Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats 6.5mm plinker in Pre-64 06' based M70 in Echols Legend...

6.5-.284, Lapua brass, long action, 140's @2950.....

That's what I did, on a pre-64, even has Bordens bumps. Don't see many pre-64's with Borden's bumps. Feeds well, although that took some tweaking.

Started with Vv N-165 but went to RL-17. Accuracy almost as good and it'll shoot a solid 3,000 fps. It can consitently group under 2" at 400 yds. with 140 VLD Hunting. I just can't keep up with it every time. I'm the biggest variable, not as consistent as the gun...

26" Kreiger, Jewell trigger, I need to see what it will do with 139 gr. Scenars. Just haven't, as it does so well with Bergers. And, of course, there are other projects...

DF

And that, my friends, is the hardly discussed bugaboo of the 284 and it's offspring... feeding! Often times they absolutely refuse to feed well.

Not a can of worms I'd personally open, as there are so many other cases that do essentially the same.

Yeah, had to mill the follower, thinning the rib to better accommodate the fatter case.

Makes the 6.5-06 a viable option. This round was the rage when I built this gun. I did mention 6.5-06 in an earlier post.

The '06 neck may be a tad longer, which theoretically may result in less throat erosion. Wouldn't set my watch on that,,,

DF

My solution to this sort of issue took me a few years to come to.

LR 98 Steyr = 6.5x55 in Karnis-refined & wood-upgraded Boyds JRS Classic using an Apex rifles take-off #2 (that'll end up my youngest son's first hunting rifle)

LR 98 & Douglas #2 both purchased here CHEAP + free Mark X take-off stock = .260 Rem for plinking

Inexpensive Remington-built 03-A3 + Herters stock = 6.5-06 with all the tweaks (S&Ks, custom stock treatment, red pad, plating of all steel, great hunting rifle)

I think that first one is the best handling rifle, the middle is most fun to shoot, and the end will be a real laser.

My gunsmith has always told me that CRFs & .284-based cartridges can be a real challenge to get feeding properly, though in his words "anything is possible if you're willing to invest the capital" !

6.5x47 Lapua brass,short action, 140g Berger LRBT,VV 550.
2850fps all day long.
No fuss no muss and very little to no trimming.
We run strings of shots and the barrels get pretty hot.It cant be helped.Bartlien 5R barrels will shoot competitively at a 1000 yards to about 2000 2400 rounds.
They will still shoot past this round count, but they foul out before you can get done with a match.
So they get replaced..
dave

People just love their short case .358wins on pre64 long actions, so I don't see an issue with a pre64 .260rem
Wouldn't hesitate if thats what you really want.

Stamen,
Indeed... Had to pull that post for editing. Will have her back up shortly. No doubt it is riveting to one an all... Laughing just not loud enough to wake anyone up...:-)

Best Regards, Matt.

Gentlemen,
I was honored to find an e-mail from Darcy last night with a few photos mentioning he had read my mental muddling on this thread... His commentary in short:

He said there was nothing wrong with a .260 Remington on a 70 WITH the proper magazine. The one he built for his daughter and featured a custom stainless 3" mag and built on a G series .257 Roberts length(3") SA if memory serves. He also gave me permission to post the following pictures of that magazine and build photos. Dunno as I have them in order:











Brad,
You can go back to feeling smug that he heartily recommended the 6.5x55 in the Pre-64 06' based 70 as you repeatedly said... No doubt we will have to call you Sir and bow for the foreseeable future...(grin)

Bob,
He confirmed feeding difficulties with using straight 260s seated at the rear of the of the 06' Magazine. As you had said earlier...

fwiw & imho
I would just like to thank D'arcy for taking the time to respond to this thread and participate when he no doubt has more paying business to take care of than he can possibly handle. I always feel like I am robbing his time. Though I am honored by his participation...

You know he did say something in the e-mail about me building the magazine if I could and frankly I've been thinking about little else for the last 12-15 hours. I can't see around that magazine to note a tig joint, however, one must be there you would think. I've been thinking about a very small metal brake and working with annealing stainless and then reheat treating afterward. That is likely many a month and thousands of dollars in gear and consumables to achieve anything approaching that... That said maybe I ought to just ask Darcy...

I should not the follower is fully custom as well. Should have mentioned that earlier...

Best Regards, Matt Garrett.
Chesapeake, Virginia.

Matt I have one of DArcy's boxes in my 7mm Mashburn Super,and follower as well. Function is flawless.

I like the photos. That Echols stock with the bare bones no paint finish grows on me by the second. I like it a lot and if my stock looks as good as that, it ain't getting painted.

So are you going to use the box in a pre 64 or are you going to seek a short M70 Classic for the project?


Decisions...decisions..

I'm very confused. I thought D'Arcy built the .260 Rem using a model 700 action. Do you have a picture of the finished rifle he built for his daughter? He must have recently completed the Model 70 build.

I think her present rifle is what DArcy described to me as a "Legend",which to me means it's a M70.

Another rifle is in the works and as I recall,it was to be either a Creedmoor or a 260,using a Rem action or clone, because he intended to use a Shrike.

Bob,
The Kevlar look IS fetching though I have no use for it... A kevlar reinforced McMillan 40X stock is what gave me invasive tinnitus. Stock was so stiff it transferred the vibration of the firing pin fall to my jaw bone and into my inner ear. It has cost enough to buy a 4 rifle Legend set to say nothing of the misery. A simple Eagle stock pack would have taken care of the problem. What really makes me less than fond of Kelly McMillan is that he knew that was a problem and years later told me he would include a fifty cent piece of foam to tape to the cheekpiece if the customer wanted it. I had a lawyer, and a Harvard Lawyer who was as sharp as a my favorite Custom Sutton Medium Hunter... That said they were a big part of defending our nation, supporting our pastime, and I would not allow him to pursue it....

Said Sutton Medium Hunter.. I prefer elephant ivory. Had some gifted to me from a tusker taken in Rhodesia in 62'. The expats are a lovely older couple whom I think the world of... He wants me to make two sets of ivory grips for a couple old russian revolvers and I want to send it to Nutmeg sports and pay to have 5 sets of 1911 grips and at least a pair of SAA grip(s) made as well as his grips made. That said he wants me to do it and not depend on professionals...(color me nervous)

You know I would not pay over $500 to borrow your Washburn Super Box & Follower for a week. I have the extra long action boxes covered, however, the standardard short actions elude me and I have yet to find a Legend for sale that was not already sold by the time I got to it. I would just like to understand the geometry of the box and know how much wider such a box would have to go. The old Mauser formula that Mr. Blackburn went by did not exactly cover everything according to some in the know. What I need to do is ask D'arcy if I can rent or buy one short the $16K typical fee....

Regards, Matt.

Matt the light stiff stocks do have a minor downside and you nailed it...they do transmit more of the recoil to your face. Not a biggie in hunting of course but in a high volume shooting spree you feel it.

Like I always say it isn't shoulder thump that's the concern in recoil;it's the constant slap in the face. Before someone says "stock design", yeah I know all about it. ... It still isn't a cure all.

Not a big deal for the younger guys with more rubbery heads,but the repeated whacks to the cheek are not fun as you age.

My solution is a wraparound pad over the comb for group shooting at the range. Velcro allows removal at will. I have become more sensitive to this as I age and have no intentions of putting up with the nonsense. Protection is a good thing and this eliminates concerns.

Fwiw,
I think she is a very lucky little lady. Though I think she helps her dad from the range pictures on his blog. Seems to be a good shot to boot. I'd build my own daughter just about anything she wanter were I in his position. Wonderful to have a child, and a girl at that, who is interested in rifles and hunting...

It reminds me, NOT AT ALL to draw parallels, of a young lady who hunted ducks and geese on one of two exclusive & very private farms on Virginia's Easter Shore. Her father has THE 40 story high rise in the area... At any rate I remember her getting tired and deciding to walk back to the house. She unloaded her shotgun and layed it up against the wall in the front facing open pit blind as it was too heavy to carry all the way back to the barn and manor house. I walked over to find it was a KRIEGHOFF K-80 with an engraving pattern I have never seen before and a light coating of rust dust all over the blueing. Ducks be damned, I put my Winchester 21 Heavy Duck down, my first that I did not keep (stupid, stupid), and I pulled an ever present bottle of Clenzoil and and a clean rag from my bag and began to clean the outside of the gun and forend iron... I scrubbed and scrubbed but the light rust was too deep... It was not JUST a K-80 but a CUSTOM engraved K-80 and the entire thing just blew me away. I suppose if you place no value on something it has no value other than utilitarian. I put it sadly back in the corner with a heavy coat of the green stuff on wood and metal and shook my head... I digress... THIS HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH DARCY'S DAUGHTER. Just an interesting story of very different young ladies and expensive guns... I've followed her progress on his blog and something tells me she is FAR DIFFERENT than the Krieghoff Abuser... That was sad.

Best Regards, Matt.

Matt an example of "one". M70 7 Rem Mag with Borden RR and the cheater comb pad to protect my kisser during range sessions.

Bob,
You know I have thought of bringing to market Lammy Suede cheek pads that would attach to the stock via velcro and STAY on the stock until you cleaned it. It would do away with ALL of the bulk and only leave a .250" or so pad shaped to fit the shadow line cheekpiece and over the stock line. The other thing it would do is do away with any sound a three day beard makes when run over a stock on a short shot...

I've had this idea for a good while and may approach a friend to make it happen. I'll start with the Legend with Darcy's permission. The kicker is the Lammy Suede is expensive and you have to take a huge order to buy it... That said I believe it would move. I could be wrong. Thoughts?

Regards, Matt.

You do run into nice expensive guns in the damnedest places.....

The knife is art work!!!

Bob,
Damn you are fast... Essentially like that but cut to fit the cheekpiece and shadow line exactly...

Regards, Matt.

That pad moves,too after a couple of shots.Just grab it and drag it back in place.Stretchy stuff is good.

Your suggestion for the suede would be nicer,and classier, than my solution but it's clear to me you are more sophisticated and have better taste than I do...I am kind of a bum...