Thinking of jumping on the 6.5 bandwagon

[TC338]

Elkaholic,
I really like what I am seeing with your 6.5 SS. I think my first custom bolt gun will be in your cartridge!!! I'll just have to save up the money for the build. It may be a while but I think it will be worth the wait.

 

[elkaholic]

Elkaholic,
I really like what I am seeing with your 6.5 SS. I think my first custom bolt gun will be in your cartridge!!! I'll just have to save up the money for the build. It may be a while but I think it will be worth the wait.

The only hold up for a lot of people was brass. There is no doubt that the performance of this little case is pretty tough to beat. When you can shoot 160's at 3100' in the 6.5 and 180's at 3050' in the 7 with a coal of under 3", i do not know of ANYTHING that will approach that!.......Rich

 

[MudRunner2005]

It is Quality cartridge. We got some of their 270 Gibbs brass and fire formed it into 6.5 Sherman. It took quite a beating before it gave up primer pockets. Some 140 gr. loads exceeded 3300'. The SS brass (which is .550" Jeffrey size) should be even stronger. Pete at quality tells me that in his experience, it is stronger than Norma. If that is true, I think we are in great shape. I have some reformed Norma brass that I have fired a dozen times, with no wimpy loads, and it is still good.
One of the guys who built one of the early 6.5 Shermans told me that he got 6-7 firings out of the Gibbs (Quality) cases that were running 3250-3300+. This is 100-150' above where I normally shoot the 140's, so I expect pretty good case life.....Rich

**** good info to know. I had no idea QC brass was that durable...But in all honesty, I have never used any. But with that said, the 7SS is looking very near in my future. If it shoots as good and as fast as yours, then that caliber has strong potential of being the chambering of my next whitetail rifle.

 

[MudRunner2005]

The only hold up for a lot of people was brass. There is no doubt that the performance of this little case is pretty tough to beat. When you can shoot 160's at 3100' in the 6.5 and 180's at 3050' in the 7 with a coal of under 3", i do not know of ANYTHING that will approach that!.......Rich

Brass, and neck-turning was my 2 holdups. But now those 2 things are being eliminated, so, I do believe that sometime in the near future, I will be building a 7SS.

 

[Sargesniper]

The only hold up for a lot of people was brass. There is no doubt that the performance of this little case is pretty tough to beat. When you can shoot 160's at 3100' in the 6.5 and 180's at 3050' in the 7 with a coal of under 3", i do not know of ANYTHING that will approach that!.......Rich

Rich, what would you predict barrel life to be in the 6.5?

 

[elkaholic]

Rich, what would you predict barrel life to be in the 6.5?

We have not shot the SS enough to know for sure but I can tell you based on the 6.5 Sherman (long action) that it should be pretty good. I had around 2000 rounds through mine and it still shot well. The SS holds 4 grs. less and has a .020" longer throat than the Sherman. It also has the same 40 degree shoulder. With this in mind, it should be better than the long action........Rich

 

[Sargesniper]

We have not shot the SS enough to know for sure but I can tell you based on the 6.5 Sherman (long action) that it should be pretty good. I had around 2000 rounds through mine and it still shot well. The SS holds 4 grs. less and has a .020" longer throat than the Sherman. It also has the same 40 degree shoulder. With this in mind, it should be better than the long action........Rich

That sounds good. I would not want another 6.5 like the 6.5x284. Great shooter until the round count approaches 1K rounds. Mine only lasted 780 rounds. No more 6.5x284 for me or anything like it!

 

[elkaholic]

That sounds good. I would not want another 6.5 like the 6.5x284. Great shooter until the round count approaches 1K rounds. Mine only lasted 780 rounds. No more 6.5x284 for me or anything like it!

If a person wanted to tune the SS down to 6.5/ 284 max velocity, there is no telling how many rounds you might get......Rich

 

[Sargesniper]

If a person wanted to tune the SS down to 6.5/ 284 max velocity, there is no telling how many rounds you might get......Rich

Sounding better all the time. Maybe get what a .260 might? Or is that wishful thinking?

 

[elkaholic]

Sounding better all the time. Maybe get what a .260 might? Or is that wishful thinking?

Not sure? For reference, I get approx. 3100' with 59 grs. of RL26 and a 150 Matrix. With that in mind, 53 grs. would be around 2800-2850 which would likely be max with a 260 and the pressure would be VERY low. You might want to use something as fast as RL17 and could likely make that velocity with less than 50 grs................Rich

 

[Scot E]

With the great design of your cartridge I bet if you even ran it at SAUM 4s velocities you would be getting great barrel life!

That is very likely what I am leaning towards. Going with the 6.5 SS then finding a lower velocity practice round along with a high performance load for hunting!

I like it!

 

[elkaholic]

With the great design of your cartridge I bet if you even ran it at SAUM 4s velocities you would be getting great barrel life!

That is very likely what I am leaning towards. Going with the 6.5 SS then finding a lower velocity practice round along with a high performance load for hunting!

I like it!

I would think so.....

 

[elkaholic]

SEE NEW THREAD "6.5 SS head stamped brass"

 

[TC338]

Elkaholic,
I really like the sound of your 6.5 SS, in your opinion, what would be the best way to get into your chambering on a budget? I just can't afford a several thousand dollar rifle right now, and don't really see that opportunity anywhere in my near future. It took me almost a year to be able to save up enough for my 338 TC barrel. Any direction would be appreciated. Would a savage long range hunter in 6.5 creedmore be a good starting platform? I know it would need to be rechambered, and the bolt face changed. What else would need to be done?