Am seriously considering building either a 6.5-284 or a 25-284. Action of choice will be the 700. That much is NOT up for discussion. My questions are these. If I go the 6.5 route, is there enough velocity to be gained by going the LA route? I am aware that in the SA the seating of heavier bullets will infringe on powder space to a degree. Although this rifle wouldnt see anything over 130 grain. Would even like to stay lighter if I could. Do any of you shoot this caliber? What velocities do you get? Then there is the .25. I know this is a haul ass round that can serve dual duty. Main use will be for whitetail but the occasional yote would also be a consideration as they are growing in number around the homeplace. Stock make has yet to be determined. Barrel will be 25" #4 or #5 fluted. I prefer the longer tubes for my own reasons. Was just curious to see what your thoughts were on the two and which one would be the best route. My son will be the primary user but I will be giving it plenty of range and field time as well.

Use a Rem SA, and modify it to allow a COL of 3.1"-3.2". That's about all the room you'll need for the longer bullets, and you'll still have the short action for LW. Brownells even sells the mag boxes. If you really want to go LW, start with a 600 action. I built my 284 on one of these, and it's very tough to get anything lighter without spending barrels of money. As for which caliber, I shoot the original 284 (COL of 3.15", 150 gr bullet, 3000 fps from a 23" Shilen barrel). I also shoot a 6-284, and it's basically a 6mm-06. Good coyote round tho'. FWIW - Dan

I've seen so good jobs done on modify 700 actions to handle the 284 case as my first 6/284 was done on a med 700 action my next one was done on a long action. My present 6.5/284 is on a win 70 action. With that being said I'd go to the long 700 action just as you figured out case capacity and bullet seating. If I was to built kind of what you want I'd look at the 260 maybe a 260AI or even the 6.5x55/6.5x55AI. My 6.5/284 26" barrel was set up for the 142smk to be used as a long range PD rifle and if drawn for an antelope hunt. I don't own a 25 caliber. I think the 257Roberts is a fine caliber friend of mine shot that for years. A guy who shoots at our range uses a 25 cal on the 308 case and it's a real good shooter and he has it on a med 700 action and I think it's called a 25 souper. Well good luck

I have a 25-284 that I am pretty happy with, but I haven't yet taken it afield (as the stockmaker isn't finished yet...it's been in his hands for 2 years....he's a good guy, so it's worth the wait).

I chose this caliber after I watched 3 fellow hunters make spectacular one-shot kills (on whitetails) with their 25-06 rifles.
I had a Mark X 308 rifle I wasn't using, so I thought I would rebarrel it.
The 25-06 case wouldn't fit into the magazine as it was, but a standard 284 Win. fit perfectly (with some room to spare).

I have been able to load the bullets just short of the rifle lands, without having any difficulty fitting the cartridge in the magazine.
This is a standard length Mauser action (Mark X).

As to 6.5mm vs .257, I would say go with the caliber you have always wanted to try.

I was only trying to duplicate the 25-06, which has been easy to do.
If the magazine had been longer, I would've had a 25-06, but probably in the Improved version.

Garrett

The only two wildcats on a .284 I ever had was a 30-338 that I built on a Savage 99F (1950s) because the chamber on a .308 have been gouged by an incompetent local gunsmith who removed a stuck case with a screwdriver...I bought it for a song and rechambered it to the 284 case and stocked it in a piece of very nice English..It was a heck of a rifle and got 30-06 velocity....

The other was a 338-284 on a Savage 99EG, and it was a super brush rifle that compared favoribly to a 338-06 with the 210 Noslers at near 2650 FPS...