Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Question on 6.5 WSM

A hypothetical question if the legal ramifications meaning
the lawsuits were removed or never existed could a 6.5 WSM
make it today or even when the first WSM's were put out be
a success. And would the difference in the calibers justify
even making a 6.5 WSM

Dunno about the OP's ??'s but I am curious to see any 6.5Whizzum reloading info.
Ron

I 'suspect' that the loading dope for the 264 WM might fill the bill and if not it would give you a good place to start extrapolation.

There's 6.5 WSM and 6.5-300 SAUM dies and reloading info out there..

Rancho - Okay and apparantly I am not the only one NOT UP on the 6.5 WSM.

Jwall thanks, sounds like a good place to start.

BR As far as whether or not a 6.5WSM could have made it not when Whizzums were 1st intro'd ...I doubt it. Simply because there was not the interest at that time in anything related to .264/6.5 stuff. My own education about 6.5 stuff came when I started seriously looking at reloading again after a long many year layoff.
Until this last year or so I have not paid any attention to WSM's, but bought my 1st one last week as a 'tweener from a 40 year history in a 300WMg and the very boring idea of a '06 ...when my cheaparsed soul could not resist a steal on a cherry (mebbe even unfired??? according to a gunsmith who looked at it yesterday) M70FWT 300WSM.

5-6 years back after crippling effects of a major surgery on my neck along with the mulit year rehab at regaining only 80% of my previous condition became my reality, and required me to rethink the purpose and usage factors of the small stack of shooters I had left, I could not stomach all my buddies suggestions to get back into a 243 like I started out with in 1965 - BTDT years ago in the'60's & '70's and vowed never again - as a way to start over again - I found one of the last T3 Swede's available in the Gander system and fell in love with the performance of the reliable old Swede on Texas sized WTails, and could have happily shot it until it was my time to go. The T3 has many fine attributes but leaves my tastes in M70's & SAKO's etc far from satisfied....if it had been a SS/syn I'd still have it. However last year I found a SAKO 260 Hunter Grade with killer wood on it and made the upgrade at the cost of the Swede....and the M70 Classic SS/syn 300Wmg I had on hand....so I was out of a 30 cal anything to shoot for the 1st time since 1974.

I have been shooting a 270 since 1969 and have never been without one, but in a search for a possible replacement to futher narrow the clutter on my bench and in keeping the supply list smaller and smaller, albeit only in a faster 6.5 than a 270WCF, I've looked hard at a 264WMg and don't see it as an upgrade or even enough of an alternative to a standard 24" barreled 270WCF to make the change worthwhile ... and the 270WSM is not all that much better performance wise either. Hence my beginning search for 6.5WSM loading info, especially in light of the potential for having an inexpensive donor in the New Haven 300WSM FWT now on hand to use for the conversion.

The older I get the more I want to simplify and standardize stuff....and 3 or mebbe even just 2 bullet diameters is prolly plenty to keep up with until I'm done. EX: Sumpin in a 264 that a almost crippled up Old Man like me can shoot meat critters with as far as I can see 'em until I'm too old to shoot anything 'cept a 22lr at tree rats, a not toooo fast 308 sumpin for a doall all weather...and the fun gun in the crowd in a 338'06 or 9.3x62 pretty much covers all MY foreseeable bases. YMMV but thats where I am in this game.
Cheers Ron

verhoositz -just in case you missed it I'm going to quote R L (Rancho Loco or Running Lip. ) Just joking Rancho!



I don't have any SAMs or SAUMs and have not looked into any of them seriously.

Maybe loading data is out there for the 6.5WSM.

Good Luck

The 6.5 WSM is being used in Northcentral Pa. by some long range shooters....The is one guy in Dubois that makes the chambering and another in Emporium...The Dubois guy makes 10X rifles I believe...he said one of the guys using his rifle has shot game all over the US and Africa...I attended but did not shoot in a 1000 yard sil. shoot in Ridgway, Pa. very interesting ....you might check with 10x rifles for a start...the caliber is alive and well in that neck of the country..

I used to see some chatter about 6.5WSM's over on AR but I haven't looked at them in a while. No info shown on the AR Reloading tool bar anywhere so??? Ain't no rush just a random bit of whimsey since if this 300WSM FWT I just bought DOES NOT shoot I'll be looking to put it in the hands of some folks in know in Dallas who will take my directions as a general idea of things I want ....and it could get seriously expensive in a hurry if'n I don't get very explicit.

The idea of a 6.5WSM was to have a longer range critter getter/paper puncher to play with in addition to the 260 now in the house and mebbe simplify the bullet/powder selections a tad. If I get to move where I am wanting to go, in central Bell County Texas - close to Ft Hood around the east side Lake Belton, there is a 1000 yard range in the next county to the south of me and west of Georgetown Texas, plus some shorter stuff closer to home.
Ron

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthread...ch/true/Re_6_5_WSM_Load_Data#Post6084232

As to the original post.

NO! In my opinion, a 6.5 WSM would never match the sales of the original 264 WM. And the 264 has been on life support ever since the 7 Rem Mag was introduced.

I do love my 264, but the 6.5 caliber is never going to be mainstream except in Scandinavia.

I do suspect a 6.5 WSM would actually be a better balanced and easier to load cartridge than the 264. The short mag has slightly less volume and we would be less inclined to try for that elusive, magic 3200 fps with 140 grain bullets.

I have not studied up on the 260 Rem since its inception. I have often wondered if it is going to become as heralded over the long run as such popular rounds like the 270 Win.

It seems a perfect fit for the perfect caliber.

Nope we still try, but it takes high energy powders and 28 inch barrels

Thanks RR for the archived post from last Jan on a couple 6.5WSM potential loads.
Cheers Ron

Lee catalogs dies for it, and has at least limited data. I didn't think that much of mine in the end, but perhaps I didn't have the right idea going in or something.

264 WM starting loads should/will be roughly 264 WSM midrange loads.

When the WSM's 1st hit the market, being the 6.5 slut that I am, I immeaditately thought about necking one to 6.5. Then I happened into a 7mm SAUM, and fell in love.

Then I decided to make a 6.5 SAUM, and finally good sense took over. Since I already had two 6.5 Rem Mags, I just decided that to build another was merely redundant.

GH

Red, did you have to turn the brass, or was it optional?

Smokepole, it was optional for fitting in my chamber's neck. I just wanted the neck thickness more uniform. Never tested if it made a difference for my rifle though.

i split my time between fl and nc pa. im also a member at ridgway.
i am a lr hunter in nc pa for over 40 years. i have a 6.5 wsm built by
the emporium gunsmith a couple years ago. it's built on a short lefty savage action
that was originaly a 243. i used a 26" tapered 1/8 twist brux barrel. i kept
the original factory stock which was bedded and refinished. the rifle is intended as a
carrying around gun for shots up to 1000yds. i have several 7x300 weatherbys and a large
338 also.
the 6.5 wsm cartridge is not a popular lr choice in pa. years back the 6.5x300 weatherby
was in fact very popular. but thats no longer true.
ive been able to obtain 3200+ with 140 gr bullets. best powder for both accuracy and velocity in my gun
is rl22. 7828 and h1000 also work well. ive tried lots of various bullets from 120gr to 142 gr.
everything shoots well. my main complaint is feed problems with the magazine. ive had several different people work on it and it's still not right. if i were to do it again id start with a short mag action.
but then again id probably just buy a 260 and be done with it.
as a lr hunting gun it wont do anything a 284 wont do better.

the way i establish a load with all my wildcat cartridges is very simple.
i load 1 round at a starting point load and work up with 1 round 1 gr increases till the bolt gets stiff.
same thing with each powder. then i back off and work up my load knowing where max is in that gun.
remember im a hunter not a paper puncher. i want all i can safly get out of all my guns.
the gun will tell you where that is.
turning necks would be determined by the reamer used in the chambering. i try not to turn necks in hunting guns.
this gun had a tight neck which i had opened slightly.

I had a 26" barreled 6.5 WSM and found it to basically duplicate 264 WM ballistics. Sold it to consolidate to fewer bullet diameters and I have a set of dies and brass for sale in the classifieds if anyone is interested. I can also provide some load data. I had good luck with IMR 7828 and H1000.