won a 6.5 arisaka sporter with a really nice old fajen walnut stock. i loaded up 5 dummies to test cycling and they wouldn't. after some looking and a chamber cast, i found out (and the seller didn't see it either) this one had been rechambered to 6.5x257. swell.

couldn't spare any of my 257 brass but had a box of prvi 7x57 i could sacrifice. ran 5 into my 257 dies, then back over the expander in the 6.5 arisaka dies, seated bullets in my 7x57 dies and the lee crimp die tightened down enough to crimp. fed and chambered beautifully.

so, found some 6.5x57 brass (and yes thank you i already know the 6.5 is not exactly the same as the 7x57 or 257 roberts) and some 6.5x57 dies and loaded up 30 rounds. success, shot great. with hornady 140 BTHP, puts 3 of every 5 into about 3/4 inch and 5 into 1.5". the trigger has been converted to single stage with an overtravel stop but is still pretty heavy. some trigger work and i think it'd keep 5 in an inch easy as it's very consistent.

then i remembered i had a stripped 6.5 arisaka barreled action left over from a hacked up sporter with barrel mounted sights. needed drilling and tapping, plus a bit of work to clear the low bolt handle. loaded up 20 rounds of arisaka ammo, same bullet, and it shot into 2.5"ish which per my notes when it was a complete rifle would do 2" at 50 yrds which is all i can hold with open sights anyway.

so, what originally seemed like a bad purchase turned into the ability to shoot 2 different cartridges on one "platform", both of which performed as well as could be asked.

That's why experimenting is interesting. buying a new manufactured rifle, to me, is boring. about like buying a new electric drill.

Roger

Now that you have both, which do you prefer, the 6.5x257 or the 6.5 Arisaka?

In practical terms, both of those cartridges are going to require reloading. So, it begs the question, can the 6.5 Arisaka be rechambered to 6.5 Creedmoor or some improved version of that?

well, since i don't hunt anymore it doesn't matter.

honestly, right now in todays market of available components, it's become a matter of having something that can fire whatever's available. this past year, i've actually bought guns only because i had some ammo'components on hand that could be fired. looking at the ballistics though, the 6.5x57 is a really neat round. there are so many good older 6.5 rounds i don't see the point in rechambering to anything new. are the new rounds better? maybe. but so what. like anybody under field conditions could live off the differnce.

Roger