Bcl102 barrel swap to 6.5 now range pics
- Thread starter crfmatt
- Start date
I know it seems to generate a bit of debate, but I’d like to know how you guys fair with these 6.5 creedmoor barrels with respect to barrel life. A long term test and a known round count for the life of it would be appreciated.
Velocities are not very high, just a more efficient bullet than a 308 so barrel life should be good. I'm launching a 129gr at about 2650fps, I've seen that guys are pushing a 140's to over 2700 in bolt guns but I don't like heavy for caliber in a semi auto so I'm sticking to 129gr till I figure out if it will shoot well or not. I've got a load consistently doing about 1 moa from my MH but think I can tighten that up a little more.
I don't see my 6.5 as a high volume shooter though so I doubt I'll ever wear mine out. It's more of a precision/long range cartridge for me.
saltednutz
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Throttle_monkey1
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
True. Once you get up to 6.5-284 velocities is where the throat erosion accelerates greatly. I want to rebarrel to 6.5 creed once my 102 arrives and was thinking of keeping a 129 ABLR at around 2700 accuracy permitting. Should have minimal wear at that velocity. In my 6.5x55 hunting rifles I load the same bullet to just over 3000, but don't put a lot of rounds through them after load development is complete.
I’m reading anacdotal tales of ~1500 rounds from a stainless barrel. No question those fellows with that mileage are pushing as fast as they’ll go, and switching early either prior to or just as the barrel is showing signs of opening up.
Regardless, it would be good to have this thread updated with long term results as the OP and others wear this in and eventually (maybe) out.
There's a calculator out there that gives an estimate of accurate barrel life. I'd guess accurate bbl life of a 6.5 is in between 2 and 3k shots. Less if you shoot rapid fire alot. .308 accurate bbl life is about 8k.
But the bbl will still shoot past it's accurate life. You just get the groups opening up. Probably close to what these guns shoot with the stock bbl
My 129 SST load with Varget is almost at book max (Hornady #9) and 2650 is my average velocity, I do have another load I developed with Hybrid 100V that is pretty accurate at around 2700fps but not as tight as the Varget group. Twenty inch barrel by the way in case anyone was wondering.
10 rounds/100yds (must have put one through an old hole)
I could probably tighten this one up if I slowed down a little more. That was from bipod on my lawn with a rear bag
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With the velocities the 6.5CM is doing why do you think it would only be 25%-30% of the life of a 308? It's not like we are pushing these hard, I know my old 6.5-284 was known for short life but I don't see why these wouldn't last close to the same as a 308.
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