I love my Cooper Model 92 in 6.5x284. It has a 24 inch barrel and a 1.5" muzzle break. I will likely loan/give it to my father due to his declining ability to carry and shoulder heavier hunting rifles.
Now this leaves me with the nice problem of having to buy another.
I love the 6.5/264 caliber and am wanting people's opinion as to which caliber to get another Model 92 in. Of course, I could always get another 6.5x284 but it can also come in a 264 win mag, 6.5x300 weatherby or a 6.5-06AI.
The 24 inch barrel has me a bit concerned about getting these bigger 6.5 cartridges but I am interested to hear other people's opinions.
I will likely use this as my all around gun (mule deer, antelope and the occasional elk).
Any thoughts are appreciated.

The 7mm Remington Magnum is hard to beat as an all around hunting cartridge. All the BC advantages of the 6.5s with the option for a little more bullet mass for elk.

the X55 version is pretty standard for Moose in the northern tiers of Europe.
if your comfortable with the x284 version stick with it.
you know what everything costs for it, and already got the stuff to make it happen.
adding another 300$ worth of stuff to gain 50 fps probably ain't worth the trouble.

quote:

Originally posted by djsmith:
I love my Cooper Model 92 in 6.5x284.

I'd suggest you stick with it. I'm guessing you already have the dies and components to load for it, and there is not really anything out there that is a significant improvement on it. Unless you just want to try something else for the fun of it... If you want a project a 6.5WSSM would have about the same case capacity and would give you a tiny bit more bullet travel in a 24" barrel.

It depends on what you're hunting and how you are hunting it. I used a 6.5x284 with a 26" barrel for a lot of antelope/deer hunting but a couple of years ago I was carrying it through the mountains at 7,000 feet in Wyoming and I started to question why I wanted 10+Lbs of rifle. I switched to a Ruger No.1 in 270 Win for that type of hunting, now.

If it's just deer sized animals try the 6.5x55, 260 Rem or the 6.5 Creedmor. It's always fun to work up a new cartridge.

The 264 win.mag with a 28 inch.barrel is awesome .It gains about 200 fps with awesome bullets is a barn burner .I like 140 grain or heavier saves your barrel also .I.would build something like weatherby accumarks with a kriger barrel for accuracy .

DGR416....I share an equal love for the 264 win mag...I just ordered cooper's long range hunter 26 inch barrel and 1.5" muzzle break in a 264 win....I am disappointed though that the light weight Mod 92 can only come with a 24" barrel. That's where I have a tough time with my caliber choice.
Thanks for all the thoughts and input everyone.
Merry Christmas.

It's hard to beat the 6.5-294 Norma!

Whether one goes that way or another cartridge of similar capacity is largely personal preferences.

Having said that, one won't lose enough velocity and wind drift over normal hunting distances to make a 16" barrel undesirable in a carry rifle.

Add to this that there are several very good shielded muzzle brakes on the market. These trade some recoil reduction in favor of deflecting the blast forward.

I just got a 16" barrel in 6.5-284 for my Savage from Pac-Nor. I hope t be able to report on how well it does over the coming months.

There are a few people around here who shoot the 6.5 SAUM and swear by it. Gives a little more velocity than the 6.5-284 they say.

For me I really like my 6.5x55. Mine is on the CZ550 action so I can shot the modern loadings in it. The only downside is the 20.5" barrel keeps me down to about 2700 with a 140gr bullet. So right around what my brother's 6.5 Creedmoore does. Works for me though.