Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Competitive Shooting New F-Class Tool 6.5/284

Friday was a good day, I phoned my dealer that was to receive this rifle for me and heard the great words "its here". I still have much cash to lay out for a Jewell HVR and glass (Nightforce) but at least I can put my hands on this much of it. Load reserch has led me to try the Sierra 142 and Lapua 139, in that order with H4350, N165, AA3100. Please help a newbie with any suggestions/recommendations, as this is all new to me. I have had several tight necked chambers so I have a toe in the door as far as the basics of handloading for it. I know for sure I have a serious learning curve ahead. Sorry for the incomplete list, it is a 6.5/284 with a .288" neck dia. I have turned 100 Lapua brass to .0112" this leaves a .2864" loaded round, in a .288" chamber.

139's , 142's? Sounds like 6.5/284 ammo?
catnthehat

Very nice looking rifle.
Sounds like it has a very tight neck how tight? I have a similar rifle that has a tight neck need advice on how to size for it. Any good suggestions.

Article on 6.5-284 F class rifle

It's not that complicated. Have a gunsmith verify the diameter of the neck in your chamber. Subtract from this .002" (neck clearance) and the bullet diameter. You now divide this by 2, gives you the wall thickness in the neck of your brass. Turn the neck of a few rounds to this thickness, might need to do it in more than one step. My finish cuts are around .0006". Polish the finished neck with 0000 steel wool. Seat a bullet in your preped brass, measure the neck diameter of a loaded round. If your using flat based benchrest bullets, make sure you measure over the pressure ring. If done right your loaded round will check .002" smaller than your chamber neck dimension. Neck clearance is a subjective thing, some use more, some less. It is felt that anything over .003" will have a negitive affect on accuracy.

I now have on order, a 20 moa stainless polished base to match the action from BAT. This will allow more ring options, and perhaps a better choice with the heavier Nightforce scope in the plans.

I am really interested in starting loads, with Sierra 142`s, I read the above article and H4350 with Winchester LR`s thanks (Boydheaton) at around 48.5 and work to just over 49, in accordance with the article. I do have Blaine`s current favorite H4831SC, and N165 available.

Tim,
I've done no work with the 6.5/284 but quite a bit with the 6.5x55.
In the 6.5x55 with a 26" barrel the N165 gave by far the best velocities (2940 with 142s at 49.5 gr) but consistency wasn't great and it seemed to be a bit temp sensitive.
4350 seems a bit fast and was a non performer.
The most consistent powder in the 6.5x55 seems to be 4831sc. 47-48 grains gives right around 2800 and consistency is good.
A fellow competitor used 4831sc in his 6.5/284 but felt that it generated too much heat (maybe). He switched to 3100 ans was getting in the mid 2900s with (as I recall) about 55 grains of it.
All of these midsized 6.5s seem to show a marked prefernce for one primer or another so don't be afraid to experiment with different types as a means of tuning out vertical.GD

Thanks greydog, I might load the H4350 on the articles behalf. The H4350 is mentioned several other places, it might be a good place to start. I am not afraid to experiment, and have much in the way of powder to experiment with. I have a fresh 500 count box of the 142 Sierras. I just bought sme Russian primers and bought Winchester LR`s this past weekend. I hope my barrel lasts long enough for me to find "the load". My goal is 1" at 300 like the article mentions a great yardstick.

If you have not already started to do so, I suggest that you spend some time on benchrest.com. They have a 1000 yd forum, and some of the boys that lurk there have burned out more barrels than most of us could only dream. I know Blaine was picking their brains when he was getting set up. There will be lots of existing threads on powder choices for the 6.5-284.

I shoot a 6.5-284 with a .290 neck. It is set up more as a sniper rifle than an F-class. But I do have parts for an F-class sitting around so maybe I will get to it this year.

utah708, thanks for the new place to hang, not much activity here. I need to learn FAST!!!!

I did get a lot of excellent help there..................