6x47 Lapua for the shorts 300-600yds/m

Quick · Post by **Quick** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 9:57 am

G'day all,

Just wondering on your thoughts to the 6x47 Lapua. Does it get better barrel life then the 243AI. I shot Brett B's 243AI and man o man I got the bug for one or something similar. Just chasing the thoughts of you all here. I was set on the 6br for my 6mm barrel but now am conflicted.....

Cheers,

Shaun

ecomeat · Post by **ecomeat** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 5:55 pm

Quick,
I have got one, and I love it.
Pushing 105 gr Bergers at 3100-3150 my first barrel, a Krieger, was absolutely dead at 1150 shots. My gunsmith reckons it had to have been officially pronounced "dead" at around 1000 or less, coz the first 5-6" were completely fire crazed and cracked.
I have now made the quantum leap to considering that the barrel is "just another consumable" and intend to keep wearing barrels out using a 6 x 47 Lapua for the shorter ranges and windless days, because its so accurate and so much fun to shoot.
I have just run in a Broughton 5C 1 in 8 twist, and it is a very sweet thing to shoot. Virtually no fouling to speak of.
Really experienced guys on here speak of 6 x 47 "iytis", which is their explanation for the one off flyers that this calibre is famous for breaking hearts with at big events.
Tony

Quick · Post by **Quick** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 6:46 pm

Tony,

Cheers for the info mate. That sounds about the same as the 243AI. I'm glad that its accurate as hell.

Shaun

BRETT B · Post by **BRETT B** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 12:47 am

That is strange you shot it out at 1000 Rounds!!! I have a Maddco here which i originally bought of Matt P some years ago !! It had 600 rds on it when i got it off him , i then put another 1000 rounds through it , then set it back 2 inches and re chambered and it shot another 600 rounds before it won a F open Queens. It did start to lose its accuracy edge but that was after 2700+ rounds but it will still chuck 10 rounds into 1.5 inch @ 300!! all day!! I have a new Maddco on it now which has done 480 rds and shows little sign of throat wear. I also have a Kreiger here which i will be trying soon as well. I have found over the years that with cartridges similar to the 243AI you need to polish the throat every 150-200 rounds to reduce fire cracking and copper build up !!

ecomeat · Post by **ecomeat** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 4:46 am

Brett,
I was certainly expecting 2-2500 rounds, but it sure didn't happen. I used 2209 and BR4 primers the whole time, and ran it at 3100-3150 fps.
This time around, I will certainly look at setting back and rechambering as you did, and as per history from Ben F, (Matt's shooting mate) will be looking to do that at the 700-800 round mark.
When you talk about polishing the throat, do you mean getting a gunsmith to do it professionally/properly, or just doing it yourself with JBs, or Iosso paste ??
Ben also had one 6 x 47 Lap barrel pounced dead at 1200 rounds, so mine isn't the only one that "died young"
Even when dead, mine still shot in the first couple of placings at a Queens at 300, but past that it just couldn't perform and dropped me to the bottom of the pack. Prior to that it had actually performed fairly competitively at 500-600 yds as well, but at my first Queens it gave me a very humbling and character building performance. That's why I rechambered to 284 Win...............but seriously couldn't wait to finally get another 6 x 47 barrel (my very first switch barrel) going which I now have via a Broughton 5C. Just love it.
Tony

Dave P · Post by **Dave P** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 9:10 am

Tony,
Having had some experience with the calibre in several rifles I have found that a rifle I owned and ran at around 3150fps lasted around 1400 rounds before being removed although in hind sight should have gone at around 1100-1200.
Another rifle which was run at a lower velocity (around 2900) has 2000 rounds down the tube is still going strong. Last bore scoping showed no signs of excessive wear.
Now one barrel was a Lilja, the other a Krieger which I doubt would make a lot of difference.
Cleaning processes were different with the Lilja being cleaned normally ie brushes etc and the Krieger only ever chemically cleaned (no brushes or abrasives)
The chemcially cleaned barrel is still winning matches.

Quick · Post by **Quick** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 9:23 am

Dave,

Could you describe to us your chemical cleaning process?

Shaun

Dave P · Post by **Dave P** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 12:31 pm

Pretty simple really mate.

Patch out with GM Top Engine Cleaner (no longer available but any quality carbon remover will do) allow to stand for 3-5 minutes and patch dry.
Repeat above.
Then clean using quality copper solvent I have used sweets, shooters choice, Butchs Bore shine, Bore Tech eliminator to name a few.
Simply wet patch (ensure solvent is foaming) allow to stand a few minutes and dry patch.
Light oil at completion.

Quick · Post by **Quick** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 12:33 pm

Dave,

Thanks mate. Ill give that a try with my kreiger 308 barrel.

BRETT B · Post by **BRETT B** » Mon Apr 15, 2013 10:58 pm

ECO , you can polish the throat yourself!! JB"S or Iosso will work fine just do it lightly !!! Depending on the barrell you have you can get a large build up of copper in the throat and not know( unless you have a bore scope!!) so after i have cleaned i put a patch of sweets upthe barrell about an inch and leave it there for 5 minutes. I then carefully put the rod down from the muzzle and push out the patch to see if copper is still in the throat!! if so i re clean but if it becomes stubborn i then polish it out with Iosso!! I also Like DAVE P"s cleaning method!! some will disagree but i won"t use bronze brushes on my bores any more!! Just chemical clean with Butches and Sweets!! I am keeping accurate Shot counts with this Barrell so i will be interested if it lasts as long as my last one.

ECO when you say the Barrell was dead do you mean it lost accuracy or it would not stabilize the bullet??

Chopper · Post by **Chopper** » Tue Apr 16, 2013 10:08 pm

I can say that 3150fps will fry a barrel in no time with 6x47, its pushing it to the MAX, 2900 will do the job easy back to 1000 yds,and almost double the barrel life, 2213 powder worked well for me, and had many good wins and records up to 1800 rounds plus, as we know its the heat that kills them, a mate of mine pushed his to 3150 plus one weekend on a two day long range shoot,2208 powder, the barrel had done 600 rounds prior at 2950 ,he said after that weekend the barrel was shot out, we both had the same barrel make ,he had a good win that weekend but it was the last out of it, my cleaning was easy and consistant and so were my loads, he spent money on rechamber and waisted it, some times I think we run them too hard for more than one reason, ?, Chop.

ecomeat · Post by **ecomeat** » Tue Apr 16, 2013 10:12 pm

Brett, sorry for the delayed response.
When I said it died, it's accuracy literally deserted me past 300 yards.
In the Duncan series, the Queens warm up, we started at 300 yds, and I had 60-5 and was equal 3rd. Then 500 yds I scored 57-3 and slipped to 12th.
Then 600 yds it was 56-2and 10th, and 600 again for 54-3 and 15th.
Queens first day, 300 yds I shot 60-7 and was equal 3rd, and after that it was all......slowly......downhill.
500 yds it was 58-3 and back to 19th.
600 yds it was 53-0 and back to 24th
Second 600 it was 54-0 and still 24th.
The next day we started at 500 and it was 55-0 and 23rd, at which stage I threw it in the car and stumbled on with an Omark 6.5 x 47.
The throat was literally cracked and totally firecrazed for 5-6", but it was at my first Queens that it's superb accuracy literally deserted me.

With cleaning, I am fortunate to have a borescope, which I use every single time that I touch a cleaning rod, so I can easily keep an eye on my copper issues. I have actually never had an issue with Carbon.
I have used JB paste and JB Borebright sparingly, but haven't used Iosso Paste. Is it similar to JB's ??
I had been using Boretech Eliminator and basically "chemically cleaning" until I had it totally clean, but when my gunsmith demo'd his Sweets cleaning method on my new 284 Win barrel, I have stuck with it, because it just works so easily and totally......which I can see every time with the borescope.
I do use a bronze brush, every time that I clean.

ecomeat · Post by **ecomeat** » Tue Apr 16, 2013 10:24 pm

Chop, what projectiles did you use to do well out to 1000 yards ? We're you using 115 grainers ?
I only ever used 105 VLDs and then went to 105 gr hybrids, but while I could "keep em honest" out to 600 yds most days, the 7mms just kicked my butt every time it got windy....... And most times we were past 600 in truth.
I certainly expected to do OK at that 700-1000 yds area, coz i had read plenty of stories about 6mm being very accurate out to that range, but it just never happened for me in real life !
I started off at 2950 fps, but mine was a lot of fun to shoot at 3150 fps and I did well with it, so just kept shooting at that speed. A little bit of success can be dangerous ! And probably lead to some rash decisions.
Tony

Chopper · Post by **Chopper** » Tue Apr 16, 2013 10:27 pm

With all that velocity comes fire cracking, with all that fire cracking comes more cleaning , with all that cleaning comes the danger of rod wear, check your lands at six oclock, just a thought, Chop.

Chopper · Post by **Chopper** » Tue Apr 16, 2013 10:33 pm

107g smk and 108 berger, didnt seem that much diff, I also ran some at 2880 , that was good also, Chop.