importantly how ACCURATE is it? Thanks for your input! I have only heard bits and peices on that cartridge, but that was when it first came out, and at that time I wasn't into 6.5s. Now I don't hear much at all on the wssm's at all.

 

[loaders_loft]

Morning gents,

My vote would be for the 6.5-06AI, I had one built 2 years ago as a christmas present for my father with a 26" tube 1-8" twist. This thing LOVES 140grn bullets, fire forming 25-06 brass is really easy once you get the hang of it & achieving or in some cases exceeding .264 win mag velicities is quite doable. As a hunting only rifle the barrel will last for years to come; I do have a buddy who shoots a 6.5 WSM and at this time is getting more velocity but we aren't talking much +/- 100fps.

Just my 2 cents, hope it helps-

cool! PICS PLEASE!!

what dies are you using for the 6.5-06AI??

 

[Outlaw6.0]

The 6.5WSM is pretty popular around here, the guys I know are using .270 WSM brass. If I recall correctly, my buddy is running 140 partitions at approx 3200. As far as the AI goes, I was on an AI kick for a while so I ended up with a .243 AI, a 6mm AI and of course the 6.5-06 AI; i've used Redding dies for all of them with great success. I'll see what I can to about some pics of the 6.5.

 

[elkaholic]

I had a 6.5-06 A.I. and it was a great rifle. I finally shot out the barrel and rebarreled with my own design, the 6.5 Sherman. It is basically an A.I. on steroids! I get about 100' over the A.I. with equal pressures and barrel lengths. It's a tack driver and easy on cases if you don't get crazy........Rich

 

[7stw]

Special thanks to all that have contributed to this thread. When I first asked the question on advice on my choices, I never thought I would be gettig SO much feedback. I have learned so much and have been GLUED to the returns and have taken them ALL to heart. (Lets just say that I have a FRESHLY dis-assembled 700 long , ready to be trued and to have the bolt rejeweled) I just have one question that I could not get a answer to. What is the 6.5wsm? Is it the wssm configuration, or is it the case based on the original wsm which is similar to the short action ultra mag? ( I have one of them and it is awesome, .260 groups sometimes) If there is a factory version of the 6.5 wsm, I have never seen or heard of it. Did someone wildcat the the full size wsm to 6.5?Just curious. That seems as though it would be a decent platform, but don"t
know much about it!Thanks to ALL!lightbulbgun)7STW

 

[lomfs24]

I don't know a lot about the 6.5WSM. However, from what I have read in other forums it seems to be the wsm case necked to 6.5. On a different forum there was a guy talking about necking 270WSM to 6.5. Sounds like a sweet little round but can't tell you much more than that about it.

 

[B23]

I'm at this same crossroad. I have a 6.5 1-8 Lilja tube headed toward my smith and haven't decided on 6.5 chambering. I'm using a Howa 1500 LA as the donor. I have narrowed it down to 6.5-284 or 6.5-06.

Is there any feeding issues I should know about with a 6.5-284 in a long action???

If I take cost and case prep time into consideration the 6.5-284 is the clear winner. Redding makes good dies right off the shelf for the 6.5-284. I could be mistaken but they don't for the 6.5-06 or 6.5-06AI. Lapua brass that will take next to no prep work. Load data that is nearly endless. I recently read an article on Accurate shooter by Robert Whitley about RL17 and the 6.5-284. He was getting nearly 3200fps with a 140 which is pretty darn good for a 6.5-284

I think a 6.5-280AI would be really fun but the lack of good brass turned me off on that idea.

 

[loaders_loft]

ask gunner45 and sambo3006 about 6.5wsm. There are some others who own that cartridge as well on here. Do a search for 6.5wsm on here and you will find quite a bit of info...

 

[loaders_loft]

ps. the 6.5wssm is more like a .260 rem performance I believe

 

[KurtB]

B23, I went through same thing and am waiting for the call on the completed rifle any day now. It is a 6.5-06 with a 1 in 8 Hart. Unscoped weight should be about 6.5 pounds. Still need to order dies and 270 win brass for necking down. Hoping that is about it for case prep. Good luck in your decision. It is my understanding that case capacity for the 2 is extremely close.

 

[elkaholic]

B23, I went through same thing and am waiting for the call on the completed rifle any day now. It is a 6.5-06 with a 1 in 8 Hart. Unscoped weight should be about 6.5 pounds. Still need to order dies and 270 win brass for necking down. Hoping that is about it for case prep. Good luck in your decision. It is my understanding that case capacity for the 2 is extremely close.

Kurt... I handy little tidbit: You can take a FIRED 25-06 round, stick a .264 bullet in.it and fire away! This is because a fired .25 expands the neck to approx. where a sized .264 would be. I did it a lot when I swapped my 25-06 barrel for a 6.5-06 A.I. I'm not suggesting to do that FOREVER but it works well to get started.....Rich