I agree with "if want to ever shoot heavier bullets" part, but if not then there is no comparison. I would expect a 150'ish grain 6.5 bullet to potentially be in the .7 G1 BC area, a 150'ish .308 cal to be less than .5 G1. No comparison with downrange performance between the two when pushed anywhere near the same velocity.
6.5x300 WBY ?
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Wolf76
Well-Known Member
Read the question and answered it appropriately. Gave a comparative answer because there are too many variables that determine barrel life. Also provided an alternative to consider given the OP was "leaning toward" (which means hasn't decided for sure).
I'm sorry this "triggered" you. I've heard therapy dogs and safe spaces are useful to people in this category.
You've been added to the "ignore" category, so I don't have to deal with you again.
vancewalker007
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You will burn through a barrel much quicker with the 6.5-300 cartridge than some others. If you throat it per the factory specs you will likely start seeing some effects on groups using a load that was giving good result previously. You might be able to get your Smith to throat the chamber so you can get on the lands with room to spare in the magazine. This will give you a few thou to move the bullet forward and stay in the Goldilocks zone, because as the barrel wears the lands are going to move forward. If you can maintain the jump that works you'll get a little more life out of the barrel. If I were choosing bullets for this cartridge I'd be looking at the 150 SMK and the new Berger 156 EOL and be care about the barrel groove setup you choose. The 3 and 4 grooves with a 1:7 twist have been destroying bullets lately. With the speed of the Weatherby a 1:8 will likely be way more than you need.
grandslamsheephunter
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WOW History repeats itself the 6.5 300 WWH Mean WeatherbyWrightHoyer is nothing new Al Hoyer and Colonel Wright was using that cal back in the 60s ,Al hoyer was smith
in Pa,who built many 6.5 for long range hunting in Pa.and matches at the pa 1000 yd.
You will be extremely happy with the 6.5, I built one on a 300 wby action 8 years ago and its a tack driver. Dan Lilja has a 3 groove barrel, that has deeper grooves and higher lands for extended barrel life and I am extremely happy and impressed. I would however recommend the 6.5 STW which is the same as the 6.5x300 wby, and no additional smithing besides barrel work, the reason is that Quality Cartridge makes the 6.5 STW brass so you don't need to fire form it. I am shooting 129gr Hornady SST's And 78gr of Reloader 22 it's a one hole shooter and sudden death to all the animals I have taken from deer to elk. Pm me if you want any additional info. Good Luck
nicholasjohn
Well-Known Member
Weatherby sells loaded ammunition for the 6.5/300 Wby - they may sell formed brass as well. They used to have all their brass made by Norma, but I don't know who their source is now.
I've heard it said that both the Weatherby and the STW 6.5's are a death ray. It would seem to me that one would be just as good as the other. The throat of the Weatherby may have a lengthy free-bore, if that's a consideration. Some guys like that, while others don't. I don't have an opinion on it, one way or the other.
nicholasjohn
Well-Known Member
He made my list, too.
Don A Parsons
Well-Known Member
I'm onto my first 6.5 A-square,,, much smaller case and alot less ft-per seconds,,, I too was concerned about barrel life,,, so this was some of the ideas that I got going forward...
Tap it kool on the hot loads when possible,,, I enjoy going after predators in the off season,,, so mid range loads work for me in this category... All I will do is change to 110/120gr boolitz and dig out the range-card to get me on target at those distantanses...
Allow for kool down time between the shots,,, I've never been a fast shooter,,, when I do practic this I use my 30 caliber rifles,,, any-who,,, I think that spreading the shots out gives the barrel throat time to kool,,, flash burn has been known to eat up barrel life fast... Hotter the charge the greater the flash burn...
Take the time to knock out the carbon build up once in a while,,, that way the boolitz get a chance to dig deeper into the rifling instead of stuffing the top edges of the sharp cut in them... Of course this is only a thought... Ha.
And load heavy for hunting since we know we're going after the thick skins,,, I find that heavy / long boolitz are normally going slower than lite / sort projectile,,, The longer booltiz have excellent bearing surface becuase they are long,,, more meat for the rifling to grab... And boolitz are less likely to bunch up if they leave the luanch pad a little bit slower,,, basically,,, what they lack in speed they make up for punch-junk down range...
To keep things on the up & up I don't fear loading hot and heavy for the actual hunt / hunting,,, this is what these 6.5's and all hunting rifles are for...
So you have options,,, tap it kool in the off season,,, load hot and heavy when it's needed,,, my unit is built for hunting mainly,,, my other rifles will fill in for the other part of the good times...
PS: As stated above,,, don't look at it as a barrel burner,,,, look at it from the hunting aspect and how full the freezer is at the end of the year.
If I tap it kool with my unit I might get 3 to 5 years so long as I use it for hunting and predator control.
Tap it kool on the hot loads when possible,,, I enjoy going after predators in the off season,,, so mid range loads work for me in this category... All I will do is change to 110/120gr boolitz and dig out the range-card to get me on target at those distantanses...
Allow for kool down time between the shots,,, I've never been a fast shooter,,, when I do practic this I use my 30 caliber rifles,,, any-who,,, I think that spreading the shots out gives the barrel throat time to kool,,, flash burn has been known to eat up barrel life fast... Hotter the charge the greater the flash burn...
Take the time to knock out the carbon build up once in a while,,, that way the boolitz get a chance to dig deeper into the rifling instead of stuffing the top edges of the sharp cut in them... Of course this is only a thought... Ha.
And load heavy for hunting since we know we're going after the thick skins,,, I find that heavy / long boolitz are normally going slower than lite / sort projectile,,, The longer booltiz have excellent bearing surface becuase they are long,,, more meat for the rifling to grab... And boolitz are less likely to bunch up if they leave the luanch pad a little bit slower,,, basically,,, what they lack in speed they make up for punch-junk down range...
To keep things on the up & up I don't fear loading hot and heavy for the actual hunt / hunting,,, this is what these 6.5's and all hunting rifles are for...
So you have options,,, tap it kool in the off season,,, load hot and heavy when it's needed,,, my unit is built for hunting mainly,,, my other rifles will fill in for the other part of the good times...
PS: As stated above,,, don't look at it as a barrel burner,,,, look at it from the hunting aspect and how full the freezer is at the end of the year.
If I tap it kool with my unit I might get 3 to 5 years so long as I use it for hunting and predator control.
nicholasjohn
Well-Known Member
Don,
Consider this : With all I've read on this forum about velocity nodes, it seems that there are often more than one of these. Naturally, the faster one is the place to be for a hunting load, provided it delivers the necessary accuracy. Once found, that's what I intend to load for deer & elk. A slower node would likely be a good choice for the coyote-busting in between big game seasons, possibly even with a different bullet. ( No need to spend the big bucks on a fancy projectile to ventilate a 'yote, and a bullet with different terminal performance is probably a better choice anyway.) Finding one that has similar ballistic properties is probably the big trick. Also, the hunting rifle probably isn't going to get shot as much as the target rifles do anyway. It still makes sense, though, to go easy on the barrel steel.
Nick
You can expect 300 to 500 rounds out of a 6.5 300 wby the 6.5 stw is closer to 300 rounds and the 26 nosler is around 300 to 500 rounds 3 real barrel burners if you want a 6.5 then the 264 win mag is the best option I have 2500 rounds through mine and still getting sub 1/2 minute groups I had 2 of the 6.5 stw both the barrels were done at 250 to 300 rounds I a working on a 26 nosler now for a customer it has 46 rounds down the pipe and the throat looks like it has 1000 rounds through it I would not have another 6.5 stw or 26 nosler or a 6.5 300 wby
Aoudad shooter1975
Well-Known Member
Wow 300-to 500 rounds--as low as 250...i may have to barrel one up just to see...we had a 30-378 that my friend shot 110-130 grain bullets out of and he got close to 900 rounds out of it before it started to get erratic...if I could only get 250--I might go a different direction--or learn better barrel care or shooting practices
yobuck
Well-Known Member
Well a little history on long range hunting from one of the places it found it's roots, that being the NC part of PA.
If you could go back to the (early 60s,) and drove along the dirt mountain roads you would on occasion come upon small groups of hunters using very large tripod mounted binoculars to scan the steep side hills across the valleys.
Many of them would have been using a 300 WBY case necked down to 6.5 Mostly built by Alex Hoyer of Lewistown PA.
The reason was that the 139 gr Norma (match) bullet had the best BC of any other on the market at that time. (NOTE), it was also illegal for use as a hunting bullet in PA due to its metal jacket, but in fact they did perform very well. So those using that cartridge always had ammo they showed the Warden should he stop and ask, and the ones they actually used.
However, around 1970 a guy by name of Joyce Hornady introduced a 162 gr BTHP match bullet in .284. And the next day a funeral service was held for the 6.5 Weatherby, as hunters made the switch to the 7x300 Weatherby. It also ended the need for having 2 kinds of ammo, lol.
Another note, The BC of the very first 162 was higher than the same bullet still produced today, and velocity was right there with the 6.5. It should be noted however that the newer powders have further enhanced the performance.
3400 with a 162 gr in a 28" barrel is in fact a reality.
If you were to drive those same dirt roads today nothing much has changed other than less hunters, except you wont be finding (any) 6.5 cartridges. You might find a few 7mms, a mixture of 7x300s, 7 STWs, and 7MM Ultra. Most today would chamber for the 7mm ultra, although all 3 are very close performers.
But not by enough to compete today with the 30s and 338s at the longer distances.
Best to have a couple of different guns along.
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yobuck
VERY interesting, thanks so much.
VERY interesting, thanks so much.
