Next Project: 6.5-284 Long Range Rifle

[Sven]

Not content to just focus obsessively on my M1A build project (well underway) or the M1 Garand project (just started)... now I'm beginning to lay plans for a bolt-action chambered in 6.5-284 for long-range sniper matches.




Anyone out there have experience with 6.5-284?

My gunsmith friend is a huge fan, and I seem to hear a lot of other good things about this chambering from reloaders. Goal is to shoot those 1000 yard matches, but to have a chambering less punishing than .338 Lapua or .50 BMG.

 

[Sven]

BUMP!

 

[QuarterBoreGunner]

Sven- where can you shoot a 1000 yrd match around here?

I'd be perfectly happy finding a 200 - 400 yrd range.

And I really wish they'd open the old Fort Ord ranges down in Monterey.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

I have one gunsmith friend who is a fan of the 6mmx.284, not sure what he thinks of the 6.5. Another gunsmith friend builds primarily for 1000 yard matches, seems like most of his calibers are Ackley Improveds (I engrave his barrels for him).

I'll probably see him next week, I'll ask him.

 

[Sven]

This is all second-hand, but I'll followup with the real deal:

Sacramento has this kick-butt match (IUMA ?) where you shoot pop-up targets at 100, 200, 300, 500, 600, 1000 yards... they then have you walk backwards (carefully) and at random times a command is issued wherein everyone drops to the ground and has to have the right elevation dialed in... talk about a cool match!

Gunsmith buddy hit a golfball at 1000 yards and won the prize... he has the golf ball. Lucky shot, eh?

-

Ackley improved - that's all he talks about.

 

[Gewehr98]

My golf ball was 500 meters...

At another event there called the No Bull$hi* Sniper Match. It wouldn't surprise me if the Mudville Militia (as those guys are known out there at Sac Valley Shooting Center) finally did manage to centerpunch the elusive golf ball at 1000 yards. That's the same facility where I hit my golf ball using a 6.5-06. Here's the Mudville Militia, nefarious looking characters, ain't they?



The gentleman on the right with the Stoner SR-25 does quite well, I competed against him during NoBSSM-II. Here he is:

.

For more on how this multi-range crawling match is run, look here:

http://www.snipercountry.com/Articles/SacramentoSnipers.htm


You won't go wrong with the 6.5-284, Sven. One concern - you can chamber the round using a short action Remington 700. But if you go with 155gr Sierra MatchKings, and seat them out for best case capacity, you may want a long action, especially if you want a repeater instead of a single-shot. Not a big problem, in fact, the 142gr Sierra MatchKings are seen quite often in this chambering. Let us know how your search goes, the round has been a darling in the benchrest and tactical bolt rifle games for some time now.

 

[Sven]

Maybe it was 500 yards - let me ask him. Thanks for the info!

 

[Wildalaska]

I was wandering around the other day and snagged a like new Win featherweight 70 originally done in 6.5x55, rechambered to 6.5x284. Called my gunsmith buddy and co worker and he snagged it...

He might have some loads, Ill ask...

Wildlikes6.5x284Alaska

 

[Sven]

Bumping this with an update:

I've been rethinking 6.5-284 because I've read 1000 yard shooters are finding barrel life is 800-1000 for competition work. I have nothing against barrel makers and intend to put more than a few meals on the tables of my friends the barrel makers over my lifetime, but... that's a 'high maintenance' chambering!

I've got the reloading setup fairly well covered thanks to local highroader larryw. Components and powder shouldn't be a problem. Brass availability is excellent for this chambering.

Regarding the execution of the rifle, there is a first big question, followed quickly by a torrent of others: which type of action to build on, what kind of stock design/material to use, what kind of glass to use, and how to affix that glass to the rifle for 1000 yard shots.

My current thought has been to have a wood bolt rifle made in this chambering, by Cooper Arms out of Montana. I'm curious what a wood stock would do to my plans for a long range rifle - drifting zeros is one concern.

As such, I'm open to other directions in stock composition, actions, etc. I guess I'll keep researching! Open to suggestions.

 

[Gordon]

There was a doctor Ramon Somovia in Hollister/Salinas area who was into extreme range varminting in middle fifties. He developed the .256 Condor which fired a 140-200(!) grain bullet from a quick twist barrel. I have one of his 30lb rail guns using the full length Imp .300 H&H case . It is a 1917 enfield Rem action converted to single shot with a welded in feed ramp and welded up where rear sight was. It came with a 20X Unertl Programmer with 200 loaded rounds with custom swaged 140 grain bullets. The barrel is marked 'Timken steel' whtatever that is, and has not washed out in the 700rnds I've shot over the years. Nor what was (didn't look like many) put thru it before I got it.Stock has elaborate RM cartouche carved into pistol grip cap. Stock was never finished and barrel was left in white. The action is refined and converted to speed lock with a 1.5lb trigger, very crisp. With 30 year old ammo in the 80's I could print 3/4" groups at 100yds but 3" groups at 600 yards at the Swiss Rifle Club in Gonzales. I think the long bullet 'goes to sleep' after 200yds or so. If I was building a long range rifle today, I'd use a 6.5mm 1 in 9" 28" blank with 7/8" dia at muzzle on a 40X(or eqivalent ) action with good trigger , and a 10x Leupold M3 or a good 6-24x. I think a ..270 Win short mag necked down would do what I wanted: 140grain Match king(or equivalent) at 3200fps.

 

[Zak Smith]

Sven,

I have a friend who does some serious long-distance shooting, his "game" is the ITRC (International Tactical Rifleman Championships) in Gilette, WY, in which team of two shooters shoot hour-long field courses split between "carbine" targets out to 500 yards and "precision rifle" targets out to 900 or 1000 yards. He and his partner alternate who shoots precision rifle each year, and they've placed well.

I've picked his brain some about what works in this match since I want to shoot it next year. His thought is that the 6.5's don't have enough barrel life. He's shooting a 26 or 28" long Rem700 in 7 RemMag with a custom brake. With 167gr Berger bullets at about 3150 - 3200 the trajectory is flatter than 50BMG out to 1200, and with just some basic work (and accurate loads) I think it's about 1/4-1/2 MOA.

If 6.5x284 is too hard on barrels, you might give 7RM a try. They certainly can be made to perform.

I'm interested to see how your 6.5 project turns out.

regards
Zak

 

[lunde]

Sven,

Cooper Arms charges $325 to rebarrel one of their rifles. Given that cost, compared to the cost of the ammo (components) and original rifle, it's not that much.

Also, to what degree a barrel is considered shot-out (or burned up) can vary, depending on how it is shot, such as allowing the barrel to cool.

If I were you, I'd get the rifle you want, and if/when the accuracy drops, simply send it back to Cooper Arms to be rebarreled. There is no fixed number of rounds at which point you should consider the barrel to be toast. As long as it is shooting as accurately as you expect, I would consider the barrel to be still good. Cooper Arms prides itself on the accuracy of their rifles.

Given that the external dimensions of their barrels is the same regardless of caliber, shooting .243 AI might be another choice which you had been considering, as a round that will have more barrel life than 6.5 x 284.

 

[larryw]

If throat erosion is a concern, load it up lighter for 100 yard practice and full bore for the half-mile matches.

Guys were pretty good at shooting long range way before synthetic stocks were invented. Proper bedding is more of an issue than anything else.

Besides, wood looks so much better for the between shot lies, er...stories.

 

[Sven]

Will have to check loading data and see what kind of 'short-line' loads can be worked up - great call!

The late great Gale McMillan (Collected TFL Wisdom) would have cared to disagree about the wood stocks:

Posted: 09-22-1999 12:16
Art, we live in the last of the twentieth century! Wood was fine for ox bows and shovel handles and work well in a fire place on a cold damp evening
but on a gun Never! Why would you want to handicap your self with a wood gun stock. That is unless you want to re zero your rifle every time you
take it out of the gun cabinet.

Regardless, I'm with you - this one is going to be wood. Pretty wood.

 

[lunde]

I was once a "non-wood" kind of guy, but my dad helped me to see the error of my ways. I still appreciate a good synthetic stock, like what is on my Remington 700 VS SF, but the appeal of gorgeous wood is strong. So strong that I ordered my fifth Cooper last week.

 

[atek3]

hey sven, hows the barrel life on 6.5-06, longer I believe.

atek3

 

[Gordon]

Sven , Markely's gunshop in Watsonville Ca. got an estate sale in with a nice .256(6.5/30-06) Newton on a 98 Mauser with a p.o. Ackely barrel, full target stock and barrel , light trigger and scope mounts and rings for $495, also have a .25-284 wildcat in same configuration and a few other wierd Target variations of 1917 and 98 mausers in caliber .22-250 imp and up., from same estate, none over $600 and they'll DICKER. The deceased appeared to be into long range shooting, I bought the .358 Norma target 1917 last spring when the lot came in. They aren't moving the rest very fast and you could make an offer,-cheap! The youger generation goes for the plastic and the heft of a target weight rifle scares them away! PS: high grade wood and bluing!!!

 

[El Tejon]

Sven, I'm a big fan of the 6.5mm rounds. Hope your project comes together!