6 X 45 for prairie dog shooting

[WillinDenver]

Haven't been on the forum for a long time, month or so. But there's a lot of knowledgeable folks on here. I'm a retired GI that shoots a lot of prairie dogs year round here in Colorado, 5,000 to 7,000 a year.

I'm thinking about building a 6 X 45 on a Rem 700 action. All I need to do is find a .223 Rem, have my gunsmith take off the barrel and put on a 6mm one, right? I know I would have to buy a reamer and that's about it. I have a Redding .223 bushing die and 6mm bushing already. That should work to make my brass out of standard .223 brass.

Now the problem, there's not much listed on loads. I have Benchmark, AA2230, TAC, and IMR 8208 XBR propellents. Plenty of 6mm bullets, and I could get more, in 55 gr, 58 gr, and a couple 70 grainers.

I use 6 PPC and 6 BR, but the 6 X 45 would be easier on powder. I'd still have the wind capability with a little less velocity, and I haven't seen a prairie dog that can out run a bullet, YET!

What does some of you think?

WillinDenver

 

[5spd]

Its an very easy swap to do from .223 to 6x45.
There are pre-fit bbls using the Rem-nut & Rem/Age bbls from Jim at NSS on the savageshooters site as well making the bbl swap easy to do yourself if you decided to go that way VS a gunsmith.
I built my 6x45 on a Savage action, VERY accurate to 600 yds & so far all have been MOA or less at all those ranges.
I use AA2015 behind the 65g Vmax bullet & same load with a 70NBT bullet, both are the smackdown to 600yds with ease! It helps with a mildot & target knobs. I have my dialups taped to the side of my gun for fast use.
I use the 65vm as my main load for both coyote & p-dogs.
I use a 85 SGK HP & 95g Nosler hunting BT bullet for Antelope out here.
Very light recoil, I thinks its less than the .223 so it feels like.
You shoot at least as many p-dogs a year I do, but all mine are done with my .223s.
There are hundreds of loads over at predatormasters.com site under reloading, its a sticky.
Sierras new book has loads for the 6x45 as well.

 

[JohnHenry]

Will need tapered expander for your Redding die if you plan to use it to expand to 6mm. Also the diameter of the hole in the shelf of the die where your bushing sits may not be large enough;i.e. larger than the outside neck diameter of your fired 6X45 case.

 

[Catfish]

I don`t understand why you would build a 6 x 45 for PD`s when a 17 cal. bullet will blow them up pretty good. I have a friend that bought a 6 x 45 upper for his AR for coyote, but he was after more knock down powerand you don`t need that for PD`s. Why not go to a 17 cal. round, it will shoot alot flatter

 

[WillinDenver]

Thanks all for the input, still thinking about it.

Catfish, I don't like 17's, to big fingers and to small a bullet. We have a lot of wind and I think the 6 mm would hold up better, maybe not.

Will

 

[JabaliHunter]

I would think that you may be better off sticking with the .223 (or even AI) and re-barrelling to take advantage of some slightly heavier bullets like the 64gr Berger. To shoot the higher BC 6mm bullets I think you will lose a lot of velocity with the 6x45. Just a thought...

 

[WillinDenver]

I have three .223 AIs, I like them fine for the heaver 22 cal bullets. They all three love the 55 Hornady Vmax and even the 55 Hornady Soft Point. I also shoot a lot of the Hornady 52 Hollow Point and the Hornady 52 BTHP in all three.

One of my .223 Rem SPS 700 action doesn't want to shot real good, it might become a 6X45, just because.

Will

 

[JohnHenry]

Will, If your smith has some 6mm necker/throater reamers, he may be able to use a necker/throater in conjunction with a 223 reamer to avoid buying a 6X45 reamer.

 

[Larryh128]

Just a word of caution, when the barrel is off, check the lug engagement on the action. MOST times, this is the #1 cause of a rifle not shooting if it's properly bedded. I think a lot of "bad" barrels are actually bad lug engagement. Doesn't take much to check or correct so it's worth the time.

 

[Catfish]

One thing you should always rember when tring to reach out there is that BC is king. Shooting a larger cal. with lite bullets will get you wind drift. Do a little looking at the BC of the bullets your thinking of useing. I have had excellant results with a 224 TTH shooting 80 gr. Sierra MK bullets. Wind drift isn`t bad. I picked up 2, 6-284`s, but their twist was to slow and I had to stick with 85 gr. and down bullets and my wind drift went up a bunch. I now have a new 243 barrel with an 8 twist that I plan to rechamber to 6-284 so I can shoot the 105 gr. bullets and get an even higher BC than with the 80 gr. 22 cal. bullets. Hold over is science, but drift is an art, get all of the help you can with it.

 

[woolenmammoth]

will-

do you have a 20 cal anything? you might be surprised...

 

[WillinDenver]

Will, If your smith has some 6mm necker/throater reamers, he may be able to use a necker/throater in conjunction with a 223 reamer to avoid buying a 6X45 reamer.

Thanks John, I'll ask him.

 

[WillinDenver]

Yes a 20 Practical, .223 Rem necked to 20 cal. I did an article in the Varmint Hunter mag on how it was done and some reloading I did on it. I like it a lot, surprises me how well it holds the wind. I took one guy prairie dog shooting and he couldn't believe I was shooting them in the head at 200 yards. All they would do is just look over the top of their holes and bark, so I just started dragging them out of the hole with my 20 Practical.

At the time 204 brass anything was non-existent. .223 brass is cheap and easy to come by.

Will

 

[WillinDenver]

One thing you should always rember when tring to reach out there is that BC is king. Shooting a larger cal. with lite bullets will get you wind drift. Do a little looking at the BC of the bullets your thinking of useing. I have had excellant results with a 224 TTH shooting 80 gr. Sierra MK bullets. Wind drift isn`t bad. I picked up 2, 6-284`s, but their twist was to slow and I had to stick with 85 gr. and down bullets and my wind drift went up a bunch. I now have a new 243 barrel with an 8 twist that I plan to rechamber to 6-284 so I can shoot the 105 gr. bullets and get an even higher BC than with the 80 gr. 22 cal. bullets. Hold over is science, but drift is an art, get all of the help you can with it.

Yes, your right Catfish. But I'm not really trying to reach way out there. I try to keep my shots under 300 yards, if they get out beyond that, I move. I just like cartridges based on the .223 Rem. Right now I have only one rifle that takes large rifle primers, and I'm trying to sell it a 22-250 Rem. Everything else is small rifle primers, 221 Fireball, 222 Rem, 22 PPC, 6 PPC and so on. Less propellent and less recoil, even tho I have muzzle breaks on most of my rifles. I shot 5,000 to 7,000 prairie dogs a year and the recoil wares on you with the big recoiling rifles.

Thanks!!!
Will

 

[WillinDenver]

Just a word of caution, when the barrel is off, check the lug engagement on the action. MOST times, this is the #1 cause of a rifle not shooting if it's properly bedded. I think a lot of "bad" barrels are actually bad lug engagement. Doesn't take much to check or correct so it's worth the time.

Yes, Larry. That's one of the things I have my gunsmith do every time he takes a barrel off, lap the lugs. And I did go check the engagement on this rifle, it isn't great. Might have that done before I scrape it, that's easy and cheap enough.

Thanks!!!

Will

 

[shooterjon]

Willindenver ,I think a 6X45 is a great choice.I had one built from a Tika 17 Remington and never looked back.As you can imagine here in Idaho the wind blows constantly rendering the 17 UN reliable,especially on those skinny squirrels.
i have a lot of load work up for the 6X45 and would be happy to share with you if you go that way,just drop me a line.
I entered a bench rest competitionon last month and came in second with the 6X45,I know I can win the competitionon as I just grabbed the rifle off the rack with no prep at all.
Good Luck
Let me know if I can Help.

 

[WillinDenver]

Haven't been on the forum for a long time, month or so. But there's a lot of knowledgeable folks on here. I'm a retired GI that shoots a lot of prairie dogs year round here in Colorado, 5,000 to 7,000 a year.

I'm thinking about building a 6 X 45 on a Rem 700 action. All I need to do is find a .223 Rem, have my gunsmith take off the barrel and put on a 6mm one, right? I know I would have to buy a reamer and that's about it. I have a Redding .223 bushing die and 6mm bushing already. That should work to make my brass out of standard .223 brass.

Now the problem, there's not much listed on loads. I have Benchmark, AA2230, TAC, and IMR 8208 XBR propellents. Plenty of 6mm bullets, and I could get more, in 55 gr, 58 gr, and a couple 70 grainers.

I use 6 PPC and 6 BR, but the 6 X 45 would be easier on powder. I'd still have the wind capability with a little less velocity, and I haven't seen a prairie dog that can out run a bullet, YET!

What does some of you think?

WillinDenver

I'm pretty sure I'm going to build a 6 X 45 now. I ran into a friend that lives 3 blocks from me that is a gunsmith/writer/shooter/whatever and he says he has everything to build one.

If I use the SPS action I have (.223 Rem) and put it on a different stock, what twist? My 6mm BR has a 1 in 10, my 6mm PPC has a 1 in 12 and they both shot one hole groups with 55 to 70 grain bullets. 10 inch or 12 inch, which would be the best?

Will

 

[JohnHenry]

A 1 in 12" twist should let you very adequately stabilize bullets up to 80 grain if you choose. Sounds like you will be shooting bullets 70 gr. or less.

 

[WillinDenver]

Ya, John

The bullets I have the most of are the 55 Nosler BT, 58 Hornady Vmax, the 60 Speer TNT HP, and some 70 Sierra HP. I have some old 80 Hornady SSPs, but not many.

I'm going to try and find a take-off SS 6mm, I have to keep the cost down as much as I can.

Thanks for the reply!!!!

Will

 

[Ackman]

Barrel heat can be a problem when there are lots of targets. For volume shooting like you do, a 6x45 should be real good. Barrel life ought to be better than a 223. My next build will most likely be a 6x45.