I haven't shot a ton of matches but enough to see that the guys who do well are familiar with their gear and practice a lot.
Some don't give a sh$t about what the PRS blog stats say you need to be competitive.
.260 vs 6.5x47L
- Thread starter Slug870
- Start date
I haven't shot a ton of matches but enough to see that the guys who do well are familiar with their gear and practice a lot.
Some don't give a sh$t about what the PRS blog stats say you need to be competitive.
So getting back on track here, am I correct in my understanding that performance wise the two are near identical however the 6.5x47L is significantly easier to tune/tweak when reloading?
I know that the .260 will feed from a mag without issue, can the same be said for 6.5x47L?
Thank you to all who have posted.
I know that the .260 will feed from a mag without issue, can the same be said for 6.5x47L?
Thank you to all who have posted.
The 260 loaded with a 140g vld will be at your max mag length right from the start, with no room to chase the lands. The 6.5x47 is shorter and was designed to feed from a mag, and does as it was designed. Also give you plenty of room to chase the lands.
Mystic Precision
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Summerland, BC
The ideal load that you see many shooters, in all forms of shooting, is a 140gr at 2700fps... a 130gr at 2800+... so useable performance is identical between the two.
Tuning is very similar... you just need more fuel and likely a different powder
Accuracy is very similar... call it identical for rocks and gongs
so it boils down to packaging and costs
The 6.5X47L just fits AICS mags easier AND most reamers are set up for the desired OAL so it is "easy to tune"... You could do the same thing with the 260Rem but why spend the extra money on a custom spec reamer?
This whole "easy to tune" thing.. that's a chamber dimension question... and that is tied to your reamer spec.
Now I know you don't want to talk 6.5 CM but I think it is worth mentioning from the view of cost. If you compete, you are going to need alot of brass and Lapua, will get pricey... especially if there is a percentage lost at each match.
With Hrn taking a big position in reloading brass now, the woes of old are gone with popular chamberings. Current 6.5 CM Hrn brass is superbly made and takes a beating. I have yet to hear from any of the many shooters that I have supplied Hrn 6.5 CM brass report worn out cases... some are now over 10 reloads. Again, 140gr at 2700fps... not 2900fps.
Cost is well under 1/2 Lapua when purchased in bulk, and it is capable of 1/4 MOA performance. If you are going to loose 10% or more at each match, the Hrn will pay for itself pretty darn quick.
I can offer brass from all popular brands like Lapua so it really doesn't matter what customers want to use... but they do ask about performance vs price and if you have to treat your brass as a consumable (ie lost), the 6.5 CM/ Hrn combo makes for a very compelling argument.
The option to run factory ammo is appealing to a lot of shooters and the 6.5 CM options are massive now.... not sure if any other 6.5 shares this option.
The US industry has turned the 6.5 CM into the new "308" and will support this case for our lifetimes... it works superbly in mag fed bolt rifles AND is my new fave for an AR10 type platform.
It is popular for many good reasons... so I toss it back into the ring for your consideration.
Jerry
I don't know if people will make a cartridge choice based on brass but I can say this when shooting my 6 Creedmoor which uses Hornady brass I'm a lot less concerned about tracking down every spent case than I am when shooting my 6XC that uses the Norma brass
Actually, FWIW, and coming from a Lapua/Norma snob (LOL) I'm finding the Hornady 6CM brass to be very good and don't think anyone should shy away from using it.Bob
Never lost anywhere close to 10% of brass at a match, even field matches in the US. 2-4 pieces, max. And smaller club matches in Canada, even loosing 1 case is a rarity. I've always found that when you come off a stage, the rest of the squad is more then willing to do a quick brass check. Heck, half the time they're picking up your brass as you are still shooting...
Exactly that. I think I've lost max 10 pieces in a 2 day field match in the States. Even if you lost 20 pieces (10% of a 200 rd 2-day match) that's what, $20? When a match costs a couple hundred bucks and you shoot 200+ rounds and have to travel to get there, that's hardly the deciding factor.
Also, I've found Hornady's 6 creed brass to be garbage. My next few barrels I'm using Prime (Ruag) brass.
I ran 6.5x47 from an AW mag and lots of folks run x47 out of AICS mags. As mentioned by others above it is nice that it is shorter so you dont have to just seat to mag length.
I would go 6.5x47 personally, more efficient case design, less powder, shorter powder column - all good things.
I would go 6.5x47 personally, more efficient case design, less powder, shorter powder column - all good things.
Interesting how our experiences differ. I was leery and worried about the problem you report and saw some issue reloading factory ammo but bought a batch of new rather than necking down from 6.5 to 6 and found no issues. Shot four back to back groups at 350m yesterday that averaged in the .2's with no vertical and will be running preferred loads over chrony today. Different batches ? Different source ?
I haven't had accuracy issues with Hornady brass and mine is a mix of necked down 6.5 and new 6mm brass. The barrel the guys at Insite did up for me is a laser and has done numerous 0.25 moa 5 rd groups. I did have to weight sort all the brass as there was a huge variation in case weights. The brass I had problems with was the new 6mm Creedmoor brass. Had a few pieces show signs of premature case head failure after only 3-4 firings with proper reloading practices (annealed every time, shoulders bumped 2 thou, etc). Had a case in a match develop a split almost all the way around at the case head, I just don't trust the stuff. I've got a couple buddies I shoot matches with that have had the same issues. All moved on to Prime/Ruag, Lapua or Alpha and have had zero issues since.
Mystic Precision
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Summerland, BC
Sorry to hear you have had issues. I have sold a bunch in both 6.5 and 6 CM....no complaints, just repeat orders. Not sure where you got your brass.
I am helping 6 local shooters who have both Hrn and Lapua that I sold them. They will move to the Lapua when their Hrn wears out, but so far, none of the Hrn has worn out so they keep hammering them. All run SAAMI loads
I can offer the same lot of 6CM that Tomochan has... he is happy...as have others
But if any shooter is not confident in any component, stop using it
All options are possible so choose what makes you happy
Jerry
I am helping 6 local shooters who have both Hrn and Lapua that I sold them. They will move to the Lapua when their Hrn wears out, but so far, none of the Hrn has worn out so they keep hammering them. All run SAAMI loads
I can offer the same lot of 6CM that Tomochan has... he is happy...as have others
But if any shooter is not confident in any component, stop using it
All options are possible so choose what makes you happy
Jerry
Yeah, I've heard good things about the Alpha brass. I've got 400 pieces of once-fired Prime 6.5 that I'm necking down so that oughta last me a couple barrels. I'd be running the Prime brass already but the reamer used for my current barrel has a .275 neck (as opposed to a .277 neck) so it's a no go for Lapua or Prime, not sure about Alpha. Not to stressed, the barrel will be toast in a few hundred rounds now, haha.
Not to derail this thread completely, but I got 9 firings out of Hornady 6.5 Creedmoor brass lot# 4140271 that was necked down to 6 Creedmoor. I just stopped picking them up because I trim them every firing and that brass has got to be coming from somewhere.
Found a nice node about 3070 ish that both the Benchmark and Bartlein barrels liked.
