6X47 vs. 6X47 Lapua

LewisH

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What is the difference between the plain 6x47 and the 6x47 Lapua? I'm having trouble sorting these two out.

The Lapua seems to be the way to go, and I want to eliminate any confusion when ordering a new barrel.
 
There are a couple version of '6x47' floating around over the last few decades...

There was one that was based off the .222 Rem Mag round, necked up to 6mm. Kinda before my time, not sure what the endearing traits of it were supposed to be - other than it (just barely) qualified for things like metallic silhouette (minimum 6mm bullet) and deer hunting in states that put minimum caliber restrictions in place. Fairly anemic as these things go - figure slightly more case capacity than a .223 Rem, but still less than a 6mm BR.

There was(is) a round called the '6x47 SM' or 'Swiss Match', which is AFAIK one of the rounds that D. Tubb looked very hard at when designing the 6X and then the 6XC. Dimensions and all that are *very* close between the two. Biggest problem was getting the brass stateside in any useful quantity proved to be dang near impossible.

Then there is the new/current '6x47L', or more properly '6-6.5x47 Lapua', i.e. a 6.5x47L necked down to 6mm. It is just a smidge under the 6XC in case capacity, uses a small primer and PPC sized flash hole, has factory available Lapua brass, and so far works out to be very, very capable. Think of it as a shortened, but hot-rodded, .243 Winchester. 105-107gr bullets running between 3050-3150fps with quite a bit less powder.

HTH,

Monte
 
Thanks Monte for that very comprehensive explanation.

I plan to use it as a varmint rifle (70-90gr bullets). What twist would you recommend? 1-10 or faster?
 
Lewis,

I don't have any direct experience w/ the slower twists for varmint bullets. I'd probably say at least a 10 twist... mine is an 8, and spins B105VLDs just fine. Conventional wisdom for a 6BR is that a 10 twist should stabilize up to and including 90gr bullets, and a few models of 95gr pills. The 6-6.5x47L is pushing the same bullets a couple hundred fps faster... should work just fine.

There was an article over on 6mmBR.com not too long ago on a 10 tw 6x47L varminter... might be worth digging up and reading.

HTH,

Monte
 
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