Light bullets for a 6.5-284

[4guns]

I got a 6.5-284 with an 8 twist barrel. Was wondering if anybody has tried light bullets in one and if it would stabilize light bullets, like 95gr. vmax, thinking they would be great for ground hogs.
If so could you share some load data. Thanks

 

[Walt Krafft]

They will stabalize fine. But if you push them as fast as that case can, they will probably blow up.

 

[Kurz]

Stability is not a worry for this combination. As stated above, jacket failure will be a potential problem. This is a large capacity case for a lighter bullet so you should consider a cooler burning powder to offset the volume of powder burning in your barrel.

I have two suggestions:

Use Hodgdon Hybrid 100V powder for the cooler burning characteristic. This worked well for me when I was testing.

Maybe try a slightly heavier bullet such as the 100 or 120 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip. These have stood up to some of the higher velocities derived from larger capacity cases for me.

Shooting groundhogs is not a rapid paced sport so the ability to cool your barrel is built in. Hotter temps though will slow down the cooling rate so additional steps might be necessary.

Best of all, have fun and enjoy!

 

[stillhuntin]

85 gr. hammer hunter bullet will hold together, they are all copper, very soft copper at that and they seem to be able to jump to the lands no problem. .003 neck tension helps with these bullets.

 

[Steel Mover]

The 6.5x06 has the same case capacity as the 6.5x284. H-322 is the replacement for HiVel #2 if you read the old Ackley books, it is used for light bullets only. With light bullets, like the Sierra 85 JHP with the 06 cats in a 26” barrel will do 3,700 fps with ease, shoot sub 1/2 inches and the inpact is akin to a second muzzle blast. Used it to red mist chucks out to 3-400. Been shooting the 06 version since 69 when I shot chucks in the hills of NH.