i got bit by the wildcat bug a couple of years ago when i got my mauser 98 in 8mm-06. i wanted to find or build a 6.5-06 but within 5 minutes of walking into the local gun show today i found a 6.5-270wsm built on a rem 700 action with a 26" krieger tube in a laminated wood stock. it came with weaver bases, some loaded ammo, 50 new empty brass, a box of nosler balistic tips, a box of hornady sp interlocks, and a set of rcbs dies. $475, i think i got a hell of a deal. seller said it shoots into 3/4" at 100 yrds.
anyone have any experiences with this wildcat they can share?
seller said rifle was built by gretan rifles in colorado. after checking thier web site out, i KNOW i got a hell of a deal. he is an officer in a local club and seems to be well known so i have no reason to doubt him. i doubt rifle could be built for double what i paid. just hope it does shoot that good when i get some glass on it and time to get out to the range.
lobo Not only did you get a hell of a deal you should have one hell of a rifle. The WSM family of cases has almost the exact capacity the old 7x61 Sharpe & Hart calibre has. There was a wildcat that was called the 6.5 Shannon I believe. It was nothing more than the 7x61 necked down to 6.5 cal. I believe there was an article in one of the early Handloaders Digests. The 6.5 Shannon equalled the velocity of the 264 Win with a lot less powder With bullets like the 120 TSX and 125 gr Partion your new rifle could become quite the deer slayer!
My only concern with that rifle would be the condition of the throat in the barrel. My .270WSM has been shot a bit, and I already have lost about 100 fps from my favorite load, I believe due to throat erosion. If he was pushing 120 gr bullets 3700 fps, it wouldn't take too many to burn out the throat. But for the price you paid, even rebarreling could still get you a very nice rifle for a reasonable price. Try some of the new Nosler 130 gr Accubonds, if you want a long range medium game stomper!
Bullets are pretty worthless. All they do is hang around waiting to get loaded.
Posts: 515 | Location: kennewick, wa | Registered: 18 May 2004
Look at the 130 Gr 6.5 Swift Scirocco bullets, with a BC of .571 they should be just right at your velocity range. I also like the Hornady and Nosler 140s. Most people seem to go for the lighter weight bullets for their higher velocity. But the 140s hold their velocity better down range. And if you have some throat erosion, they can be seated out farther to take up the wear...Rusty.
Posts: 280 | Location: Fresno, California | Registered: 27 August 2005
i went and got a mueller 3-10x44 tac II scope and some leupold weaver style rings yesterday, mounted it up and loaded some 120 nosler bt's with rl 22. shot it this afternoon and WOW am i happy. the loaded rounds that came with the gun (n165 powder and 120 nosler bt's) were seated to just touch the rifling, they shot ok, 1.5"@100 yards. they wouldn't fit down in the mag well so the ones i loaded up with rl22 i seated off the rifling .055 so that they would fit the mag well. i loaded a few different powder charges from 57g to 59g. none showed presure signs so i could go a little hotter but it may not be needed. my 58g load averaged 3148 fps and shot a 4 shot group of .870 @ 100 yards. the 59g didn't really pick up much velocity (30 fps) and grouped a little over an inch.
the barrel has a 8.5 twist so i am going to get some berger 140 vld's and ty them with the rl 22 and retumbo. i would rather shoot 140's and the bergers have a better bc.
Hey Gentlemen, I been shooting my 6.5wsm lately with 120 speer's and 59.0 H-4831. They shoot less than an inch and average 3210 fps .1-9 twist.Built mine on a Browning A-Bolt 11 Stalker. Dan
Posts: 174 | Location: Lakewood | Registered: 02 May 2006
well i finally got a chance to get to the range. 120g nosler ballistic tips seated to just touch the lands.6 shots slightly under 1 inch, 5 of them into .5 inch, 3 of those touching. using less than max load of re22. getting no presure signs at 3150 fps, might be able to load it up a bit more but with the way it shoots i'm happy right there.
