Favorite 6.5 Cartridge

[Outlaw6.0]

Yeah
I'm figurin' on movin' somewhere with bean fields and necking a .458 Lott down to 6.5.
Gonna call it the 666 Texass Barnburner.
It should be just the thing for deer the size of dogs.

That would be very close to the 6.5STW

Consider a solid bullet such as Barnes X, Hornady,Winchester variants for close shots at high velocity on fur bearers and bears and VLDs for LRH...the difference in POI inside 100 yards will be so little as to be unworthy of consideration while the precision sight in for the VLD will remain.

My experience with the Barnes out of a 300 short mag at close range on a Jack Rabbit was basically catastrophic... the mid section of the critter all but disintegrated....


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[CRaTxn]

I was addressing the concern that a "normal" bullet can "blow up" close in on a major bone ) shoulder/hip or very thick skinned animals (bears,hogs,moose, cape buff, etc.). Personally had two bad bullet blow-up occurrences with my .300 Mag on moose and a whitetail doe at close range with conventional bullets.
Now that it is documented that game animal (include wolves) can smell us up to a 1/2 mile or more away...I am getting more into the LRH ambush mode for my chili meat & steaks. I carry a Barnes X in the chamber of my Blaser (safe in that system as the firing pin / spring is not cocked until and thru the act of taking the safety off) sneaking into my hide and coming out in case I jump a critter at close range...I also remember to turn the variable scope back down to its minimum power for the walk in/out.

 

[65WSM]

One of my most memorable shots was with a 264 WSM. In Eastern Washington in the 1980s most of the locals carried Ruger "Ranch Mini-14s" with factory loads. The coyotes learned that if they stayed at about 400 yards they were very safe. These rifles are notoriously inaccurate. I had access to 5800 acres of wheat and volcanic scabland. I spoiled the day of a pair of coyotes, male and female at a paced 430 yds. One was pointing East and the other pointing West next to each other. The 120 gr Ballistic Tip went through both with minimal hide damage. It didn't open up much. I have had similar results with the 100 gr Ballistic Tips. They don't open much on varmints. That .264 Winchester was built with a Krieger 11 inch twist barrel to shoot the lighter 100 gr and 120 gr bullets very fast with Reloader 22 and later H-1000. They fit the Pre-64 Model 70 magazine at 3.30 inches.

My latest project is a 6.5-06 Ackley, with the help of members of this forum, I have made some cases so far with a Redding 25-06 Ackley bushing die and some already case formed .280 Ackley cases from a friend. I want a longer neck to partially size and center the bullets in the chamber.

I also have a 6.5-284 Model 70 that is my most expensive custom rifle to date. It can achieve comparable velocities with the big cases with the help of VV N560. The new powders are making barrel length and not case size the limiter of velocity. Can you get 3300 fps with 130 Accubonds from your 26 inch barrel? Both my 6.5 WSMs and the .264 would have to breath hard to exceed that.

The .264 Winchester is a historical cartridge (1958). If I would build one today, I would use a 375 H&H or 300 H&H full length magazine (3.65 inches). I found the .264 Winchester a magazine limited neckless wonder. I remember contacting Shilen once about building a custom barrel for a .264 Winchester in 1977. He said that it would be hard to get groups under an inch because of the lack of accurate bullets at that time. Fortunately the bullets have improved.


I would not discount the value of another man's 6.5 unless you have worn out a few barrels. Remember we are interest in Long Range Rifles.

 

[WildRose]

One of my most memorable shots was with a 264 WSM. In Eastern Washington in the 1980s most of the locals carried Ruger "Ranch Mini-14s" with factory loads. The coyotes learned that if they stayed at about 400 yards they were very safe. These rifles are notoriously inaccurate. I had access to 5800 acres of wheat and volcanic scabland. I spoiled the day of a pair of coyotes, male and female at a paced 430 yds. One was pointing East and the other pointing West next to each other. The 120 gr Ballistic Tip went through both with minimal hide damage. It didn't open up much. I have had similar results with the 100 gr Ballistic Tips. They don't open much on varmints. That .264 Winchester was built with a Krieger 11 inch twist barrel to shoot the lighter 100 gr and 120 gr bullets very fast with Reloader 22 and later H-1000. They fit the Pre-64 Model 70 magazine at 3.30 inches.

My latest project is a 6.5-06 Ackley, with the help of members of this forum, I have made some cases so far with a Redding 25-06 Ackley bushing die and some already case formed .280 Ackley cases from a friend. I want a longer neck to partially size and center the bullets in the chamber.

I also have a 6.5-284 Model 70 that is my most expensive custom rifle to date. It can achieve comparable velocities with the big cases with the help of VV N560. The new powders are making barrel length and not case size the limiter of velocity. Can you get 3300 fps with 130 Accubonds from your 26 inch barrel? Both my 6.5 WSMs and the .264 would have to breath hard to exceed that.

The .264 Winchester is a historical cartridge (1958). If I would build one today, I would use a 375 H&H or 300 H&H full length magazine (3.65 inches). I found the .264 Winchester a magazine limited neckless wonder. I remember contacting Shilen once about building a custom barrel for a .264 Winchester in 1977. He said that it would be hard to get groups under an inch because of the lack of accurate bullets at that time. Fortunately the bullets have improved.


I would not discount the value of another man's 6.5 unless you have worn out a few barrels. Remember we are interest in Long Range Rifles.

Something to be considered is that as long as you are getting MV's in excess of 2850 and you are using high BC bullets you have a long range 6.5.

My preference is for 3000fps MV but from 2850 on you can get the job done.

That is why I really like my .260 rem. Cheap to shoot and can still get the job done at LR.

It's not as cool as my .264wm, but it still gets there, and it fits nicely into an LR308 platform rifle which makes it outstanding for groups of critters like coyotes and hogs with minimal worries about throat erosion.

 

[Cold Trigger Finger]

Ya, I guess I need to pruf read better. Just cause I think something don't mean I type it.
For bear I use a 458 or 416. For general big game I use a 375 , 9.3x 64 or a 338 .
The little 6.5 is for winter work. And I think an excellent rifle to start learning the long range shooting. .

I'm thinking of building another 416 Rem. Its either that or get a 416 Ruger Alaskan. That way I'll have a spring- fall rifle and the 6.5 Cm for winter.

Hey, has anyone shot the 144 gr Lapua fmjbt bullet much? .

 

[north of 53]

I have two 6.5x55 improved,one is for hunting and I run 130 vlds at 3000fps (20"barrel) and the other I use for F- class shooting and run 140s at 3050 m/v (29"barrel). I know some people have been talking about running 140s must faster but I found the next node for my gun is up past 3250 and I just can't get there so I stay around the 3000 mark where my gun like to be. When I ask most shooters at the range that shoot 140 gr 6.5 they tend to have a sweet spots around 2750-2800, 2950-3050 or above 3300. Its not carved in stone and each gun is different for sure , but as a rule of thumb if you are looking for 1/2 min accuracy if you can't push 140 gr bullet up to 3300 ft/sec you might as well stay down around 3000 ft/sec. I know this could start a war on this site so I will say again this just what I have found , if you have found different I will take you at your word.

 

[65WSM]

I still would like to know what you have learned about powder and primers in the 6.5 Swed Ackley Improved? 3100 is as much velocity as Berger recommends for accuracy. How much of which powder? I would like to get an idea of your case volume?

 

[Moosetracker]

My vote goes to 260 Ack Imp.

 

[Cold Trigger Finger]

Has anyone tried H100v in the Creed? I chronyed some loads yesterday with the 140 SST 42 gr gave me over 3000 fps. That's .8gr under Max Hornady book.

 

[CRaTxn]

Wonderful but: Barrel length? temp? PA? moly? hBN-TBN?

 

[Cold Trigger Finger]

26" factory Ruger. Stainless . Temp +4°F rifle and ammo temp approx 60°F . Uncoated bullets. Distance to chrony 15' . Fire formed 22/250 Winchester brass . Primers flat but not flowing..

I feel this is over Max and will reduce by 1 gr. My group was approx 1.5" at300 yards. But I wasn't set up for accurate shooting, used an empty gallon oil jug for a rest on the bench.

 

[Cold Trigger Finger]

What is hBN and TBN?

 

[65WSM]

HBN is hexagonal (crystal shape) Boron Nitride which is a dry lubricant many of us use. It is considered by many better than Molybdenum for bullets. HBN generates less pressure at the rifling, because of lower engraving resistance. so you can build gentle pressure further into the barrel and more speed. It also reduces copper fouling. I find that the first shot in a clean barrel is part of the group and Ihunt with a clean barrel. HBN is applied by tumbling the bullets with steel shot like moly.

 

[CRaTxn]

TBN is a 10 years of research proprietary formula for Boron-nitride coating by Tubb as in David Tubb one of our national shooting treasures here in Texas. go to
Boron Nitride Coating Bullets - David Tubb
NO WAX required / Not as messy to handle / less deformation during obturation / lower peak pressures
I have also had good luck with the Tubb Fire Lapping bullets on production barrels...lapp the throat too, not just the bore