Building a new toy and was wondering if I should go with a 1-8 twist and shoot 105 to 107 VLDs or go with a 1-12 and shoot up to 85grn bullets. Many say the 105 and 107s will not expand good on varmints.

Frank, a friend of mine shoots one in long-range prone competition but doesn't hunt varmints. That rifle is a fast twist and produces wonderful accuracy with the Sierra 107 matchking.

Probably not useful info as it doesn't really relate to varmint shooting though - other than the awesome accuracy of the rifle & cartridge. Guy

Frank;
I'm having a 1/8 T 6BR Norma for long range P-dogs made right now as we speak. It should be complete by the end of March. When I get it I will definitly update you. Until then I can tell you what I have researched and why I chose what I did. I wanted to use this rifle for 300 - 700 yard ranges that would hold up in the wind. For this reason I chose the fast twist so I could shoot high BC bullets. Now here is where the problem is that I found. After all my research I came to the conclusion that it was very hard if not impossible to get the 105's 107's up to 3000fps. For some reason this seems to be my magic number for speed. Because of this I have been concentrating on the 90's and 95's from Berger, Lapua and Starke. All of these still will be .400+ BC and should easily be able to reach 3000fps +. Second issue for me was the lack of published loads for these bullets, so buy yourself a Lapua manual as almost no one has loads for the 6BR and those that do are more for the slow twists and stop around 70gr bullet. I will post updates here and the reloading board when I get the loads worked up. My starting powder I will be using is V-N540 and for starters I will use the 90's from the three mentioned bullets. If I can easily reach and sustain 3000+ then I will move to the 95's. As far as bullet expansion specifically the Berger's and the Starke's make 90gr varmint bullets. The Lapua's are match bullets. Floating around on the web somewhere is a test someone did specifically with the 6mm 105 A-max for use on varmints and such and they spoke highly of the more then adequate expansion of these bullets. If I find it again I'll post the link. One other good place to poke around for info on the 6BR is benchrest.com.

Frank: In 1997 I had a custom 6mm BR built on a Remington XP-100 action. I had it built very heavy with a 26 1/2" Hart cryoed barrel. The Rifle weighs 13 pounds 10 ounces with the Leupold 8.5X25X40mm scope. I had it chambered specially for the Nosler 55 gr. Ballistic Tip bullet. It shoots these bullets extremly well. In addition I have tried the 68 gr. and 70 gr. Varmint bullets and it shoots those bullets just as well! This Rifle is a Prairie Dog erasing machine! I have also killed a lot of Rock Chucks, Badgers and miscellaneous Vermin with it.
For Varminting I have been overly happy with the smaller bullets (55 to 70 grs.) both accuracy and lethality wise! I have never used any bullets heavier than 70 grs. in it to date.
Good luck with your 6mm BR!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Frank,

My girlfriend shoots a 6br 8 twist with 107gr sierras in her 1000 yard F-class rifle. The load is 31.5gr of Varget. It is a very good shooting combination. Low recoil and easy on the barrel. She has shot many really good scores at 1000 yards.

Corbin Shell

Gentlemen
I'm saving the nickles and dimes for a long range space gun based on the Armalite AR-10 action. The bullet of choice is the Sierra 107 Matchking. There are two cases under consideration one is the 22- 250 Savage necked up and the other is the 243 Win shorten a RCH (the smallest measurement known to man).
Anyone have any experience or knowledge of these two cartridges?
Jim

I have a 6 BR in a 40 X Remington I am told it won't stabilize over 80 grains,( never tried ) .266 neck, 1.510 case length . I shoot 70 gr ballistic tips and 70 gr Hornady SX they shoot to the same point of impact at a little over 3300 fps,the rifle averages in the .3's--- I personally don't think a 6 BR develops enough velocity with heavier bullet's for long range varminting, the accuracy is there but not the energy. Long range heavier bullet's need more speed, like a 6-.284--- so many caliber's --so little time ( and money )--- Shoot Safe--- montdoug

case in point. That is what I built my 6/284 for. A Lilja 30" barrel w/ a 1-8 twist. I had to enlarge the barrel channel in my HS Precision stock for the 1.25 tube, but when its all said, 3600fps w/ the 107's is attainable. However, I get better accuracy around 3550. So far I havent' shot any brass twice(.268 neck) and I'm getting around 3/4" @200 yards. I figure once the brass is formed to my chamber, those figures will decrrease a little. I'm hoping to average 1.5"@500 yards. Time will tell. My press is a POS, so I;m working on that too. When I was sizing the brass down from .284 , I noticed one side of the shoulder would start to collapse before the other. This lead to coencentricity problems. some of these loads I've shot so far has had .007 runout. After fireforming this should come down to around .002-I'm hoping.
Barrel burner for sure, but at 30" I can cut the barrell threads off every 1500 rounds and rechamber. When it gets down to 26" or so-scrap it and call Lilja again.

carverelli--have you considered inline die's like Wilson's using an arbor press? You size the neck using bushing's , decrease size of bushings and size a little at a time. My 6 BR runs les than .001 runout. Check Sinclair International , good stuff-good folks. ---Shoot Safe---montdoug

I have a 1-8 barrel chambered in 22BR and although it shoots the longer bullets a bit better it will also shoot shorter/lighter bullets with more than enough accuracy for almost any shooting. I find that I get the best accuracy with the longer bullets by seating them into the lands a practice that makes me a bit nervous with full-power loads so I find myself backing off a little on velocity just to give myself a margin of error.

Fast-twist barrels can be a wonderful thing but in my limited experience they only do their best for very, very good & meticulous reloaders.

re5513

Can you share some of your loads for the 90GR and up bullets. I just got my 1/8 tw 6br and was looking for more possibilities. I'm starting with V-540 and 90GR scenar's, 90GR Berger MEF's and CCI mag primers. I want the heaviest bullet/highest BC I can use and still get 3000FPS. I also have some varget I may play with.

Ok as promised this is the results of my new 6BR workup. First the overview, Trued Rem 700 LH, 28" 1.20 dia Lilja 6BR Laupua .271 neck, pinned Tubs recoil lug firing pin and spring kit, HS Precision varmint stock, 8oz Jewel trigger, Nightforce 8x32 Benchrest scope in Nightforce rings and bases. All brass is virgin Lapua with CCI 450 primers. Powder was V-N540 and the two bullets I was testing with were 90GR Berger MEF 2.190 OAL and 90GR Lapua Secnars 2.260 OAL. All shooting was at 100yds 15 shot groups, cleaning before every string, no fouler shots, light wind blowing from behind the target (sometimes created an issue as the target was moving at times). Standard Deviation is based on throwing out the high and low velocity. My intentions for the test was to find a P-dog load at 3000+ fps.
31.5GR N540 90GR Lapua Secnar. Avg vel 2911fps H 2950, L 2891 Std Dev – H/L 7.375 group .490
Comments (remove two flyers and would have been .247, used this as a base line cause it’s a match bullet)
32.5GR N540 90GR Lapua Secnar. Avg vel 3009 fps H 3032, L 2973 Std Dev – H/L 11.125 group .860
Comments (No excuses high Std Dev is all I can say.)
33.0GR N540 90GR Berger MEF. Avg vel 3091 fps H 3117, L 3078 Std Dev – H/L 8.000 group .547
Comment (velocity right on .5gr over max Lapua manual not bad for a varmint bullet could be a winner)
33.5GR N540 90GR Berger MEF. Avg vel 3132 fps H 3162 L 3101 Std Dev – H/L 13.25 group ???
Comments (didn’t score this one stiff bolt lift brass looked ok, to hot 1GR over max not worth 40 fps)