Re: 6.5 Remington Mag.

05 January 2004, 13:33

Hot Core

Quote:

...I am currently having a .350 Remington mag. put-up and I don’t own anything between .223s and .30s, so I am ginning-up a lot of good rationalizations to have one built.

...(the 6.5RemMag) clearly failed with the shooting public the first time around, so I am wondering why its reception would be any different this time around? CP.

Hey CP, You will love the 350RemMag "IF" you have a 22-24" barrel. Mine has a 20" barrel and it is too short to hunt with unless you wear some kind of Ear Plugs. This is serious business about your ears, so I'd encourage you to have as long a barrel as you feel comfortable with.

I wear "Sonic Ear Valves" and they do right well, but will eventually make the inside of your ears sore due to the pressure of the rubber pushing against them.

...

As for the 6.5RemMag, I'll take the position that the real problem was the "Gun Writers" of that era and the bullets they "wanted to use". The vast majority of them never really gave the cartridge a fair chance.

Forming the case can be tricky unless you buy the EXTREMELY Expensive Forming Die Sets. Then it is a long tedious process. Otherwise, getting the necks formed without wrinkles or splits is hit and miss. It is best to "Anneal" between the Forming steps too. So, you can kill a lot of time Forming and/or Ruining cases.

Once you finally get some of the Cases, then you can get into bullet problems. The fine folks at Hornady "used to make" absolutely excellent 2-diameter bullets in 0.264". Only problem was when you tried to Seat them in the M600/M660/M7 actions, the bullets "typically" have to be Seated so deeply that if you are using the 140gr 2-diameters and heavier, that you don't get a good grip on the bullets. The front of the Caseneck is forward of the cannelure and out where the "smaller" diameter of the bullet is located.

Of course, Speer and Sierra used to make excellent bullets that worked fine, but you never heard that, just the whinning.

Now, if you are planning on using SSTs, B-Tips, or any of the "sleek profile" bullets in the heavier weights, then you are headed for the same situation.

There are some ways around the problem. Just go to a 6.5-06 or 264WinMag on a longer action. Only real problem with that is you could use the same action for a 7mmRemMag, have better bullet selection and longer "potential" barrel life. And the same can be said for just going on up to the 300WinMag.

If you are a die hard 0.264" fan, take a look at the 260Rem or a 6.5x55.

Remember there are excellent 180gr and up 35cal bullets for your 350RemMag, so don't worry about that end of the scale. Focus on the lighter weight 0.264" bullets and see if they will meet your needs. If not, consider the 7mm-08 or excellent 308Win which will both work great in a M7.

If you are using a longer action for the 6.5RemMag (in your mind) than a M7, like a M700 Short Action, Weatherby Short Action, etc., then the only real drawback is that case forming fiasco.

Best of luck to you!

05 January 2004, 15:08

CP

Hot Core, it was good to hear from you. I am having Dennis Olson in Plains, MT put up my .350 Rem. Mag., and it should be completed by March. The following are my specification for that project:

:

1) 1999 Montana stainless steel short action

2) 22ï¿½ stainless Lijla barrel with a .610ï¿½ outside diameter at the muzzle

3) New England style open sights

4) Leupold Quick Release bases

5) Bead blasted finish

6) Trigger set at 3 lbs crisp

7) Action tuned

8) Pillar bedded and floated in a McMillan featherweight synthetic stock

With all the 30s, 33s and 35s in my safe, I decided it would be appropriate to buy a .223 in a Model 70 Coyote last year. It has been a kick in the butt for me to shoot this little rifle, so I thought I would get another rifle that falls in between the .223 and my 30s. Because I donï¿½t reload, Remington's reintroduction of factory ammo for the 6.5 Rem. mag. (120gr) peeked my interest. I would probably be better off with a .260 Rem., but I was intrigued or maybe just curious about this round. Thanks for your thoughts. CP.

05 January 2004, 21:14

B17G

Timing is better now than for the first launch back in the 1960s. Short Mags are "in", and the acceptance of 6.5 mm cartridges is better now than in the 1960s.

I sure just hope it does not hurt the sales on 260 Remingtons.
I also noticed tho, that the 673 Rem is also coming in the 308 which means they are doing what they can to make the rifle fly on the market. Maybe they are also trying to restore faith in themselves after coming out with that 710 piece of Junk.

I may end up rebarreling a rifle for the 6.5 Remington mag. At least being factory offered, then Brass will be available. It will be a long action tho, and have a 24 inch barrel, to be able to seat bullets long, and to take advantage of the extra velocity potential. It is a smart move if they heard rumblings that Winchester was thinking of a 6.5 mm WSM.

Let's wish it luck on the market!

06 January 2004, 04:06

Hot Core

Hey CP, That sounds like an outstanding 350RemMag you are having built. Nothing like Stainless & Synthetic(S&S) for a rifle you intend to take "outdoors".

Once you get it, I'd still strongly encourage you to use ear plugs and muffs at the Range and ear plugs of some sort in the field. If you have any doubts about this, have a friend shoot the 350RemMag while you are directly behind him 10 yards away, with no plugs. If that seems manageable, walk 2 yards closer and have him let another one go and so on until you realize that it can permantly damage your hearing. My ears "ring" from having fired two shots with mine and no plugs. REAL DUMB, no, actually STUPID, because I sure knew better from having been around a lot of 350RemMags that my Elders used in my youth(and still use).

I'd also encourage you to take up reloading. Getting a 350RemMag and being tied to the factory ammo is not going to allow you to get the full enjoyment of the rifle. Last time I looked Remington only made 200gr cartridges for it.

You can just do so much more with loading your own, including plinking rounds using bullets intended for the 357Mag and 38Spl. The trick is to get just enough pressure so that the 0.001" under diameter bullets have their Base expanded during ignition so they totally fill the Bore(obturation). That way you don't end up "Flame Cutting" the beginning of the Bore as the fire blows by the bullets.

Remington made some 150gr 0.358" bullets at one time and they were very accurate in my rifle. One of the guys on this Board sold them at one time.

You will also miss out on the absolutely great 200gr Hornady RNs and PSPs. Just wonderful 35cal bullets. Same for the 180gr and 220gr Speer Hot-Cor bullets. I've used a bunch of the 200gr Sierra RNs on Deer and the Deer were ALWAYS "impressed".

Then you get into the 225gr bullets which would work great in the MRC Action. The Sierra looks like an ICBM and the Nosler Partition would penetrate all a person could ask for.

So, you do need to begin reloading - the sooner the better.

...

My 223Rem is a S&S M7 and they sure are a joy to use afield. I wrestled with 22Hornets w-a-y tooooo long.

I'm a big Remington fan because they make good products for the money. Only problem is that occasionally Remington just "quits" making cartridges. They did it with the 5mm Rimfire and the 6.5RemMag as well as lots of others. So, you might be taking a big chance going with the 6.5RM. But, it is only money and if you think that is what you want, then at least you now know they(Remington) might shut off your cartridges at some point in the future.

Huuummm, you could always re-barrel it for another 350RemMag!

06 January 2004, 10:16

Stonecreek

Quote:

Forming the case can be tricky unless you buy the EXTREMELY Expensive Forming Die Sets. Then it is a long tedious process. Otherwise, getting the necks formed without wrinkles or splits is hit and miss. It is best to "Anneal" between the Forming steps too. So, you can kill a lot of time Forming and/or Ruining cases.

Obviously, experiences can vary, but twenty or so years ago when I briefly owned a Ruger 77 in 6.5 RM, I had no trouble making perfect cases from .264 brass in a single pass through a cut-down .264 WM die (I owned two sets of .264 dies, so I just cut the right amount off of the bases of one set to convert them to passable 6.5 RM dies). All it took was cutting to proper length; even the necks were fine without reaming. This was starting with new brass, and I don't think I lost more than one or two cases out of the two boxes that I reworked. The last time I looked though my "surplus" box, I still had about 20 loaded cartridges for the 6.5 RM made this way. Killed one coyote and one whitetail with 120 grain Sierras before foolishly selling this now-collectible rifle.

06 January 2004, 16:18

Pokerplayer

The Mag box and ejection port are the same on 600/660, XP-100/XP-100R, Model Seven, and 700SA, the dfference is the rear bridge and trigger location for the shorter bolt