I am thinking about building a 6.5-284 long range deer/sheep/antelope rifle. What is your guys experinece with this round for medium game hunting? What bullets do you like? Powder? Difficult to load for? Barrel length? Talk to me... Ovis_Chaser

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...5_284_Norma_loads_for_long_r#Post4454487

I think it's the most overachieving, best long range, light recoiling cartridge out there.

It's my favorite hunting cartridge.

I like anything Scenar and Berger for shooting.
RL17 & H4831 SC rule so far for powder.
I have Scenar 108's on order to try out .478 BC at 3,400 perhaps?
That should be flat enough for antelope.

24" minimum for barrel. Long actions do work best though I've used it in short.

I just built this one on a 700 Ti, (formally 270)
Scope is a Leupold Mark 2 6 lbs 10 oz as is

H-4350 with 130 Bergers.
It will work great

I've only used one once...it was a buddy's and I borrowed it to take a pronghorn at 400 yards with one shot, the only time I ever fired the rifle. Bullet was a 120gr Ballistic Tip.

I've seen him kill lots of stuff with it. Most impressive was a huge 6x6 bull elk at 435 yards that dropped so hard it bounced when hit by the little 125gr Partition. So, yeah, it'll take "medium" game just fine.

His sporter was built on a 700 action (short) with 25" Lilja barrel twisted 1:8.5".

I agree with SU35....one of the best hunting cartridges you'll ever use, and with today's bullets, better than ever. If I was a hard-core handloader, it'd be about all I'd shoot.

I'd really love to see what the 123gr Lapua Scenar could do in that case. I'd also bet the 120gr TTSX or 120/130gr TSX would be elk killers, extraordinaire, as well.

Thanks guys for the input... this round sounds very impressive! Are cases hard to get, or do you form them from 284 brass? I do reload, so that is not a problem.

I was thinking of a 24" barrel on a 700 action, HS Precision stock and topping it off with the new Leica 3.5-14 riflescope.

SU35: Thats a dandy looking rig! Thnaks for sharing!

Seattlesetters: Yes, good bullets put in the right spot do wonders! <wink>

I appricate you guys input!

O_C

Buy Lapua 6.5-284 brass-Usually not hard to get

Lapua and Norma both make brass for the 6.5-284. Norma semi-legitimized the cartridge by putting their name on it.

Just my opinion, but if you're not spinning a turret with this cartridge you're only utilizing
50% of it's ability. Think 1000 yards.

Buy your brass based on what reamer was used to chamber your rifle. 6.5 X 284 is slighlty different than 6.5 X 284 (Norma)

Have some Lapua brass for sale, Win 284 brass a much better fit in my rifle. Expensive lesson!

i have two. awesome.

6.5x284 is a great little cartridge. I shoot this caliper in one of my F Class rifles. Couple if things to be aware of with this cartridge. In a hunting rifle this is not a deal killer but still is something to know about, Barrel life in the 6.5x284 "Can" be very short. I have a friend shooting one and his Lilja barrel lasted 600 rounds, most shooters in there competition guns are getting double that but it can be a problem if you shoot it a lot. My 6.5x284 wears a Hart barrel and while it is almost new I check it a lot. Also Bullet selection, be aware that some of the 6.5 bullets are for competition only and planly state so on the package, they are just not tough enough to use on game as they are meant for punching holes at 1,000 yds or so.

RS

I also have two. One is a Savage action custom set up for LR prairie dog shots - and I hit one at 1,153 yards. The other a Cooper 22 sporter - that smacked an antelope at 435 yards for its previous owner; I hit a p-dog at 411 yards using its Leupold CDS dial.

Great cartridge. Both rifles prefer Lapua brass, while expensive, I can use right out of the box. Its dimensional uniformity is amazing.

On barrel life...if the 6.5-284 is washing barrels at 600 rounds, then the 264Win Mag is only good for 300 rounds or so?

Mine have lasted a lot longer than 600 (Krieger, Douglas, and McGowen).

Come on guys xphunter and jesse jaymes, If either of you will take the time to read my post I said

"Most shooters in there competition guns are getting double that but it can be a problem if you shoot it a lot."

I believe that getting 600 rounds out of a barrel is very short barrel life, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Take a little time and read some information, easily obtained and very common information at that. The 6.5 X 284 is a notorious Barrel Burner. This is common knowledge amongst competitors in F Class paticularly but in Competition period. Hasn't stopped anyone from using it, I sure Do. My post was simply a heads up for anyone considering using the 6.5 X 284..........

PS jesse jaymes, I didn't know we were talking about the 264Win Mag. Never owned one, never shot one, and NEVER ever made a comment about one. but if you say 300 rounds thats cool with me.....

Roland

If you take a look at the load data on the web site link below you will see why the 264 WM is my choice and still low recoil and the 85gr HP is smokin out my Shilen 30" barrel 3900+ fps.




http://www.hodgdon.com/basic-manual-inquiry.html

I don't have either, that's why I asked. I will have to stick to my plans for .260 Rem in order to have it last 2 seasons.

Amen to that and he does.

You should start your own 264 thread.

This one is about 6.5-284's.

Roland,
Sorry about that.
I did read what you said.
I should have posted more and explained myself better.
Must have been in a hurry or something...

When someone is contemplating a hunting rifle for big game in a specific cartridge like the 6.5-284, I do not think it is fair to compare the barrel life of a rifle that is going to be used for hunting big game with one that is being used in BR comps.

BR comps involve a lot of back to back shooting or rapid shooting.

Whereas hunting and the practice for hunting does not typically.
I am not counting pd shooting here, only big game.

Most hunters never wear out a 6.5-284 barrel.
Even if they did, it would be a small price to pay to have a new tube chambered up compared to the costs surrounding hunting.
For the ones who did wear out a barrel I would be impressed that they are practicing that much to be proficient in the LR game.

Ovis,
I have had great performance from the A-Max's as well in both 6.5 and in 7mm on antelope.
Barrel length is a personal choice.
Do your research and get what you want.
I use relatively short tubes compared to the majority of guys here.

love mine i used a 270 win for about 14 years but switched to the 6.5 after having one built it is an awsome caliber and i find i cant leave it home . i uses rl17 51.5gr 140gr accubond lapua brass 2988fps

XP hunter & others I tried 140 A Max instead of the usual 140 gr Hornady Interlock in my 6.5 X 284. A Max in my experience require more powder to reach velocity. Not in my 6.5 X 284 it
was 150 fps faster pulled the rest! Do you have to drop the load
much or at all with the A Max? IMR 7828 around 52 gr with Lapua
brass & 140 gr Hornady Interlock works very well in my rifle.

Gents,

Thank you all for the input... you have been very helpful!

Thanks again!

O_C

I have always used H-4350 (faster the 7828) with mine whether with the 140's or the 130. I treat every barrel differently and let it tell me what it likes and work for the accurate load.

This is an interesting cartridge. Yesterday at the range there was an old-timer with a custom target rifle he'd built himself, chambered in it.

Guy was 89 years old. Asked me to tell him when the RO gave commands, since he couldn't hear them.

He was shooting 142 moly-coated SMKs at 2,850. He had a paper target at 500 meters, and sent a few downrange. There was a little wind too. He brought his target back, and was pissed because of the flyer that opened up his group to .5 MOA.

Hope I'm shooting like that at 89.

Very true words and I agree 100%.

Shot a nice group this morning with a load of Scenar 123's and 62.0 RS Magnum for 3,200 mv.

20.5 at 1000 at about 1,900 fps

24" barrel.

watched a friend take a bull at 645yrds with his 6.5x284 berger 140 gr. This is a very popular chambering in this part of the country. 6.5 is just good no matter how you look at it. my wife shoots a 260 we love it.

Heck, I hope I'm shooting like that at 52! or ever!!!

Bob, eventually you're going to get tired of lugging that thing around, and then you should call me and I'll take it off your hands and give it a good home.

A Big time amen to that (I'm 52 as well..)

Dober

Haha! we'll see....

Brown showed up a bit ago with some 108's.

I'm out the door to test them out.

Also had some 156 Norma Oryx show up as well and I hope someone here can supply me with some load data for those bullets.

Oryx, for a bear in the bush you might say.

If'n my .260 ever shows I'll be ordering some 123's as well.

Dober

Mark, I just shot some 123's at the range today out of my Crusader .260 and my lightweight .260....I'll post pics if the targets.

Messing around with seating depth and tweaking the powder charge. The top two targs are my lightweight .260, the bottom is the heavy GAP Crusader. This is the first time I've shot 123's out of the heavy rifle...kinda pleased to walk up on that one.

Any rifle chambered to shoot 6.5 is a winner!

Gee, why did you have to post those target picture, I need to go shooting.

Nice shooting, those 6.5, 123 work great.

I'm hoping to get some reports on how those 123gr Scenars do on game. They should be a very nice option in my .260 for pronghorn and mule deer and whitetails in big alfalfa fields!

What would you fella's with a lot of experiance with the 6.5X284 say is the optimum barrel lenght for a hunting rig? I have two one has a 22" and the other a 24" barrel. Seems the BR guys like them longer. My 22" barrel rifle is about ready for a new barrel and was thinking about trying a 26" barrel on it.

While I've never owned a 6.5/284 I've been around the 6.5/06 a ton load and for me I like 23" on it.

Dober

Nicely done Scenar! What you gonna drag around for bruins this spring?

Dober

Probably the old reliable GAP .308 per usual....155's. Maybe the .260....maybe the .308 for Montana and the .260 for Wyoming. Tough decisions!....grin!

Glad I got out of the hills a bit early tonight, major league White coming down right now! Loading a bunch of 22/250's cause it's that time of year...grin

Dober

I'll be showing up your way on the 13th.....prime time..

lets get together and have a cold one...

Absolutely!

Dober

Well, me too, I'm assuming I'll keep getting better every year 'til I'm 89.

I've had/have them from 18" to 31".

I think 26" is a good compromise......

Nice shooting scenar (oxymoron), have you used those 123's on game much? If so, how'd they perform if you don't mind me asking?

Edited to add, scratch "oxymoron" from the post above, what I meant to say was "redundant." Brain fart, LOL.

Scenar, did you happen to chrono those? Just curious as to how fast they are going.

aalf, Can you tell me an estimated amount of gain from 24" to 26"? The gain I saw from 22" to 24" wasn't that great for me to make a big deal about. But I am thinking adding another two might be a sizable difference.

MCH,
Just a thought. From barrel to barrel you are going to have some differences, and where you find accuracy at will not always the speed either.
I typically guesstimate 30-40 fps per inch

xphunter that is why I did not change barrel lenght from the two I have already. I get very good results from both the 22" and 24". I am not sure if I want to mess with starting over. I am not looking for every fps I can get, as I can get more out of what I have now. I was just wondering what the idea lenght is for the 6.5X284 in general. In the rifles I have seen at the range and in the fields it has been 22" that I have seen the most of. Not sure why that is.

18" Broughton ave was 2740

31" Broughton ave was 3060

Same load in each, so as close to apples to apples as I can/will do.

Just running the numbers, no scientic facts or shooting facts that breaks down to a total of 320fps gain. If you divide that over the barrel lengths in 1" incrimints that is 24.61 fps per inch. If that is truly the case I don't see a need to change the lenght on my current barrel when having it rebarreled. Thanks for the info guys.

This is a great all-around cartridge, but excels at long range stuff. I have a 25" barrel and a buddy that has built over 40 of them told me that this is the ideal 'compromise' length. He opined that if you go shorter than this, might as well have a 260 or 260AI.

I really like 130 Normas and Bergers in mine. I like the 108s out of the 260 but don't see a need in the 6.5-284.

Dennis,
As of the last 12 months or so I have also become a fan of the 130 Berger in the 6.5-284 and in the 6.5 WSM.

+1

This length is really good for this cartridge as it eeks out quite a bit of FPS and is still reasonable to carry. The 6.5x.284 I've killed game with has a 25" barrel, and I wouldn't change a thing. It isn't something I'd want to lug around the high mountains or the thick timber, but for an open-country sharpshooter it's about perfect.

That's just another cartridge and to me there is a lot of overlap. Not that we cannot have a favorite and make it work.

Since I feel that way about most cartridges in that class I look to the rifle first. So I ask what rifle would you chamber your new 'build' in?

The 284 itself would do about the same and I can't see a rifle chambered for that around?

Heck, the Montana I just got in 7mm WSM will do as much or more and it weighs less than an old Featherweight.

To each his own.

Their is certainly nothing wrong with the original 284- especially with the plethora of great 7mm target bullets that have come on the market in the past couple of years. I have played quite a bit with the 7WSM and I prefer the 6.5-284 over it. The recoil from the 7mm shooting 180s is substantially greater. I also don't care for the little short necks on the 7WSM. A 7x300 WSM is a better all-around design. Too bad the bean counters at W-W were worried about someone chambering a 7WSM in a 300 and causing problems (I don't think it would cause much of a problem) but they were and made the shoulder to head length greater.

Awesome brass and nearly unlimited load data on the 6.5-284. Not so much on the 7WSM.

I chambered mine in a long action custom action with a Mickey Rem Hunter pattern stock (quite beefy). It is not a typical "sheep rife". I have a 260 Remington that is- didn't want to duplicate it.

I built my first 6.5X284 when I was still living full time in SE Alaska. I wanted a skiff gun that was fast and handy, with a shorter barrel for hiking thru thick brush and devils club. So I went with a M-70 action, 22" SS barrel, in a McMillan HTG stock. It was built for shooting anything from coyote to sheep but the main intent was Sitka Blacktail and Wolves. It has never let me down and I have to say it maybe my favorite rifle.

The second build was designed for hunting the Western US. I went this time with a Rem 700 action, 24" ss Barrel, and a McMillan edge stock. I have used it on Mule Deer, Whitetail, Prong Horn,and pigs.

So what scope are you using for your 6.5 X 284 for hunting?

The 22" barreled M-70 had a Leupold 3-9X33 I don't recall the model. That has been replaced by a VXIII 3.5-10X40

The 24" barreled M-700 has a Mark 4 10X40 LR/T M1.

Dennis,

What I like about the 6.5's is that they will do anything the 7mm's will do with 10 to 15 grains less powder and 20 grains less bullet.

That equals less recoil.

So far, from a 24" barrel.

140's at 2,950 .....49.0 RL17
123's at 3,200

Dennis,

Winchester wasn't worried about people shooting 7mm WSM ammo in .300 WSM rifles. Instead they were worried about people shooting 7mm WSM ammo in .270 WSM rifles.

One reason some people have gone to the 7mm SAUM is that the velocity possible is very close to the 7mm WSM, but with a longer neck.

That would make more sense but somewhere along the line, you have to let people make decisions. I think the 7SAUM is a better case design but it is even harder to come by than the WSM version! The WSM could do with a few grains less powder just fine.


Bob- I haven't tried much Reloader 17 yet so I haven't seen those velocities. I have used it with the 130s one time but it has been too windy to mess around much lately. I had smaller groups and better SD when using H4831 and shooting at 500 yds. I need to refine that R17 load as it is about 150 fps faster than I can get with 4350 or 4831.

In the 264WM you can use as much or more powder (70+gr) as the 7 to push the 6.5 bullet with a lot less recoil and higher fps. Been shooting mine sinse 1963 and just got its first new barrel in 2009.

Went to Brunos today to get some 123s. All the Scenars are only available in boxes of 1000! Brunos will break them down into 100s for you if you ask. The days of the little blue boxes are over! Bummer.

I just bought some from Powder Valley in the blue boxes.

I got 30 cal Sce's in the blue boxes as well from PV

Dober

Powder Valley had my 139 Scenar 100 ct in stock and their Lapua brass was competitive with Brunos. Great folks to deal with and quick shippers.

I am just getting my 6.5-284 up and running. Wish I had found this thread before I bought my starting supplies.

Started with H100V and 139 grain Scenars, GM210M and Lapua brass. So far so good. Kind of wishing I'd have bought the Silver Jackets though.

Any thoughts on the coated Scenars?

They're moly, I don't use moly but some do.

Right now, 284 brass is impossible to find. It is seasonally produced by Winchester, and this is apparently the wrong season.

6.5-284 brass is available from several manufacturers. In addition to those previously mentioned, Hornady is making this brass, head stamped "Hornady 6.5-284". I found fifty pieces at Sportsman's Warehouse in Boise and just received another 100 pieces from Midway.

The price is just over $1.00 each for the Hornady brass, and it is the least expensive of that which I have found.

Norma and Lapua are less expensive than Hornady at Powder Valley and Bruno's.

Not trying to be a jerk, just trying to help everyone get the best deal.

6.5 X 284(resized 284 Win Brass) is slightly different than 6.5 X 284 Norma brass. Buy your brass based on the reamer that was used on your rifle.

Base diameter slightly larger on Norma & shoulder junction slightly longer. Not usually a problem unless you have a tight chamber 6.5 X 284 Winchester.

Redding dies are slightly larger than RCBS,and Redding are
marked 6.5 X 284 Norma. At least mine were.

I didn't know that. I thought the case was the same but the throat length was different.

Bruno's told me this is the only way they come now- it was a brand new shipment and they had to break it up for me while I waited. They had tons of blue boxes but almost all of them were 338s. I suspect that Powder Valley has old stock and will be in the same boat once they sell out- as far as being competitive with Brunos, no doubt, but I can drive to Brunos and pick up what I need. With bullets, tax is usually less than shipping. I also know that a box of bullets hasn't been tossed around and dropped. I buy sleeves of bullets at a time and this way I get bullets that have been handled with care.

Take a box of SMK and drop them on the floor and then run them over a Juenke machine, bad things happen to bullets when they are dropped.

I don't buy powder from Lester anymore as he gouged us when stuff was hard to get. I still get my powder at Grafs and buy case lots only.

The W-W brass is a lot smaller at the base than the Norma or Lapua. I spec'd my reamer fairly tight but big enough that the size die would still size it enough for easy chambering. Both types of brass work fine in mine. I can get a little more powder in the 284 brass actually.

Who is Lester?

Graf's has been really good to me over the years.

Bruno

Hi guys,i'm thinking on getting a 6.5x284. I'm from south africa,and this is not a very common caliber,so there is not a lot of info on it.

I would really appreciate some info please.

I will be using it for target 100-600m and hunting medium game at 500m max.

i was thinking of a 20" barrel,what is the best twist rate?

Hey MCH,

how did your 22" barrel perform?

did you use it for target or hunting?

cj

hey AALF,

was there a big difference between the 18" and 20" in accuracy?

is 600m hunting a possibility for the 18"?

and what was the twist rate?

cj