Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 6.5-284

I'm about to rebarrel a 700 30-06 and make a 6.5-284 norma. Getting pacnor to make the barrel and chamber it for me. I'm opting for the .297nk per their recommendation. The question i have next is they wanted to know if I wanted .060 freebore or .188. I had to do research to even know what freebore was.......now that I do im not sure what is the better option. im most likely gonna be shooting 130-140 grain bullets most of the time, but might load some 115-120's and see how they shoot. My question is would i be at a disadvantage with the smaller bullets that might not be as long if I opt for the longer freebore? it would be giving these bullets a greater jump to the lands.....if im thinking about this correctly.

I'm no expert in this field so don't bash me if i said something stupid in the post. Just looking for what would you do and maybe some explanation to help me think through this better.

This will be a hunting rifle 99.9% of the time and then maybe some playing with longer distances over 500-600. not looking for a 1000 yard gun....just FYI.

Some good info I just posted on another 6.5x284 question. http://www.6mmbr.com/sixfive284.html

A .297 neck means you will have to turn necks slightly, is that what you want? The article recommends 0.299" for a no turn hunting rifle.

As far as free bore I would go with the shorter length as you mentioned shooting bullets less than 140 grains. I like the shorter neck as it leaves room to grow as the throat erodes and if it does not work then easy enough to lengthen it. With max loads you will be chasing the lands with as few as a 1000 shots or less.

Thanks for posting that......very interesting read for sure. Definitely giving me some things to think about and consider. im relatively new to custom building/semi-custom building rifles and am wanting to learn more about it for sure.

That is good info that I didn’t know. Thanks

Send them 2 dummy rounds and they will custom throat it for you.

I would do that so you don't get your rifle back with the short action OAL. I speak from experience.

Hi Don't want to rain on your picnic, but I have a 6.5-284, and wouldn't recommend a freebore. They are already barrel burners and the only reason one would freebore is to gain speed. This learned to us from that Guru of the 50's known as Mr.Roy Weatherby. Going out on a limb here but I say that freebore is not an aid to accuracy only to speed. Make a tight bore using bushing on your press to get tight tolerance. Keep the speed less than 2800 fps. Don't know about the hunting bullets on the market for that caliber but I know that the 142 SMK will be very accurate.

Canuck, You might be a bit confused and I" don't want to rain on your picnic" but were not talking Weatherby freebore where the bullet can't be seated out far enough to touch the lands. AMoore141 was saying .060" or .188" where the bullet can be seated out to touch the lands with the correct bullet. no freebore as you recommend would be a disaster in this chambering. I like to set my reamers up where the freebore allows the bullet to touch the lands and the bearing surface is just ahead of the neck/shoulder junction. Action and magazine length does not always allow this but no freebore is almost always a bad idea.

There is always some freebore in rifles but you can seat back the bullet to get the same effect, right? When I hear freebore I think of the 3/8 inch Weatherby freebore. If you seat a bullet that close to lands on a Weatherby and decide not to shoot that bullet you have to take the bolt out to extract the cartridge.

The only 6.5/284 I ever played with was set up, on purpose, in a Mod 700 short action. It was chambered with the reamer for the "Wildcat 6.5/284" as this was a few years before it was SAAMI'd. As I understand it, the SAAMI reamer has a longer throat. My reamer cut a shorter throat, which was perfect for me as I just used two bullets- the Nosler 125 partition and the 120 Nosler BT. I used necked down ( no neck turning for me!) .284 Winchester brass and I got 3200fps from both bullets. Later, when it was SAAMI, I tried the new Hornady, Norma and lapua brass and none could give me 3200 w/o stretching the primer pockets badly. Oh I got 3150 just fine, but tha wasn't "the point"! ha. I see guys out here who use a long action and have the 140s seated way out and throated accordingly. OR, you can use the 6.5 Sherman in that long action, yeah baby, yeah!

Just my opinion but I would select the shorter freebore, make sure your smith has a separate throating reamer, prepare a dummy round with the specific bullet you intend to shoot and than have your smith throat accordingly.

Pac Nor did a 6.5x55 'no throat' for me.........

28" 8 twist full cylinder pipe..Bushy 6500 4.5x30 Tacticool

No Flies on the ole Swede........

Savage Target action.......18# empty........

Free bore done correct will be very accurate especially in a hunting rifle. Free Bore is a determit to accuracy if cut over size.

Thanks for the replies and opinions.....the freebore they are talking about is only to allow you to shoot longer bullets such as the heavier bergers, which i dont plan to. (which was thier answer when i emailed them back after posting on here) I figured id aske them and the campfire experts to see what everyone here said also. I assume the standard freebore they do is .06 and the other is specially done for the guys shooting super long bullets. Im gonna opt for the shorter freebore and most likely send a dummy round to them. Id rather not have to turn necks either, but if I have to its not a huge deal. I have been warned that this is a barrel burner, but i typically dont shoot more than 20-25 times a year with hunting and sighting in unless i'm developing rounds, so I figure this will last me a pretty good while.

The confusion is due to using the term "Freebore" for the throat or leed portion of the chamber.. Almost all chambers have this except it can be very minimal like on the WSM's. Best to make up a dummy round with the bullet you will use the most or the longest bullet. I really don't like turning necks so I would get the .299 inch neck. If your using Lapua brass neck turning won't get a big improvement in accuracy on a hunting rifle. It can reduce fliers so for low volume shooting not that big a deal. I would also ask for a 1.5 degree taper to the rifling and a recessed 11 degree crown. For some reason the recessed crown seems quiter as I think it directs the noise away from the shooter. The recessed portion is only because I carry rifles muzzle down in a usually muddy truck. If you always have tape on the muzzle and a cleaner truck the recess is not needed.

The barrel scorching reputation is for target accuracy pushing the envelope to get 2850 fps with 140 grain bullets with the longer shot strings the barrel may only go 1200 rounds or so. For hunting accuracy and use I think the barrel will last a lot longer. There is no reason that it won't last as long or longer than a 264 Win. Mag. but I could be wrong about this one. Even if the barrel goes at 1,200 rnds. that is still 20-25 years of hunting use.

Thanks for the info here. What would be the reason for the taper to the rifling?

It eases the transition from leed/throat to rifling. This is usually the point of peak pressure and where the bullet gets aligned/re-aligned or not. I believe the current thinking is 1.5 degrees but let PacNor advise you on this. No rhyme or reason to it but an 11 degree muzzle crown is the current favorite, 30 degree case shoulder, and 1.5 taper to the rifling. I'm not smart enough to tell you why.

I just moved all my reloading equipment and supplies as well as all my firearms and spare ammo. I am seriously contemplating taking up stamp collecting!

you will really like a 6.5x284 its a cartridge that shoots small groups very easy and is extremely accurate ,for a hunting rifle you won`t burn the barrel out if you use it mostly for hunting.

That's what I figured......I did the recessed crown on my 280AI pacnor did for me a few years ago so that's what I was planning to do again.