New 6BR Project

[USAPatriot]

Hi All,

I'm about to get started on a 6BR project, my first custom rifle job. I currently use a Rem700VS .223 w Weaver T36 that'll shoot 2's so long as I do my part.

I also shoot a Browning ABolt II HUNTER .243 w a cheapo Bushnell 6-24x44 scope. That rifle, light bbl and all will shoot 1/2MOA so long as my loads are good, I'm good, and I let the bbl cool between shots.

Call me crazy, but I'm going to use the Browning for this 6BR project. I think the action is just fine and I seem to be fine...it's the light bbl and wood stock that are the problem.

I've been talking to McMillan's for the last few weeks via email and it looks like I'm going to go with their A2 stock. As you might imagine, there's not a lot of choices for Browning actions, and though I could have also gone with their A5, I wanted a bit more flexibility than what the A5 would have given. I may or may not add a 3-way adjustable butt. I'm really narrow in the shoulders, have a long neck, and rifles just don't fit me so well. The 3-way should solve that nicely.

Talking to my gunsmith,Hoag Gunworks, Canoga Park, CA.) he's suggesting a Douglas barrel. I've pretty much decided to go with a 28" tube but so far haven't decided on Chrome-moly or SS, nor the bbl twist, and those last two are the questions I have.

Most of my shooting will be from the bench using a Sinclair rest and rear bag. Bugholes are what I like so that's my aim. I really want this rifle to be all it can be. I've got probably 1500-2000 6mm slugs still to be used, most of them Berger's of various flavors with a few hundred Lapua 80's and 90's as well. I think I've got a few hundred Nosler 107's and 55's also. I also expect to be shooting some steel out to 700 yards and maybe in the future paper out to long distances as well. At the moment paper is limited to 300. Most of the steel shooting I'll be doing will be from the ground. Almost all of the paper from the bench.

So. It would appear that I'll probably want to build this gun with slug weights of mostly 80-90gr in mind. What twist is going to be best under current thinking? And how much will I lose when I use bullets above or below the 80-90gr with that twist?

Barrel composition? The A2 I'm having made will be a light tan, med tan and med grey marble in color. I'm not overly fond of SS but I suppose in any case I could camo the bbl to match the stock at some point in the future. I'm not into the "sexy" factor when it comes to rifle looks but admit that an ugly rifle is a distraction. Mostly I'm concerned about bbl life, accuracy,of course) and fouling.

Any thoughts on these or any other subjects would be appreciated. Thx. -Rod-

 

[USAPatriot]

Well, the clock is offically running on the project. I dropped the Browning off at the smith today for fitting with a 28" Douglas 1:10. The Action will be trued, lugs and boltface as well, etc. The trigger will be redone and dropped to 2 lbs. It's a shame Jewell doesn't make something for the ABolt. McMillan has my order as well, with the A2 with 3-way butt chosen as described above. I've ordered 200 Lapua cases,I'd rather not chance waiting and have them go up in price or become unavailable) and ordered a Redding Comp seater, all that stuff from Sinclair. That pretty much wiped me out so the sizing dies will have to wait until the end of Winter. Now we wait... -Rod-

 

[Wild_Bill]

The 10 twist WILL NOT stabalost bulets heavier than 90gr you said you wanted input from here on twist etc and you disregarded it you need an 8 twist if you wnat to use the 107gr bullets and if you want to shoot past 400 yards the 105-107gr projectiles are best i would ring up your smith and get the barrel chamged to an 8 twist so you can shoot any bullet. I have an 8 twist 26" 6mm Dasher and have shot bullets from 55gr to 115gr all shot well and stabalised.

You seem to like to experiment with loads and use diferent ammo for diferent shooting dont limit yourself. Remington 243's come with a 9 twist so you have limited yourself from heavier hunting bullets aswell.

Cheers Bill
Australia

 

[USAPatriot]

The 10 twist WILL NOT stabalost bulets heavier than 90gr you said you wanted input from here on twist etc and you disregarded it you need an 8 twist if you wnat to use the 107gr bullets and if you want to shoot past 400 yards the 105-107gr projectiles are best i would ring up your smith and get the barrel chamged to an 8 twist so you can shoot any bullet. I have an 8 twist 26" 6mm Dasher and have shot bullets from 55gr to 115gr all shot well and stabalised.

You seem to like to experiment with loads and use diferent ammo for diferent shooting dont limit yourself. Remington 243's come with a 9 twist so you have limited yourself from heavier hunting bullets aswell.

Cheers Bill
Australia

Bill,

Thanks for the input. 90%+ of my shooting will be using 80's and 90's so I feel comfortable with that. Unfortunately there's no way to get everything I want from a single barrel. I could have gone 8 or 9 or the other end of the spectrum to 12 or 14. I felt 10 was the reasonable course for the majority of my shooting. -Rod-

 

[PJ]

Gentlemen,
First i'd like to say hello just joined today. After finding out about the website on benchrest.com. I'm wondering if you can keep us updated on the results after jim hoag is done working on the rifle. I'm looking for a smith to work on a couple of projects i have in mind.THANK YOU. PJ

 

[USAPatriot]

Gentlemen,
First i'd like to say hello just joined today. After finding out about the website on benchrest.com. I'm wondering if you can keep us updated on the results after jim hoag is done working on the rifle. I'm looking for a smith to work on a couple of projects i have in mind.THANK YOU. PJ

I sure will. When I get it back from him I'll get some photos of it. When I get it back from McMillans I'll get more photos. And I'll be documenting the load development carefully and probably getting some video as well if ASR will let me set up my camcorder downrange. I just love sending a bullet screaming just inches from a $600.00 camera, even in howling wind. I actually have footage of this same Browning printing a 1/2MOA group in winds gusting to 20...the audio is pretty cool

But yeah, I'll let you know. -Rod-

 

[USAPatriot]

Update

Last week I got the barreled action back from Jim Hoag. From what I can see externally he did an outstanding job. There's a new trigger group in it, the finished length of the bbl came to about 27.75" and there's hardly a seam to be seen between the bbl and receiver. I spaced out the photos and forget to get pics before I shipped it all off to McMillans for the A2 stock. Oh well. I shipped Fedex 3 day in a large Winchester hard case and it got there overnight! I like that...I really wouldn't have liked it staying overnight in a warehouse anywhere. The stock was finished about 5 weeks or so ago and McMillans was merely waiting for the gun to arrive so they could inlet it. I'm hoping they'll have it back to me before my birthday near the end of April.

Question: My Lapua 6BR brass arrived a week ago, finally, 200 cases. I grabbed up 30 at random, reamed the flash holes, measured the cases and will use that batch for barrel break in. I'm not planning on doing much with them at this point. The case lengths varied from 1.566 - 1.568. Load From a Disk's schematic is showing the OAL as 1.560. Are the figures as measured about what others have gotten from your Lapua brass and what length have you been trimming to? Thanks. -Rod-

 

[Forum Boss]

I generally don't trim until after the first firing. Then I'll trim and re-chamfer. Trim length to 1.557" which is normally my shortest case, within .001" or so.

With new 6BR brass I DO run an expander down the neck, and then chamfer before loading the first time.

 

[USAPatriot]

I generally don't trim until after the first firing. Then I'll trim and re-chamfer. Trim length to 1.557" which is normally my shortest case, within .001" or so.

With new 6BR brass I DO run an expander down the neck, and then chamfer before loading the first time.

Can do. Thanks a bunch. -Rod-