which would you recommend

[Akiwilad]

Looking at either a savage 10 Stealth evolution or a bergana BMP both in 6.5cm , looking for recommendations?
cheers!

[Barry Davies]

If you are going to seriously shoot F Class and you cannot get something longer than a 26" barrel, then neither.

[John Smith]

I agree with Barry, both would be inadequate

[ShaneG]

If you chose to dabble in F Std or F/TR then a 308 would get you started?
The 6.5CM will drop you into F Open. Straight into F1 and the above comments totally relevant!
We have had many people begin in our Cairns club begin with a Tikka T3 Varmint 308 and with good hand loads have been competitive to our club max range of 800M.
Those barrels are only 600mm or just under 24"
However I know from experience Tikka are among the most accurate factory barrels available

[macguru]

6.5cm is a good choice for PRS, but that kind of rifle will not cut it in F open, I agree that if you want to dabble in F class then some 308s will cut it in f standard, for a while. but only for practice, not competition because you are competing against rifles with 80fps more muzzle velocity from 30 in barrels. I have tried with an accurate varmint 308 and the longer barrel target rifles will shoot inside the slower varmint gun in wind.

[Akiwilad]

Both rifles have a 24 inch barrel, so not sure why they wouldn't be acceptable.
Cheers

[sungazer]

Being acceptable for what is what the other posters are trying to point out. In Fopen you are at a 6 in barrel length disadvantage that could be in the range of 200fps. Not to mention the profile of the barrel. F open is a tough class many of the competitors have multiple guns in different calibres and other tweaks that will suit particular conditions.

The reason that F standard was mentioned is that it is sort of a more level playing field other than front rests Vs bipods every one uses a 308 and everyone uses a 155.5 or less bullet

[Valk]

Both rifles have a 24 inch barrel, so not sure why they wouldn't be acceptable.
Cheers

"velocity". Wont get enough speed for the longer ranges. I got a Bergara in 6.5CM 24" and Savage 10 in 308W 24".
At max charge and compress load I still can't get enough speed out of the 140's to be competitive. Also the Bergara group start to open up after 5-6 shots at max load. I think the barrel is bit thin for F-class. Bergara is setup as heavy hunter and entry level PRS. Savage would be in same situation.

My 6.5x47 Fclass gun with HV 28" in Savage action has score many double possibles.

As many above a said. Start with a 308W in F-Standard to build your shooting skill and reloading knowledge. Much cheaper and good 6.5 projectiles is rare at the moment.

I would suggest you shot the first year with the 308W and then re-chamber to 6.5 once you gain enough experience and knowledge.

[Akiwilad]

All good stuff, thanks Guys.
Looks like I may go to 308.
Have been speaking to ignition custom engineering who have quoted me for a rifle made with my Tikka action and a Swan Barrel.
anybody got a swan barrel?

[ben_g]

To save diasapointment and if F-open is the game you truly want to play in I can only recommend saving your pennies for a custom target action and have a match barrel chambered and fitted by a reputable gunsmith. (Even an old 2nd hand angel/musgrave yaction or similar will work very well). Even an omark with barrel adaptor can be worked to be very accurate (extraction being their weak point)

Most guys who come to our club with supposed long range factory rifles either end up going down the custom route or drift away from f class shooting pretty quickly.

[ben_g]

On the subject of cartridges, there are currently a lot more projectile choices in 6mm at the moment, a 6BR or an improved version is stupidly easy to make shoot accurately and the improved versions don’t give up much ballistically to the 6.5’s, I shot 6mm the whole ACT queens to reasonably good effect.

[UL1700]

Yes 6mm is a damn good way to start F open especially out to 600. Sophie shot her 1st 60.10 at 500 the other week on only the 2nd outing with the new Dasher chambering (previously 6br) I think she may have forgiven me for the change lol.

[sungazer]

Theres no need to get on the bandwagon and do as everyone else does. However there is generally a good reason why a small group of barrels represent the majority of those being used. I think it would be investigating Bartlien, Krieger and Lilja to name a few they are all pretty much the same cost as are the fittment charges from the gunsmiths in the Target Rifle industry. Check what barrels the gunsmiths in the Target Rifle game recommend.