Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Which 6.5 Cartridge for Deer Antelope etc!

I'm really not sure why someone would want something other than a .260 Remington for deer or antelope...

It is a joy to shoot and to reload with no recoil to boot...

.260 for me please...

+1. Well said.

Ahhhhh, Grasshopper! Covered it, but you left out the new 6.5x47 Lapua and new Hornady 6.5 Creedmore for those fools like me that want something different, and pondered why one might not use a mild Carcano or 54 MS.

Yes, 55 keeps it easy in long action or single shot, 260 in a short action, either factory loads abound.

Now if you want to be different since you mentioned a WSM, a WSSM will sing-brass must be formed as you can imagine and be fickle to work with, and it is a sexy looking number and I hear they shoot Very well, but even a 6.5 BR will get it done if you want two rounds that you VERY unlikely will ever see in the field. The first should feed in a WSSM action, the latter may/may not in a SA action, likely in a Model 7 w/o mag mods, but mag mods can be done to it and other Rem SA i.e. 700 if needed to feed.

Really hard to think of a bad 6.5 round, when you are a 6.5 nut like many of us! MY preference for MY shooting is BR-6.5x55 size rounds, but the WSSM has piqued my curiosity a few times...kinda like a new model might in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition! Just less costly I'd presume!

BTW, Grasshopper, let's get to the range soon and compare our 55's in #1!

.....I really like the 264 WinMag...

+ 1 on the 264 win mag. Mule Deer had an excellent article on new powders a few years ago.

Pretty hard not to like the Swede. Old but still vital and moreso with the newer rifles. Heck, even the old military 38's and 96's still cook pretty well. As someone said, the 0.264 bullet size is a dandy and hard to pick a bad one -- just some more better than the rest.

But . . . . . make mine a Swede in a Tikka.

Let's see ... BUILDING a 264 bore for deer, lopes, etc ...

On factory rifles I'd say "whatever fits and you get a deal on" but since it is a build, I'll cheat and say "Swede" because all 264 bores from 260 Rem up are going to do all you want to deer, lopes (and etc's up to Mooses if the barrel spins long bullets well).

Swede gets you Lapua brass at a reasonable price. (Cableas still at $53/100 as of earlier this month). I'm loving that stuff.

Issue with Swede is throating geometry with lighter bullets. 100 gr Ballistic Tip will only go to OAL of 2.87 with full case neck contact on bullet shank.

John Haviland a/k/a Elk wrote about the Swede in Handloader 247 (Jun-Jul 2007). The rifle used was "short chambered" by Charlie Sisk where 100 BT's hit the lands at 2.90.

Now thinking backwards from that chamber geometry and looking at the OAL's of the cartridges loaded (2.82 w/85 gr Sierras to 3.07 w/140 gr Berger VLDs) I'd think of maybe looking for a shorter bolt action, mebbe something with a 3" magazine box and "Sisk" the chamber to an appropriate length.

I *think* a short action M70 (PF anyway) allows a 3" mag if the blockers are knocked out. Looked that way when I was contemplating a 22-250 carbine the other week.

So, I'd continue to think in that direction with a SA M70 (as I love the 3 Pos Safety).

For tube do a 1 in 8 twist to stabilize longer bullets. I'd think a 21" or 22" barrel in a contour between Featherweight and #2 would be ideal.

Stock as you'd like. For me a Swede begs for a decent piece of walnut. Yes, I'd be more than happy with "French Whorehouse" cut and some figure.

Given good brass, a modern action, and a 22" tube, I'd target velocities of 3150-3200 with 100's, 2950-3000 with 120's, and 2750-2800 with 140's.

Would make a heck of a cool big game rifle for deer, lopes (and meeses) ...

GE

Ah what do you know ya Lumberjack, heck you probably even think that Pauls oxes name was Babe.....<g>

Dober

ps if you see our bud again tell him hello for me

That is *jackpine savage* to you Dober ...

And I know NOTHING (copyright Sgt. Schultz) about 6.5 things.

GE

If it were me and I wanted simple, the .260 Rem or 6.5-06 would get my vote.

If I was going to wildcat the 6.5/.375 Ruger would be my choice.

Bought a 7mmRM Hawkeye and am having PacNor rebarrel to a 26inch 264WM presently...always loved that cartridge...and having it chambered for the 140 Nosler Partition set to same COL as a 140 Remington PSP CoreLokt...plan on shooting these and 130 AccuBonds in this gun for antelope and deer in the desert Southwest....should be a drop in fit...anxiously awaiting the finished gun back....

A 6.5-284 and a bunch of Lapua brass will do anything needs doing..

264WM

I like my 6.5x257AI (the .260AAR) and Swede a lot. I had a 6.5/284 and will soon have a 6.5 Rem mag to toy with.

I have been contemplating either a 260AI or 6.5rem. mag myself so I guess one of them would be my choice right now although I do not have either yet. Can someone tell me what the problem is with the 6.5rem. mag brass? Is it hard to work with or is it much more expensive than average brass?
Also from you with experience from both how much will be gained velocity wise by go 260AI over standard 260. I am guessing 50-75fps which may not mean much but as long as it will shoot standard 260 and one is doing an aftermarket tube anyways, I figure why not.
Ryan

Ryan,

The only problem with the brass is that it is only made by Remington. Not that that is a problem, except in terms of availability. They made a run of it a couple of years ago... Who knows when they'll make another. When I could, I bought 200 rounds of new. I don't expect to ever need any more.

The 6.5/.284 has the benefit of Lapua, Norma, and Winchester. And truth of the matter doesn't give up much to the 6.5 Rem Mag. I have owned a 6.5 Mag continually since 1978 and like it a lot. But truthfully, I can't see much of a reason to buy one, now. However, YMMV

Grasshopper

My 6.5-'06 is about 25 years old; I have shot it enough to know how good a cartridge it and the .256 Newton are (even JOC hunted with a .256 Newton although he didn't write about it much). Mule Deer is doing some work now with the 6.5-'06, and I expect more folks will jump on the bandwagon after his article appears.

I have been thinking about bringing my 6.5-'06 up to date, and make it more like my M24 NULA (24" No. 2 barrel). The current Shilen has always been accurate with all bullet weights, and its 9" twist will stabilize bullets up to 160 gr (round nose), but the rifle is overly heavy. I expect to stay with the 9" twist, but I haven't figured out what barrel to fit. I do want to update my McM. stock to an Edge (my original stock is very basic compared to what is available now).

I also have a Ruger M77 Hawkeye in .300 RCM (blue 20" barrel and wood stock), and I agree rebarreling that rifle to 6.5 RCM would make a nice hunting rifle. If I don't get the results I expect with the .300 RCM, I expect to screw on a 21.75" 6.5 barrel. I do like the RCM case because it is not rebated as is the 6.5-.284.

jim

1.) 6.5x55
2.) .260
3.) 6.5 Roberts

If you feel the need for speed:

1.) 6.5 STW
2.) 6.5 Ultra-mag


Hank

HunterJim- man I like the feel of that lil Hawkey bolt action RCM, now if it was in a standard cal like an 06 or so I'd probably be thinking long and hard.

Spose I could always just have the standard tube abbreciated?

Dober

I've been playing with a Ruger W77 in 6.5x55 lately and I'm very impressed with it. Excellent accuracy,flat shooting,enough power,easy to load for and light recoil. It seems to have it all.