6x47 versus 6BR

[Freestate101]

Anyone know the pro's and con's between these two rounds? i.e., accuracy, velocity, case capacity, barrel life, etc. I was thinking about necking up the 222 mag. or 204 ruger case, but the 6.5x47L brass would seem to be the better choice. Thanks in advance guys, I have always been able to count on the shooters here for help.

Jim Berry

 

[Cheechako]

Jim

I think you have the 6x47 benchrest cartridge by Federal confused with the 6.5x47 Lapua. The former is nothing more than the 222 Rem Mag necked up to 6mm and is a pretty much obsolete cartridge these days. The 6.5x47 Lapua is a much larger cartridge with a 308W case head. Viualize a 6.5Br stretched to 47mm case length.

Ray

 

[Freestate101]

Thanks for the info Ray, I knew I could count on the guys at the forum to steer me straight.

Jim Berry

 

[mikecockcroft]

The 6-6.5x47 is the necked down version of the 6.5x47 Lapua.
This is probably what you are thinking of. Lots of these are being built.

 

[Obtunded]

As to your original question about pro's and cons, the 6BR is about the easiest precision cartridge to load for. Lapua Brass, a CCI primer and load 30 grains of Varget or RL-15 under a 105 Berger 10 thou in the lands. If it doesn't produce a cloverleaf at 100 yards, throw the barrel away. Tune your load from there and in a good barrel you will easily get in the .1's and .2's.

It is extremely accurate, easy to load, a slightly larger selection of brass, although Lapua is the only way to go. It requires no wildcatting and if you run at modest speeds, you will easily get 3000 rounds out of a barrel or more. I have shot the 6BR out to a mile with amazing accuracy and for 3-600M competition, I feel it is the cartridge to beat. Lots of guys trying to build a better mouse trap and that's great - me too, but I always pick up the BR when I want to win.

 

[flatlander]

I've been shooting several Dashers in 600-1000yd. prone matches since 2004 and have been extremely pleased with the accuracy, performance, & efficiency of the blown-out BR case. Dashers have around 5grs. more case capacity than the std. BR, so that's not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison, but it's close.

I've also got a couple of LR prone rifles chambered for the 6x47 Lapua, and am really starting to appreciate what the larger case can do with the 115gr. bullets, even though it takes another 5-6grs of powder to get the extra 150-200fps of velocity over what the Dasher produces. Bottom line is that I like 'em both, and have a hard time recommending one over the other. I'm a little more confortable with the 6x47 & 115s at 1000, but then one can't ignore the fact that the top two shooters at the NBRSA Nationals a few weeks ago were both shooting Dashers.

Editor's NOTE: QuickLOAD lists the 6BR capacity as 37.8 grains and the Dasher at 41.0. My fired 6BR cases hold 38.1 grains of H20, but yours might be less. Likewise some Dasher reamers might cut a larger chamber than others, but realistically the Dasher is probably going to offer 3-4 grains more capacity.