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6.5 BR w/ 120-140 gr. for position shooting

Has anyone done much with the heavier bullets with this cartridge for use in rifles? I am interested in putting together a rifle,or two or three, if I get hooked) for 300-meter prone and three position shooting. I have a Shilen DGA BP-S to get started with, and the inclination to assemble it into something exciting.

The reason I am interested in the heavier bullets is that my experience in Highpower leads me to believe they are a better starting point. With similar momentum,bullet weight * speed) at the muzzle, the heavier bullets require less dope per change in conditions. Assuming everyone makes mistakes, and that the guy shooting next to me makes about the same number of mistakes I do, heavier bullets should help me out in a pinch. When I shot against guys shooting 80-grain VLDs with charge weights pumped up as high as they could go, I used 175-grain MatchKings with moderate loads and did very very well.

The few articles I found suggest that most BR cartridge shooters like the moderate weight 6mm bullets best. Does the 6.5mm BR give up too much to the 6mm? Do these cartridges lose much precision when the bullets are not driven to the higher speeds? What about a 6.5mm BRX? Would it make up enough of the difference to push 120-grain bullets as fast as a 6mm BR can move a 107?

I can happily forfeit some loss in precision to gain some forgiveness in windage errors. After all, an inner 9 from a super-tight shooting rifle isn't nearly as good as an outer 10 from a pretty-good shooting rifle.

Thanks in advance for your comments/suggestions.
 
I haven't shot used a 6.5 br, but shot a 6.5 Grendel in a single shot bolt rifle. I shot 142 Sierras @ around 2600 fps and thay shot AWESOME @ 200 yards! I didn't load them to AR15 mag length. I had the bbl throated son that the boattail juction was at the x-of the shoulder/neck. Lapua 123's shot extremely well too. You are right there with the 6br. The b.C. of let's say a 139 Lapua is around .6 @ 2600 fps and a 105/6mm bullet @ 540 @ 2850 or so. At 300 yards or less, there is alomst no difference at all.

Chris
 
If you want to use the heavier projectiles why not go to the new 6.5 X 47 Lapua the new case thats just come out it will have the capacity with out haveing to alter the case at all.
When the new barrels arrive the mate is going to make a 7 X 47 Lapua.
 
Bob:

I have a Shilen BP-S to work with right now. Though the 6.5 x 47 looks like a really nice way to go for 300-meters and beyond, I think it's too long for the action. Perhaps I'll try it in a longer action in the future. I'd be interested to hear how the 7mm x 47 works out.

Chris:

The feedback from people who've tried the 6.5 Grendel is encouraging. The more I think about it, the more I like the 6.5mm BR idea. Now I just need to figure out the right twist.

The benchrest shooters seem to all think bullets should be seated so that the base doesn't extend into the case past the neck/shoulder junction. Does anyone have a good explanation for why that should be? Most of my shooting so far has been with a .308 service rifle, which requires the bullets seated with tails deeper inside the case. I managed some very nice groups that way so I'm curious to know what's gained by seating longer.
 
This may not be much help but I have been using a 6.5mmBR in a Remington XP-100 silhouette pistol for a few years and I have found it to be a great round using 140gr Sierra MatchKings. I have used it in some rather shifting conditions out to 500m and yes, I have to play the wind, but my barrel is only 15" long so I am giving up velocity you would not.

I, too, starting thinking of a 6.5mmBRX as an intermediate between the 6.5mmBR, which is a little slow with heavy bullets in a pistol barrel for anything over 500m, and the .260 Remington, which impressive but punishing without a muzzlebrake.
 

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