6.5/284

[zoner]

Little help please.I have a rem 721 in 30/06 and I was thinking about building a long range gun in 6.5/06,being all I have to do is change the barrel,however it seems that most shooters are shooting the 6.5/284 now my question is can I just change the barrel on this rifle and make it a 6.5/284.
I think the bolt face is the right size.Thanks

 

[NCsmitty]

Welcome to THR, zoner.

To be fair, both rounds are nearly the same in performance, but the 6.5-284 is a legitimate round with brass being available and the 6.5-06 still a wildcat. Granted some companies do offer 6.5-06 brass, but at premium prices.
The 721 might feed the 284 case ok but chances are the 6.5-06 would be fine. The long action Remington would allow you to seat the bullets out regardless of choice. The boltface will fit either case.
Only you can make the choice of the two.

I would suggest the 6.5x55 Swede Mauser round. When loaded to it's potential in a modern bolt action, it runs close to the larger rounds and the barrel will last longer.


NCsmitty

 

[lopezni]

Absolutely the 6.5 Swede. Check the ballistics of the Finish ammo. Lapua, Norma. The 6.5 has the highest BC of any caliber and that caliber is very accurate. It still has at least one world record I know of. The 6.5x284, the 6mmBr, the 6x47 Lapua, long range competitive shooters, generally scrap their barrels after 1000rds.

 

[Visionz45]

I'm putting a .264 win mag together and have recently played with a friends just for fun. He's got a bunch of rounds down the tube and I shoots sub MOA. The 6.5-06 is a great caliber as well and not quite as overbore. Just run some .270 cases through a 6.5 re-sizer die. All my .264 brass is marked 7mm.

 

[rangerruck]

hmm... I always thought 284 and 06 case was the same exact case...
so that's a big no? How diff could they be? I would think that if they were diff, one would be easily able to resize to the other?

 

[NCsmitty]

To rangerruck, and anyone else interested, here's some case dimensions.



NCsmitty

 

[rangerruck]

...I'm assuming the one on the left is the 284?

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Zoner, for pure performance, the 6.5mm-'06 bests the 6.5-.284 Norma across the board by 50-100 fps, according to my reloading manuals. BUT, that comes with attendant shortened barrel life - it's all a tradeoff. Either of those or as mentioned, 6.5x55 are good choices, all closely grouped together along the performance-versus-barrel-life-tradeoff-continuum in the 6.5 caliber.