Lucked out/6.5x284 build

[Greyfox]

Great response. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

I'm surprised the 6.5-284 Norma cartridge never caught on with the "normal" hunting crowd. Unless you've spent time on the Internet searching or time at long range competitions, most likely guys have never heard of the cartridge.

Only guess I have is maybe the rebated rim scares off guys who think it won't feed from a magazine reliably? Because besides that, it pretty much checks all of the boxes needed for it to be a great hunting cartridge.

You are absolutely right about the general awareness of the 6.5x284. Over the past several years, many hunters I have met are not aware of the round. Those that are have been involved or follow competitive shooting sports. I think the biggest reason for hunters shying away from the round is the rounds reputation for being a barrel burner. Unfortunately this reasoning is often taken out of context. It earned this reputation with the bench rest crowd early on in its career. Of course the high repetition shooting in competition , usually occurring in the hot summer months would burn out the barrel of any high velocity round capable of killing game out to 1000 yards. The Benchrest shooters put up with this because of the superior ballistics and accuracy of the 6.5x284. If they used many of the rounds that we use for LR hunting they would likely experience comparable, or worse barrel life. Also keep mind that for the BR crowd, the barrel is gone when .25MOA or less accuracy is eroded. I have had 7Mags, 270WSM's, and several of the Weatherby's erode similarly or faster then the 6.5x284. Of course some case designs may promote longer life then others but this can become immaterial considering all the factors effecting the life of a barrel. For typical hunting applications my 6.5x284's will give me 10+ years of solid performance. This includes hunting shots, practice, zeroing, and fun, busting long range targets; total, about 100 rounds/year.
As to the rebated rim, I have not experienced failures to feed with any of my rifles, both clip and internal magazines. Because the round spent much of its life as a wildcat, much like the chamber cutting process with the 6.5x284, I have found that many issues with the round can be attributed to improper gunsmithing.
IMO.

 

[sw4570]

You are absolutely right about the general awareness of the 6.5x284. Over the past several years, many hunters I have met are not aware of the round. Those that are have been involved or follow competitive shooting sports. I think the biggest reason for hunters shying away from the round is the rounds reputation for being a barrel burner. Unfortunately this reasoning is often taken out of context. It earned this reputation with the bench rest crowd early on in its career. Of course the high repetition shooting in competition , usually occurring in the hot summer months would burn out the barrel of any high velocity round capable of killing game out to 1000 yards. The Benchrest shooters put up with this because of the superior ballistics and accuracy of the 6.5x284. If they used many of the rounds that we use for LR hunting they would likely experience comparable, or worse barrel life. Also keep mind that for the BR crowd, the barrel is gone when .25MOA or less accuracy is eroded. I have had 7Mags, 270WSM's, and several of the Weatherby's erode similarly or faster then the 6.5x284. Of course some case designs may promote longer life then others but this can become immaterial considering all the factors effecting the life of a barrel. For typical hunting applications my 6.5x284's will give me 10+ years of solid performance. This includes hunting shots, practice, zeroing, and fun, busting long range targets; total, about 100 rounds/year.
As to the rebated rim, I have not experienced failures to feed with any of my rifles, both clip and internal magazines. Because the round spent much of its life as a wildcat, much like the chamber cutting process with the 6.5x284, I have found that many issues with the round can be attributed to improper gunsmithing.
IMO.

 

[Canhunter35]

If memory serves you also have a 6.5-284 savage you dropped in an mpa hybrid stock? How are you liking that combo?

 

[Greyfox]

If memory serves you also have a 6.5-284 savage you dropped in an mpa hybrid stock? How are you liking that combo?

I am very happy with the MPA Lite Chassis! The rifle with March 2.5x25x52 and Evolution bipod comes in a bit over 12 pounds, same as the factory stock/accessories weight. I swapped the factory trigger bar for a Timney set at 1.5#. It feeds perfectly with a 5 shot Accurate Mag. I haven't replaced the barrel yet with an identically sized Criterion(Light Varmint). The OEM barrel continues to produce consistent sub .5MOA performance out at 1000 yards. I only have about 500 rounds through it so far. No throat wear, and it looked fine when I bore scoped it. I get about the same accuracy as the finicky OEM stock but have much greater confidence with 65# of torque on the action screws to the very solid MPA chassis. It's all about personal preference, but I really prefer the ergonomics of the chassis for long range work, and am planning to give it a try this coming hunting season. Shown with the compact March scope and Evolution Bipod. Some 200 yard range pics.... 5 shots, bench to prone....no POI change.