6.5x47

[Evan]

Ouch!

I've heard of similar barrel life with the cartridge in UK McQueens (200/300 yard sniper)) and Tactical competition. The gunsmith who told me this was a 6.5X47L fan for some years but saw way too many overloads being used and picked up on this from the frequency he was rebarreling some of his customers' rifles. One repeat customer when queried also mentioned that he only used his brass once, junking it immediately!

My gunsmith friend has, like a lot of his fellow 'Tacticals' / PRS competitors over here moved to the 6.5 Creedmoor loading the new generation heavy bullets. (I know, wash my mouth out ............ !!) They get the MVs they were aspiring to in the 6.5X47L but at acceptable pressures. This generation of custom built tacticals with top notch rifle components really do shoot well. We have a 'Military' class in our F-Class matches and they hold their own with 7mm using F-Open competitors out to 800 yards unless the wind gets really twitchy despite smaller cartridges and four or five inches less barrel.

This was my first barrel and I stepped on the gas to see what it could do. It still shoots about 2 inches at 600 yards and 5-6 inches at 1000 yards, but that is noticeably worse than the first 500 rounds or so when it was going 4 inches and less at 1000 yards regularly. I'm going to be taking it easy on the second barrel to see if things hold up longer at a lower node and with a lighter bullet. I can't say that all the extra speed and BC was worth it for 1000 yard benchrest but it was neat to see what a very durable case in a well built rifle could do.

I don't think it's blasphemous at all to say the 6.5 Creedmoor is a better choice for the heavier bullets at the speeds people want to get to. I agree completely (and have a 6.5 Creedmoor too). I seem to recall the 6.5x47 was originally designed and optimized around the 123gn Scenar for 300 meter competition, but that may not be an accurate recollection. It seems like the happiest benchrest users of the 6.5x47 stick with bullets that are 140gn or less.

For anyone interested, I've got some info about my journey with the 6.5x47 here: https://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/my-new-6-5x47-borden.4012665/

 

[Lefty Trigger]

Things must be pretty dull to revive a 10+ year old thread!

We can talk about Covid or some of Biden's stupid $hit.

 

[RallyFan]

I’m staying out of American politics..!

 

[1911mag]

153.5 @ 2780 from a 28" Krieger 4 groove. They'll go faster but it trashes brass.

Just starting testing 153.5’s now

 

[joshb]

I’m staying out of American politics..!

Hows about British politics?
Tea or coffee?

 

[Dub]

My first 600 yard bench rest match with my 6.5x47 I took first in HG score, won 75.00 for smallest group and took 2nd in overall 2 gun agg. The caliber is competitive

 

[RallyFan]

Hows about British politics?
Tea or coffee?

Coffee - but good stuff, not from a 14 week batch of drip filter ditch water

 

[HardwoodPro]

Chet,

For best results you should really post this in the "Big Stuff" forum as that is where 6.5x47 is listed.

With that said, what barrel length do you plan on running?

With bullets over 130 grains the issue with the 6.5x47 L is reduced case capacity over something like the .260 Rem or 6.5 Creedmor. Those long bullets sit well below the case neck in some cases the boat tail is almost below the shoulder. To keep speeds up in the 2950-3000 FPS range with 6.5x47L 130's are going to be about maximum without something like a 30-31" barrel and a good amount of freebore. You could get a little more performance if you weren't magazine feeding, rather single loading the round and extended the freebore a bit more you can gain back some speed.

Umm, big stuff is listed here as 7mm+. This forum is 6-6.5mm, he’s in the right place.

 

[Evan]

Umm, big stuff is listed here as 7mm+. This forum is 6-6.5mm, he’s in the right place.

This thread and that reply pre-dates the great reorganization that happened a few years ago when the boss redivided all the threads into the categories you see today. Back then, I vaguely recall it was "big stuff", "6BR and variants" and "small stuff" but it's been a while