Thinking about a change

[selmerfan]

One viable option for the XP...Switch barrels
Since you like the XP-100 platform better, I would recommend you to start saving for what you really want and what you like better.
The brass and the popularity of both these are going to be around for along time.
The PRC is already more popular than the 6.5-284 ever was...It hurt just a little bit to say that
You can't go wrong with either chambering.

Are you suggesting making the current XP I have a switch barrel rig? Because I need to keep the .350 Rem Mag for deer hunting because of Iowa's wacky laws on legal cartridges. Nothing smaller than .35 caliber is legal for deer hunting here.

 

[Ernie]

Are you suggesting making the current XP I have a switch barrel rig? Because I need to keep the .350 Rem Mag for deer hunting because of Iowa's wacky laws on legal cartridges. Nothing smaller than .35 caliber is legal for deer hunting here.

That would be up to you, if you wanted to have switch barrel capability on your 350 RM XP.
You need a barrel vise and an action wrench.
With some scoring marks on the underside you can use those to get the correct headspace each time.
I would need to check, but the bolt face for your 350 should work for a 6.5 PRC.

The biggest pain with changing barrels on the center-grip XP, is the lug rotating as you are tightening things up, which torques your trigger linkage.
there is a neat little device (Don't know the name) that holds everything in place.
@ChrisRhodes or @rickiesrevenge or someone else may pipe in here and give a name or picture of one.

Having a dedicated 6.5 XP would be cool though!!!
Enabling mode on

 

[ChrisRhodes]

What I found with building switch barrels for customers…..is 99.9% didn't change them.

Set it up. Shoot it. Change calibers after you burn it out.

If you really want a switch barrel pin the lug.

 

[rickiesrevenge]

I agree with Chris. Pinning the lug is the way to go. Almost all of my xps are switch barrel. You could also use something like this:

https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-...0-f-s-recoil-lug-alignment-tool-prod7653.aspx

 

[Ernie]

Thanks guys!

 

[selmerfan]

What I found with building switch barrels for customers…..is 99.9% didn't change them.

Set it up. Shoot it. Change calibers after you burn it out.

If you really want a switch barrel pin the lug.

I'm already accustomed to switching barrels with the Encores and I have a Stevens 44 1/2 Model 404 semi-military with the original .22 LR barrel and I had Paul and Gail at CPA rifles build me a .30-40 Krag barrel. I switch all of those out as needed with no qualms about doing so. A switch barrel XP would be a bit different because I'd have to re-zero the scope each time, but that's not a huge deal

 

[EarlJr]

You mite also consider the 260 AI. It's a low recoil laser beam.

 

[selmerfan]

You mite also consider the 260 AI. It's a low recoil laser beam.

I've thought about that also.

 

[smokey3]

Me……I would keep….. or sell the 260 and order a new custom. Probably wouldn't be a lot of $ difference compared to the rechamber. Imo, the 260 barrel be worth more or more desirable in original form than rechambered if you ever sold it.

^^^^

 

[dogbuster0006]

18" 260 should be handy as a shirt pocket. I've got a 15" encore in 243 that's my favorite deer killer. I've toyed with the idea of something hotter but unless I switch to a rifle scope and brake it I'm not gaining enough to justify it. I hate to fix something that isn't broken, save up and get a new barrel in a hotter chambering with 1:8 twist or 7.5 and play with the hammer bullets. I've read some really interesting info on slinging them at warp speeds to have a near laser beam trajectory. If you dead set on a hotter round I'd go 6.5prc I had plans to build a 6.5x284 as a do it all rifle for years but went prc because of ammo and brass availability. It'll only get better in the next few years, I have found ammo in stock on multiple sites and even in a few stores locally. Never once have I seen 6.5x284 on the shelf in my area, heck I don't remember ever seeing brass on the shelf.
If you really want to step up a notch jump to a 7mm in some flavor and twist it for 180gr bullets. Ernie has some true hand cannons that'll impress you with their capabilities. I love my Encore but if I was to build a gun it'd be a bolt gun for sure.

 

[TigerOnThe Hill]

I've got an 18" MGM .260 Rem barrel for my Encore in 1-8" twist. I know MGM will rechamber one of their barrels for $100. What different 6.5 cartridge would you go to and why? I'm drawn to the 6.5-284 because it has more oomph than the .260 Rem and brass and dies aren't hard to come by. Other suggestions? I've thought about 6.5-06 AI and 6.5x55 AI also, but are either of those really going to deliver more than the 6.5-284? I don't really NEED to make a change, but it's fun to think about.

Hard to go wrong, either way you go. I'd go with which ever route is more important to you. If money, or an immediate change, are important, do the rechamber. OTOH, if you really want an XP instead of an Encore, sell the encore and get an XP. Either way, I'd a 6.5x284. I'm not convinced the possible extra 75 fps or so is significant. I'm not convinced the 6.5 PRC will be more popular than the 6.5x284 in the future.