fredj338,
I think you hit the nail on the head as to why the 6.5RemMag never became popular. 6.5 projectiles are notoriously long for weight so on a short action a 140gr spitzer begins hogging alot of the powder space. Might as well shoot a 270Win! The cartridge was always packaged in the wrong action but even loaded into a long action what gains are there in comparison to a 270Win? Me thinks the shooting public just never saw a need for it.
Cheers...
Con

If I were ti build one it would be on a med. or long action so you could seat those long bullets out where they need to be. For the SA, go w/ a .260AI.

I think the biggest reason it never caught on was they were only availible in the butt ugly 600 & 660 carbines when Rem brought it out. Later Remington brought them out in the 700 but very few were interested by then. A handy little carbine with near 270 ballistics and an overall length about 4 inches shorter than most 270's should sell to people who hunt in thick bush.

They are just a louder 270 without a 26" barrel.

I have one of the early Rugers in 6.5 mag. it's a delightfull rifle, slim and easy to carry, 22" barrel/short action of course. With 120's you dont intrude to badly on powder space, but from there up you certainly do. It's no feat to get 3180 fps with the 120's, and that will handle anything I want to shoot with it. Nice caliber, but as stated, it doesnt do anything a 6.5/284 doesnt do.

Oh, heck, just nect the 270 WSM down .013 to 6.5 and be done with it. This is the equivalent of the 264 Win Mag, but it works out of a 24 inch bbl. The shorter case is far better than the 264 for reduced loads and you can duplicate the 6.5X55 with only 36 grs of XMP5744. Sooner or later this one will take over from the 6.5-284 in the 1000 yard matches.

Not to be argumenative, but it seems to me the 6.5x284 is just so close and much simpler for a short action. SAs can be used with no bolt mods and little if any feeding problems. Plus, all the load info from the BR guys. capt david
But of course I own a 6.5x55

I have never shot one, but it looks like a nice cartridge. I made one of my all-time booboos by not buying a Browning 6.5mm Magnum bolt gun with a 24" barrel that I saw in a Connecticut rifle shop. The literature suggests that it was intended to be Winchester 270 performance in the short-barrelled Remington 600 rifle, for sheep hunters.