6.5 Remington Magnum

Rocky7

Rocky7

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I have a short mag action 'left over' and am leaning toward building a 6.5 Rem Mag. Thing is, my research online, poring over reloading manuals, etc. is yielding inconsistent reviews - some really like the calibre and wonder why it never caught on and others focus on the lack of heavy bullets for it. For my part, the heavy bullet thing sounds like knocking a .30-.30 because there are no good varmit loads available for it. If I want to spit heavy bullets, I have other rifles and larger calibers much better suited to 130-140 gr. bullets, so I'm quite happy staying within the 100-120 gr. range with a 6.5.

If anyone has some first-hand experience with the 6.5 Rem Mag, I'd sure like to hear it. In particular, I'm finding max muzzle velocities for the 120 gr. or so bullets listed right around 3,000 and that just doesn't make a lot of sense to me, given the cartridge's geometry and capacity. A few sources show 3,200 to nearly 3,300 and that is where I'd hope to be if I'm going to all the bother.

Alternately, I'd be ok with a little less spectacular m.v. if the round is inherently accurate. (I'd probably go with a 24" bbl and 1:9 twist). Has anyone found this cartridge to be an eye-opener at the range?

Thanks in advance for your experience and thoughts.
 
The short action is the reason the 6.5 Rem mag never caught on... the bullets require seating too deep into the case... so if you build it on a regular length action you might as well make it a .264 Win mag....
 
Rocky7,
As you know from my pm, I too like the 6.5 Rem Mag and most things 6.5.

I came back to look at the post to see if the action details were there.

Seeing is a short mag action, I would go with the wildcat 6.5-300 WSM. Apparently it is fairly common, reamers are around, brass is easy to form and you would/should/could get performance between 6.5 Rem Mag and 264 Win Mag if you put 24" barrel min on it.

The performance I have gotten from Barnes 130 gr in my 270 WSM has been phenomenal. They make 120 and 130 gr for 6.5? What a great hunting round.

That is what I would do. Let us all know what you end up doing.
 
The 6.5 Rem Mag "died" so to speak because there are other rounds that have all of its advantages (i.e. it's short), but others it doesn't have. It's not really superior to a 6.5-284 and is less than a 6.5-300 WSM in a short action. In a standard action, the 6.5-06 does all it can do, and a 264 Win Mag does more.

Joep17 said:
...Seeing is a short mag action, I would go with the wildcat 6.5-300 WSM. Apparently it is fairly common, reamers are around, brass is easy to form and you would/should/could get performance between 6.5 Rem Mag and 264 Win Mag if you put 24" barrel min on it.
Click to expand...

The 6.5-300 WSM and 264 Win Mag, do not "need" a 24"+ barrel any more than smaller 6.5mm cartridges do. They'll outperform the 6.5 Rem Mag and others of similar capacity regardless of barrel length. They lose and gain more MV as barrel length decreases and increases, but will always be faster at the same pressures. In other words, a 20" barrel does not turn a 264 Win Mag into a 6.5 Rem Mag.
 
"...why it never caught on..." Mostly because its name has 'mm' in it.
"...leaning toward building..." Find a barrel that fits your receiver first.
 
guntech said:
The short action is the reason the 6.5 Rem mag never caught on... the bullets require seating too deep into the case... so if you build it on a regular length action you might as well make it a .264 Win mag....
Click to expand...

I've now come to the same conclusion and am headed down that track.

I am determined to have a 6.5 (for some reason that I don't fully understand) and it now looks like it's going to be the .264.

thx - everyone - for your comments.
 
264 WM is a good cartridge, flat shooting. I'm building a slightly heavier version then the sporter I had years ago. I also like the 6.5 STW (ballistically the same as the 6.5-300 Wby, another great long range round), which is a tad faster. 6.5 RUM is another fast 6.5, getting into overbore territory quickly. If you prefer standard cases, the 6.5-06, 6.5-06 AI, and the 6.5 Gibbs are all good choices. Medium length rounds (basically the x 57 cases) have some options, 6.5 x 57 and 6.5 x 55 AI being a couple that I like. Lots of options.
 
Joep17 said:
Rocky7,
As you know from my pm, I too like the 6.5 Rem Mag and most things 6.5.

I came back to look at the post to see if the action details were there.

Seeing is a short mag action, I would go with the wildcat 6.5-300 WSM. Apparently it is fairly common, reamers are around, brass is easy to form and you would/should/could get performance between 6.5 Rem Mag and 264 Win Mag if you put 24" barrel min on it.

The performance I have gotten from Barnes 130 gr in my 270 WSM has been phenomenal. They make 120 and 130 gr for 6.5? What a great hunting round.

That is what I would do. Let us all know what you end up doing.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. I've pretty much decided to go with the .264 Win Mag. You're right - it was a short action. I can do this by changing my plans to build a .300 Win Mag to a .300 WSM. This frees up a long action and hence the .264 Win Mag.

I agree absolutely about the 270 WSM. I have a fine Kimber 84 with select French walnut stock. Haven't shot it much and will be selling it as soon as I've got a 270 WSM built. Hopefully this winter. Wood stove going in the garage and my workbench covered with gun stuff. Heaven.

My dad was a big fan of owning one gun and getting to know it very well.

He may have been right. Probably was. Thing is, if you're a gun nut, there's no cure.
 
dan belisle said:
If you want to use your short action, try 6.5 WSM or 6.5 SAUM. They will fit in the action and give you the ballistics of the 264 Win Mag. Only drawback is custom dies and reamers. - dan
Click to expand...

True. The 6.5-300 Mag idea was tempting but for the reason(s) you mention, I don't think the bother and expense gets me far enuf past a 264 Win Mag and at least I can buy brass and dies for the 264. I think the switch to 300 WSM (which didn't really appeal to me otherwise) is the better bet as that frees up a long action for the 264. I figger if I stock up on brass there should be enough left to hand down to my gun nut daughter - unless one of our brainiac governments decides to confiscate them all someday!
 
6.5 Rem Mag

I just read your post. I finished a 6.5mm RM build on a FN mauser action recently.I used a Brownells 6.5x55 prethreaded barrel and a used reamer off the EE. It shoots a consistant 1" group. This is a relitively efficent cartridge, much more so than the 264WM,but it all depends on your needs. So far I'm enjoying it. The coyote's don't like it much.
Frank
 
I like the 6.5RM ... even bought some brass in preparation for the day I find one to buy. I do have a 350RM - same case - same issues. Before I bought the 350RM I was almost dissuaded by folks that thought it was too short ... or could be improved on by a longer action - therefore a longer round (so I also bought the 35 Whelan) FACT IS ... LOTS of rounds have performance that can be duplicated (or improved) by others ... so what? Buy the calibre you think you will enjoy using in a rifle you are happy with ... Obsessing about a few 100fps one way or another is not worth the time (been there done that!).

ps the usual obsessive compulsive logic goes something like this:
I like the size, shape/design and ballistics of the 6.5 Rem Mag BUT the 6.5/06 (or 6.5 Swede) will provide better ballistic BUT if I go to a long action I should get a 264 Win Mag (even better!) BUT the 270 Win is almost the same and easier on barrels and cheaper to feed BUT compared to a 270 the 30/06 has almost the same ballistics AND heavier bullets BUT the 308 Win is virtually the same as the 30/06 BUT shorter and more efficient BUT I "want" 6.5 calibre - oh well might as well get a .260 Rem - same case as the 308W... BUT the 6.5 Rem Mag is better than the 260.......BUY em all!!!:welcome:
 
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