hey im relatively new to these forums. Just glancing the other day i noticed someone said something about a 6.5 WSM. I have looked for it and relly cant find it anywhre. Ive been considering a hot 6.5 for a while now. Is there really a 6.5 WSM or is this another name for some cartridge. Thanks alot. O also any thoughts on a good 6.5 would be nice too.

John17

The 6.5WSM is a wildcat cartridge that is a .264 diameter bullet based on the .270 WSM factory shell.

At this moment there are no factory offerings for this cartridge by either a gun manufacturer or an ammunition manufacturer.

There are a couple of other 6.5 wildcats, most notably the 6.5-06 which is a 6.5 on a 30-06 case, a 6.5-284 which is a 6.5 on a .284 Win case. The 6.5-06 is a true wildcat in that neither ammo makers or gun makers produce a product. The 6.5-284 I believe actually has brass headstamped as such but is still a handloaders proposition for ammo and a custom chambering for a barrel. There is also a 6.5 SAUM that is derived from the Remington Short Action Ultra Mag case. This is the same case length as a .308 Win.

I have thought of getting a Ruger#1 Rebarreled to one of the 6.5s and am leaning either to a 6.5-284 or a 6.5 WSM. I am not sure that a .264 diameter bore could effectively use the increase in powder of the WSM case though.

Jim b.

stansshorty@aol.com Parent Cartridge: OtherC 6.5300wsm
Bore Diameter: 264 Case Length: 2.100
Brass: Win
Powder: RELOADER22
Charge: 65.5
Primer: F215MGold
Bullet: Sierra Weight: 107 Velocity: 3500
Firearm: 700 rem douglas barrell Barrel Length: 26
Comments: very acurate 3 shot groups at 100 yds .166 good long range varmit round

I've got a 6.5-284 set up in an XP-100 with a 3-12X LER Burris and Ballistic Plex reticle. I'm getting 2900 from the Hornady 129gr. SST. I shot a bighorn and cow elk this last year with it, both beyond 300 yds. and now several coyotes at beyond 400 yds. A couple weeks ago while out hunting coyotes with my fiancee, i decided to try a shot at a thousand yards, since hunting was fruitless. I ranged down across a big open basin to an arroyo that had a big dirt clod on the side of an embankment. I ran the clicks into the target turret according to Exbal's (www.perry-systems.com) ballistics program (almost a complete revolution I think), got set up and touched it off. We took a nice little walk, and as it turns out the SST hit about 4"high, with windage dead on (there was no wind). I know one shot doesn't mean a lot, but that's not the first time i've shot at extreme raange with this setup. The 6.5 is just terrific for this kind of shooting. There are a number of good bullets available with high B.C.'s for it, if that's what you're looking for, and the WSM case should do another 100-200 f.p.s. more than the .284 case. It's not enough to rechamber for it, but if I were going to do it again, I'd go for the WSM.