Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Why not a 6.5 Rem Mag?

The 6.5 Mag has been discontinued by Remington again,so if you are going that way make sure of your brass supply.I believe Blue Star lists it and there are probably others.I couldn't find any in Canada,so I necked down 100 pieces of 350 Rem Mag brass.Should work fine.If I do the build I will stay with 130 gr.Accubonds or the new 125gr TTSX and work around the COL neccesary for the SA mag box.If it doesn't work out I'll try a Wyatt box although I would prefer not to. Monashee

If you're building this on a Savage action, you can mix/match the bolt head, magazine box, and follower to a variety of cartridges, so it doesn't really matter which cartridge you choose.

While Remington currently loads the 6.5 Rem Mag for the long discontinued 600, 660, and 700, plus the recently discontinued 673, for a long time it was something of an orphan, available only in low volume seasonal runs of the 120 grain PCL. Since the 673 has been discontinued, I suspect that the availability of 6.5 Rem Mag brass and ammo will again be very limited. I recall making 6.5 Rem Mag cases from 350 Rem Mag cases 12 or 14 years ago for a friend who inherited a nice 660. IIRC, Remington has only loaded 2 bullet weights for the 6.5 Rem Mag, a 100 grain and 120 grain. No other ammo maker, at least none that I can recall, has ever offered factory ammo for the 6.5 Rem Mag. IMO, the 6.5 Rem Mag is primarily a reloader's cartridge, since there is only a single factory load being offered. That suggests to me that the 6.5 Rem Mag is really no better, or no worse, a choice for a short action 6.5mm cartridge than the 6.5-284, 6.5 SAUM, or 6.5 WSM wildcats.

I doubt there there is much obvious difference in muzzle blast and recoil between the 6.5 Rem Mag, 6.5 WSM, 6.5 SAUM, 270 WSM, 7mm WSM, or 7mm SAUM when loaded to similar pressure levels and with similar bullet weights.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do, but don't get your hopes up that chosing the 6.5 Rem Mag will make your task much easier/cheaper.

Jeff

+1. Its the perfect 6.5

No, the 256 Newton is the perfect 6.5mm cartridge (for LAs).

Jeff

Why bother re-barreling an action? It probably would be cheaper to buy a new Remington 673 in 6.5RM like I did. Got from a gunstore online for $450. Prices this cheap can still be had, as no one realizes how good a performer the 6.5RM is, and it doesn't have the "allure" that the newfangled cartridges have, and the ones that get all the "press".

A gunshop in my area has a custom Interarms Mark X in
6.5RM, its been there for quite awhile. Nice looking rifle,
but not my cup of tea.

I grew up as a reloader with .473" '06 brass and .532" belted magnum cases, so doing another belted cartridge fits nicely with my reloading infrastructure. I also have two of the Ruger cartridges going now (.375 and .300), so a third if I get a 6.5 RCM would be no drama.

I have a bias against strongly rebated cases like the .284, so I won't willingly go that route.

jim

Agreed!

If cost and availability of factory ammo are issues to you (sounds like they are), have you considered just buying a savage in 270WSM.

Field performance woud be very similar. Factory ammo, brass, and dies are more available and cheaper. Rifle could be off-the-shelf.

And a 125 Partition or 130 Accubond load from a 6.5RM could be easily duplicated, or slighted exceeded with a 130Patiton or 130Accubond load from a 270WSM.

Goodness that smokin! LOAD!?

C.O.A.L. 2.970 in a 700 short action w/ Wyatts'box.
140 Berger VLD

IMR 7828 SCC 56 grains
RL 17 49 grains
RL 25 58 grains

Before you decide, talk to some of the Bench Rest guys down in their forum. Those guys have forgotten more than I'll ever know about what works. Wonder why so many of them choose the 6.5/284 when the wallets come out??

Wayne

I had Kirby Allen make my 6.5 WSM on a Winchester SG with a Pac-Nor barrel. The Winchester SG started as a 300WSM.
Redding makes dies (6.5mm/300WSM). It's simple to run a 270 WSM case up into the die to neck it down, and then lightly turn the neck afterwards. Velocities are real close to those of the 264 Win Mag.

RR,

Now that's a cute young thing!...jim

Jim,
Here's what that "cute thing" gets hidden in.


Doug~RR

Don�t you mean Voluptuous young thing�.

Doug,

Super Grade is correct! That is a very attractive rifle, and I am sure the critters will be most impressed...jim

You're right there. I have and love the 257 Ackley Imp, but it is limited (as is the 25-06) by the availability of the really sleek bullets... although there is that lovely 115 gr VLD.



Yes, for all practical purposes the 6.5-284, 6.5'06, and 6.5 Rem Mag have the same case capacity.



The thing that comes to mind first is the fact that no one knows when Remington will abandon the 6.5 Rem Mag, leaving you w/out factory ammo or brass for reloading. Someone said earlier in the thread that this cartridge had its 15 minutes, but I fail to remember when that was. It seems to have always been the Rodney Dangerfield of the belted mags (along with its big brother, the 350) and Norma, Lapua, and Hornady are all producing brass for the 6.5-284 which is an "up and comer" among 1000 yd competitors.

The other thing is what I discovered when I looked into exactly the same project you're asking about. Savage doesn't make a standard belted magnum bolt face for its short actions.

Still another bit of gum in the works is that the standard short action Savage or Stevens isn't going to be easily converted to 6.5-284 either, because it is so short and fat there'll be feeding issues.

I've decided to go w/ a "mid length" Mauser action and do the 6.5 Rem Mag build myself.



Its a WSM case necked down to 6.5 cal. Killer choice, IMHO, if you're an avid handloader. It takes care of the considerations mentioned above in that those cases are plentiful and will likely be for quite a long time, and that you can get a Savage Model 10 in a WSM and change out the barrel.

If you're looking for a hunting rifle I'd go 6.5 RM. Good round and it needs represent'n!

Holy moses you're causing a brother to stumble... rifle envy is also a malady shared by many of us here... hubba hubba!

RR,
That is a sweet looking rig you have there.