Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters The 6.5-284..Why the Heck is it not gettin more Luv?

No problem Bob.

I had a 25-284. I'm a recoil wuzzy, it puts my neck out and the rest of the day is shot, instead of spent shooting. I had hoped the 25-284 would be a pussy-cat. It wasn't, I went to a 250 Savage. I believe it deserves a whole family of cartridges, something like it could do everything 308 and 30-06 cartridges do, ie, the best of both. Just leave a few baby kickers around me.

I considered the 6.5x284 for my most recent barrel build..but went right back to the 260 Ack Improved....10 grs less powder...much cheaper 308 brass...2925 fps w/142 SMKs....I love to take sod poodles off their mounds @ 1K yds....guess I'm a looney....

NFG,
What exactly is your experience with the BARREL BURNING 6.5 x 284.

Any experience on the line at Camp Perry, any time at the Regional matches? Ever shot F class anywhere? Ever own a rifle chambered in 6.5? I Know what I'm talking about when it comes to the cartridge and what it does to barrels.In the course of fire that is shot at the long range comps I attended, you typically had 30 minutes to shoot all the sighters you wanted, and 20 shots for record.

I competed with a 6.5x284 for 5 years in long range prone NRA type matches, with thousands of rounds down the range year to year. Kriegers,Harts, Shilens, all die a hell of a lot quicker in 6.5 than in the comparable 300 win mag.IIRC the USAMU changes their barrels out on the 6.5 @ 1000 rounds, and when they shot them, changed their barrels on the 300 win mag at the 2000 mark.

Friends of mine that travel to the F class world championships and place well, tell me the same thing about their barrel life's competitive abilities.

To me dead or burned out means you can't hit the 10 ring on call any more at 600 yards, much less 1000. Not hitting what your shooting at doesn't work for me.

By the way, I've seen 1/2" guns at 100 yards shoot like S**t at 300-600 yards.
Have a good day.

Excellent! The right tool for the right job.

Next long range heavy build will be this same round.

I have a 5lb 25-284 that my 12 year old shoots...alot.. It don't kick. You must be a recoil wussy if a 25-284 is hurting you!

I have been shooting my 6.5-'06 for 25 years, and I killed my first deer with a M94 Swede 6.5X55 in 19(mumble). I think the Swede introduced me to the short, handy rifles for hunting, and the Ruger Hawkeye .300 RCM I got last year reminded me again.

I have only owned a .270 Win for about 15 minutes once even though I know it is a great hunting cartridge. I think those 6.5s biased me. I didn't jump on the 6.5/.284 train because I already had a rifle that did the same things.

If Ruger doesn't introduce a 6.5 RCM Real Soon Now I will be making up a 6.5 Rem Mag carbine to go hunting in 2010 or 2011, Lord Harry willing and the creek don't rise.

jim

Just finished assembly...260 AI..s/shot Salvage large shank action w/Pac Nor 28" x 1.118" no taper tube..8 twist/3 groove...weighs just over 17# on the scale....pics & targets to follow...

What's the role of any specific cartridge? It's unlikely any of us could make a credible argument that any cartridge is perfect and therefore should displace every other in its class. The 270 Win is a 'perfect' medium game, long range (whatever that means to anyone) cartridge - but so is the 7mm Rem Mag, 7mm WSM, 270 WSM, 25-06, 6.5-284, 264 Win Mag, etc, etc, etc. In other words, each cartridge is perfect for its application in the eyes of the loony who wields it.

The role of the 6.5-284? For me it's an August afternoon in the Talkeetnas with a ram I've been watching slowly feeding closer for 3 hours, now 427 yards away and ready to disappear into a valley. It's now or never - well, he's hanging on my wall as I write this. Do I think I couldn't have made that shot with a 300WSM, 300 Win Mag or 270 Win? No, but that afternoon that role fell to the light 6.5-284 I was carrying and it whispered "present."

"If you want a short action, shorter barreled light mountain rifle that will match 270 and 280 AI ballistics the 6.5x284 will do it."



Isn't that what the .284 itself was designed to do?

I must admit that I have never understood the argument about how much superior the .264 caliber bullets are in b.c. When comparing Nosler's and Hornady's 6.5 and 7mm bullets of the same design and sectional density (120-6.5's vs 140-7mm's and 140-6.5's vs. 160-7mm's) the 7mm bullets have a higher b.c. in each case. If I wanted the least wind deflection/velocity loss I'd be shooting a 160-gr. 7mm bullet.

What am I missing?

Personaly, I shoot a .260 Rem because it has more "momentum" at 200yds than the .270 Win. That's what Remington says anyway!

True, and in a world of theoretical ballistics there may be no advantage for the 6.5s. But when inconvenient realities (e.g., recoil of heavier bullets in equally light rifles impinging on soft human shoulders lying prone for long range shots) lighter bullets with equal BCs have an advantage IMHO. This is the main reason that 6.5s have displaced larger calibers in target shooting, cumulative effects of repetitive recoil - again, advantage lighter bullets IMO.

Personally, I like the plain old standard 284 Win. Not much diff, just enough more smack IMO to make it an all around doin' it cartridge. I've only had one for one deer season, but it is a dandy.

I know a number of folks who absolutely love the 6.5x284, regardless of format: Norma or Winchester. But they all agree
it's hard on barrels, and after 2000 rds or so, they need to
take a couple inches off from both ends, rechamber and re-crown.

It's been that way with any/all 6.5 barnstormers. The only
6.5 cartridges I know of that is somewhat gentle on the barrel are the 6.5x55 Swede and some of the earlier European military rifles chambered in 6.5xwhatever (50, 54, 55, 57mm). But those cartridges aren't exactly 1,000 yd target specimens. As a friend of mine says, the only difference between the 6.5x55 and the 6.5x284 is a 100 fps or so of MV.

Frankly, not sure I'd compare the 270 Win with any 6.5 cartridge.
You rarely see a 6.5 bullet these days heavier than 140/142 grs.
The only .264 cartridge that eclipes the 270 Win with a 130-gr bullet is the 264 Win Mag, that I know of. But the cost of such
high velocity is a short barrel life. Besides, the 264/6.5mm doesn't require the velocity the 270 Win generates to be an effective hunting cartridge. They do very well with 140-gr bullets in the 2600-2700 fps MV range, normally providing deep penetration and quick kills (assuming proper bullet placement).

IF I was to use the caliber again it would most definately be the 6.5 x 08, or the same thing different name, 260 rem.

It strikes me we're talking two different games here.

The 6.5-284 is a great target round, and it is also a barrel burner. 1000-1300 rounds seems to be about it for competitive barrel life. But competitive shooting is a different game than wanging away at 450 yard clay pigeons. In a heavy barreled target rifle, it may be worth it. Whether it is any better than a 6.5X55 or 260 or a straight 284 is open to debate.

It of course can also be an accurate round in a lightweight sporter, as the groups above can show. But it's impossible to prove, empirically, that there's any superiority. I've got a MR contoured 280AI that can match those groups above, virtually on demand. I've got a 52 year old M70 270 that will hang in there as well. It's a neat cartridge, but to take a 3-shot 100 yard group in a lightweight sporter (in any cartridge) and conclude anything meaningful about the cartridges abilities is wishful thinking. You can't compare these groups with the 10 or 20 shot group out of a target rifle. That lightweight rifle could be a 250 Savage or a 270 or a 308 and the targets would be similar.

It does keep the mental gymnastics at work though, justifying why ours is better than the next guys, huh?

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=744461

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=168425

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=518468

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=518468

Above are 4 different companies that make 155-160g bullets in 6.5 caliber. BC range from .318 to .509.

Midway only lists one bullet over 150g in .277 caliber the 160g NP, BC .434.

2750 fps with 160g Woodleigh's is easy to obtain with my 6.5x284, 2950-3000 fps with 140g, 3100-3200 fps with 130.

Even if we compare published data, Nosler list the max velocity of the .270 WCF with 140g as 3018fps, the 140g in the 6.5x284 as 2925 fps.
-93 fps in favor of the .270.

With 130g bullets, the .270 is listed at 3102 fps, with 6.5x284 is 3092.
-20 fps in favor of the .270.

2758 fps is the highest velocity listed with 160g bullets in the .270, no bullet is listed with the 6.5x284 (Nosler doesnt make a 160g bullet) but 2750 is easy in my rifle.

So you say you cant compare a 6.5x284 to a .270, I beg to differ. You can send bullets of better BC/SD at similar velocities. Why shouldn't you compare?

Since .270 Winchester isnt used in competition very often, I wonder what the barrel life of a 150g Berger from a .270 pushed as hard as it can be pushed in an F-class rifle would be compared to the 6.5x284?

Let me throw this into the mix. There is a theory among some experimenters that long necks on cartridges reduce the erosion rate of the powder gases. The theory says that the brass acts as a heat sink and helps to reduce the metal heating in the throat. M. L. McPherson cites the .243 Win vs 6 mm Rem as examples of the phenomena (Rifleshooter 3/4 2006).

Assuming this is a true explanation to this pheonomena, then the older 6.5's usually have longer necks and this may explain some of their resistance to throat wear. So why not neck the 7x57 down to 6.5 x 57 AI and shoot a LOT of rounds to see about throat erosion. Anyone care to experiment?

doc,



Now that's exactly the kind of thing I'd just love to do, had I the resources. Alas, it'll be a while.

Best Regards