6-700yd Mountain deer gun opinions?

[Long Time Long Ranger]

Scott, I am having a bunch of fun with mine this year playing with bullets that were not available when I did all my work with necking the 8mm rem mag case before it became an STW. 7mm STW brass is a breeze to load. New high bc bullets turn this lazer on to a new level and it was already extremely impressive with the old bullets. The 129 SST has a way higher bc than hornady states. I have been shooting it to 1000 yards this year and it is just amazing with drops compared to my other big rifles. I did not twist this rifle for vld type bullets because there was no such thing when I built the rifle. If you built one and twisted it for todays high bc bullets you would have a screamer. This rifle has a high round count at least near a thousand and is still extremely accurate. So if you take care of it barrel life is not a big problem unless you shoot matches with it.

 

[Scot E]

Scott, I am having a bunch of fun with mine this year playing with bullets that were not available when I did all my work with necking the 8mm rem mag case before it became an STW. 7mm STW brass is a breeze to load. New high bc bullets turn this lazer on to a new level and it was already extremely impressive with the old bullets. The 129 SST has a way higher bc than hornady states. I have been shooting it to 1000 yards this year and it is just amazing with drops compared to my other big rifles. I did not twist this rifle for vld type bullets because there was no such thing when I built the rifle. If you built one and twisted it for todays high bc bullets you would have a screamer. This rifle has a high round count at least near a thousand and is still extremely accurate. So if you take care of it barrel life is not a big problem unless you shoot matches with it.

Good to know about sizing from 7 STW brass. I had always had in my plans to build a 264 Win Mag or Sherman but I guess if I am going to go overbore I might as well do it right! It will be one of those 3 when I get around to building one.

So is that why you are using the 130's, because of twist rate only? I know you like to find the perfect balance between velocity and BC and thought maybe you found it at the 130 level in this case.

No matches for me just some LRH practice and then the real thing in the fall!

Scot E.

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

I have heard quite a number of reports that the 140 bergers will not hold up to the velocities produced by the STW at the twist rate required. Since this rifle is not twisted for them I can't shoot them to find out. The 130 grain hunting bullets have stronger jackets and no problem out of this rifle. I don't shoot it over 1000 yards at game and to there the 140 probably has very little advantage for me. If I were building one to shoot beyond 1000 yards I would twist it for the heavier bullets and find one that held together. The cutting edge bullets are shooting 75-100 fps faster in all my other guns than lead core at the same weight. So I am going to try the new 130 grain cutting edge with the high bc and see what it does. I definitely will not blow it apart. That would put me around 3800 fps with a high bc 130 and I will probably be content there.

 

[Sheepman]

How about a 6.5-06 or 6.5-06ai. The 6.5-06 will give 200ft/sec over a 6.5-284 according to the 8th edition Hornady Reloading manual and the ai will give another 100-200 on top of that, both with the 129gr bullet. Cases can be made easily from 270 or 25-06 or A-square make them as a standard case.

 

[Greyfox]

How about a 6.5-06 or 6.5-06ai. The 6.5-06 will give 200ft/sec over a 6.5-284 according to the 8th edition Hornady Reloading manual and the ai will give another 100-200 on top of that, both with the 129gr bullet. Cases can be made easily from 270 or 25-06 or A-square make them as a standard case.

I also think the 6.5-06 is a good round but most reloading manuals give light load data for the 6.5x 284, likely assuming short action chambered rifles. The case capacity between the two is about the the same. With a long action, the 6.5x284 will do anything the 6,5x06 will do and many believe it is an inherently more accurate cartridge.

 

[COBrad]

I had looked long and hard at the 6.5-284, but found a NIB Allen Precision rifle in 270 WSM with all the right components, so that will be here next week. After studying the two, it looks like performance will be virtually identical, the .270 will handle heavier bullets, and ammo is commercially available anywhere, if needed. I expect to come in at 8 lbs even with scope, sling, and loaded magazine. Should be a nice complement to my 13 lb. LR rifle.

 

[Shootin4fun]

You guys are killing me with all your opinions about the choices! Just when I had it narrowed down to a 270 (already have a pretty good shootin BAR but want a bolt with a better trigger), 270WSM, 7WSM, or 7RM, you gotta start talkin the merits of the 6.5s! What, now I gotta start all over again and add a 5th cart to the quandry??

I need to win the lottery and just by 1 or 2 of each. And then pay someone to reload for me.

 

[Alan Griffith]

I think your on the wright track, but I would suggest going with the 6.5X47 for the reason which you state here "lots of rounds thru" the 6.5X284 is a great round but is not known for its barrel life (around 1000 to 1200) the 6.5X47 will go 4 times that (4000 to 4500)it will shoot the 130 bergers at 2950, the 123 amaxs at 3020 and even the 140 bergers at 2875 all with plenty of pounding power for a deer at 700 yrds, just a thought ,good luck

opnions are like butts everybodys got one

Bingo!

I've been running two different 6.5x47's over the past 3 years. I LOVE this cartridge and I own a VERY accurate Rem 700 CDL SF Limited in 260 Rem. The -47 is such an easy cartridge to load for; no neck trimming, excellent Lapua brass, long barrel life, fits a short action, rarely run into a situation where loading long bullets would create issues with a short action mag and is not a powder hog only using around 36 to 41 gr of Hodgdon Extreme Varget or H4350. The speeds mention above by 270WinShort are VERY doable.

I'm not sure what you would consider Mountain deer gun weight since you didn't post any specs. I had a light "LR" rifle built on the aforementioned Pierce short action but CM not Titanium, 24.5" #3 Brougton in a McMillan Edge filled Rem Sporter with a Rifle Basix trigger and the weight is 6 lbs 11 oz. Add a lighter Leupold VX3 of your flavor or the heavier Viper you already own and see where you come out at.

I braked mine a year after owning it but not due to recoil but so I can watch my bullet impacts at 300+ yds.

Enjoy!

Alan

 

[clambdin]

How about a NULA model 24 in 6.5-284 or 6.5-06 ...

 

[Alan Griffith]

How about a NULA model 24 in 6.5-284 or 6.5-06 ...

....or 260 or 6.5 Creedmoor or 6.5x47 in the model 20 if a short action is wanted.

Alan