If I remember right, rost495 you have one of these don't you? I would like a little info about velocity, bullet weights, barrel length and twist, any loads you want to share or anyone else that has one.

Sorry I don't recall the MV right now... I have it stored somewhere as I've had the round a number of years. And the rest of the info you wont' like either. As it worked the first time. 18 inch tube, 85 tsx bullets, 27.0 Benchmark, appx half inch groups at 100 where I zero'd the gun to start hunting. I have only done the shooting at 200 to confirm drop since then and have only used it to kill animals with so far. Drop was somewhere around 6 inches from a dead on 100 yard zero. IIRC as a guess, the MV with 85s was just under 2800....

Check with White Oak Precision as at one time I had a LOT of load data for the round from John, I just have no clue what file thats in right now.

The story to all this non load work was they were using it in matches and wanted to know how it would work in hunting, so I bought hunting bullets and went out and shot a load of deer/hogs with it... Lets just say I never found an animal to hold the bullet, even at 250 yards lengthwise through whitetails the bullet sailed on.... never lost an animal either and can get off quick multiple shots on hogs...

Thanks for the info, I talked to John awhile back but lost my notes and I was thinking velocity was higher than that. Your guess is close to what a friend is getting. His has a 22" tube and velocity was 2970 for 75 gr and around 3400 with 55 gr.

I'd of swore John told me 3200 fps was possible with 75 grain bullets and a 20" tube.

I had a 6WOA that I had built but recently sold it, more or less because I built it too heavy and am looking to build #2 sometime this year.
The 3200 fps with 75 gr. pills is realistic, maybe 3300 with 70 gr. loads depending on particular rifle. My rifle was very accurate with 65 gr Vmaxs and 70 gr. TNTs. Benchmark I believe was the preferred powder in my loads, I never lost a prarie dog with those loads. I even tried the Sierra 60 gr. HPs for top velocity, they shoot well but not like the heavier bullets.
10" twist seems to be the optimum rate for this round in ARs

I'd think 3200 workable in a match length tube.... Mind you I never went past the first load with 85 tsx and a match bullet might be a better deal at making speed...
I have an 8 twist in mine, of course it was hunting and not varmint... but I always think one best to err on stable vs close in twists....

I can push an 85 grain bullet 3300 with my 243 WSSM but accuracy is best around 3250. I believe it has substantially more case capacity than the WOA. I would be hesitant to run a WOA thinking I could match the WSSM velocity.

But I bet your 243 wssm is not a 28 inch tube... that was my point, some folks talking higher speeds than waht I recall... I was 2800 give or take with an 18 inch well used barrel... add 10 inches and you probably can gain a fair bit...

Jeff

Jeff,
I agree with what you are saying and no, my barrel is 22", not 28. Certainly more inches of barrel will often yield more velocity. My post merely followed yours and was not meant to contradict yours. My point being, chasing velocity with marginal case capacity is often not a very satisfying experience.

I would think this would be more along the lines of reasonable expectations, and your experience seems to bear this out as well. Another 300 fps may be possible, it seems some say it is, but I doubt easy or free.

FWIW factory 55 grain Winchester Supreme 243 WSSM clock between 4050 and 4100 out of my 22" barrel.

Ricky... sorry I took it that way.... I use that dang quick reply all day long too....

But I don't think that 28 inches will give quite the speed one thinks, but I figured if one could get to around 3000 with an 85 tsx, they'd have an old 243 basically, IE same speed, bullet as good or better than any 100 grain cup and core..

No doubt the 243 wssm is better..... I'm still after a 25 wssm.. but the damn airboat bug bit me harder than I thought.... no rifle money.... and I still really want a 308 bull barrel gun rebarreled and a few other issues like a light mountain gun out of CArolyns 600 remmy..... before I dive off into AR uppers again... and really need to buy the press to load my 50s..... I digress...

Jeff

Jeff,
No worries. Your post was correct and clarifying: certainly not disagreeable in any fashion. I felt it best to clarify mine as well.

And I would not call the 243 wssm better, maybe only faster. Round capacity is quite limited with a WSSM compared to the WOA or Grendal. Still, I like my 243 WSSM and have a sweet little Model 70 mini Featherweight in the same caliber to compliment it. After a bit of experimenting I've found a load using Ramshot Hunter that works well in both using 100 grain Nosler Solid Base bullets at 3100 fps. Life is good!

I understand all too well about priorities surrounding unlimited wants and limited resourses. In time it all works out. My next AR upper is a ways down the road but either a 204 or a 358 wssm are quite interesting at this point. Who knows what tomorrow may bring!

I have a 6BR, which is very similar to the 6WOA. With 30.4 grs. of RL 15 I was getting almost 2900 FPS with a 26 in. barrel using a 105 Berger. I recently tried some 55 gr. Nosler using H-322 and got almost 3600 FPS. This would make a great Varmint round. This one has a 1/8 twist barrel.

Jimmy

Im bumping this old thread up. More out of curiosity than anything else. Wondering how many guys still use this cartridge. I didnt remember hearing TWR mention this round, so he may not of had it for very long. I recently ended up getting one and am anxious to try it out. Ive been wanting to try a wildcat in the ar platform and this one fell into my lap, so im going to run with it. Anyone have any load data? The barrel is 22" stainless/fluted shilen matchgrade. My thoughts are to disassemble the upper and put the barrel and BCG on my Noveske. I have about 5 ASC 6.8 spc mags coming as we speak. Anything else i need to know? Thanks for any help you can give.

I never jumped off the fence for this one, the idea of chasing wildcat brass in the weeds changed my mind.

Brass is not an issue ..........one pass thru a bushing die with 6.8 SPC brass and away you go. I still have mine.

Having watched my cousin look for 223WSSM, 25WSSM, 22 DTI, 17 Remington, 204 Ruger and even 223AI brass after a calling stand has made me appreciate the piles of 223 brass I have at home.

My wildcats will stay in bolt guns.

Yeah, if i have to, ill use a brass catcher. It also Seems pretty straight forward to just buy 6.8 SPC and run it through the die and you are done. Ill see how it goes though.

Also color the back of the cases by that put an x across head stamp in whatever color. So far I seen red, blue, yellow, black used by guys shooting competition. Helps them get there brass back when we police up brass after we are done shooting. I'm lucky I'm one of the few guys that uses LC brass others use Winchester etc. It also helps when you are the range looking for your brass..

Yep, good idea. I do that with my pistol brass when we are shooting competition.

Mine is coming along very nicely. Pulled the heavy 20" stainless varmint barrel off of my Noveske tonight and put the 6 WOA on. Had to buy a 27mm end wrench to take the NSR barrel nut off. Speaking of that, i switched some NSR hand guards around. Put the16.7" on the Noveske with the 22" fluted shilen and put the 15" NSR on the Northtech Defense. Ill get the low profile gas block and ASC mags in the mail tomorrow. Ill be ready to rock and roll on friday. Hoping to turn in some decent scores with this rifle. The only thing that is concerning to me is the barrel contour. This rifle is light now. Even though it has 2" more barrel. Im hoping this Shilen shoots as good as it looks and as good as others say. Hopefully its not all hype!!

I still have mine but its always been a hunting gun. Used shilen tube, John set it up. Only did a few test loads with it, everything was under an inch for 3 shot groups, and for a hunting gun it was good enough for me at the time. Pretty much was running large ragged holes for 3 shots.

Thanks Jeff. I was hoping you would chime in. This one was built by Dan Carey. However, its now on my Noveske upper. Im using the BCG that Carey had in the upper. Im hoping it shoots well enough that i can sell the 20" stainless Noveske varmint barrel. I actually put the Noveske barrel on the upper that Carey used, with the oldschool round aluminum handguard and Noveske BCG. That barrel really never even got any use from me, as i was always using my Northtech Defense.

call dtech for a 6mm DTI, pretty much the same thing.

I don't really need a "dtech"...




I just need to get some time to shoot this WOA and see how accurate she is...

Looks good bud!

Thanks man... Do you need a Noveske 20" varmint contour for your 600 yard shooting?

I have a 6mm WOA. Mine's a 26" in a Match Rifle Upper. I'd have to dig a bit for load data. I think most of my load development was in the 107 Sierra's. I thought I was running 85's for mag length. Accurate and easy to load for. I recall playing with Varget, Re15 and 4895.


I have both and they're not "very similar". My WOA get's me about 2700 with a 107 Sierra. The BR was good for around 2900 in a 26" AR.

What's the gas block diameter? .750?

Bigger. I can measure it tonight.

Cool. Both are supposed to be pretty good long range target guns. If you run across your load data, let me know. Thanks.

Hey Chris or rost/Jeff, if you don't mind, I may need a little guidence on this one. I was shooting it yesterday and it seems finicky with this powder (IMR 8208 XBR). I'd much rather be using my AR Comp powder, but will probably keep fiddling around with the 8208. Anyway, there was a big difference in group size in just 1/2 grain difference in powder:



It gets closer to the node with 1/2 grain more powder:


I'm thinking maybe .2 of a grain increments up in wt. next time out. No signs of overpressure at 28.5 grains. Rifle throws the brass in a nice cluster at the 4:30 position. Any words of advice? Thanks.. Oh by the way, I could use that bullet for deer hunting if I wanted. Its a gameking. When I picked them up, I wasn't paying any attention. Thought I was getting the match bullets, DUH!!!

Fella in our club uses the 6 WOA. He shoots 107gr Sierra otm. Not 85's so his data won't be much use to you..

Are you running any of your loads over a chronograph?

Sure

not shooting a single round Audette ladder tells me zippo.

Shoot the ladder, take the middle of the highest MV, and see what gives, tweak from there, rest is a waste of components and time. Do it at 300 if at all possible at night or 200 rather than 100 you know what I mean.

I'll date this data, my data is 4283 miles away right now. But I'm fairly sure I started with benchmark, and 80 or 85s. And took a compilation of internet data and John Holliger data and was in a hurry that day, never did a ladder, first 3 shot group was tight enough, follow up 5 shot groups were good. Its been generally within an inch of aiming point or less ever since. AT 100.

Jeff