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

"This is why the 6.5-284 is popular for 1000-yard target shooting. Bear in mind that for 1000 yard target shooting, you don't care about foot pounds of energy, the target never moves, you always know the range exactly (it's the same as the last time you shot), and you get two sighter shots."


Yep.

From what I'm told it's a barrel burner.

As good as it is, it's tough road without a Name championing it and marketing $ backing it. There are plenty of better than good cartridges that haven't caught on with the general shooting public.

Well it was from my perspective.

Well excuse me sir's, in regards to factory accuracy.
I'll say it, the 6.5x284 I believe is a far more accurate design than the 270.

It overrides factory. Factory guns do cut it.

I shoot a factory barreled action using a Mcmillan stock.
Nothing done to the action.

This from a mountain barrel. Repeatable time and again.

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I'll bet Melvin Forbes builds far more 284 case rifles than 270's. and for good reason.

Some factory other than savage chamber a 6.5x284?

I punched out a 260.

That's a factory barrel with a custom chamber.

Its had to call that "factory".

Not "calling you out" by any means, just pointing out that a 6.4-284 chamber reamer is most likely a "match" reamer and you probably have a custom, match grade chamber for that rifle.

Chamber's matter.

BMT

A number of years ago I watched a nice 6 inch 10 shot group form right over my head at the Pa 1000 yard BR club.Fired by the teenage Hoover girl.Women make great natural shooters.5 of those shots would have set a new record.When you see that type of accuracy in action it tends to want to make you take a second look.At least I do.At some point in time a 6.5-284 will be on my build list.
For some reason top flight proven BR rounds just dont seem to be that popular.Must be a loonie type of thing.
dave

A 6.5/06 (perhaps improved) would be more in line with a hunter's eye and would get the speed of the 270 and high b.c./s.d. of the 6.5 bullets.

I recall Wayne Van Zwoll building a custom hunting rifle in 6BR. It shot well, but far from the .1's so common of a target gun.

It gets a little hairy translating the advantages of a target cartridge in the hands of a knock-kneed tyro out in the field (me).

The field needs more precise shooters, not slight precision in bullets and cartridges IMO. Hence, the 6.5-284 is no better than ones we already have, even off a bipod.

Here we go again with the "barrel burner" BS...the 220 Swift was a "barrel burner"...TOTAL BS...I've had Swifts with 3000 rounds through them and still getting <1/2" accuracty...the 264 is a "barrel burner"...TOTAL BS...I know people with 264 with 2500 rounds through them and still getting <3/4" accuracy. The 17 Rem is a "Barrel Burner of the first Water"...well maybe...I only get about 2000 rounds before needing a new tube, but that's because I load it to the gills, then vibrate the powder down and add some more. DO THE SAME with ANY bore size and you will get throat and barrel erosion and the more powder you burn the more "burning" you get.

ANY RIFLE OR CALIBER that shoots loads over about 42 KPSI produces throat temps that will "Burn" steel.

The "Barrel Burner" BS is just someone wanting to jaw flap and stick their face on some forum. When will it ever end.

Oh yeah...my 6mm-284's and 22-243's "burn barrels" also...what the HE** do you expect from varminter's jacked as high as they will go...I can also burn out a 30 cal barrel in less than a season of shooting rats at long range if I don't keep it cool and use good shooting and reloading techniques.

One of the reasons why the makers don't chamber for the 6.5 x 284 or the 260 is the hunting public won't support it...the same with the 8mm's...They even had to change the name from 8mm to 325 to get them to sell at all...the same with how many other excellent calibers that have come and gone...I mean even a greedy bunch of corporate execs will learn after a while where the money comes from and what sells...

None of the stores in my area has had a 260 W since they first came out and the one store that had two sold only one. After two years sent it back to the main store who swapped it for another caliber a year later when they couldn't get rid of it. I've never seen or heard of a 6.5x284 around here in 12 years of watching, and many of the "sports clerks" don't know what you are talking about when you ask for a 6.5 Norma.

Besides what the HE** is the matter with the Savage offering...out of the box a 1000 yarder at a $1000 bucks or so. And what's with the "factory only" BS...if you want one they are easy to build...F*** the factory's.

There's way too much whiskey fumes swirling around some of the gaseous vapors arising from these forums, I think.

The 140 gr 6.5 cal bullet just happens to hit the magic numbers as far as BC, SD, bullet weight, case capacity, long range stricking energy and velocity is concerned. It makes it an excellent caliber for long range target OR hunting, but so does the 300 gr, 338 cal bullet and so does many other calibers and bullets...you just have to do your own thinking and not let the BS hype blind you to the many other facts.

The 6.5x284 gets all the love it needs from those who know a thing or two...the rest don't have a clue anyway and don't deserve to have one.

Rant over.

Luck on your projects.

I have a 6.x284 I'll admit to doting over a bit. It's a serakoted stainless MRC 6.5x284 Norma barreled action in a 5 part Serengeti laminated walnut stock. I like it.





I'm glad it shoots better than I take pictures of it. It's a lot prettier than the pics show, but that might be ok since I can be the jealous type about certain things.





It works.

SU: I was not knocking the cartridge or comparing it to a 270 at all; I was just observing that most 6.5 284 rifles are going to be custom, that most of the people who want one will want custom,or be inclined to go custom,and that it may take a custom rifle to realize the full potential of the cartridge.

That's the point I was trying to make...maybe I did not articulate that very well.....

The 6.5`s are gaining more in popularity these days, especially the 6.5/284.

However the 6.5mm onto itself, has the infamous historical reputation as the caliber that killed JFK. Whether or not that event had anything to do with its lack of popularity or sales within the shooting world over the last 4+ decades, I really don`t know!

I think we`ll see more offerings in the 6.5`s. Ruger has already begun offering the 6.5mm Creedmore for this year.

NFG,
Come on dude.Tell us how you really feel.
I could take a run of the mill varmint hunter,first year handloader. Set him up with a 6mmPPC no turn neck in a rig you could carry, and he'd be outshooting 99% of the people that go to his local rifle range.By outshooting I mean shooting tighter groups and killing more vermin out to 400 yards with the PPC.No special reloading required.In fact i've done just that.
I guess its just not sexy enough to put stuff like that in the gun rags.
Im thinking the 6.5-284 suffers from the same lack of sexeyness.

dave

Since this was the cal that took out a Kennedy , this should have made it sell better.

I knew I should have copywrighted the Kennedy thing

dave7mm... I know how you feel. Being in the pits and watching groups form up from 6.5-08s had a lot to do with me building one.



Now I wonder??? What if we took a WSM, and necked it to 6.5... And called it the 6.5 Kennedy Express. Maybe then we'd sell some 6.5's. I'm probably going to hell for that one

The 6.5-284, like a thousand other wildcats out there, was around long before the recent long range target crowd picked up on it. Yet, it only became popular recently and only because it is so effective for long range target work.

The PPC's whether 22 or 6mm never saw a big commercial market, yet they were/are the two most accurate cartridges known. same can be said for many, many other "target rounds. The 6.5-284 is an excellent cartridge but doesn't "fit" into the commercial market just as the 6mm Benchrest, 6 x 47, PPC's,7mm BR....

..........Yep! For Teddy anyway......At the very least, if JFK were alive today, he`d not only be a Repubican, he would also be literally appalled at todays disgusting far left whacko Democratic party.

No offense but that is total BS reasoning.

First of all its was just a run of the mill average reamer that punched it out and second "the barrel" was just as accurate and shot just as well/good when it was a 260 Rem. The groups were the same no difference except in speed.

There is nothing custom about this rifle except for the stock.

Your out on thin ice man.