Which 6mm?

[shootinmiles]

Ok, a while back I asked which 6mm to get and the 6mmAI was the clear winner. Unfortunately, I had to put my build on the back burner. I just got off the phone with my smith to try and resurrect my build, and he gave me some advice about the 6mmAI as being over bored with too much powder (he did say that building what the customer wants is his top priority, I asked for his honest opinion on the matter).

He said that he is a fan of the 6-250. Just a 22-250 necked up is all. My goal for this gun is maximum destruction to prairie dogs with occasional coyotes mixed in. It is doubtful that I will ever shoot at anything past 600yards. 200-400 will probably be 90% of the shots. I have a 204 and 223 for most of my work, so I'm not worried about overshooting the gun in a day.

I don't know anything about the 6-250. Is is accurate? What velocity can I expect from 58gr Vmaxes? 87gr Vmaxes? He's getting about 2900+ from 105 VLD's. He recommends the heavy bullets out of a 6mm, but I don't think they explode very will in a Prairie Dog.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I have read about the 6mmAI's on the guns of the week. They sound great. Basically, I am monetarily limited to this one build (wife can't justify any more guns) for about 5 years. I just don't want to be disappointed.

Thanks

 

[xring01]

I have owned 6/284, love the accuracy but not the barrel life...

Like you did alot of research and spoke to some gunsmiths... Recently built two 6 competition match.

Research it.. I think you will agree the pros are worth it....

 

[LHSmith]

My son built this 6mm carry gun for varmints.....it is darn near as accurate as many of the 6 PPC's that I have/had......I believe the barrel is stamped 6 mmBR....you might find info on it if you google it. :

 

[Catfish]

I have a pair of 6 -284`s and am building a 6mm 0n the 300 WSM case, but would use neather for hunting PD`s. They will totally destroy a PD, but you will have to rebarrel you rifle every day if you shoot it hot, more than a couple of rounds per hour.

 

[cliffe]

the 6/250 is basically a 6xc, so check out the load data on the 6xc page. 6mmbr is what I have and would build another over any other 6mm. cliffe

 

[22turborimfire]

6 CM

 

[kjcpoint]

6cm, 6x47L or 6xc will fit the bill


Kyle

 

[WyleWD]

I have a hunting partner that has a 6-250 heavy barrel 1-10 twist. It is VERY accurate, and have seen him make some exceptional shots. I have a 6xc 1-10 twist that is also very formidable in the chuck fields & a hammer for coyotes. In my experience with both of them, for hunting.... either is fine. For competition, again either is fine but I personally prefer the 6xc only because I have more hands on experience with it.

As I've posted before, these 2 are fairly close (with the 6xc having the potential for more speed), and accuracy wise it all comes down to how well the rifle is built, and how well you reload and shoot it. JMO.

I've had both the 6-284 & a 6AI and while both shot well.... it was fun while it lasted. (not very long) WD

 

[lpreddick]

don't overlook the 6 BRX. a 12 or 14 twist with appropriate bullets will reach varmints way out there. barrel life is great if not over heated. 400+ thru mine and not the least bit of damage as seen thru a borescope.

 

[rcw3]

don't overlook the 6 BRX. a 12 or 14 twist with appropriate bullets will reach varmints way out there. barrel life is great if not over heated. 400+ thru mine and not the least bit of damage as seen thru a borescope.

If you are shooting light 6mm bullets a 6BRX would be excellent, and barrel life would be excellent too. Cases like the 6mmAI, the 6CM, the 6/284 are way overbore for the little 6mm bullets and all you will be doing is dumping huge amounts of powder in the case for it to burn inefficiently and blow huge amounts of excess gas down the barrel and burn things up faster. The biggest case I would use for that would be something like the 6mm/22-250, the 6XC or the 6/6.5x47 Lapua.

Robert

 

[savagedasher]

6mm Dasher has my vote.My belief it is going to be just like the 6ppc is to benchrest shooting
look at all the record that it has at 1000yd and less.
Good shooting Larry

 

[abishai]

XC all the way. I would bet dollars to donuts 3300+ with 87 g v maxes and a stout charge of h4350.

 

[Josh11]

#1 choice- 6br just for the ability to load and shoot. No fire forming, great accuracy and great barrel life.
#2 choice-6brx. Everything better than the 6br but with fireforming.
#3 6dasher- Almost the same as 6brx.

only reason I put them in this order is because I dont want to fireform any more.
But if you dont mind it, go with #2 or #3. I would try for a 1-10.
There are other great calibers that were mentioned its hard to beat these two.

 

[treeman]

I would cast my vote for 6mm BRX just as accurate as 6br with at least 100 fps more velocity
treeman

 

[1holeaddict]

If your going to b shooting inside 600 yards then the 6br is king. I also love my 243's. My opinion is your only hunting little rats and not shooting in competition so why get into a caliber that involves a lot of extra work. All the calibers listed are great ones but the question i ask over and over is "What will they do that a standard 6br or 243 win cant do?" JMPO

PS- If your wife has to complete approval checks prior to your purchases then sir ur in the wrong hobby ;D

 

[Dgd6mm]

I shoot 6MM Competition Match, 3 of them. With that being said, if it was me, 6BR - 6BRX - 6Dasher, one of those 3 for what you want to do with it.

 

[swampshooter]

The first thing you need to decide on is how much barrel life you require. Because you have short and mid-range rifles already. I would suggest staying with a high velocity standard caliber with a heavy 28" barrel, 8 or 9 twist. Either 243 or 6mm Rem. If you can avoid heating up your barrel you should be able to get 1500 rounds or so from these. If you want to sit down and shoot 10-15 rounds at a some long range prairie rats before allowing 30 minutes for your barrel to cool, then I would suggest that you not use a case larger than the 6XC or your barrel life will be down to 1,000 rds. or less for peak accuracy. After the new wears off there are a lot of advantages for a hunter to shooting a factory cartridge.

 

[GSPV]

Lots of angles to approach it from. Here is one:

Get a straight 6mmbr, minimum no turn neck with the new blue box brass, in 1:10 or 1:8. The 1:8 lets you shoot the long/heavy VLDs. The 1:10 cuts off at the 87-90 ish range with the VLDs.

You give up the high velocity of the 6 Remington AI.

You get better barrel life. An incredibly inherently accurate cartridge. Great brass readily available. Stupid easy to load for. No fire forming. Tons and tons of information available.

I'd get it on a Savage action. That way, you could order pre-fit barrels and set them up yourself without going to a gunsmith.

 

[jpretle]

6x22-250 is my choice for LR matches. Pretty much the same as the 6XC. Brass is much cheaper, and I run 107's bumping the 2950fps mark.
I am on loading #8 of one lot of brass and am looking for 3000rds from my bbl. I am at 2100 and still shooting well, very well.
For sizing I use a 250 die and the appropriate sizer bushing, so no extra dollars for 'wildcat' category dies.

 

[bheadboy]

Shootinmiles,

There have been a lot of offers of calibers and many seem to ignore your question particulars, <600, pd good, and no indication of competition. thus many of the suggestion while good calibers, are over kill for what you intend.

long life if pd, and accurate to 600, the supper bullets are not pd bullets, you want explosive ones and that changes things.

look to the 6mmbr, std 243, or 6-250 and you will have all you need. bbl twist for the 70gr plastic tips, amax, sierra bk etc. 26" is all you will need

Bob