Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Nula chambering options

Cool factor doesn't kill anything and you may find out if you ever want to sell, your cool factor isn't so cool with all that many. Not sure how neat factors into what I would want in a rifle.

AI version of any of them isn't going to kill anything the non-AI will not. Less trimming as JB mentioned is their advantage.

A 20 with a 22in, balances and feels different than a 24 with a 24in. Both balance great, but the 20 will be quicker in the hand. Have a 7mm-08-and a couple others-and sometimes I wish it was a no. 2 contour. Other times I wouldn't change a thing. .22-250 balances much different and the .223AI different again. They all are balanced, but each handles differently. The .223AI seems to disappear in your hand. It definitely would have had a little more barrel.



Get what you want. Or take a tally and get the campfire consensus. Maybe that will be what you want.

+1

Mid to high-end loads shooting best in any given chambering is a matter of pressure in that chambering, not so much absolute velocity. So that will typically apply to any of the chamberings you're considering.

That's what I was getting at. You'll be going faster half throttle in a mustang than half throttle in an escort.

if thats what you are looking for is the most bang for your buck in the velocity department in a model 20 nula then the 284 winchester and 6.5-284 should be your picks in the calibers your looking at....you could also consider the 25-284/6mm-284 for something different but i am thinking to get the most velocity in what calibers fit into the model 20 you would have to go with a 284 winchester based cartridge

Crow hunter,

The "donut" is normally caused by necking cases up, because the top of the shoulder (which is typically thicker brass than the neck itself) becomes the bottom of the neck. It isn't there in factory 6.5/.284 Lapua brass, but can occur when necking up 6.5/.284's to .284, though it's an easy fix with an inside reamer.

But apparently target shooters have been averse to reaming out the donut. David Tubb was even trying to avoid it when he came up with the 6XC, which was partly designed to be short enough so he could seat long 105-115 grain bullets in necked-up .22-250 cases. But once Norma started making 6XC cases, there wasn't any donut, because they weren't necked down .22-250's.

There's also no donut in factory .284 brass (whether the original Winchester or the more recent run made by Norma) which is why there was no problem even though standard hunting bullets had to be seated below the neck in the .284.

In a 2.84" short magazine, the shoulder of the .284 case starts a little over .9" from the front of the magazine. Thus the base of any bullet longer than .9" protrudes below the bottom of the neck. Let's use the 139-grain Hornady flat-base Interlock Spire Point as an example, one of the shorter 7mm bullets in the 140-grain range. It averages 1.135 inch long, so over .2" of the bullet's base is below the .284's neck when seated to an overall length of 2.8".

In fact, if avoiding seating bullets below the neck of the case should be avoided at all costs, then the .260 a 7mm-08 would present the same problem with some bullets, even in the NULA's magazine. I've found about the longest cartridge OAL possible in several Model 20's to insure sure feeding is 2.95", and many bullets of both target and hunting types would have to be seated below the neck to fit.

The cartridge that would avoid seating MOST 6.5mm bullets below the case neck would be the 6.5 Creedmoor. I've played considerably with four 6.5 Creedmoors, and own two right now. The only brass used so far has been Hornady, and I haven't encountered the slightest problem in occasionally seating some bullets below the neck, because there are no donuts in Hornady Creedmoor brass.

But so far RBO's consideration has been pretty much fixed on the .260 and 7mm-08, apparently because of the ease of finding brass. And in either case he'd have to seat some bullets below the neck.

RBO,

I have pointed this out already, though not as specifically: There's so little case capacity gained by AI'ing either the .260 or, especially, the 7-08 that the velocity gained is at most 2%.

I was once sent a custom 7mm-08 for testing, made by a famous gunsmith who really believed in the magic of the cartridge. The gain in case capacity was 7%, which sounds impressive--except any gain in case capacity only results in 1/4 as much gain in velocity, when both cases are loaded to the same pressure. This translates to a gain of less than 2% in velocity, or around 50 fps. The gunsmith's own handloads got just about exactly 2900 fps with 140-grain Ballistic Tips, and a little over 2700 with 160-grain Sierra GameKings. It is pretty easy to get the same velocities using published data in the standard 7-08, and in fact I've done it in every one of the several 7-08's I've owned, all with 22" barrels.

Now, the gunsmith's rifle did have a slightly shorter barrel, as I recall 21". So in a 22" 7-08 AI you might be able to beat them by 25-50 fps.

Melvin doesn't strongly prefer one case to another; he has told me it is a matter of how much horsepower you want for a given bullet diameter. He chose the .284 Win to allow high performance with the .284 diameter. I have a .284 NULA and recently ordered a .260 Rem NULA. I can also tell you from experience that a longer barrel will increase the effective horsepower. When you start with a package as light as a NULA, you can afford to put more weight and length into the barrel and still have a modest total weight. Many people hold the 22" as a sacred length, and it is a reasonable compromise. They then cite its "handiness" for hunting, especially in the thick stuff. When asked what their cousin Bubba uses, he replies that Bubba likes his 12 gauge with "punkin balls" and of course the 30" full choke barrel. I hunt in the West and haven't found a situation where barrel length was all that critical for "handiness." Just as you can go to a "magnum" case capacity and gain 150-200 fps, a longer barrel can do it. No mystery there--see Hatcher's Notebook which reports trials from about a century ago, with the powders available then (you can do better today!)

Melvin has also gone back and forth on the .284 depending on the brass available. For many years Winchester didn't replace their forming dies, and as they wore the uniformity of the brass suffered. As a result, he'd only recommend the .284 to real loony handloaders who'd spend the time "unforming" the cases, and the 7mm-08 to people who didn't want the bother, or non-handloaders.

Then Winchester finally replaced their forming dies, and for a while their brass was pretty good again. And the Norma brass was of course good. But that's the deal with the .284: If you want the most horsepower in a 7mm round in the Model 20, then brass is the key.

RBO,

I have owned several NULA's over the years. 6.5X.284., 280 .308,.260,.300Win, .257ROY, .264, and .223. All had 24 in bbl except the .223 & .264.

I still have the .264, .308, .260, and .223. Of all of those the .308 is by far the one I have used the most. I know it's trajectory and it has been pretty much poison on everything. Mostly deer of various flavors,a moose & cow elk. Been shooting the .260 a lot lately and will probably use it for mule deer this year.
The only one that didn't shoot well was the .280. I bought it used...It was owned by Craig Boddington. The bore was scratched and nicked inside??? Melvin re barreled and we sold the rifle.
The 6.5X.284 was OK, but velocities were on the low side and after 1000 rounds or so it was showing a lot of throat erosion so it was re barreled to .260.
I thought about a .284 before I got the .308 but Melvin actually did not recommend it due to the poor quality brass available at the time.
I prefer the short model 20's with a 24" barrel. Just a perfect combination of balance and handling, and a little xtra velocity. Any of the short action calibers will work for deer, but if I had to do it over again it would be a plain Jane .308.

Lefty C

284

I have a 6.5/284 in a NULA rifle with 24-inch barrel. It's accurate, well balanced and as lightweight as I want it. The magazine is long enough for generous seating of all hunting bullets I can think of and all but freakishly long match bullets. A good idea when ordering any 6.5/284: specify chamber dimensions or send a case or cartridge to ensure the rifle chambers and performs well with the ammunition you have in mind. Several versions of the 6.5/284 have shown up since the .284 appeared in 1963. Differences are small but can be significant.... WvZ

Is yours a model 20?

My Model 20 has a 3" magazine, which is plenty long enough for the .284 cartridge.

I've read a lot of guys saying the 6.5x284 is a barrel burner. I can see that maybe being an issue in a match rifle but is it something to worry about in a hunting rifle like your Nula?

Nope. I have had a hunting 6.5-.284 for a number of years and have not seen any notable erosion. Now I don't go prairie dogging with it, but it seems no more erosive than other cartidges.

I turned mine loose on prairie dogs a couple of times. By 1000 rnds it was pretty well toast.
I also used the cartridge in 1000yd BR,which is also pretty rough on barrels. It was competitive to about 1500 rnds.
The light barrel of the NULA gets pretty hot with 5 or 6 rounds fired close together. Unfortunately I put a lot more down range pretty quickly.

Lefty C.

I've been doing quite a bit of thinking on this over the past couple days and I think I'm going to go with the 6.5x284. I have a Nula 280ai so it's almost a ballisticc twin to the 284 and the 7-08 is just a watered down version. If I get a Creedmoor or 260rem I'm going to be wishing it had a bit more horsepower, and if I get a 7-08 or a 260 AI version I'll be having to form brass.

I would still like a 22" barrel, but going with a 24" barrel wouldn't be a deal breaker. Would it be foolish to get one with a 22" barrel?

I built mine to be medium weight and length as it is an all around gun
so it's 8.5 lbs and has a 23" barrel. I get 3085fps with 139 Scenars using 4831SC.

6.5x55 throated for a 125 gr Partition at 2.95" OAL.