Hi all,

My 260Rem project has taken a small setback, and one solution suggested by the smith is to look at the above calibre as an alternative.

The other alternative is to chamber the 260Rem in a long action.

Any thoughts?

Rgds,
FB

FB, what is the setback? Should be perfectly straight forward to put a 260rem in any 308 length action.

Is the 6.5Lapua some sort of European target round?

Hi CD,

The set back is kinda minor really. I want to load 130-140gr heads, (partitions and TSX) but they are quite long in the 6.5mm calibres. Given the short barrel I'm looking to have, (18"-19") I need to use quite a fast powder to get any decent velocity, but at standard cartridge length of 2.8" I have half an inch of bullet in the case.

Frstly that takes up a fair ammount of powder space, and secondly apparently (according to the smith) seating that much bullet in the case can cause some strange pressure curves and deformation of the brass (donutting?). He kinda said he wouldn't be too pushed to take it on if he wasn't comfortable with what was coming out at the other end.

Basically I can seat the bullets longer, to make a cartridge length of 3.05" giving me the velocity I want, but then the round won't cycle in the action I have. So I can swap my action for a long action or look at a new calibre for the action I have.

Rgds,
FB

Why not the plain, simple 7-08 Rem (or AI)? At 120-140 gr. you have an ample choice of bullets.

6.5x47lapua won't get you any more velocity that's for sure.

A number of people have built short action 6.5x284s without reporting that problem and
308 sako owners have been sticking 180gr bullets in 308s for some considerable time with zero problems and that's about 2.78" max or so.

What's the target velocity?

Who's the smith (mail if you like)

Don't forget the aim of having a handy moderated rifle. The long action starts to get away from that.

quote:

Originally posted by Fallow Buck:
Given the short barrel I'm looking to have, (18"-19") I need to use quite a fast powder to get any decent velocity,

FB - also this is urban legend. The faster powders are more pleasant to shoot in short moderated rifles as there is less flash and they are noticably quieter BUT if you want velocity you still have to use the best powder for the standard barrel length.

As an example my 19" 243 acheives 2,800fps with 105gr speers and 46gr of RL22 (old Norma load book) Something faster like RL15 would struggle to break 2,500fps but be quieter. As it's a specialty load for much bigger game than I normaly use the 243 for I don't mind a bit of extra noise.

BTW this is the advantage of the remington short action which allows slightly longer than true short action (2.9" from memory?) It is also possible to get longer mag boxes (Wyatt?) but someone like MHO will know more about that. If your action is one of the remington BR clones it might be possible to get a longer mag box?

Customs - allways a problem!

These??

http://www.wyattsoutdoor.com/

I thought the centerfeed box would be the bee's knees, but there were problems with that (feeding and the follower was apparently very flimsy). According to my smith (I have yet to see the rifle), the staggered version of the extended box works well.

Kiri, did you read this article on the 6.5x47??

http://www.6mmbr.com/gunweek072.html

The cartridge was originally designed for competition, so it is no surprise BR and similar disciplines is where you might get information initially.

- mike

FB, I would seriously consider dropping to the 125gr partition and keeping the 260rem case. This is a bit shorter (3mm) than the 140gr and still has good BC & SD numbers. The 260rem was designed and throated with the lighter heads in mind. If you feel you need a 140gr head, 6.5x55 is the way to go.

You could be over egging this. I have not looked at loading charts, but I would guess RL19 might be the best powder for this combo. RL22 is fine in a 270 or 243, the 260 has a better expansion ratio than either, I would think RL15 might be on the fast side - it is a good powder for a 308.