OzFclass

Has anyone else tried or considered 6.5mm Magnums for F Class ? There seems to be the 6.5mm-300 SAUM, 6.5 mm Rem Mag and 264 Win Mag ..... As I have brass for #1 (currently 7mm SAUM) I was thinking of that and have not ever seen any brass for the belted 6.5 rem mag, another short case with potential.... The 264 win mag is a long action round...

Any comments ?

Depends how often you want to buy a new barrel?
You could easily eat up half the barrel life in load development?
If they are currently not being used that would be reason enough for your answer!
I would say that worldwide the top F Open competitors are akin to F1.
For quite a while now they have left the 6.5x284 behind in favour of 7mm.
We all look for edges or pushing the envelope but I don't think the 6.5 mags are an answer.
I don't shoot the discipline but am pretty familiar with some long range accurate cartridges.

In the early days of coming to F Class I met Rod Davies through a mutual caliber we used.
22/6mm Imp - that is still edge of the envelope but Rod doesn't compete with it anymore.
Nor do I shoot long range rabbits with it either anymore.
Too high maintenance!

If it was going to be any better than whats available now Im sure it would be in use and winning matches.

They are quoting good barrel life with 2217 speed powders, I cant decide if they are fair dinkum but ill risk a barrel or two to find out ...
I would like to punt 140grainers at 3100 fps or so, maybe a little more. I just dont think you can do that in a regular case, i mean anything over 3000 with 6.5-284 and your brass is toast after a couple of firings. My saum brass is really solid, on the other hand....

ref
http://www.sincityprecision.com/?p=1964

one of my maddco barrels is running 3060 fps with 142g smk and that out of a 6.5x55AI 5 reloads so far

Yeah I think that brass is a better bet than a 6.5-284 Lewis. What load are you using ?

If you do build a 6.5 SAUM, maybe try Vihta Vouri N165 powder. It is in the burn rate range you want but much cooler burning than other powders, even cooler than H1000.

I have been looking at a thread on 6.5 SAUM on 6mmbr.com. A few people do knock it and I have seen one blow bullets up in Raton but he was using an 8" twist with H4831sc (2213sc) which is fairly hot burning. If I did build one as a Belmont muzzle energy beater, I would look at 8.5" twist, N165 powder and moly coated bullets to keep fouling and bullet jacket temps down.

Andrew,
Have ponder this idea of a 6.5 saum. But barrel life is a definate concern.

I was looking at the 160gn matrix bullets from canada.

For now the 300wsm will do.

Singo

Im using 47.8 g of 2209 jammed 10 thou. very close to mirrors the ballistics of the 284 with 180g vld at 2830.

Hi All,
At one point in time the 222 was the pinnacle of bench rest shooting
(One for the abominable no men)

Maybe think about a wildcat on saum brass with a capacity to drive the 140s to your desired speed efficiently

lewis reynolds wrote:one of my maddco barrels is running 3060 fps with 142g smk and that out of a 6.5x55AI 5 reloads so far

If I hadn't seen it on paper at 1000yds and seen it over the crono, then have the bolt open with one finger, I would have called BS. It seems some barrels are just fast barrels and some brass is tougher than others.
Maybe if Bertram 284 brass becomes a reality, the 6.5x284 might be able to pack some more punch (and wear barrels out even more quickly)

Don't waste your time and money. Over a decade ago, the 1000yd benchrest guys in Canberra tried both 6mm and 6.5mm magnums and all they got was burnt out barrels, vertical stringing and bullet blowups.

bobeager wrote:Don't waste your time and money. Over a decade ago, the 1000yd benchrest guys in Canberra tried both 6mm and 6.5mm magnums and all they got was burnt out barrels, vertical stringing and bullet blowups.

I'll second that. I once had a 264 Win Mag, good for hunting but I only fired about 50 rounds per year. I started F-Open with a 6.5-284, and now believe even that was over-bore. There seems to be an ideal bore to capacity ratio for long range target shooting - ones that come to mind in each common calibre are : 223 Rem, 6 Dasher, 6.5x47L, 284 Win, 300 WSM etc. If you want better performance in the wind, better to go up in calibre nowadays. There was a time when 7mm and 30 cal didn't have a good choice of high BC projectiles, and 140gn class 6.5 cal bullets were very attractive, but thanks mainly to Berger, that's all changed.

If you want to have some fun with a very fast 6.5, how about this : http://www.accurateshooter.com/huntingvarminting/26-nosler-speedy-new-6-5mm-magnum/