Load tuning

[Paddyd]

This is a long action standard bolt face? And you exclusively single feed?

280AI or 284 win.

No question. 280AI gets you 100+ fps more than 284 win and the neck on 280AI is very long allowing for very versatile bullet seating variations with different weight bullets.

Can't go wrong with either but 280AI is the better of the two IMO.

What kind of barrel life could I expect?

 

[wkdickinson]

I would suggest a 6 Dasher. But you aren’t stuck using a 308 bolt face, the beauty of a Savage is that you can change it to anything that will fit - just by changing the barrel and bolt head.

 

[Paddyd]

Yes, the floating bolt face is a great asset when swapping calibers. I was just exploring easy to tune options within the same boltface dimensions.

 

[Idaho-Lefty]

LOVE, my New,.. 6.5 Creed,.. Tikka !
123 to 147 grain,.. ELD- M's and Peterson Brass,.. ARE,.. available !
And any of, the 4895 or, 4350,.. "Burn Rate" Powders, can,.. "work" !

 

[darkangel_r2]

What kind of barrel life could I expect?

1500-2K If your not doing long strings of fast fire.

 

[acloco]

6.5x55 is an excellent round. 120's and heavier are great. On a modern action, this caliber is NOT what the load books indicate. Almost all published load data is made for the Swedish action (middle of the road in strength).

If you like Lapua brass, the 6.5x55 and 223 brass are THEEEEE least expensive of all of the Lapua line.

No/little recoil also.

The Ackley Improved version is a time saver of brass prep after the first firing.....as are all of the AI chamberings.

1:8 twist and 140something weight lawn darts are nothing but FUN!

 

[Ringostar]

Since you mention budget and only shooting to 300 yds. I would stay 6mm or 6.5. A 6br or 6x47L, also 6.5x47L.

 

[JEFFPPC]

Sounds like a 6br would be perfect.

 

[AlNyhus]

I'd rebarrel to 308W with a chamber that has the free bore and throat appropriate for the bullets you'll be shooting. Factory 308W chambers have free bore and throats that have to accept every possible 308W loaded factory ammo...which is why they are so long.

Barrel life with a 308W chambered, high quality barrel (Kreiger, Lilja, Barlien, PacNor, Douglas, etc) will be in the thousands of rounds.

Good shootin'. -Al

 

[Sandstorm]

Whether a straight 6.5x55 or an Ackley

Im thinking this is a great idea.........hmmmm may have to do one sometime.
Thanks for the suggestion

 

[SmallFunGroups]

I would consider barrel life, and component availability in these weird times. 6mm Creedmoor is a barrel burner. You are going to be lucky if you get beyond 1200 rounds and still shooting accurately. 6br, 6 dasher, 6.5x47L, and 6.5 Creedmoor would all be fine choices, but good 6mm target bullets can be hard to come by right now. The dasher runs well with varget, which is also not easy to find.

If I were you, I would probably either go with 308 again, or either the 6.5x47L or a 6.5 Creedmoor. 6.5x47L is known as the 6.5 version of the 6 dasher, because it has a solid history of kicking butt at matches. 6.5 Creedmoor ammo is more prevalent and usually cheaper, and you are not sacrificing much by going with the Creedmoor over the 6.5x47L.

 

[PracticalTactical]

Since you mention budget and only shooting to 300 yds. I would stay 6mm or 6.5. A 6br or 6x47L, also 6.5x47L.

FWIW At Connaught range in Ottawa the toughest F Class guy to beat at 300 meters shoots a long throat 223 with around 0.190" free bore. He usually uses bullets in the 85 to 90 grain range.

Need a smaller bolt though for the OP.

I was driving a 6x47L for a while with great success, but only when I used large primers and cases formed for 6XC. Small primers could never produce consistent velocity for me.

 

[CharlieNC]

Everyone should own a 308, doubly so since you are already set up to load for it ! Then add others.

 

[Paddyd]

I can’t find it on my hard drive at the moment… but once upon a time someone went to the trouble of organizing a study of cartridges by bolt face and action length that was worthwhile. I’m sorry to bring it up without being able to show it.

On the other hand, since you are on a Savage action to being with, I would suggest learning how to swap bbls and try one or more of the variants based on the 308 case like all the derivative 6mm designs. There are so many to choose from that you would have to hold back based on what brass and such you can get hold of.

With the advent of Alpha and Peterson brass, you can do the wildcats with factory brass that until recently would have required fire forming. Even a straight 6 BR is a lot of fun and what I call The Easy Button in terms of brass and tuning.

With your rig, I would start with a fresh 308 bbl and then learn to swap bbls in the case where you haven’t tried this before. You may like the experience, or you may never do it again. Since you are single feeding and only running 300 yards, it isn’t about LR energy as much as it should be about your budget and having fun. YMMV

I have already done barrel swaps on my M12 Savage LRPV. It went from a 204R to 223 R. It now wears a CBI barrel and is VERY accurate. A couple weeks ago I was playing with seating depths and at 100 yds put 3 Hornady 68 gn bullets into .110". A best for that rifle so far. I was amazed at how a couple thousands of movement can affect accuracy. I have all the tools to do it already, just not enough knowledge of different cartridges and how easy it is to tune a load for them.
I will probably stick with the 308 as it is plenty accurate for what I do with it and I already have dies.