Looking for step down from a 7mm

[chadwickz71]

My Dad and I are having a fully custom 7mm built for long range elk and whitetail. its being built with no brake to save some ears with the group we hunt with etc. I will be working up a load with it using 180gr VLD's. I would like to get a second gun built that will be good competition to the 7mm at the range and have a Brake so its fun to shoot and practice with. It still needs to be a long range hunting round for whitetail but I'll take Elk out of the equation for this one.

I was initially thinking 6.5-284... or straight .284 but need some ideas. The .284 might be too close to the 7mm rem to be somewhat of a step down.

We will be reloading but would like to buy brass already ready to go.

Looking for a good caliber that's easy to workup loads and not finicky.

THoughts?

 

[el matador]

Lots of good choices out there. 6.5-284 would be awesome. 6.5-06 is about the same performance and you can use 25-06 brass. For a lighter recoiling gun I'm always drawn to the short actions so I'd personally go with a .260 or 6.5 Creedmoor.

 

[chadwickz71]

I was really thinking 6.5-284 until I went over to accurate shooter and read about it being really finicky, wasn't a lot of threads but quite a few people on one thread if I remember right.... Now I'm set back a bit about it. I need some reassurance I guess or better option.

 

[elkaholic]

My Dad and I are having a fully custom 7mm built for long range elk and whitetail. its being built with no brake to save some ears with the group we hunt with etc. I will be working up a load with it using 180gr VLD's. I would like to get a second gun built that will be good competition to the 7mm at the range and have a Brake so its fun to shoot and practice with. It still needs to be a long range hunting round for whitetail but I'll take Elk out of the equation for this one.

I was initially thinking 6.5-284... or straight .284 but need some ideas. The .284 might be too close to the 7mm rem to be somewhat of a step down.

We will be reloading but would like to buy brass already ready to go.

Looking for a good caliber that's easy to workup loads and not finicky.

THoughts?

If you like wildcats, I have 6.5"s in the long and short action version that will reach 3300' with 140's in a 26" barrel. The 6.5 Sherman is a highly modified 280 case and the 6.5 Sherman Shortmag is a highly modified SAUM that will cycle through a short action with the long bullets. Either one will outperform a 6.5/284 by 250' and get better barrel life to boot. I sell brass for the SA and the LA version is easy to form. These same builds are also available in 270, & 280. I have custom dies in stock....rich

 

[Dr. Vette]

Here is the Lapua brass page:

Reloading Cases - Cases - Reloading - Nammo Lapua

Since you're starting from scratch, choose your caliber from the brass available on this page, and you'll thank yourself for a long time.

 

[FEENIX]

.280/.280 AI with 26"+ barrel and the right twist to stabilize the intended bullet.

 

[AZShooter]

I agree with Dr. Vette it would be a good idea to build your second rifle around Lapua brass. The two that stand out for me and would be fun to shoot and are capable of taking deer at fairly long range are the 7-08 and the 308. Both are easy to load and you won't even need a brake.

Your original thought on getting a 284 is actually a good one. It is one of my favorite cartridges. I have had a 284 in the collection for 30 yrs. I have taken many elk, deer and javelina as well as coyotes and jackrabbits. It fits in between the 7-08 and the 7 Rem mag in performance. It is easy to load and quite versatile. 120 to 168 gr bullets are practical range of bullets. H-4350 and RL-17 IMO are the best powders. My current rifle a 7 1/2 lb sporter has a 23 1/2" barrel and shoots the 168 VLD at 2835 fps. I shot a coues wt at 450 yds with it this year.

While Lapua doesn't make the regular 284, Norma does! It is a special run made for the owner of Bullets.com. This brass is supposed to be the very best with features that surpass the original Winchester brass and should equal Lapua brass.

Here is a link on this new brass.

Norma to Make 6mm Dasher and .284 Win Brass for Bullets.com « Daily Bulletin

 

[trueblue]

Either build a 6.5 SAUM (which I have), or build one of Elkaholics wildcats 6.5 SS.
Don't need to get hung up on Lapua brass. Both of these cartridges run at low pressures with H1000 powder(58,000) that you will get 15-20 reloads on Remington brass.

 

[geo4061]

Get the 7 threaded. I wish every rifle I have had a brake. What a pleasure they make a rifle when shooting and it's great to spot your hits. You have to wear hearing protection with or without one. You never know. You may change your mind.

 

[MudRunner2005]

26" 7mm-08 Improved pushing Berger 180 Hybrids wouldn't be the fastest car on the road, but it would be fun for LR target shooting.

Lapua makes brass for 7mm-08.

Lapua Reloading Brass 7mm-08 Remington Box of 100

This is what Kenny Jarrett says about it on their website...

Kenny Jarrett's Pet Calibers | Jarrett Rifles

"7MM-08 Improved
140 gr. Nosler bullet ......... 3050 f.p.s.
120 gr. Nosler bullet ......... 3150 f.p.s.

The 7mm-08 Ackley Improved has been very popular with us for many years. Most importantly, it provides high end .280 Remington performance in a short action receiver. Most of our 7mm-08 Imp. rifles have a fairly short barrel, usually no longer than 20", yet we get an honest 3050 f.p.s. with a 140 gr. bullet, and 3150 feet per second with a 120 gr. The original .308 case has been transformed into many kinds of nice cartridges. I believe that the 7mm-08 Ackley Improved is at the top of the heap. We have tuned several for 160 gr. Nosler Partitions for African hunts and hear nothing but praise for their performance. Bullets striking animals at 100 to 200 yards at 7mm-08 velocities will show perfect performance every time. Perfect for whitetail, it is one wildcat that deserved to be born! I like its performance, which is best with a 20" barrel."

 

[chadwickz71]

Putting a brake on the 7 was the first fix, but got overruled by my Dad. Out of all the stuff we picked out, Mcmillian, jewel, Krieger, stiller, etc. The one thing he said was, NO BRAKE on the Elk gun. Being that we're splitting all this I made my case for it but am letting that go.

After reading some of the post I will try to help us weed some out. I do not want to go a extreme wildcat. One of the post mentioned get a caliber that the brass is commercially made in good quality. That's what I want to do here.

I see the 6.5-284 there, and the .284 seems to be a limited run if Im reading that right... Not sure if I want to dive off into that or not once again, might not have read it right.

Just wanted to throw that out there.

 

[DocDoc]

6.5x284 is easy to expand to to 284 by running an expand mandrel into the case. Sinclair, K/M, and others make those. Then you have Norma or Lapua brass.

 

[600BP]

My first LR rig was a 6.5x284 Norma. With what limited experience I had at the time, the cartridge was still very easy to load for. It's shot bugholes with the recommended published powder loads around 2900fps. When I ran into problems was when I decided I needed that extra 100fps and either loaded it hot or used a hot powder not necessarily made for the cartridge. The groups got wild and I prematurely burnt the barrel out. Long, expensive story short, it shot knot holes at a lesser velocity and argue as we all may.....speed is no replacement for accuracy.

Just my "still learning" piece of advice.

Regards
Erik

 

[MarkA]

Nosler 280 Remington Improved

Brass available

Loaded ammo available

Components to load available.

Easy on recoil and just pretty much match 7RM velocities with 140 grain or less bullets.

Reach 7RM velocities on average with 6 to 12 grains less powder and regular 210 primers.