It may very well shoot accurately out of the '47>>>but you might need a straight 7 twist and you will be going pretty slow, maybe as low as the mid-2600s..
What Cartridge for F-Open
- Thread starter ShootDots
- Start date
There's a lady who shoots a .223 Rem in F-Open (due to a benchrest) at the 300 yard F-Class match in Polk County, NC. I don't think any of the more "proper" F-Open cartridges have beaten her yet.
Rope2horns
Norm Harrold
Ben.....Ken Dickerman absolutely crushed it, at the TSRA mid range a few years ago....the second day the second relay Ken and Jimmy Fowler tied the national record with 200-19x....there were also 4 600's with 40+ x's shot that day..1-284 1-dasher and 2-284Shehanes.
The Missouri State match at Bucksnort is a 1600 point two day match. The last three years a 284 has won 2 out of the 3 with Mike Jakubczak shooting a 1599-284.. James Laney a 1598-284 and David Decareaux a 1598 shooting a 6Dasher. That's pretty stout no matter how ya slice it.
Brain Bowling went on a rampage this year with his Tim Claunch built TAC40...and put a lot of 284 shooters in their place! Brain certainly set the bar high.
IMO if recoil is a issue and the wind don't blow over ten mph and you're not gonna shoot long range then shoot something other than a 284.
The Missouri State match at Bucksnort is a 1600 point two day match. The last three years a 284 has won 2 out of the 3 with Mike Jakubczak shooting a 1599-284.. James Laney a 1598-284 and David Decareaux a 1598 shooting a 6Dasher. That's pretty stout no matter how ya slice it.
Brain Bowling went on a rampage this year with his Tim Claunch built TAC40...and put a lot of 284 shooters in their place! Brain certainly set the bar high.
IMO if recoil is a issue and the wind don't blow over ten mph and you're not gonna shoot long range then shoot something other than a 284.
Great Thread.... Just Tagging on to it.
The F-Open cartridge I recommend most for friends and family is the .260 Rem with the intent to shoot the 147-150 grain bullets. It has enough case capacity to reach reasonable velocities and offers a choice of H4350 and H4831. The smaller 6.5 cases really don't open the door to H4831. With a 30"+ barrel, one can likely stick to moderate loads with good barrel life. In a rifle at the upper end of the weight range, recoil is also very moderate.
But the fact that most of my friends and family shoot at least 80% of their matches at 300-600 yards and < 20% at 1000 yards weighs heavily in this recommendation. If someone shoots 50% of the time or more at 1000 yards, they need to consider carefully their ability to handle recoil and how heavy a bullet they can manage and shoot really well for 60 record shots in a day, possibly 2 days in a row. Depending on their recoil tolerance, I suggest a .260 Rem (lower recoil tolerance), a .284 Win (moderate recoil tolerance) or a 30-06 (high recoil tolerance). Most shooters do not manage recoil as well as they think they do.
But the fact that most of my friends and family shoot at least 80% of their matches at 300-600 yards and < 20% at 1000 yards weighs heavily in this recommendation. If someone shoots 50% of the time or more at 1000 yards, they need to consider carefully their ability to handle recoil and how heavy a bullet they can manage and shoot really well for 60 record shots in a day, possibly 2 days in a row. Depending on their recoil tolerance, I suggest a .260 Rem (lower recoil tolerance), a .284 Win (moderate recoil tolerance) or a 30-06 (high recoil tolerance). Most shooters do not manage recoil as well as they think they do.
I don't know. Mine worked extremely well in my 6.5 x 47's. For some reason this case has been branded with the idea that heavy bullets are too big for the case. It started with the 140 series bullets. I haven't been able to find where this started from. It is just a matter of the right twist in the barrel.
IMO if recoil is a issue and the wind don't blow over ten mph and you're not gonna shoot long range then shoot something other than a 284.
I'm glad somebody mentions range conditions. I shoot 7mm-08 on most short/mid range matches, but 223 and 6BR in some conditions. However, here is the UK Met Office's Saturday wind forecast for my primary range, Diggle nearly 1,000 ft ASL in the south Pennines in the north of England for Saturday when we have the first F-Class match of the year, a 500-yard fixture.
0900 Average wind 16 mph / gusts 37 mph
1200....................18 mph / gusts 41 mph
1500....................18 mph / gusts 39 mph
The wind direction is from the north east all day which as well as making it extremely cold, means one is shooting into an 11 o'clock headwind that enters the head of the valley that the range is situated in via a steep draw to the left and rear of the targets. The air travels some 400 or 500 feet down a very steep hillside before reaching target level. Competitors on the other hand are below the targets on the 500 yard firing point and are shooting uphill! A strong gust will move a typical 6.5 bullet at 6.5X47 or Creedmoor speeds a minute or three to the right, but even at 500 moves it downwards a Minute too. Let-offs have the reverse effect - the POI high and left.
My 6BR and 7-08 will be left at home and I'll shoot the heaviest cannon in my armoury, a 284. On another day with lighter winds a good six or 6.5 can clean our 500 matches, although we've never had a 20 x V-count (X to US shooters). I'll make a prediction that a 7mm SAUM or WSM user will take F/O on Saturday, but only if the member who regularly uses a .300 RUM doesn't make it to that match. In strong NE wind conditions, I've seen the same guy use his RUM at 300 yards at Diggle, and win.
It could of course be worse and be a scheduled 800, 900, or 1,000 yard match. On such as day at these distances, the 284 shooter faces a major disadvantage compared to the WSMs. 6.5 Creedmoors and similar? Well, you shoot them for fun and fresh air on a day like this at Diggle at 1,000. On the rare nice day there, a mid size 6.5 can win at 800, but VERY rarely at 1,000.
So as we say in England ........ It's horses for courses or for Accurate Shooter .... Rifles for ranges (and weather)!
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CharlieNC
Gold $$ Contributor
I've shot there several times and I think she finished second once. Asked why she didn't shoot Ftr, she started out shooting bench and liked moving the rest prone vs bipod. I'm not sure she hasn't shot an unofficial record score, and she is very consistent.
Highpower-FClass
Gold $$ Contributor
Hi mate what twist and length barrel you running and what freebore.
Which new Bergers and Sierras are you referring to?
Hi Rushty,
Sierra’s new 150 6.5 and Bergers new 155 EOL
Both have a high BC. Strictly by the numbers, they will shoot inside of a 284 with 180’s.
CW
Edited to add link
https://www.sierrabullets.com/store/product.cfm/sn/1755/264-dia-65mm-150-gr-HPBT
http://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/new-155gr-6-5mm-berger-on-the-horizon.3932591/
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I thought people abandoned the 6.5-284 because of short barrel life. I would think that a 150gr bullet would shorten life even more?
My last 6.5 x 284, I ran 140 Hybrids with 54.7grs of H1000. I had 1500 rounds of accurate barrel life using H1000 and I was getting 3030f.p.s. S-L-O-W powders will aide in barrel longevity..
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Hi Pigdog
Twist is 1 in 8 right now but testing in the cold indicates that maybe a faster twist would be better. I have ordered a 1 in 7.5 and a friend ordered a 1 in 7 so we will definitely know. The freebore is .175" in a 30" barrel.
I am really sold on the combo. I was shooting this combo in the cold today using H4831SC and this powder is indicating that it could be a good powder choice for the 152's. Still doesn't equal the accuracy of the H4350 load but it is close. I don't think I have enough powder in the case yet.
Steve
Twist is 1 in 8 right now but testing in the cold indicates that maybe a faster twist would be better. I have ordered a 1 in 7.5 and a friend ordered a 1 in 7 so we will definitely know. The freebore is .175" in a 30" barrel.
I am really sold on the combo. I was shooting this combo in the cold today using H4831SC and this powder is indicating that it could be a good powder choice for the 152's. Still doesn't equal the accuracy of the H4350 load but it is close. I don't think I have enough powder in the case yet.
Steve
I just wanted to take this time to applaud all the contributors to this thread. Not only have we given excellent insight for a newbie, to aide in his search, for either a Mid-Range OR Long-Range cartridge selection, it has been done with extreme civility! Thank You! KEEP THE INFO COMING!!
As an do-it-all F-Open cartridge I think it's hard to go past the .284 or 280AI for a combination of reasonable barrel life with wind-cheating ability. However if you have deep pockets and don't mind having a couple of spare barrels ready to go, I'd follow current F-Open world champ Rod Davies and shoot a 7SAUM. Hard on barrels but I've gotten behind a well tuned SAUM and it's not hard to see why they excel at 1000 metres.
David! Are you sure the .284 has been good to you? Only 200-17X's at 1000 yards>> National Record that you tied again! And did very well in BR competition! Are you quite sure! LOL!!!
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