6.5 MM ? For Highpower SilhouetteSome guide

[Welldone 7.5]

I am going to put together a rifle for highpower silhouette and would like for some “ been there done that” to ponder. Right now I leaning toward a Bat SV single shot action chambered is something 6.5MM.
6.5 BR
6.5 BRX
6.5 Dasher
6.5 x47
6.5 GT ( based on the new 6 GT)

I’ll use a Roberson type stock that will be cut for whatever action I decide..

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Any of those with a 140 will require a real good shot to down the rams. If those are your only choice id go with the 6.5x47 but would actually lean toward a creedmoor just for brass cost alone.

 

[Ringostar]

Is silhouette shot single feed, or mag feed? I would consider a 260 or Creed.

 

[Welldone 7.5]

It’s single loading, not from a magazine.

 

[mikeeg02]

A 260 Ackley will push 140 class as fast as you could want them to go with the right powder. And has been easy on brass for me. It's also been a consistent shooter and very temperature tolerant where I'm shooting it. I'm using alpha SRP 260 brass. Very nice brass. My reamer has a pretty long throat.

 

[D.Stone]

The last thing that I knew, 7mm-08 was popular because you need to be able to knock down the steel targets.

If you are set on 6.5mm, I would probably be looking at cartridges that can fire the heavier bullets a little bit faster. My short list would be

6.5 Creedmoor
260 Remington
6.5x55 Swedish

And then throat it for the 156 GR Bergers or similar load. I would basically be looking to get 2850 fps out of the heaviest bullet I could find.

Or find out what everyone that is winning is using...and then build one of those.

 

[gsxr1k]

I have direct experience at this. The following is a post I made on steel chickens. This was my experience with a 6.5 TCU. Remember recoil is not your friend. And in the past I have used 6.5x55 and 260 Remington. Both of these are very effective silhouette rounds as well. Any of the rounds you mentioned would be a great choice. Just be sure that you get a 7.5 twist barrel so you can use the 150 Sierra or the 156 Berger.
I ran an experiment this year using a custom reamer for a 6.5 TCU and a 26 inch 7.5 twist Bartlein barrel with Sierra 150 Match Kings. I was able to get 2403 avg with single digit SD. The load was new non-crimped Lake city 5.56 brass fireformed to 6.5 TCU, CCI 450 Primer, 6.5mm 150 grain Sierra Match Kings and a whole case full of Varget. The reamer was designed with a throat that enabled the base of the bullet to sit at the shoulder thereby maximizing valuable case capacity. It also has a .289 neck with a .286 loaded round diameter for .003 clearance. This enabled quick neck sealing upon firing and very little blowback as evidenced by the minimal soot on my case necks and no soot on my case body.

Now that I got the technical details out of the way, lets get to the results. Going into Nationals I had hit 73 Rams with 0 losses. The ranges these were shot at include: Ridgway, PA, CSLC in Mountoursville PA, and Atglen Sportsmen in Atglen, PA. Most of these were shot at Ridgway practicing prior to the Nationals. I admittedly didn't shoot well at Nationals but I hit 34 additional rams in practice and in matches. Out of 107 total rams hit I lost 3. So that gives me a loss percentage of 2.8 percent. The only thing that changed between 107 and 73 was it was very windy for the three days of Nationals and there were some brand new rams on the range.

My takeaway from this is the 6.5 TCU is a very effective round for HP Silhouette with low recoil, inexpensive brass, and minimal fuss. My fireform load was 26gr of Varget and a 123 Sierra which shot 1.5 inch 5 shot groups at 300 yards. This is certainly accurate enough to use for C-P_T loads in matches which is what I did. I couldn't see the value in wasting components to just fireform brass when I could practice or shoot a match while fireforming cases. The same load works well in fireformed brass.
Mark Varner

 

[garandman]

6.5 CM is unfairly hated simply bcuz the fan boys latched on to it. But don't hate it cuz of the yuppies. Its a great caliber. My 6.5CM easily sends 140 gr at 2750 fps with no pressure signs. Fast enuf for me, anyway. I'd bet it can go faster.

 

[garandman]

 

[Welldone 7.5]

Wow. This very helpful info. A little 6.5 TCU ram killer lobbing 150 grainers all the way to 260AI torching barrels. I’ve gotten so thatI really don’t care for recoil except maybe in my 30-06 Barrett Fieldcraft that only goes bang a handful of times a year in the deer woods.
Practice makes me a better shooter, practice that’s not gonna make me start flinching or over compensating for recoil. That’s why I am thinking of the BR sized rounds. If a 6.5 TCU works on rams, I feel better about my choices.

 

[jbmarshtx]

I am going to put together a rifle for highpower silhouette and would like for some “ been there done that” to ponder. Right now I leaning toward a Bat SV single shot action chambered is something 6.5MM.
6.5 BR
6.5 BRX
6.5 Dasher
6.5 x47
6.5 GT ( based on the new 6 GT)

I’ll use a Roberson type stock that will be cut for whatever action I decide..

Of the above, the 6.5 BR is probably a good choice. The poster above with the 6.5 TCU above has a good track record. I had a 6.5 grendel bolt gun built, and it also does well, but the bolt face is limiting. The heaviest I shoot is the berger 130 AR hybrid, and it has done about 80% on the rams. Which robertson type stock as I thought they were no longer around.

 

[mikeeg02]

Wow. This very helpful info. A little 6.5 TCU ram killer lobbing 150 grainers all the way to 260AI torching barrels. I’ve gotten so thatI really don’t care for recoil except maybe in my 30-06 Barrett Fieldcraft that only goes bang a handful of times a year in the deer woods.
Practice makes me a better shooter, practice that’s not gonna make me start flinching or over compensating for recoil. That’s why I am thinking of the BR sized rounds. If a 6.5 TCU works on rams, I feel better about my choices.

My apologies, when I read high power silhouettes, I thought you meant 850-1000 silhouettes like ridgway pa. My 260ai is still going strong at 950 rounds. 46.6 grains of powder, but in the shorter range, and not fired from a bench I can see why recoil and such keeps getting brought up. The 260ai sure does move a lot. The smaller cases would definitely do you better in that aspect.

 

[Welldone 7.5]

Well, a very similar stock is being made by a guy in El Paso Tx. Ivan Rubio.I got one for an Anshutz SB build and I’m very pleased.

 

[gsxr1k]

I agree with JBMarshTX. The 6.5BR is a great choice. And according to my measurements you could rechamber to 6.5 Creedmoor with ease if it didn't work for you. But I'm sure you will find it will work prefect.

 

[Fast14riot]

I've been shooting my 6.8spc at rams for 5 years now. I think I've only rung them a handful of times. But at Sacramento I've seen 180gr 30-06 ring them too. I shoot primarily a 110gr BTHP from a 24" barrel at a little over 2700fps. The wildcat 6.5x6.8 is a good round that's proven a bit more accurate than the 6x6.8. I've been toying with the idea of having my second barrel rechambered to 6.8gpc so I can run 130gr bullets at around the same speed.

 

[jlmurphy]

I used my 96' Swede to knock down Rams for years, and I admit that the SMK 142's at 2850 wouldn't always take them down. I usually loaded down for the first three animals, and then used a hot load just for Rams. I used H4831, but would consider Re22 for the extra velocity a double based powder would give. The 150 gr. bullets weren't around then, but at 550 yards, B.C. really becomes an issue. I have my doubts about any of those short action cartridges and light bullets on Rams.

 

[RickB]

If you are considering the 6.5 TC/U, I would suggest looking at the 6.5 BR instead. The velocities should be similar. There might be a small edge to the BR case, but the real reason is that the available brass is stronger and does not require fire forming. When the TC/U was invented, forming cases for it was much easier than for any BR case. I made a bunch of 7 BR cases and they were a PITA. I later made some 6.5 BR brass from 6 BR cases and, except for turning necks for a tight neck, it was a breeze. I have shot the 6.5-08 and 6.5x47 L a fair amount. Both shoot well and get rams at all but the hardest ranges. The 6.5 CM is basically a ballistic twin to them. Many people still shoot 7mm cartridges if they shoot at tough ranges. The 175 class bullets are very effective on rams, but I have seen even them have ram failures. Sooner or later any cartridge you would want to shoot will have ram failures. it is just a matter of how many and where. The ranges you shoot at most often will suggest the answer.

 

[Texas10]

I am going to put together a rifle for highpower silhouette and would like for some “ been there done that” to ponder. Right now I leaning toward a Bat SV single shot action chambered is something 6.5MM.
6.5 BR
6.5 BRX
6.5 Dasher
6.5 x47
6.5 GT ( based on the new 6 GT)

I’ll use a Roberson type stock that will be cut for whatever action I decide..

This is the guy you'd want to talk to. Mark Pharr been competing and building for many years and will give you good solid reasons for his choices.
https://www.tumbleweedsrifles.com/

 

[Jeffrey Tooker]

Any of those with a 140 will require a real good shot to down the rams. If those are your only choice id go with the 6.5x47 but would actually lean toward a creedmoor just for brass cost alone.

6.5 CM has the same case capacity as 260 Rem, but a much better case design. It handles 140-147 gr bullets better than 6.5 X 47, and packs more punch. Lapua makes good CM brass.

Jeffrey

 

[xswanted]

Lapua had just shared on Facebook a gentleman won in Missouri using a 6.5 BR shooting 108s from it.

They didn’t specify if he used any different bullets for Rams.

I know there is a female shooter in the High Power ranks that won the national championship using a 6BR and 105s.

She mentioned she loses a Ram here and there but the low recoil helps her out on the other targets.

For myself, I like a 260 loaded with 107s for C,P,T and then 142s for rams. Or even just loading the 142s in the 2500 range and using them for everything is an option as well.

6.5 or 7 BR would be the go to for light recoil options and a 6.5x47 or a 260 would be my choice for a slightly larger case.