Am I correct in this assumption?

As a target cartridge.. to make it something more than the 260 Rem, I'd have to agree with you...

I researched this a lot several years ago, and had the availability to test a couple of rifles owned by acquaintence's in the 6.5 x 284, the 6.5/06 and AI version also...and I already owned a 260...

Based on that, and the availability of 284 Brass and its cost...

I went with building a 6.5 x 57...on a long action Model 70...

The long action allowed the bullet to not take up space in the brass... gave me the same velocity or better than the 6.5/06 and AI version.. using 10 % (or more) less powder...

And instead of Iffy and spendy availability of 284 brass... I could just neck up the plentiful, available and less spendy 257 Roberts brass...

I consider the 6.5 x 284 to be a target cartridge and not a hunting cartridge... other cases will give better feeding... and I don't like a 3 round magazine capacity....plus it doesn't do all that much more than a 260 does with a lot less fuss!

Reason I posted this is a friend just bought a custom from a guy that had it built on a short action. It's a rem 700 with a DBM. You would have to seat that bullet pretty deep for it to work with that magazine if it works at all since the mag is .308 case based. I am thinking he bought a single shot rifle or a underperforming rifle that may not feed right.

Seafire your right I don't see much more benefit then a 260 or 6.5x55 provides

I think I'd go with a short action.
Lots of guys shooting 25-284's on short actions.

Don

I Would go with a short action myself.
One of the best choices might be the MRC short action. It is built with the 7X57 length rounds in mind.
Remington used to make the .257 Roberts on the short action 722, so I am prety sure this will work reasonably well.
You may have to seat heavyer bullets a little deep but 140s and 150s should be fine.
If you have at least a 24 inch barrel you should get a decent velocity gain over a 260.
Not a huge one. But a gain.
Now getting the round to feed from a detachable mag might be a problem.
Not much you can do to such a mag. A bdl model would be easier to modify...tj3006

Hello,
You could build on a Rem. 700SA/40X action for a long range match rifle for most often are only single shots anyway. No need for a magazine and believe that all 40X's were short actions. Once you insert the longer series of cartridges, decide not to shoot, must remove bolt to extract cartridge. Can't see much use for repeater as a varmint or match gun, but to each his own.

I think the main problem is the DBM and he would be ok if he used a regular REm short action. WHat would happen if he used a HS precision mag system instead of that Remington DBM system..WOuld their magazine be more compatible with that 284 case?

the easy answer is to just build on a Mauser, the box is designed for an x57mm length case.

Rich
DRSS

The 6.5X.284 That I had built in 1966 was deep throated to handle the heavy for calber bullets. With the 156gr original Barnes pointed bullet it was fantastic on large mule deer. I would not have felt under gunned using it on Elk but never did as I was studying the results on them with other rifles and bullets.

The appeal for short actions has always been lost on me. Even the .308 and its ilk would be better off with longer actions and deep throated barrels.A .308 with a 220 gr. bullet seated far out puts that rifle into a higher level game catagory. The same would be true of most of its spawn. roger

roger... that is the best pic yet...

If you want a nice single shot, buy a Ruger #1. A 6.5x284 in an unmod. M700SA is too long for anything but varmint bullets. One reason the 25x284 works well is most guys don't use anything longer than 100gr. I went to the .260ai in my 700sa because of this. It barely handles the 142grsmk @ 2.810". I would want a std. action or an action based on the 57mm case. Good brass, even ammo is readily available. In the right rifle, I would love to have one. You get a solid 200fps over the .260 but it is hard on bbls. at those vel.

I have 4 rifles chambered in 6.5-284; a long action Winchester/USRA 70 Fwt that was rechambered from 6.5x55, a Remington 700 SA, a Remington 7, and a Savage 99CD. The long acton Winchester/USRA 70 has the shortest barrel, 22", but is faster than any of the other 3 with the same loads, loaded to the same OAL. I attribute this difference in velocity to the longer 6.5x55 throat and, maybe, just a "fast" barrel.

For any game, within reason, over 250 lbs., I shoot the 140 grain Partition in my 6.5mm bore rifles, so there really isn't an OAL issue and that bullet doesn't need to be seated deep enough to make a meaningful impact on the case capacity, at least that I've seen. That said, I've never had a Remington 700 DM chambered for any cartridge other than the 260, so I don't know how a 284 based cartridge would feed from those magazines. My experience with Winchester 100s in 284 suggests that getting any DM in 284 to feed might take some work, but a manually operated action should be less so than a semi-auto. Besides, the magazine is only there to hold the extra cartridges that you're not going to need, since your 1st shot is likely to be your best shot. Just concentrate and make the 1st shot, then the magazine become mostly superfluous extra weight.

Jeff

30-06 length action is the way to go. No question in my way of thinking.

I can't think of any reason that I would ever use a long action for a 6.5-284. If I was going with a long action, I'd pick the 256 Newton, 6.5-06, or maybe a 6.5-06AI.

Jeff

CIP specifications for 6.5-.284 Norma show a max cart. length of ~3.2 inches which would obviously require a long action to meet this length.

I have a 284 Win on a short action, it was a Tikka M595 continental in 7mm-08 that I had reamed to 284 Win.

The internal mag length is just over 3 inches which allows me to seat the 160-168 grain bullets ao that their base is level with the base of the case neck, just about perfect.

I suspect that the mag of the remington will be shorter than my Tikka, however, I still dont think he will loose out by much, if any at all.

He will be well ahead of the 6.5x55, 260 rem and still up there with the 6.5-06, he may need to use some compressed loads though.

One powder your friend should look at, is Ramshot Magnum http://www.ramshot.com/powders/

Which should allow him to still obtain 3000fps with those long 140/142 grain bullets, reguardless of how deep he has to seat them.

quote:

CIP specifications for 6.5-.284 Norma show a max cart. length of ~3.2 inches which would obviously require a long action to meet this length.

Spot on........A shooting buddy just built a 6.5x284 in a remington sa and had to keep the bullets seated too deep to fit the magazine, he moved it to a long action.

woods

Actually, the best solution to the 6.5-284 action length quesiton, if you must use bullets heavier/longer than the 140 grain Partition, is probably the 270 WSM, since it will handle longer/heavier bullets even better than a LA 6.5-284. I have both SA and LA 6.5-284s and can report, from actual experience, that 99.99% of the potential performance difference between the 2, with bullets 140 grains and less, occurs in the 6" between a person's ears, not at the range or in the field.

Jeff

I'm just now deciding how deep to seat my bullet that I will send to the gunsmith showing where to put the distance-to-the-lands. It is on a 6.5 Rem Mag which is very similar to the 6.5x284 (only .001" longer) and this is what a 130 gr Accubond looks like seated to the depth of the case-body/shoulder junction level



There is still a lot of bullet left sticking out.

My questions are:

Will a long exposed bullet like this create problems with feeding?
Will I be able to use 120 cup and core - no plastic tip bullets that will be shorter?
Would you seat the bullet deeper?

BTW, this is going to be a Douglas barrel on a long action which will allow me to seat as long as I want even with a detachable magazine.

Use a long action,..my 6.5x55AI with 140gr pills won't eject a loaded round.

i guess there is a need for the 6.5 saum

Woods, I think the proposed seating depth you show is just fine. It should help feeding if anything, not inhibit it. I would do exactly as you are doing, and send that dummy round to my smith to get the rifle chambered to get a round at that length just off the lands.

I have four 6.5x284's, all built on the '06 length action. I examined several built on 308 length actions, and although serviceable, they definitely required deeper seating of the bullets than is optimal, even with lighter pills like the 120 NBT or 120 TSX (which is a little long anyway). With 140 gr fodder, to seat the bullet much as woods shows in his pics of the 6.5 Mag, the short action won't work. I really can't tell the difference in practice between the two actions, I hunt a lot with both lengths, and I just learned a long time ago to cycle the bolt sharply, pulling it to it's rearmost limit (against the bolt stop sharply) and there just aren't any issues for me.

The 6.5x284's I have are all VERY accurate rifles, with little to no load development needed.

Good luck--Don