6.5mm Remington Magnum

[nocturnalnasty]

Hello all. I am new to this site. Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated. I am interested in the 6.5mm remington magnum as a 500 yard deer hunting round. I did several searches in this forum and have found nothing. Anyone have any experience, or advice for me? I have an T/C Encore and am thinking 26" Heavy or Bull Barrel,bullet selection, twist??). Thoughts?

 

[Tommie]

What do you find interesting about the 6.5 Rem Mag?

 

[Cheechako]

noc

The 6.5 Rem Mag is an obsolete cartridge, for good reasons. It is ballistically equivilent of the 6.5-06 and, as such, is over bore capacity. Plus it has the belt, can sometimes be difficult to feed in certain actions, brass selection is limited, and resale value would be nil.

Other than that it is OK, I suppose.

If you like the 6.5mm,look at the 6.5 Swede or the new 6.5 x 47 Lapua.

JMHO

Ray

 

[Cheechako]

cat

Don't try to bait me into an arguement. You know as well as I do what "over bore" is. If you don't, then do a little reading. Start with P. O. Ackley.

I'm not going there.

Ray

 

[Spotcheck_Billy]

Not trying to get up anybody's butt here, but I think that a more fitting description of this situation might be "the case capacity has reached the point of diminishing returns for this bore diameter".

 

[jeffreybehr]

Noc, do consider the 6.5-284. It started out as a wildcat and is now a factory cartridge. At least one 'improved' version exists, the 6.5-284 Shehane, which holds a couple grains more powder. Brass is readily available, and its powder capacity seems to be a great compromise between too little and too much.

Here's a great blurb on it. http://www.6mmbr.com/sixfive284.html

 

[nocturnalnasty]

Thank you all for your replies. To answer the question of what I find interesting about the 6.5 Rem Mag, I'd have to say knowing a man that I would consider a very knowledgable shooter/reloader that likes the round and sings it's praises,accurate and he has personally had very good results on deer in the 400 yard range). Really, I am interested in the 6.5's because of what I have read on this forum and their apparent ability to buck the wind. I hunted in Northern Missouri this year and plan to do so next year and hope to add a deer hunt in Kansas. Long shots and windy conditions are pretty certain. I am really looking for a round that will be accurate in windy conditions,within reason) and allow me to take longer shots again within reason. I don't know anyone personally that has a 6.5-284 so I just haven't had the chance to really "grill" someone in detail on the round. My biggest concern was barrel life. Seems like they can be barrel burners??? But would it be an issue if you used something like the Berger Hunting 140,1 in 7 twist??) VLD @ 2940 fps??

 

[ssphoger]

I find the 6.5 Rem Mag intresting as well, Just got a 673 with a 22" barrel for a carry around gun. I don't thihk I would build a heavy long barrel one though, There are so many other options if weight is not a issue. My heavy weight long range rig is a 26" 7mm STW if you want to WACK a deer at 500 yds this thing will do it.
Good luck on your quest

 

[nocturnalnasty]

On paper the 6.5 Rem Mag with VLD bullets looks very interesting. Ran it through my Exbal program and it's impressive. And from what I understand has low recoil, and is accurate to the range I'm interested in,500 yards give or take) and beyond. I agree that there are probably better choices for long range deer sniping. My best friend just got a 7mm Rem Ultra Mag, and I have seen personally what it does on large 250 pound deer. It plants them in their tracks. However the Ultra Mag and STW won't fit the T/C Encore as far as I know. Weight isn't a big concern to me. But, I would like a round with lower recoil than the bigger magnums and still deliver on a large deer at 500 or so yards. And be able to do so in windy conditions. Am I just asking for too much from a T/C Encore based cartridge?

 

[Dans40X]

If weight isn't a problem,shoot a bolt gun-rifle,XP-100 pistol & leave the weak design-break open TC's Contender's Encore's for pistol cartridges & muzzle loader duties.

I've harvested dall sheep & caribou @ 400-500yds with a XP-100R, but don't recommend it for everyone.

Reading the wind & calling shot placement is not determined by caliber choice/velocity.

 

[AlanPF]

Not trying to get up anybody's butt here, but I think that a more fitting description of this situation might be "the case capacity has reached the point of diminishing returns for this bore diameter".

Well said. I would add that the application,e.g. hunting, target etc.) has some bearing on how you may want to go in the over-bore direction. If the last 100fps is critical to your application, and you can use a long barrel and a suitably slow powder, and barrel life is not important, and your projectiles will stay together, and barrel fouling..... hmmm that's a lot of ifs :,. Better put that 6.5/300 Weatherby project on hold.

Alan

 

[MLC]

I have a 6.5RM AI with a 30" 1/8 barrel that pushes 142's at 3200+ fps.
You'll want a custom reamer as most are cut for a short action and with single shot you have the luxury of seating 140's out long.