6.5 CM Long Throat

[Old Navy]

I took my extra long throat 6.5X47L barrel off one of my Model 12s a few months ago because the brass gave out at 17 firings. My son is just starting up a gunsmith business. I bought him a 6.5 CM reamer awhile back. ( .296" X .199 free bore ) . He cut a new chamber for me and I got to try it out this morning. I shot 7 three shot groups back to back. Two different bullets and three different powder. The long free bore allowed me to seat the bullets above the neck/shoulder junction. 150 SMK over a full case of #22 gave me a whopping 2928 with no pressure signs. Go figure. Group size went from .616 down to the last group of .238". The best group was with H4350 but was a very slow 2771. Looks like the barrel has some life left in it so now to get serious.

 

[G7BC]

2771 is not a bad speed at all for the 6.5 creed and probably faster than most guys are running 140+ grain bullets. I ran one for several years in competition anywhere from 2720-2750 fps w/ 140 eld-m‘s over H4350. Boringly accurate and consistent. One barrel went 2500 rounds before it was toast.

 

[whatsupdoc]

.199 freebore is the SAAMI standard for the 6.5 creed, I run 140 bergers using a .170 freebore but with the 150's your .199 freebore would probably be a better choice.