I was going to post this much earlier. It is posted now as simply a fwiw and gives and idea of where I am coming from on this rifle...
I agree with Dirtfarmer on the 6.5-06....
I have had two of them and have not had any problems with forming brass or burning out throats. Forming brass was as simple as running the parent case through the 6.5-06 sizing die and start shooting.
Sounds like you are pretty well set on the 260. If that is the case (no pun intended), I would talk to the gunsmith doing the chambering and go from there. He can tell you what you need to do as far as the magazine, throating, ect, to make things work smoothly. Then let him do it.
One thing I would do for sure, no matter what cartridge you decide to use, is make it with a sporter contour barrel. No flies on turning down that Bartlein 5R down to a sporter contour to fit the Legend stock....
fwiw & imho,
Thank you for the input...
1. Lapua brass out of the box...
2. I don't want a necked down 06' case with a 6.5mm projectile in it. I was thinking of something fairly mild and friendly to repeated strings of fire. You fill an 06' case with powder and you will just about duplicate 6.5x284 levels of throat erosion. I'm far from an expert, however, I know guys who have multiple 6.5x284 Barrels chambered in a season and shoot through them after finding which one shoots best(whether that be the agg, speed, whatever). This, again, is not what I am looking for...
I see, know, and talk to guys who are shooting the ever living dickens out of the 6.5mms bore and NONE of them are working on an 06' case. If I wanted a 6.5x284 I would build one, however, even the guys I know who shoot them recommended a 6.5x47 Lapua unless you want to chamber barrels in threes or HAD TO HAVE the performance. As I labored to say in the beginning this was supposed to be a fun gun... It is likely to be short and it likely to be suppressed.
If you have never run a 6.5 CM, 6.5x47L, etc.. this whole thing may be greek... They have a modest report, are fuel efficient, are ballistically amazing, and are a lot of fun in a modest amount of gun...
It is kind of like the day my brother shot his 24" .270 Winchester with it's balls to the wall load and I shot along side him with my 22" Broughton 5C 7mm-08 with a moderate 140 grain load that I was trying to get shooting. One rifle GA Precision hosed me on... At any rate my short action 7mm-08 shooting 140s and his hot 270 load wound up dropping almost IDENTICALLY at 336 yards The 7mm-08 was actually a touch flatter. It was one of those double takes for both of us... My load was not at all hot and his was the product of everything that Barsness had printed on the .270 in the previous 20 years... It was an eye opener.
I have and love Magnums... Thinking of building a set of Winchester G Series 70s in .257, .300, and .375 Weatherby Magnums by Mark Penrod and stocking them in Echols Legend Stocks with D'arcy's Bottom Metal and Duane Wiebe's XRM 4 round down Classic 4 round magnum magazine. All built on early G Series Winchester Classic Receivers. I just acquired the G Series M70 CM .375 H&H built on the Express Action just the other day. The .257 Weatherby is to be built on a early G Series Super Grade that is currently in .300 Winchester Magnum with a 26" tube. It will retain that if I go .257 Roy... The only G Series Receiver I don't have is the one for the .300 Weatherby. That said I am looking... This set with Mark's pricing will likely take 3-5 years for completion and run $35,000 without a scope in sight... All barrels will likely be Krieger and the most difficult issue to answer is going to be barrel contours...
The SANE option to the above is JUST AS EXPENSIVE, however, it will be chambered in a 23" .270 Winchester, a 25" Heavier Senderoesque .300 Winchester Magnum, and the Express Action will simply be heavily refined and remain a .375 H&H. This is a little easier to get together, however, good .300 WM and .375 H&H Brass is not a picnic to find. Weatherby brass is high but available. I've always liked the thought of the .257, .300, and .375 Weatherbys but in tasteful Winchester Echols Legend Wrappings... Life is short I already have a nice .270, many .300s, and a .375 H&H... The .375 Weatherby in particular has always interested me...
All that said I am not at all looking for a big bellowing case for this rifle. Again something ultra accurate, well mannered, fuel efficient, easy on brass, easy to suppress, and will leave me picking up pieces of 6.5x47 Lapua brass from all over the cab of my F350 Diesel Lariat Crew Cab. I intend to kill coypus, coyote, fox, feral cats, and generally anything in need of a bullet from the captain's chair that gives me a shot... AR500 will receive no mercy...(grin)
I think, with your help, I just answered my own question...
Thank you all for your input...
Best Regards, Matt.
Btw, Guys you really did help me to make up my mind...
