Got to choose a cartridge

6.5mm / .264 cartridge choice

  • 6.5x47 Lapua

    Votes: 19 23.2%

  • .260 Rem

    Votes: 12 14.6%

  • .260 Rem AI

    Votes: 12 14.6%

  • 6.5x55

    Votes: 27 32.9%

  • 6.5x55 AI

    Votes: 12 14.6%
  • Total voters
    82
J

Jayph

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Well the barrel should be here by the end of the week and I have all the other parts sitting on a shelf so I can't delay my decision anymore :D I am leaning towards the 6.5x55 AI just to have something different but am not sold 100% on it. Looking for coments on how you feel about the rounds and if you have used them what your feelings were? I am building the gun as a target rifle to practice and learn long range shooting and as my skills increase I hope to get to 1000yds plus. I have got alot of great info via pm and just decided to run this poll for curiosity and maybe help me make a decision. I am also interested in comments on barrel length the barrel can be finished up to 28" and is a Krieger 17A contour. Thanks in advance
 
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I am building a .260 Rem for 700-900M so you know where my vote would be. :D

I've already been through all the "what should I build" BS and decided on a slightly modified .260 design of Ron Hermes from Washington due to feedback from fellow shooters and also shooting along side him a few times in Chilliwack.

I had tossed around the AI idea as well in both the 260 and 6.5x55.

I have seen too many people struggling with the 6.5x47 locally that I won't build one. Others have had great success with the cartridge from my understanding.

Good luck :D
 
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We have talked and I know how much you are struggling with this decision. I am struggling with the same decision and I was almost decided upon a 6.5X47, when I went back to the 6.5X55 and the 260.

The "winningest" 6.5 mm long range cartridge is still the 6.5X284, but it comes at a huge cost in terms of barrel life.

The best barrel life of your choices is the 6.5X47, but I have to agree with Richard and from my own personal interaction with some very good shooters, including D. Lapierre, (Arguably the best benchrest and F-Class shooter in BC) there have been many that have had difficulty making this cartridge work for them, yet I can also say that an equal number have made them sing. I have not seen a 6.5X47 win any BCRA competition in BC though. You will here from many guys that have had great success with it (And most of the 6.5 barrels I sell are destined for the 6.5 Lapua cartridge and I get lots of great feedback) , but I haven't seen that in competition locally - that is just a highly personal and subjective conclusion .

The 260 is a very easy cartridge to make work, as is the 6.5X55. Conversely, I also know shooters that have had tremendous difficulty making the Swede AI work well, but the 260AI seems to be less temperamental.

I have put the 260, the 260 AI and the Swede on my short list for my next 6.5

Since I will likely be team shooting with CyaN1de this year, it makes sense to standardize the cartridge we use for coaching purposes, and lucky for me, he has firmly made up his mind, thus I will likely bum his reamer and build a 260 "Habu" as well.
 
6.5x55 +1

6.5X55 with the 27-29" barrel lenght can push 140-142gr bullets around 2850-2950fps, with less powder, no fireforming and better barrel life then 6.5x284 and higher velocity then any listed above. Only downside I can see is the long action lenght compared to .260 and 6.5x47.
 
eg6ajk said:
6.5x55 +1

6.5X55 with the 27-29" barrel lenght can push 140-142gr bullets around 2850-2950fps, with less powder, no fireforming and better barrel life then 6.5x284 and higher velocity then any listed above. Only downside I can see is the long action lenght compared to .260 and 6.5x47.
Click to expand...

It will be built on a single shot short action so action size wouldn't matter. Wondering since I can have such a long barrel if going with the standard 6.5x55 would be the way to go just worried about the rifle being really muzzle heavy with that long of a heavy barrel. Oh decisions :D
 
eg6ajk said:
6.5x55 +1

6.5X55 with the 27-29" barrel lenght can push 140-142gr bullets around 2850-2950fps, with less powder, no fireforming and better barrel life then 6.5x284 and higher velocity then any listed above. Only downside I can see is the long action lenght compared to .260 and 6.5x47.
Click to expand...

me too. plus if you want to use a 260 remington and lapua you have to neck down 308 lapua brass. alot of extra work for nothing. I don't know how the 6.5x55 AI is compared to the original but it would be interesting to compare side by side.
 
this is a separate question but since we are discussing round preference i need to ask.

why dont people build precision rigs in 54R ? the dragunovs that we get here can pull sub MOA groups with crappy steel case Barnaul soft point ammo .. surely the round isnt that bad ?
 
Myself Im useing a Ron smith Barrel with a gain twist its only 26inch long but getting 2950 with not overloading at all on my 6.5 x55 and the count is 1300 rounds trough the the barrel and still one holeing
 
Cooter, the Swede is a fantastic round and capable of much more than people typically believe it can. Good on you for choosing it! I have lots of nostalgic fondness for this cartridge...

...not bad considering the design is over a century old! We keep trying to build a bigger better mousetrap, but truth be known, if they stopped designing new cartridges after 1925, we'd still have cartridges that could do everything that the latest greatest offerings are doing.
 
6x55

The best thing Ive found with the swede was with the old barrel from ron was I got about 1600 rounds through before the throught started going jumped to a mag primer and got one hole again for about 500 rounds then had to get a new barrel . I shoot kreiger barrels to but Ive found with a gain twist I get the speed with shorter and stiffer barrel
 
As an aside, the "Swede's" proper designation is 6.5X55SE and was designed in Germany by Paul Mauser and/or DWM. American-made brass is undesized atbase s compared to CIP. As discussed on other threads, factory loads are kept low in dererence to Mauser '96 actions, but the brass, especially Lapua, can be loaded to .308 Win pressure.

Definitely see a lot of bias, East-West based on cartridges and other matters. The 6.5X47 Lapua is a winner-- see 6MMBR site, but the 6.5-284 is still top 900m round.

Regards,

Peter
 
Wow with everything so close in the poll I don't think this is helping :D I'll put a positive spin on it and say that no matter what I pick it should work well:)
 
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