6.5 Weatherby (6.5 taken TOO far?)

[MudRunner2005]

Now that Weatherby has introduced the 6.5/300 Weatherby have we seen 6.5 pills pushed TOO fast?

Personally, as the owner of a 6.5 CM Ruger Precision Rifle and 6.5 CM Ruger American Predator I feel my "upper limit" for this cartridge would be the 6.5/284 Norma. That's about as fast as I want or need to push that bullet, even in the 147 gr. - 150 gr. range.

Yes, the 26 (6.5 mm) Nosler is FAST but how fast is necessary?

Eric B.

To put it simply, yes, it's too much. Expect 500-600 rounds of accurate barrel life from a hyper-6.5mm like the 6.5-300 Wby or .26 Nosler.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Hot rods eat parts.

Yep, Ford, Chevy, or Mopar...It's inevitable.

 

[Mike 338]

I believe the only way I'd ever own a 6.5 hot rod is if I could swap the barrels myself. Writing checks for the privilege of waiting to me is very annoying. Sure, you should be getting a much better gun with a good smith doing the work but banging away for fun gets a lot less fun as you can watch the tank drain with each pull of the trigger.

 

[Wyo220]

The only way any of us learn is through the trying. Many of us learn through the efforts of others and set our own boundaries based on their experiences. I applaud those whom push for the sake of pushing. It helps me find my happy place. 6.5 155s at 34 or 35, why not!! Maybe my 264 will become mild.
Kyle

 

[257Tony]

Pssshhhh! You young whipper snappers! 264 win was burning barrels back before it was cool can still push a 140 to 3200 with the right load, 3150 is pretty easy!

 

[jrsolocam]

Nah, the Lazzeroni Blackbird with 121gr capacity is probably too far. Weatherby and Nosler are certainly still useable. Just budget in the barrels...

 

[RockyMtnMT]

Hmmm...

6.5-338 Lapua Improved, nitride barrel and 137gr Hammer solid bullets or 140gr Cutting Edge solids and a ton of powder sounds fun.

We have that reamer!

Steve

 

[Danehunter]

tbrice,
You're joking of course, but sure as hell someone will put a 6.5 in a 338 Lapua case.

Steve,
I fear you are not joking.
Eric B.

 

[Frank in the Laurels]

The edge?? Maybe...but it's as close to it as you can get without going over....there's only so much room to burn all that powder and the throat area would take a beating in this horse. If this is strictly a hunting rifle, five shots a year, OK...but it's not a daily driver..just too much horsepower !!


MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!

 

[WildRose]

Now that Weatherby has introduced the 6.5/300 Weatherby have we seen 6.5 pills pushed TOO fast?

Personally, as the owner of a 6.5 CM Ruger Precision Rifle and 6.5 CM Ruger American Predator I feel my "upper limit" for this cartridge would be the 6.5/284 Norma. That's about as fast as I want or need to push that bullet, even in the 147 gr. - 150 gr. range.

Yes, the 26 (6.5 mm) Nosler is FAST but how fast is necessary?

Eric B.

I had friends shooting a wildcat version of the 6.5 and 7mm x .300wby as far back as the late eighties.

There are quite a few 6.5mm STW's around as well.

Is it too fast? Well not if you have a bullet that will stay together and shoot accurately.

Are you going to burn out a lot of barrels? Well yah, you will if you do much shooting with any of the seriously overbore 6.5's but nobody is going to build one with barrel life being a consideration any more than someone would build a dragster or funny car thinking of the day they'd turn 100,000 miles on the odometer or do so with the idea of having a practical high mileage "Sunday Driver".

The 6.5CM is a Toyota Corolla to the 6.5mm dragsters.

Personally I think the .264wm is where you hit the wall of practicality/velocity. Pushing them any faster comes at a great cost in powder and shortened barrel life but for those who enjoy the ride I say, "Go for it".

 

[Capt RB]

We have a couple of reamers on the shelf that are crying loudly to get used. The 6.5 UltraCat is getting it's second go this spring. 6.5-300rum AI. Going to be on a 32" in a 6" twist. Planning a Hammer bullet about 160g and 2" long. Gonna be fun.

Steve

Will this be a gain twist or straight 6? Are you anticipating any bedding issue with that much barrel torque of the tight twist?

 

[yobuck]

I had friends shooting a wildcat version of the 6.5 and 7mm x .300wby as far back as the late eighties.

There are quite a few 6.5mm STW's around as well.

Is it too fast? Well not if you have a bullet that will stay together and shoot accurately.

Are you going to burn out a lot of barrels? Well yah, you will if you do much shooting with any of the seriously overbore 6.5's but nobody is going to build one with barrel life being a consideration any more than someone would build a dragster or funny car thinking of the day they'd turn 100,000 miles on the odometer or do so with the idea of having a practical high mileage "Sunday Driver".

The 6.5CM is a Toyota Corolla to the 6.5mm dragsters.

Personally I think the .264wm is where you hit the wall of practicality/velocity. Pushing them any faster comes at a great cost in powder and shortened barrel life but for those who enjoy the ride I say, "Go for it".

Actually, the 6.5x300 Wby cartridge was first created in the 50s
after Norma introduced their 6.5 139 gr match bullet.
Alex Hoyer a PA gunsmith heard about it and made a deal for the reamer. The cartridge was named the 6.5x300 WWH for the creator,
named Wright, Weatherby, and Hoyer. It was in fact the cartridge that started long range hunting on its present path in PA. The Norma bullet was lead core and metal clad which made it illegal for hunting in PA. But they were used anyway and they performed well.
When Hornady introduced the 162 gr 284 bullet, the 6.5x300 started losing popularity very quickly and the 7x300 WBY took over among hunters there.
There were a few guys who tried the 378 WBY case with the 6.5 bullet, but it never really went anywhere as for popularity.

 

[Elkeater]

I don't own a 6.5 but IMHO I'd say go big or go home. I'm on a tight budget so barrel burners aren't my thing but I'd love to try some crazy high bc bullets at hyper velocities.

 

[KyCarl]

I have always thought that short barrel life was planned by the makers? To sell more
like cars? If they reamed it oversized and clad it with Inconel then re-reamed it to size it would last 5X's as long as steel! I have made reactor parts like this where I work and it lasts!
(Inconel alloys are typically used in high temperature applications. Common trade names for Inconel Alloy 625 include: Inconel 625, Chronin 625, Altemp 625, Haynes 625, Nickelvac 625 and Nicrofer 6020.[4])