New shooter

[Bigsmokey10]

Hello names Kyle! I'm new to the long gun world And have been bitten by the bug. I'm looking to get pointed in the right direction/get some help a long the way. In advance I'm just going to say I do not know a ton about reloading so bare with me.

I just bought a 6mm br the other day. It's built on a 700 chassis

Hart barrel
Tubb Lugs
Davidson bases
kelbly rings
Jewel trigger
8.5x25x50mm Leopold on top.

I bought some hsm 75 grain ammo to shoot the other day and the round wouldn't seat. Didn't notice this when I bought the gun but it has .266 neck stamped on it and these rounds measure .2695 .

So really what are my options? Can I order brass thsts set up to shoot threw this gun with the necks already turned ?

I mainly want to shoot up to 500 yards and under primarily for varmits.

Again I'm new to this reloading game so bare with me please.

 

[T 700]

Yes u can get brass to fit your chamber, a guy on this forum turns it down, DJ'S bras service I think, he does great work from what I hear. best advice I can give you is to have the chamber neck opened up to .272 so you don't have to worry about it.

U will love how accurate the 6br is! And it's very easy to find a great shooting load!!

 

[powderbrake]

I agree with T 700's advice. It is easier getting the throat of the barrel opened up to accept standard 6mm BR brass that to have to turn all your brass all the time. I have a 6BR which I am using for prairie dog hunting, and I use unturned brass with the barrel neck opened up, and it is plenty good for varmints.

 

[Sniper338]

If you dont want to take your gun to the smith to gave the throat changed, then you need to buy a neck turning tool or a neck turning lathe and trim the brass down to fit. It isnt hard, just takes a few to get the hang of it and get stuff set up right.

The loaded rounds though unturned wont work unless you do one or the other.

You will find a load with varget.

 

[BT1]

The 6br Is a great round, but you did not state the twist on the Hart barrel. I found that a 12 twist I have will not shoot anything over a 75 grain bullet well. The fast 9 twist or so can also shoot the light 75 gn and also the better BC heavier 95 to 105 pills. Out to 500 yards the heavies may perform better.

For varmint hunting it sure would be nice to have the neck opened up. I've loaded 500, 6br for a trip a few years ago and could not think about turning all those necks for varmint loads. Serious bench or other competition maybe.

Good luck with your rig. I'm sure you will find a load it likes. As mentioned Varget is a go to powder and for now actually available.

 

[Stray8]

I would also make sure that it is a 6BR Norma vs 6BR Remington. BR Remington had a short freebore for short range light bullets and was meant to compete more with the PPC crowd. If you get it Rechambered for a no turn neck then it makes no difference though. What twist is your barrel? That will help with bullet selection.

 

[Bigsmokey10]

It is a 6mm br Norma. Sorry should of stated it's a 1/12 twist.

What kind of accuracy if any will I give up by opening up the gun to a .271 ?

And anyone make factory lighter grain loads? From my research the 1/12 is going to not like much anything that is heavy.

Here's a pic of the old girl

 

[tn6br]

It is a 6mm br Norma. Sorry should of stated it's a 1/12 twist.

What kind of accuracy if any will I give up by opening up the gun to a .271 ?

And anyone make factory lighter grain loads? From my research the 1/12 is going to not like much anything that is heavy.

Here's a pic of the old girl

Will you be reloading for this rifle or only shooting factory ammo?

 

[Bigsmokey10]

I'd like to reload but at the same time it would be nice to grab a box of factory ammo here and there to shoot but in all reality I doubt I'll shoot it enough to really warrant buying factory ammo. Id like to get into reloading for it

 

[Bigsmokey10]

Crappy thing is I just bought 80 rounds of hsm 75 grain rounds for it lol. Guess I could yank the bullets out and have the brass sent off to dj's to have him turn it ?

 

[tn6br]

I'd have a gunsmith scope the bore and if it's shot out Rebarrel or set back with a no turn reamer. If it's good I'd by some Lapua brass turned to correct spec and start loading with good components.

 

[snert]

First, take it to a reputable smith who works on target rifles and long range rifles. (or see the fine list of guys here in the ads)

1) determine health of barrel because that will guide every step afterward
2) if barrel is good, I would simply have him open the neck and not look back, shooting any good 65-70 grain bench bullet or varmint bullet, starting with varget as my powder, seating a bit off lands initially.
3) if barrel is toast, put a good (Hart, Krieger, Bartlein, Shilen etc) on it, and personally I would go to a 8 twist and enough freebore to shoot 105's. I have found that I did not give up accuracy with the lighter bullets doing this (especially varmint accuracy) and made the rifle more versatile. Now I shoot 75 grain to 105 grain, no issues. But frankly, if it were a 12 twist originally, I would not have worried. I would have just shot lighter bullets.

I think once you do the first step (find out if barrel is ok), this is the best route. However, if you don't want to have the chamber opened (usually about $120 or so last I had it done), you could buy the equipment and turn necks. You will spend that (and more plus time) to turn necks. But I am sure it will work also.

Up to you.

let us know what you do and how it works

Snert

 

[snert]

And BTW, reload for it. That is the fun about a 6BR! Anyone can buy a box of ammo for a 243. Only us reloading gods can create awesome and we start with a 6BR

 

[Dave Berg]

And BTW, reload for it. That is the fun about a 6BR! Anyone can buy a box of ammo for a 243. Only us reloading gods can create awesome and we start with a 6BR

Well yes, but there's the rest of the story...

There are two major reasons for rolling your own ammo;

To save money - That's why I started almost 50 years ago and it can work if you shoot enough. Buy entry level equipment and be happy if it shoots as well but cheaper than HSM stuff (although with their prices cheaper isn't hard to do).

To build the best possible ammo tailored for your specific rifle - That's why I still do it but you can't do it with entry level equipment so that RCBS Rock Chucker kit for $250 all gets sold, given or thrown away except for the press.

The point is that some folks start into hand loading with the expectation that it will be cheap and turn out match grade ammo. Perhaps some folks can manage that but when most of us see a gadget or thing-a-ma-jig that makes it better it goes on the must have list, right up there with the truck payment. It's true you can throw and weigh powder with basic stuff that's at least safe but the little bench where I weigh powder has about $1,000 worth of "stuff" on it. Chargemaster, A&D FX-120i, Omega trickler, 250 pound granite slab, custom funnels, custom loading blocks, drop tubes, UPS and a straw from McDonalds. And the big bench with the presses and priming tools! And the little bench with the micrometers and run-out gauges! And the racks full of dies, etc! I have no idea how much I've spent over the years but I'm pretty sure I could have shot factory ammo, even HSM, for less so I sure didn't save anything. I just hope my wife doesn't sell it for what I told her it cost.....

 

[DOGCAPPER]

You could open the neck to take factory if you want a mishmash of ammo to shoot in the rifle. You may find this to be most unsatisfactory with factory accuracy and necks splitting on the turned rounds and various POI on the target.

 

[Bigsmokey10]

Looking like I'm going to have the Smith open it up. What neck size should he open it up to a .271?

Is my accuracy really going to suffer? Planning on shooting 500 yards and under on varmits.

I'm not a target shooter. Just like plinking and shooting varmints

Oh btw I have some of the previous owners groups he shot a long with the load data if anyone would like to see

 

[T 700]

Open it up to .272

 

[tn6br]

.271-.272 figure out what brass you're going to use and do some measuring. What do the factory loads you have measure o.d. Neck diameter?

 

[Richard Coody]

For me reloading is as.much fun as shooting.

But it sure isn't cheaper for me to reload. I believe I have more money invested in reloading equipment than rifles.

Hard to say but i sure am not going to try to total it all up. Don't want to know.

 

[RonAKA]

My suggestion is to buy your brass first. Lapua is the best choice. Seat a 68 grain Berger target and get the gunsmith to make the neck to suit. 68 grain bullets are likely to be most accurate, so you should optimize the throat depth for them if there is an option. You can take metal out, but not put it back in. 81 grain flat base would be the max bullet for a 12 twist.