Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles 6x45 aka 6mm-223

Guys,
Anyone running one as a light walkabout varminter? Just about to have a barrel fitted to my Stevens 200 chambered to 6x45mm.

My most burning question ... which projectile to use where the rifle will be primarily a varmint rifle for fox whistling and spotlighting plus rabbits and hares?

Throating will be determined by that projectile and I'd prefer a 'paddock pizza' projectile rather than a tough one given that much shooting will be in dairy country were reducing the potential for a pass through and richochet is very much appreciated.
Cheers...
Con

60gr Sierra HP works great in my 6x47.

I just got my new Savage bbl yesterday.
I have an AR15 in 6x45.
My proven loads are with:

55g jsp, midwayusa bullet
65g vmax
79g NBT
80g Remington JSP
80g Speer
My go to coyote load was the 65vmax & 70 NBT in my AR15 6x45

The 65vm & 70nbt explode on contact, have not had one go through a coyote except a broadside shot at 40yds one time.

Had a 20" M7 in 223 rebored to 6x45 for my son's first deer rifle.
It loves the 55 Ballistic Tip and 26-28 gr of Benchmark, topping out at about 3150 f/s.

Not much left of the bullets after contact.

Pete

I'm using 62 grain varmint grenades to break in my barrel. I don't know first hand how well they work on game but everything I have read said that they basically disintegrate on impact.

I run a 70gr Ballistic tip


Worked on all of the below

If you are interested in some bargain bullets, I just ordered these: http://www.nosler.com/View-Product.aspx?productId=23d47644-d84f-46c7-ad93-5fac4c4b1842
Total came to $111.79 shipped to Washington state. I have heard that these bullets were basically designed for the 6x45 which is popular down under for kangaroo shooting. I hope they shoot well in my 1 in 10" twist .243 Winchesters. If your new barrel has a 1 in 14" twist, they should work great for you.

Like that rack Scott...

2ndtimer,
Alas your State Dept considers us terrorists and makes it difficult to import projectiles into Australia.

A question for the 6x45 shooters ... what COL are you runing in your magazine boxes? The Stevens I'll convert has a 2.245" box and I'm just now trying to figure a way to extend it. A bit of extra length would suit the polymer tipped 70gr pills I feel.
Cheers...
Con

I have capabilities up to about 2.54" with mine...

My max Savage FP10 SA magazine lenght allows me to run at 2.280". You do have to make sure they are not being jambed into your rifling though. The 55 jsp in my Savage fp10 has to be seated to 2.180" otherwise the ogive is being forced into the grooves. the 70 NBT can be set to 2.280" as only at 2.430" will it actually hit the ogive, but it will not fit my mag unless I go single shot.
After looking at the SA .223 magazine that has the metal block at the rear I can see that with a little work I can move it back even with the bolt head when the bolt is all the way back & gain about 1/4" more lenght without running into problems like the base of the shell getting stuck under the bolt head.

Don't know if your Stevens is a center feed or stagger feed but I have four Sav/Stev. that started out as 223's and have been rebuilt into wildcats based on the 204 Ruger case, a 22-204(2.36" COL), 6mm-204 (2.41") and a 25-205 (2.461"). Only the 25-204 wouldn't fit the mag. I built the 25 first and that was a Savage 11 w/accutrigger in 223 and it had a short box, I pulled the block on that one. When I started on the others all the new rifles came with a longer box from the factory that would take a 2.41" length also mag boxes that I bought to play with turned out to be longer boxes. I abandonned the box with the replacement smaller block in it and run everything a 2.36 to 2.41.

I have had a problem with HP's seated long as they will hit the back of the barrel face if they are long enough to reach the chamber befor the shoulder hits the feed ramp so the 2.41 works with small HP's like match ammo BT's and SP's but not big Hp's like the 52gr speer FB.

erich

erich,
Inline magazine box. Pulled it out to see whether it's plastic spacer is modifiable and decided to stick with it as is. I can seat 67gr target projectiles to the point they're half way up the neck with some leeway still in the magazine box.

I've kind of decided to run 55gr through to 70gr projectiles in it. With the 55gr it should be well above my 'psychological barrier' of 3000fps ... and close to 3000fps with the 67gr projectiles. I'll lop the barrel at 21" which will make it a semi- poor man's Savage Predator rifle, quick handling and portable. If ever required ... I'm sure an 85gr projectile wont bounce of any medium game.
Cheers...
Con

Did anyone ever try any 75 grain VMAX or 75 grain Sierra varminter HP for varmint and target shooting in an AR15? When I was researching the 6x45, these two bullets appeared to be popular choices. Also, does anyone have any experience with the Sierra 70 grain blitzking?

I've shot a lot of the Speer 70 gr HP's in my 6X45's and they do well for me on PD's here in AZ.

Greg

A guy on here has led us to some cheap 55gr Nosler Australian over run bullets that would go great with the 6x45. $110 a thousand seems like a great deal! I might have to try them myself! T.S.