What caliber would choice for mid-way f open 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5-284 Norma and 6.5x47 Lapua

[Evan]

We are apparently selling the 7x47 short:
https://www.accurateshooter.com/guns-of-week/7x47-lapua-wildcat-cartridge/
at longer barrel lengths it will get the 180s going above 2700fps which drifts less in the wind than the 6.5 going 2900fps.

 

[GSPV]

I don’t know about the 7-08. “Laurie” on here, a Scots guy F class shooter, btw, has a good write up on it here somewhere.

I do the 7x47 because it met the requirements that I had. I wanted to shoot 110-168 gr VLD with the start of the shank of the bullet above the donut and do so both single loading and from an AI mag.

I was on 7mm because I had a Shehane at the time (a 7 Walker on the way now) and have pretty much a lifetime supply of barrels already.

I wanted to use Lapua Brass for the obvious reasons.

It turns out to be an interesting set of requirements to meet.

If Lapua had had SRP 6.5 Creedmoor brass available at the time, it might have worked. I don’t know. I have lots of brass and several dies. I’m not going to change now.

 

[Laurie]

As Greg (@GSPV) says, I went down the 7mm-08 rather than 7X47 route. I keep my 284 for 175gn and heavier bullets and choose bullets in the 150-162gn range fror the smaller cartridge. Reformed 308 Lapua Palma brass is used for 160/162s at around 2,830 fps (31-inch barrel) with a single-based powder (Viht N160) for barrel life. This is my primary mid-range rifle and load. Previous to this combination, I shot 6.5X47L with the superb 123gn Lapua Scenar at almost 3,000 fps and had some good results with that if the weather conditions weren't too rough.

The 150gn Lapua Scenar-L is used in the 7-08 at similar MVs to the 160s in prepped Winchester brass (older stuff - much better made than recent Winchester cases I've seen) over Lovex SO-65 another single-based extruded propellant (sold as Shooters World 'Long Rifle' in the US). The 150 Scenar is adequate but not outstanding ballistically so this is my short-range choice. Precision with this combination at 200/300 is outstanding for a modest price out-of-the-box Savage PTA based F-Class build.

The 7mm-08 and I've no doubt 7X47mm make good mid-range choices. Just how they stack up against an equivalent 6.5X47L or Creedmoor is difficult to quantify, and a lot depends on whether local weather conditions see a benefit from the use of higher BC 7mm bullets. My primary range is nearly always wind-afflicted and sees two major and very different wind directions / conditions and some other less common conditions too just to keep us on our toes. Some conditions also affect elevation POI. (These conditions rarely apply in combination in a match, but the constant changing between fixtures makes it harder to really 'know' the wind-effect quirks). Because we 'pair-shoot' (ie two, often three competitors shooting alternately/sequentially) each competitor usually has to master constantly changing wind conditions between shots most days whatever wind direction applies.

The sixes and more recently 6.5X47mm used to be 'big' on this range for mid-range F-Class, but with its weather and our form of shooting, the bigger sevens and 300 short magnums are usually shot by the top scoring competitors. One exception to the rule is 6.5 Creedmoor shooting heavier bullets in small primer Lapua brass which now seems to give an excellent mix of ballistics, recoil/gun handling and precision in a well specced/built rifle. These burn some really hot loads though and barrel life is going to be poor.