Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles 6mm for P-Dogs

You're cancelling out any improvement in barrel life with the fireforming process though.

Less trimming is nice.

My next six is going to be a 6-250. Just a bit more reach than the 22BR, which runs cooler than the 22-250 and just about reaches like the bigger toy.
For doggin, the idea is volume, and you can't do that with a smoking hot rifle.

That's nonsense. There's no "fireforming process." You find the accuracy load - it'll be a couple gr. over max for the std. 243, depending on which manual - then go out and splatter things. With this cartridge and light bullets it'll be about 100 - 125fps more than a std. 243 using pretty much the same powder charge and getting about the same velocity as formed brass.

There are a bunch of good 6's, the larger ones are all good for what you're wanting. The 6BR is super accurate and about 3900 with 55/58's.....and shoots the 65Vmax at almost almost 6-250 velocity using quite a bit less powder. In the mid 90's we started fooling with a 6/250, the idea being to approach 243 performance with less powder/heat/fouling, and it's a good one too. But you're looking at the .243AI, and it performs really well. You guys know about lots of rounds quickly with one of these, and heat and wear and that the bigger 6's aren't for high volume and all that stuff.. I'd say either an Ackleyed .243 or 6mm would be real good for what you're wanting. I shoot 70's in the .243AI at well over 3800. It's a 13" twist. The 70 has a pretty good BC which combined with how fast it'll go makes it good for flat shooting and wind drift.

How the gun is set up will make the difference between it being fun to shoot, and not. Since this will be a dedicated pd gun, give it a heavy barrel with a brake. Weight the stock's forend even. One of my 243AI's - red one in the avatar - is about 20lbs and a pure pleasure to shoot. Goes bang and doesn't even move, you can see the whole show with the scope on 32x.

Yondering,

You really aren't getting it: As I stated in one of my earlier posts (and Ackman repeated), you fire-form while shooting prairie dogs. There is no "extra" wear on the barrel.

I just picked up a 12 tw 6 BR for this purpose. 70 gr Varmint bullets approaching 3400 fps...FUN!

No need to get rude. You seem to have assumed I don't know anything about it and need to be convinced, but as I already said, I like and use other AI cartridges too. I "get it" just fine, I just don't share your opinion.

I don't think the 243AI offers enough difference over the standard 243 to be worthwhile. You do, apparently. We can disagree on that, it's just opinion, not facts.

This is really the truth, stayed in both those towns more than once.

You weren't simply disagreeing. You ignored or completely misinterpreted every point I made, even after I explained each more than once. That isn't just stating an opinion, so I chose to be blunt, which was apparently the only way to get your full attention.

Yondering,
I read your post as a statement of your opinion, nothing more than that. Your statement that you don't share the other persons opinion certainly clarifies that and you should not be taken to task for your opinion like you are a wayward schoolboy.

drover

Well, I see that Cabin Fever is sweeping the Banana Belt....

6BR with 70 gr NBT. Low recoil and explosive.

Dean

I do believe I have to agree with you on that point, drover. And I agree with Yondering also...if your going to AI either the .243 or the 6mm, why not go with the one that benefits the most and happens to have more potential in the first place?

I probably do have a slight case of cabin fever, and Yondering's insistence that AI'ing a bunch of cases would use up a bunch of barrel life touched it off.

He kept insisting even AFTER I explained that no, all you have to do is load up a bunch of ammo in standard .243 cases and shoot them at prairie dogs. Ackman also called him out on that, calling one of his posts "nonsense," yet I was the one accused of being rude for saying Yondering just wasn't getting it.

Right now I'll also point out that no, the 6mm AI does NOT gain substantially more case capacity than the .243 AI. This is because the 6mm case has a relatively short 26-degree neck, while the .243 has a longer 20-degree neck. The 6mm gains more powder room from blowing out the case body, while the .243 gains more powder room from blowing out the neck. It's basically a wash. I know this from actually measuring the powder space gained in a bunch of improved rounds, from the .22 K-Hornet to the .35 Whelen AI, rather than just guessing.

In fact the ONLY "improved" rounds that gain enough powder room to increase velocities more than about 2% are those with REALLY tapered bodies, like the antique .250 Savage and .300 H&H. But even they don't increase velocities more than 4% velocity fps over the original cases, when both the standard and improved rounds are loaded to equal pressures.

I'll also point out that Yondering insisted the 6mm AI was the better choice long after the OP reported that his friend was leaning heavily toward the .243, because he'd discovered 6mm Remington brass was scarce. That's putting it mildly, especially for anybody interested in enough brass for serious prairie dogging.

Now, if anybody else wants to argue I'll be happy to oblige, especially since the "spring" weather's supposed to get really nasty here over the next couple of days.

If it makes you feel any better, when spring DOES come around I'll hopefully have a bottle of hooch for you.

Then we can argue whether or not its any good.....or argue about the merits of the 222 Magnum(grins).

back to the original question......I am liking my 6xc for such work......cant see building a 6mm/250 when the XC is about the same thing , with standardized dies and brass available

If a fella wanted to "improve" the 243 , best route to me looks like the socalled 6mm SLR.......243 case with the shoulder shoved back to a 30 degree angle and a nice long neck

6XC over the 243 any day......or 6mm Rem...AI or not........

http://www.accurateshooter.com/cartridge-guides/6xc/

I like my 243Improved with 1-1/2" long cases, 6mmBR!

I use a 6BR for most of my prairie dog shooting, it's a savage that I've rebarreled and won't feed the little BR cases so I single load it. If I were building a 6mm from scratch for that purpose I'd likely go 6XC or 6x47 lapua since it'll feed better. I'd probably build it on a remington short action with a heavier 1-8" twist barrel and some sort of detachable bottom metal like the PT&G with AICS mags. One of my hunting partners has a heavy barreled PD rifle with DBM and it's sure nice, beats my single loading all day for sure.

The 243/6mm rem sized cases with their AI variants aren't needed for prairie dogging, too much barrel heat and recoil for a day's shooting.

I pointed out something similar in my first post.

But the OP's friend is already bringing a .204 and .22-250 for most of his shooting, so he's not going to heat up whatever 6mm he chooses much. He also wants to build a rifle and get it running by May--which is why he's leaning toward the .243 for a longer-range rifle.