Is any of this brass available, or must each of them be formed from standard .284 brass?
1. If available, from where?
2. If not available, how difficult is it
for a new reloader to form?

All the brass you mentioned is available. Maybe not in the manufacture that you like, but it's out there. I can think of 3 places to buy brass off the top of my head. Midsouth, Midway USA, or Graf&Sons

I think I misread your post,if are you asking for 6-.284, .257-.284, and 6.5-.284, The only one that is factory produced in the 6.5-.284.

Thanks Rich. Nosler manual lists 6.5-284 Norma data. Didn't know Norma loaded this round. Only recently have become interested in one of these calibers. I guess you can buy Norma brass & form the other two rounds?

I believe Hornady is also marketing 6.5 X 284 brass, as well. - Dan

Thmpr,

The Winchester .284 brass is good quality brass that is cheaper than Norma Brass. I do not know if you could go from 6.5mm to 6mm in one operation and not lose some cases. I used to go from 270 to 6.5mm in one pass, so you might be able to. But forming 6mm/284 from 284 brass though a bit of a pain, is actually a fairly quick process. First run them thru a 25/284 form die, Trim, 6mm/284 FL Die, fire form, Resize and Trim. Outside neck turning at this point is recommended. I do not have a tight neck in my chamber, so I can get away with not turning the necks, but I think you might get a little longer case life and an edge in accuracy with neck turning. 50 cases a year should be plenty unless you are competively shooting. Plus you can always use the Tom Sawyer method, my sons are getting old enough now, that they think doing things for Dad is cool. I set up the dies, get a cup of coffee and read the paper while they size away. Hopefully this will last a couple of years, before they discover more interesting forms of entertainment.

Saludos...Frank

Thanks Gringo. Who would be the best, or your favorite, die maker for this project?

Lapua also makes 6.5-284 brass. Both Norma and Lapua are dimensionally better than Winchester.

thmpr - I have both a 6-284 and a 6.5-284 target rifles. I have owned several more in each caliber. All are long throated for single shot, LR work. Brass and dies were impossible to find for a long time. However, today, Lapua is making the highest quality brass for the 6.5-284. I am not impressed with Norma brass in the 6.5-284 case. And as Gringo stated, necking and fire forming is not the end of the world either.

I would strongly urge you to consider the 6.5-284 over the other cartridges you mentioned if you are considering target applications. Brass, dies, and loading data is readily available today. I use an arbor press and custom cut dies because these are target rifles and because of the long throated chamber.

If you are leaning towards a hunting caliber, there are other cartridge choices to consider like - 6mm Rem, 6.5X55mm Swed., the venerable 25-06, and the .270. All have something to offer. IF you are considering a hunting gun in any of these case designs, don�t overlook the importance of magazine feeding. Short and fat can be a little challenging for your gunsmith to make feed reliably.

What is your specific intent for this project?

[ 01-15-2003, 19:01: Message edited by: Zero Drift ]

Zero: Just wanting fast & different varmit, yote, target, & keep me occupied rifle. Also lately it looks like I'm trying to keep MRC & John Lewis in business. Can't get action from MRC till summer, it will be for 284 case. Then I'll let John work his magic. I'll keep asking stupid questions until I can make a somewhat educated SWAG about 6mm or 6.5-.284.Thank you guys for all your help.

Thmpr,

There are no stupid Questions when you are going to invest 2000.00 - 3000.00 dollars in a rifle.

I have no experience with 6.5/284, it came out while I was living in South America. But 6.5 has always been my favorite caliber, I have had a 6.5-06 and now shoot a 264 Win Mag. The 6mm/284 I have is built on a long action Model 700 and is not built to my specs. A friend of mine built it, while it was being built the client had just about everything go wrong in his personal life at one time that possible could and could not pay for the rifle. So the three of us set down and did a three way trade. So I got a good deal, but if I had started for scratch, I would have wanted a short action and standard throat, but I cannot complain at all about the set up I am using.

After about a week of playing with this rifle, I thought this would be the cat's meow in 6.5. So I got a pair of pliers, crimp a 284 neck and start slide 125, 129 and 140 bullets in the case. Zero Drift's input would be good here, but it looked like to me you were going to have to seat bullets quite deep to fit a 2.8" magazine. If was I going to build a 6.5 hunting rifle, I think a long action in 6.5-06 AI would be a better deal. Where as target shooting is a whole different game and short fat cases seem to rule.

I use a RCBS 25/284 form die and Redding FL die set. I loaded some rounds for a friend with a set of 6/284 RCBS dies and they seemed to be fine. I am not a target shooter though, you should query those guys about dies. They are the only people I know that can actually wear out a set.

As for as feeding, if your gunsmith cannot make a 6/284 feed, you need to change gunsmiths IMO

Suerte...Frank

Gringo: Thank you for your input.

If you are reloading and don't care about factory ammo, then the 6.5-284 is a varmint wonder. You have excellent bullet choices today thanks to the LR target crowd, a large brass supply thanks to the LR target crowd, and dies available.

One think I would suggest is to consider a longer throat. This will allow you to maximize case capacity and avoid seating long bullets well into the case. Talk with your gunsmith regarding reamer options. If you go this route, a single shot will be your best choice.

Here are my thoughts on the subject. I would also go with the 6.5-284 for the reasons most have lined out above. Brass is available along with excellent dies and bullets. I use 284 Win brass for mine and I neck it down. I don't know about being "dimentionally better" or not, but I have tried them all and the Winchester is more accurate for me. It is also half the price. You can get it for $37/100 shipped from Wisconsin Cartridge Co. E-mail them, they will do it for you also.
http://www.auctionarms.com/search/displayitem.cfm?ItemNum=3785199

The other excellent points are about the action length and feeding. Mine is set for best accuracy when the 120MK is set at an OAL of 3.00" which will not fit in the short magazines. I used a mauser action. And as stated above, any good 'smith can make it feed, I did it myself.

I make 6mm-284 from standard Winchester .284 brass. I got 200 cases all from the same manufacturing lot; I think I paid too much but have forgotten the exact details.

I neck the cases partway with a 5/16" 5C collet on a South Bend Lathe, then put them in the sizing die. The gunsmith said the marks from the collet might cause split necks; so far I have not observed any after three reloadings of a couple of boxes.

Tom