Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats How practical is a 6.5x284 for hunting?

It is easier to find good loads for the 6.5-284 than the 6.5-06 in my experience.

Luckily I ain't in BR of F class, not that they have a frigging thing to do with hunting.

That round count is often mentioned but not the way they are used. That short barrel life is for a 1000 BR type gun. Most guys are running this chambering for light bench which requires several 5 shot strings for record plus some sighters before each string. They are shooting around 8-10 in a row not allowing for any cooling. In fact they shoot absolutely as fast as they can with those 5 shot strings before the conditions change.

It is easier to find good loads for the 6.5-284 than the 6.5-06 in my experience. If the 6.5-06 was as accurate as the 284 case, you would hear mention of it in BR and F class but you don't.

For hunting rifles, there is no practical difference though. I would not build a 6.5-284 on a short action. Period. My short action 6.5 is a 260AI. It shoots great and is only 100 fps short of the 284 case.

I'm not either and can't figure why an 06 case or 264 case would have any andvatage.

Speeds out of my 6.5-284 match up to anything coming out of a 6.5-280 Ackley. And I can buy brass as is, no necking up or down needed.

I only mention a 1000 yards as the long BC's of the 6.5 bullets allow it to have enough speed to open up with moderate powder charges thus no need for the 264 case.

Bull$hit on that. Like I said earlier, if this was true, the F-class and 1000 YD BR guys would use it. It is much easier to get the low ES needed for 1000 yd work with the shorter fatter case. Barrel life is exactly the same for both cartridges. I have a buddy who is a full-time gunsmith. I was recently in his shop and looking at his records. Barrel life is even. He has built over 100 6.5-284s and 6.5-06s. He had reams of targets with data on them. There is nothing wrong with the 6.5-06 for hunting. I don't think it would be competitive at 1000 yds.

I shot 1000 YD BR for 6 years with a 6.5-284. I shot against a lot of them. I never once, in 6 years, saw a 6.5-06 at a match and never saw one listed in the record list when perusing Precision shooter each month.

Ron used Norma brass for his 6.5-06 and Lapua for the 6.5-284 mostly. He built them on both short and long but with his latest reamer, he only builds them on long actions.


All this BR stuff has very little to do with a hunting rifle. I only bring it up because others have tried to refute it. I would not feel the least bit handicapped with a 6.5-06 but would probably go the AI route should I ever feel inclined to do one.

A Wyatts box in a short action will barely let you seat the longer bullets out enough to keep the ogive out of the case. I wouldn't build one for that reason. The 260AI is much smarter in a short action. Ron has been building a bunch of these the past 2-3 years and is impressed.

Wow.. really... I have/had both. Both were extremely easy to get to shoot.

Most of the reason is brass. Lapua makes good brass.. br guys went with it.



They are using single shot actions too. A whole nuther world.


.

To answer the OP's question. The 6.5X284 is a very capable hunting round. You can hunt darn near anything you want in NA. Choose the right bullet for the situation and place it where you want and you are good to go.

If I was hell bent on the 6.5X284 it would be built on a LA ( gives you more flexibility )