6.5-06AI

[overbore]

Gentlemen, I am an experienced .308, 30-06 and 300 wsm hand-loader but have never wildcatted a new cartridge. I use Re dding bushing dies, electronically throw all powder charges and have a ton of good 06 brass to go 6.5 shooting at 1k yards. Above and beyond going back to Dave Kiff for my reamer, what steps do you suggest for forming and loading? A Boughten 5c 1-8 twist is planned. Many thanks, Overbore , competing in F as a Super Senior )

 

[chrisj]

Depending on neck of reamer, the 30-06 brass neck may be too thick. 25-06 or 270 may work better.

Chris

 

[Wild_Bill]

Hi If you are set on a 6.5-06 use Lapua 30-06 brass and neck turn they will be verry accurate if you are open to other options and want a 6.5 with similar capacity its hard to go past a 6.5-284 if you dont mind loosing a little capacity the 6.5x55AI is an awsome performer. Dont make a decision on what old brass you have you should use new premium manufactured brass for a 1000 yard target rifle. Good luck either way you go but buy new cases.

Cheers Bill
Australia

 

[overbore]

Wild Bill,

Thanks for your inpout. Do you have any numbers to share for a 139 Lapua as I am trying for the perfomance with out burning out a throat? Cordially, Overbore

 

[Rust]

Don't make your decision for a new chambering based on what brass you have on hand, especially if it's been fired a few times. A new barrel and chamber deserves fresh brass and considering that a 6.5-06 will burn out the barrel in about 1,200 rounds it's not like you'll be spending a lot of money on a big batch of brass.

Make up a couple of dummy rounds with the neck thickness you plan on using and spec the reamer based on that. I currently like using Dave Kiff out at Pacific, very easy to deal with and fast delivery of a custom reamer.

You may even want to consider a .280. While it does not have the panache of the wildcat 6.5-06, it should offer better barrel life and with some of the new 7mm bullets may offer a bit of a ballistic edge over the current 6.5 offerings.

As a final note, I built my 6.5 X 284 on a standard length action,30-06 length) so that I could seat the bullets way long and not have to pull the bolt to eject a loaded round. The last batch of Lapua brass was about perfect by any standard and I easily get 2950 fps out of a 26" barrel. Barrel turned out to be really fast. Same performance with less fuss as the 6.5-06. Very accurate too. For that matter you can turn the 6.5 X 284 Lapua brass into 7mm and use the newer 175s.

Regardless the barrel will be the heart of accuracy and I've been talking to a lot of folks about why barrels seem to be getting better,they actually are getting better) but that is the topic of a little post I am working on. Main thing is that whoever you chose as a smith puts it together and maintains the intrinsic accuracy of the barrel. Do NOT skimp om smithing because you get what you pay for.

 

[Rust]

Another thought. You may want to get the least expensive Savage you can find, the least expensive barrel you can find and chamber it with the same reamer you use for the good rifle. There is no sense in using up a match grade barrel that will burn out in 1,200 rounds fireforming brass.

 

[overbore]

Rust, will do on the smith. I have two actions and one barrel with Dave Tooley and am open account customer with Dave Kiff. You gave me some valuable poop on the Savage to fire-form; will do; you and I are on the same frequency. My goal is to get 2,950fps or a tad more from the 139's but keep from replacing throats with the 6.5 x284's with their relatively short necks.
I am standing by for the AI input from the land of Fosters from Wild Bill.
Many thanks, Overbore

 

[chrisj]

I don't think you will get more bbl life with the 6.5-06 over the 6.5-284 due to the sloping shoulder of the 06, plus the fact that the 06 will use just as much of the same powder. My experiments have shown that H1000 or N170 will give better bbl life if you can get an accurate load using them. You may be better off using a 6.5-06 ackley . lots of shooters swear that the 40 deg. shoulder helps lessen throat wear, plus brass definately last longer withlittle or NO trimming.

Chris

 

[Rust]

Overbore - 2950 should be no problem with a 27" or longer barrel of good quality. Reason I said 27" is the -06 case is a tad longer and will use up a little more length than my 6.5 X 284. You will likely burn a little more powder achieving that velocity since you need to develop the same pressure in a larger case but that larger case should also allow you to use a little "cooler" powder. RL-22 may produce good results although it may require a hotter primer than the usual CCI or Federal. Dare I say Winchester?

I tried RL-22 in my 6.5 X 284 and the Winchester primer was recommended by one of the ballisticians at Sierra and it worked best. The downside was that, as warned, the RL-22 left an extremely stubborn hard fouling. The load was more than a bit past standard book loads though, no pressure signs at all though.

H4350 is a hotter powder than I would like to use but it works best in the 6.5 X 284. Nothing has provided better accuracy at all charge weights and lower ES/SD in my rifle.

On fire forming in the Savage, make sure that you have a fair amount of neck tension and seat into the lands. That wave washer behind the bolt head could mess things up otherwise. That washer could push the chamberered round forward otherwise and when fired it will take a run back to the bolt giving a pretty good wedge effect in the chamber making for a stiff bolt lift giving a false indication of high pressures. Don't go light with the powder either, you want to load up three rounds with a fairly stout load to see if you get a nice crisp shoulder, that way if the charge isn't stiff enough you won't have loads you have to pull down.

 

[overbore]

Rust, will do; sage advie that I will follow. Cordailly, OB

 

[buffalohunter]

I have a 6.5-06 AI in an 17 inch pistol barrel for my Encore, IMHO it is a better round than the 6.5-284. Of course thats just my opinion, Good Shooting.

 

[2644ever]

Well, You will have to break your barrel down anyway, so why not fireform at the same time using light loads of fast powder and a cheap molyplated bullet like a surplus FMJBT from Serbia or Czech Republic. I've gone through that road before with various 6.5's... What I would use would be a 6.5-257 or a 6.5-6MM REM,AI or not), you would have an edge over the 260 REM and be less hard on your throat than the 6.5-06 and less hard on your wallet than the 6.5-284! I would also use a PACNOR, 28" with a 1~8" twist, stainless, 3 groove in a Savage Single Shot Action and would never look back. And I know, because I've been there, that I would reach 3100 fps with a 139 Scenar Moly and Vihta's N560!
Take Care!