6.5 long action hunting rifle opinions

[30BR]

Whenever possible, I try and use the extreme powders from Hodgdon. We can see some big swings in temps in a single day out west. My best load for the 1340 gr. bullet was with H4831SC. The 160 gr. Matrix is powered by H1000.

Wow, must be a bear to stuff that bullet down the neck!!! (Just funning ya; Typo is my middle name!) BTW, what twist do you use with the 160?

 

[Allen Kitts]

I recently bought a 6.5 x 284 in a Fierce Edge with a factory 26" barrel and it shoots lights out with 49 Grains of 4831SC and 2795fps. True 1/2" moa at 500 yards with a 140 grain Berger. I have tried probably fifteen different bullet/powder combos and have not been able to duplicate the accuracy but nothing I tired shoots larger than 1 MOA. Brass is easy to find and the gun doesn't have any real noticeable kick. I absolutely love it! Put the bullet in the right spot and watch them kick! If you really feel that you need the extra velocity to kill an animal you may want to spend a little more time at the range making sure you put the bullet where it is supposed to go!

 

[Uboatrobert]

I know what you mean, I too own a 6.5x55 Swedish mauser carbine (Carl Gustaf); there is something nostalgic about owning this chambering as it has been around longer than our venerable .30-06. I recently won a TCA Compass in 6.5 CM from a raffle drawing for $20 but haven't had a chance to play with it yet.

 

[werth338]

I am shooting a 6.5-300 Wby and love it. Easily pushes 143 gr ELD-X at 3315 and could be faster but I like the accuracy I am getting out of it at the moment. It is extremely flat which makes it easy to point and shoot within 600 yards depending on zero distance. It is my favorite rifle to take out and shoot. I think I saw a reamer for a 6.5-300 Wby Improved which I think is something I am kicking around.

 

[Uboatrobert]

I know what you mean, I too own a 6.5x55 Swedish mauser carbine (Carl Gustaf); there is something nostalgic about owning this chambering as it has been around longer than our venerable .30-06. I recently won a TCA Compass in 6.5 CM from a raffle drawing for $20 but haven't had a chance to play with it yet.

I know what you mean, I too own a 6.5x55 Swedish mauser carbine (Carl Gustaf); there is something nostalgic about owning this chambering as it has been around longer than our venerable .30-06. I recently won a TCA Compass in 6.5 CM from a raffle drawing for $20 but haven't had a chance to play with it yet.

I bought a TCA Compass in 6.5 CR to check out the caliber, BUT the 1st thing my Gunsmith did was replace all the springs in the trigger to get it down to 3# (it was @ about8#). Now, after 75 round break in, the gun shoots 120gr. PVI HP's into .445 w/Hornady brass & H4350. So I liked the caliber so well, I purchased a Savage 6.5 CR w/24" HB and breaking it in now.

 

[azsugarbear]

30BR,

It seems the older I get, the fewer typos I catch. Should have been 130 gr. bullet. My barrel twist is 1 in 8 for the 160 gr. bullet.

 

[tomsd]

Werth338? Q pleez: What would set the zero at to shoot "flat" out to 500 yards?

I think I read it will shoot flat to 400 yards if set to zero at 275 yards or some such?

 

[tomsd]

I am shooting a 6.5-300 Wby and love it. Easily pushes 143 gr ELD-X at 3315 and could be faster but I like the accuracy I am getting out of it at the moment. It is extremely flat which makes it easy to point and shoot within 600 yards depending on zero distance. It is my favorite rifle to take out and shoot. I think I saw a reamer for a 6.5-300 Wby Improved which I think is something I am kicking around.

LOL - sent a Q below - which is: What would you set the zero at to shoot "flat" out to 500 yards. I think I read somewhere it would shoot flat out to 400 yards if zeroed at about 275 yards? How high would that be at say 100 yards?

 

[werth338]

Based on living in south Texas, I have had a 300 yard zero on it previously. Based on that zero and climate, I would be 2.2 MOA high at 100 yards and 3.7 MOA low at 500 yards. To get to 600 yards, would be just under 6 MOA low. Given that I don't hunt down here and a new range finder, I have moved back to a 100 yard zero and just dial now but even at that it is pretty quick. With a 100 yard zero, it would be just under 4 MOA at 400 yards and 6 MOA at 500 yards along with 8.2 MOA at 600 yards. It has shot a 1/4 group out of a stock Mark V Arroyo so I haven't pushed it harder.

 

[tomsd]

Thanks. I would probably try zeroing in at 300 yards and see how she does. No problem hunting wise being a little high at 100 or so yards and 3.7 low at 500 yds. SWEET. And I would be happy with 1/2 ".

 

[RevJim]

I once had a 24" .260 reamed out to 6.5/284. Since it was a Mod 700 SA I never loaded anything heavier than the Nosler 125PT/120NBT and they were 2.79". I used necked down Win .284 brass, one pass. I never killed anything over 310yds with it, but on antelope/fallow deer/axis deer and Blackbuck antelope ( a few out to 300, the rest from 100 to 200yds) it was just point and shoot with a +1" high at 100. I think I was a couple inches low at 300 if memory serves. When Norma/Hodgdon/Lapua came out with 6.5/284 I tried them all. I could not get the 3200fps I did with the Noslers/Win 284 combo. They were all too soft. I also had trouble with feeding the last round, but anyhow, as a hunter, it was a grand deer rifle indeed. I can only vouch for the 125/120 of course. I had a 7mm RUM shooting the 140TTSX right at 3400 at the time so I was set for longer range ( which I never did with that rifle) I think the 6.5/284 is a good one, but for longer range I believe there is something to be said for more "oomph", whatever that may be, but it seems to be up in the bigger cases (at least on animals). I can't help but drool over the 6.5/300W as I used a 257 Weatherby a couple times and it was a flat shooter. More weight going faster has got to be "awe inspiring", ha. Now, a good .270/110TTSX may give it a run for its money on deer....?

 

[woodnut]

Just found this and so far as I have read, no one is addressing your first post about a LONG ACTION! I believe the 284 cartridge will go in a SHORT ACTION, and yes, you can put it in a long action. I have a 6.5/06 and it's an easy one to load for and accurate. Bullet drops can be compensated through your scope and ballistic software. I wouldn't get so hung up on an extra few FPS as it sometimes ain't worth it.

 

[Pbethell]

If it is primarily for long range hunting I would go with 6.5-06 A-Square. Unless you just like ancient history or you enjoy a lot more work for not much more return on your time and investment leave the AI nonsense alone. Gaining 100-200 fps is a waste of time when you look at all the con's of AI cartridges in light of it now being 2018. We have far better powders that Akley had in his day and most people are not sitting on a ton of military surplus brass and powder like he was. On top of that until you get into boutique cartridges not based on really common cartridges brass prices are fairly level so 30-06 brass is not much cheaper than 300 Win Mag brass for example. So by the time you factor in buying roughing and finish reamers, much more expensive dies, the shortened case life, shortened barrel life, all the extra time in case prep AI's cartridges make no sense. When you look at all the short fat and standard length fat bodied cartridges we have as well that are not wildcats again it makes the AI road look pointless in almost every way. This is not 1960's or 1970's better options are commonly available.

When the picking where slim cartridge wise and surplus brass and powder where common it made perfect sense. When I was a kid sometime the next step up from where you were at already was an insane step up there often was nothing in between mundane and Weatherby Beast! LOL That is not the case today in 2018 and it has not been the case for a few decades now.

In competition, I could see maybe favoring the 6.5-284 because more top shooters use it and "theory" says it should be more accurate due to the shorter fatter cartridge brass as compared to the longer thinner powder column in the 6.5-06. I am not saying I believe that to be true but unlike a lot of things in life the sample size is too small and the number of variables in that sample too large to make anything like a true educated guess based on anything statistical!

I think Mr. Akley just liked playing around and hot rodding the mundane I do not think he was saying " Hey this is the best possible option and the smartest way to go so everyone follows my lead!" I think it is interesting that no one on either side of the Atlantic has ever made any of the AI cartridges an official cartridge as far as I am aware yet plenty of wildcats have been made into official cartridges that are certified and standardized! You could hot rod the low-performance Chevy 305 but you would be far better off with a different GM engine design as your base. Likewise, you can get some trick heads for Ford Model T 4 cylinder and for Ford Flat Head V8 but again far better engines exist today that would make better power more affordable and would be more durable. Same thing with AI cartridges.

If it was 500fps more than it would make sense. We get higher velocities today out of just about every cartridge than they did 1950's-1980's because of the far better and greater variety of performance powders with burn rates better suited to each cartridge!

I seriously doubt you will see 200fps more with the 6.5-06 AI. Your rifle and barrel play just as an important role in what you see in terms of velocity.

At the end of the day it is your money you worked for it and things do not always need to make sense! In my 20's I used to put V8's especially Corvette engines in various imports especially Toyota trucks and sport utility vehicles and I also would do turbo V6's in various imports both European and Asian. TOday and 45 you could not pa me to do that! LOL That said I can buy many imports with V8's and turbo or supercharged V6's or just high compression direct injection V6's so I do not need to do that. In fact todays I4's make as much power as a lot of V8's and V6's from the 1970's, 1980's, and 1990's. A lot of V6's make the type of power today you needed a V8 for 10 years ago. Times change!

P.S. I used a 6.5-06 for almost 20 years for hunting and loved it. I am getting ready to build that rifle into a 7mm Express/280 Remington. I had one before and I let it go it was again fantastic. You know what they say 6 of one a 1/2 dozen of another! LOL

As a bit of an Ackley fan, i must point out that his designs had far more to them than mere improved performance. Longer case life, ability. To use factory ammo, less case stretch, proper feeding and extraction, even reduction of throat burnout, were all part of his well thought out designs.

As for no firm standardizing any Ackley cartridge? I point out the 280AI, an excellent improvement, IMO. That is a great cartridge, now standardized, riding on the coat tails of the 7RM, and formed brass is available from Nosler.

I do agree with you that the 6.5-284 and the 6.5-06 are equals, and Ackleyizing the latter won't give an extra 200 fps. I hear the argument about the powders available to P.O. back in his day not being equal to what we have today, and will point out that Bruce Hodgdon was cannistering slow burning military powders that suited many of these cases very well.

 

[30BR]

Just found this and so far as I have read, no one is addressing your first post about a LONG ACTION! I believe the 284 cartridge will go in a SHORT ACTION, and yes, you can put it in a long action. I have a 6.5/06 and it's an easy one to load for and accurate. Bullet drops can be compensated through your scope and ballistic software. I wouldn't get so hung up on an extra few FPS as it sometimes ain't worth it.

I have both. But all my stuff is single shot. Even so, the 142 Sierra seated to near the lands is too long to exit the short action cleanly. The long action just ejects a loaded round normally. I have to release the bolt on my short action...