Gidday Guys,

I think it would be prudent to advise the partition and premium bullet afficiandos that we don't have too many animals as solid as brown bears here in NZ. The toughest game animal commonly shot here would be a bull thar or a big boar which can be handled by any 120 gr cup and core.

In fact as well as being too expensive ($40 - $50 per 50)here for use on goats etc they are way too hard and don't result in clean kills unless you get an arse on shot or at least one that is steeply raking. I know from experience and don't like wasting meat by aiming for bones.

If we had bears here maybe there would be a need for such stoutly constructed bullets but as we are talking deer and smaller animals a 120gr hotcore, coreloct, prohunter, ballistic tip or interloct is the most that is required from any normal angle.

If you were to hunt feral cattle I would want at least a 30-06 with 180 to 200gr premiums but we are talking deer and smaller.

Just a local perspective.

Happy Hunting

Hamish

quote:

Originally posted by 6.5BR:
SO I take it you launched a 125 gr about 2900 or so? What gun, twist out of curiosity?

It seems a 129 SP would perform similar but perhaps someone with more experience could elaborate. Nothing against the partition, I do believe it is supposedly more accurate for some than the 140 partition in 6.5mm.

Is a 'premium' needed at these speeds? I just wonder what penetration might compare say 125 vs 129 sp. I may have to look for that old gun digest or whatever that I have that article. It may have that comparison.

Actually I have no idea what the speed is. I worked this load up over the last couple of months and got it shooting tight groups. I am planning on running it across the chrony when I get a chance but for now it is just about perfect in my mind. Rifle is a rem 700 mountian 22" barrel 9 twist.

I don't figure I would need a premium if I was hunting just deer, but where I hunt deer I can also run into moose, elk and bears as the seasons overlap. I had my 30-06 along on this trip for the bigger stuff but that little 260 did the job just fine I have a funny feeling it is going to take a lot of game for me this year.

If all one had was a 6.5 with a bullet to penetrate, it will take bear and moose, in fact read a thread that many decades ago, lots of bear were taken with older 6.5mm's.

I would not want to have to stop one charging, but if so, place as many shots as fast as possible into some vitals.

About the mountain rifle, I am thinking about a Sako laminate Stainless varmint 260, but it is twice the Stainless 700 LSS mountain price, and they both have 9 twist, really want an 8, but folks seem satisfied up to 129's with Rem 700, 22" may help vs shorter M7's. Extra rpms due to higher mv

Hamish,,

They have feral cattle in NZ?

So does that mean, you can take 1500 pounds of steak and qualify that as a varmint and not need a hunting license???

As a punk kid would say.... WaYY Cool!


seafire

Tentman,

I have been shooting the 6.5-08/.260 Rem for a number of years in target competition. I think that you should be pleased with it for your sons.

I would suggest a medium burning rate powder rather than the slower ones (Rel 19, H4350) specifically because you will use a smaller charge that recoils less.

With this cartridge much depends upon the exact chamber. I have no idea how long the overall loaded length will be in your barrel, but Thompson/Center Arms typically puts a rather long throat in their chambers. The result may be that you will not get the velocities that people mention without adding some powder (but always work up with caution).

Either H4895 or Varget (I do not recall the Australian designation of these powders) should easily get you into the 2,800 to 2,900 FPS velocity range with 100-130 grain bullets...but if the barrel is a carbine length barrel you can expect the velocity to be less. In my rifles 36 grains of either of those powders has been a good starting point. Work up from there as conditions permit. Although IMR 4064 will shoot well in this cartridge, it does not measure as easily as the others.

I would join the others in suggesting a slightly heavier bullet than you asked about. If you feel like you must have the 100 grain bullet I would try the Hornady.

In the U.S. the Rem 120 grain Core-lokt bullets are less expensive than the rest and are certainly good enough for field accuracty. Several people use them as practice bullets for their target rifles. The 120 grain Sierra Pro Hunter is probably closest to the weight range you asked about, but the 129 grain Hornady Interlock bullet is a tough bullet that should do well on a variety of game without undue recoil.

Magnum primers are not necessary with any of the powders you are likely to try and may cause pressure signs before reaching the desired velocity.

You can neck down 7-08 cases in one pass with the full length sizer. The necks will be a bit longer than .243 Win cases necked up.

Enjoy your new rifle!

Rick,

Are you the guy who posted awhile back about building a Ruger single shot 260?

6.5 BR,

I do not think it was me if it was on this forum as it has been a long time since I was active on this board...I had to register/reregister.

I don't specifically recall about a Ruger single shot, but who knows?

Was there a question about what was said? If so I can try to clarify the matter.

By the way, if your name is what you shoot that is a fine cartridge as well. A bit slower than the 260 Rem, but very nice.

Rick

Sorry to say, never got around to building one, wanted to, a silhouette shooter in CA told me of the incredible performance, loads must have been hot, also it was 'improved' a 6.5 TKS I believe, but with the 6.5 Grendel out and the 260, not much need, oh there is a new Lapua, 6.5x47. Right in between, ready made brass and perhaps ammo.

Wrong Rick:

rik
new member
Posted 13 October 2005 10:05
Indeed it is built and shoots fine. I will get pictures soon. Been working out of town and little time for the things I love to do but have been in some awesome remote country where I will hunt next year when I have more time. The rifle exceeds my expectations. The barrel is 27.5 inch and very heavy. I will weigh it soon. I did the barrel breakin with moderate loads of H4831SC and sighted in at the same time, then moved to IMR 4350 with 140 HornadySST and 140 Nosler Part. Both provided excellent accuracy with 42 grains, groups as little as 5/8 in. at 100. I hit the 6x6 gongs at 200 yards with boring regularity. Both bullets are seated with bases not below bottom of neck and close to lands. The SST is a little longer. I must put those over a chrono soon.

No doubt the rifle is capable of better accuracy than I am but that will change. With the weight I can shoot as much as I want in complete comfort - nothing remotely resembling recoil. And I did build it to shoot a lot!

I just love the balance and feel of that long heavy barrel
Rick
Posts: 6 | Location: prince george, bc | Registered: 13 April 2005

By the way, I shoot a 7BR in a custom rem model 7, shoots 120's at 2878 fps. Not bad for 30 grains of powder huh?

The 129gr Hornady Interlock @ about 2850 works well. I get that from my Browning Low Wall with 47.8gr H4831.

John

6.5BR,

That is a very comfortable load to shoot. If it is a silhouette rifle, you might want something a bit heavier when you move out to turkeys for wind drift purposes. Obviously, a 120 is rather light for the sheep at 500 meters.

Dan Theodore in California developed the 6.5 TKS. It is, for all intents and purposes, a 6.5 BR Ackley Improved. It is, indeed, very efficient and works well at some ranges. I shot a 6.5 Viking which is pretty close to being a 6.5 Dasher briefly. It is also a very nice cartridge, but was just too light for the range I shoot at most of the time. I tried a 6.5 X once and it was pretty nice. The 6.5x47 Lapua is a little bit smaller case capacity, but has stronger primer pockets.

Dan also developed a 7 TKS and a 7 PPC IMP that are quite efficient. One shooter I know in Canada shoots a 7 TKS and is quite pleased with it. I think he may have a "hot" barrel as the velocities he is achieving seem on the high side. Several people have used a 7 BR that Dan worked out the throating for a 175 gr bullet that seems to work quite well. The throating is probably a bit too long to shoot 120s without jumping them quite a bit though.

I have a 7x47 Lapua in the works at the moment which should turn out to be two to three grains less case capacity than the 7mm Wally (7-08 run in short). It turns out that it is very close to the 7mm TNT developed by the late Skip Talbot except that the neck is a little longer. It is the essentially a twin of a long 7mm BR a friend did on BR Basic brass (7mm Tumbleweed) except making brass should be simple. The 7mm Wally and the 7mm International (IHMSA) are the same case capacity though the effective capacity varies with the throating.

Rick

Gidday Seafire,

Yeah mate we have feral cattle here and yep that is a ton of steak to be had without a license or fee.

Over the coast around Wataroa there are a heap that need a bit of a clear out. I have a good mate who is a bit concerned that they are getting around his fresians and could be damaging the TB free status of his herd.

That mad bugger will probably try knocking them with his 243 and 95gr ballistic tips.

Yes things can become rather interesting very quickly with these beasties. If you do knock one make sure it is in an area that can get a 4wd to it otherwise the carryout is a real bitch. I'm not kidding!!!!

They are not as dangerous as a Cape Buff but they do get rather stroppy. As you say way cool.

They are not that difficult to cull as all you need to do is put a molasses block out in the open where you can get you 4wd and wait for them. As you say they are a varmint to be culled as they are quite a threat to the farmers livelyhood if his herd becomes infected with TB.

Let us know if you want to bring a varmint rifle over to help us with this problem

Happy Hunting

Hamish

Hondo, I sold my Low wall 243, NICE wood, but rather have had 260, except it seems the twist was a 9 or even 10, I assume you get acceptable groups with your load.

Rick, Nice read, years ago I contacted Dan T in CA and he sent me some load data and info, NICE round 6.5TKS.

Now that Lapua has a 6.5x47, it may replace a lot of BR based cases, time will tell but results I have seen are impressive. See the

http://www.6mmbr.com/index.html

Good read there. Thanks guys.

6.5BR,

Yea, playing with all these things is fun, if time consuming. Sometimes it is nice to use soemthing that you have a pretty good idea of what it will do with a given starting load.

The 6.5x47 Lapua case has attracted a lot of interest over at www.6mmBR.com I would not be surprised to see Winchester get in on the act and make some brass for next year. It would be good for there to be multiple sources (as well as a little price competition). It also seems to have the potential to work well with Rem 700 SA magazine length loads. The 6.5-08 winds up with a lot of bullet down in the case even with the Wyatt (+ 0.110") extra length magazine boxes.

The reamer and die makers should be happy about all of the experimenting!

Cheers,

Rick

I for one will have to see brass and dies come down to a reasonable level, otherwise I will choose the tried and true 6.5x55 or a 260.

Thanks again.

The 6.5 x 47 Lapua is just a 222 Rem Mag necked up to 6.5 isn't It???

I read the article, and the guy has some screaming loads... but I gather that his pressures are thru the roof...

wouldn't be hard to get a barrel changed to that one in a Savage 223....

In loaded up a few 6.5 bullets ( 107 grainers) once in 22.250 cases that got mixed in with some 243 brass I was necking up to 260 Rem....

That 6.5/250 actually looked pretty cool...Like the 6mm/250, I think that would be a little more efficient round than the 260.. and brass would be cheaply available..it would be great especially with 120 grain match bullets and under..

Toys toys toys...

Seafire,

The 6.5x47 Lapua is not based on the 222 Mag case. The head on it measures about 0.468 inches.

It is similar in case capacity to the 6x250 cases people have tried but has a 30º shoulder and less taper, although it does have a small primer pocket. Unfortunately, the cases are not inexpensive. At the present time they are running $0.65 (U.S.) per case or more depending upon the source.

If you want to try something a little different with inexpensive cases you can run a 260 Rem reamer in short (0.132 inches or 0.135 inches seem to be the most popular) and just cut off some 260 Rem dies.

There have been an ongoing series of discussions about the case in its 6mm and 6.5mm variants at www.6mmBR.com There is a lead article about Darrell Jones' project rifle with the 6.5x47 Lapua. http://www.6mmbr.com/gunweek072.html

quote:

Originally posted by Hamish:

....... Yeah mate we have feral cattle here and yep that is a ton of steak to be had without a license or fee.

.......That mad bugger will probably try knocking them with his 243 and 95gr ballistic tips.

.......They are not as dangerous as a Cape Buff but they do get rather stroppy.

.......Let us know if you want to bring a varmint rifle over to help us with this problem

Hamish

Now that sounds like great fun!!!

Have you ever tried a 260 with a premium bullet or heavy bullet (140g or more) on the feral cattle? I would think it would penetrate as well as the 30-06 180g load you described. Just curious.

quote:

Originally posted by Hamish:
Gidday Guys,

I think it would be prudent to advise the partition and premium bullet afficiandos that we don't have too many animals as solid as brown bears here in NZ. The toughest game animal commonly shot here would be a bull thar or a big boar which can be handled by any 120 gr cup and core.

In fact as well as being too expensive ($40 - $50 per 50)here for use on goats etc they are way too hard and don't result in clean kills unless you get an arse on shot or at least one that is steeply raking. I know from experience and don't like wasting meat by aiming for bones.

If we had bears here maybe there would be a need for such stoutly constructed bullets but as we are talking deer and smaller animals a 120gr hotcore, coreloct, prohunter, ballistic tip or interloct is the most that is required from any normal angle.

If you were to hunt feral cattle I would want at least a 30-06 with 180 to 200gr premiums but we are talking deer and smaller.

Just a local perspective.

Happy Hunting

Hamish

Here's a site with 30-06 brass modified http://www.z-hat.com from small to large caliber ammo.

Rick,

I read both of those articles....but thanks for the trouble to line up the links...

I will watch the 6.5 x 47 a little closer, but I am still not seeing where it offers anything different than what is out there, except something trendy...

I don't do trendy, I do practical.... and in 6.5 mm, I still have not found anything more practical than a 6.5 x 57, which is older than the rest of the 6.5 mm crowd...even the 6.5 x 54 and 6.5 x 55...

I have a heavy magnum barreled Model 70 chambers for that caliber with a 28 inch barrel.. it is long throated and the bullets can be seated to magazine length, which is about 80mms in COAL.....

6.5 x 57 is my favorite cartridge..

cheers
seafire

Seafire,

Your 6.5x57 is a cartridge that has proven itself over a period of many years.

The Lapua case, though interesting, is new and is really intended to fill a different role although there is some overlap of capability.

I was merely pointing out that the Lapua case is different than the older 222 Mag based cartridges. I am glad you enjoy your you 6.5x57.

Cheers

Rick:





seafire

Seafire,

Love your avitar!

Jugs forever!

Rick

For the guy that was asking about a Tikka in the US available in 6.5x55...Beretta USA shows them in Hunter grade only...with a 1x8 twist.
Ron

Gidday Hogwild,

Today I picked up 200 140 grain partions so I will load them up and take it next time and let you know how I get on.

I will have Barry beside me with the 30-06 in the event that the animal becomes irate and doesn't lie down quickly.

I wouldn't be suprised to see it go down like a sack of spuds as we generally go for the atlas shot where the neck meets the head.

This will be the first time I have used partitions so it will be a learning experience for me but feel confident after the glowing reports we have of them here.

Happy Hunting

Hamish

Barnes .264cal 120 gr. TSX BT
It's the best mass producd bullet out their.

The 130gr TSX in my 270 win is awsome.

Dr B

quote:

Originally posted by Hamish:
Gidday Hogwild,

Today I picked up 200 140 grain partions so I will load them up and take it next time and let you know how I get on.

.......

This will be the first time I have used partitions so it will be a learning experience for me but feel confident after the glowing reports we have of them here.

Happy Hunting

Hamish

Sounds great! I look forward to your report.

quote:

Originally posted by Rick B:
Seafire,

Love your avitar!

Jugs forever!

Rick

Thanks Rick.. I love P 47s.... but I love a good set of Juggs on a good looking blonde also!!

Hamish have you tried the hornady 100's that Seafire is talking about on red deer? I am just about to order a new .260 for goats / deer and am trying to decide on bullet choice. Don't want anything over 120gn. Will the 100 gn perform better than 100gn in .243?
cheers

Gidday Rangi,

No I havn't tried 100 grainers in the 260 but to date have found that the 120's are dynamite and the 140's are no slugs either on deer.

On goats you would no have any problems with 120 ballistic tips and they also work well on reds. The Speer 120 gr hotcores are also the ducks nuts especially on reds.

One day I'm going to try 100s with Seafires recipes but as I said above I'm just starting to play with 140 gr Partitions. If I were to try again I think I would choose 125 gr partitions for our game but I got the 140s cheap.

Where abouts in Marlborough are you. I have an ex brother in law in Blenheim along with my son who loves to get out hunting but like me is spending far too much time working.

Happy Hunting

Hamish

Cheers, I live in Rarangi and work in Blenheim. Member of local NZDA and do a lot of hunting with my 14yr old son.
I would be looking to use one load for everything so may start with the speers. I had read an article on the net by a guy who culls bean field deer and he swears by 100gn BT for deer in 260/6.5 x 55. Also said that the sierra 85's were the bees knees in .243 I don't really want to go to 140's in 260 as the down range ballistics of the 120's is as good as 140 in 7mm08 so am happy with a little bit less recoil so my son can shoot it comfortably as well.