6.5 - 284 Norma

[Desert Fox]

The rifle is almost complete so time to develop load. Initial COAL measurement using Sierra 142 grain Match King with the ogive touching the land was at 3.103. Still waiting for 140 grain Berger VLD. The bullet base lined up with the bottom of the case neck, just what the doctor ordered. 51 grain of H4831 SC will propell this bullet at around 2900 in a 26 inch barrel.

This cartridge fill the gap in my big game battery......somewhat

Left to right

6MM Remington
6.5 - 284 Norma
280 Remington
308 Winchester
300 Winchester Magnum
300 Weatherby
338 Lapua Ackly Improver

 

[GB300wm]

Nice battery indeed DF. Keep us posted with some target pics. I hear that them 6.5 x 284's are some real shooters... :grin:

 

[Desert Fox]

Nice battery indeed DF. Keep us posted with some target pics. I hear that them 6.5 x 284's are some real shooters... :grin:

Thanks GB.

This is another of my dual purpose rifle. With high ballistic coefficient and high sectional density of the bullet, It will have no problem dispatching deer size game at reasonable ranges. For varmint duty however, I could stretch the distance even farther. I run the ballistic of both Berger and Sierra on my Exbal and I can see why this cartridge is popular with the 1K shooter. As for hunting, we all know the exploit of 160 grain FMJ 6.5X54 Mannlicher Schoenauer cartridge in the hands of WDM Bell.

 

[jtoews80]

How come the neck on that 308 round is shiny???? :shock:

Do you use the hand held neck turner or a bench trimmer style??

I use the Forester hand held, it isn't as consistent as the trimmer style I find, but if I try to do every case in the same steps and number of turns is seems to be very close. I go by feel a little bit too sine the cutter blade gets jammed up with brass cuttings.

JT.

 

[Desert Fox]

How come the neck on that 308 round is shiny

Yep! I use Foster hand held neck turner.

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

Very nice DF. I'm sure it will be a real shooter. Those long sleek 6.5 bullets perform very well for their weight. You could use it for elk, if you didn't already have 3 serious elk rifles.
Under the advice of you, woods, and a couple of other I also picked up a Forester neck turner. Initial indications are very good.

 

[Desert Fox]

I certainly hope so A_S. I'll start with 140 and 142 grain SMK since I have a box of each on hand. My choice though will be the 140 grain VLD hunting bullet from Berger. The Lothar Walther barrel on these rifle has 8 twist which will be perfect for the 140 grainer.

 

[Desert Fox]

Finally got the longer action screws that I ordered from Brownell yesterday so I hurriedly put a couple of loads together and see what the rifle is capable off. Every 6.5-284 shooter in the world shoot H-4831 but I don't have any. I do however have 8lbs of IMR 4831. I can't find a single data for the IMR's in 6.5-284 so I used one from 6.5 Swede and one from 6.5-06. Max load for -06 with 140 grain bullet is at 48 grain according to Nosler and for the Swede it's 47. I loaded a total of 20 rounds. As a starting load, I use 47 grain on the first five rounds, 5 with 47.5, 5 with 48 and last 5 with 48.5. Boresighted the rifle and set the target at 50 yards.

I fired this first 3 shot at 50 yards. I scrubbed the barrel for every shot.

Move the target to 110 yards and fired 5 shot while cleaning the barrel at every shot. Nothing spectacular but I know right there and then that the rifle will shoot consistently. I also noticed that the barrel harmonics is very uniform. The despersion was more of the operator error rather than the rifle. I then cleaned the rifle one last time and fired the last 5 shot since the range temperature started to climbed into triple digit. I waited at least ten minutes for every shot. All in all I fired a total of 13 rounds. The last five shot was with 48.5 grain and my average velocity was at 2885 fps.

Here's the result.

This was obviously sloppy shooting on my part. I could have easily cloverleafed these 5 shot together but I'm not in my best today. Also I'm still learning how to shoot this rifle. It doesn't help that it only weigh less than 7 lbs. Will see with Berger. 8)

Also I never touch the scope windage after boresighting the rifle. the 47 grain load is about 1-1/4 above the point of aim. The 48.5 was at 2-1/4. I'm starting to like these Lothar Walther barrel.

 

[GB300wm]

Great shooting DF. I'd say that the preliminary reports are great. Just wait until the shooter feels better...lol. Dime size groups, you're on. Keep us posted and stay shooting straight. This new rifle is going to put the pressure on you... :grin: :grin:

 

[JD338]

DF

Nice job. Wait 'til you get in the groove. :grin:
She looks like a shooter to me.

JD338

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

Not bad for a first outing.
Looks like it's going to be a shooter! :grin:

 

[DrMike]

That rifle looks like a keeper. Great load and great shooting. It will only get better as you refine the load.

 

[Desert Fox]

That rifle looks like a keeper. Great load and great shooting. It will only get better as you refine the load.

No signs of pressure at 2885 fps. Extraction were smooth. I'll jack-up the load another half a grain to maybe a grain and see if I can get close to 3000 fps. This seems to be the ideal velocity for the 140 Berger or the 142 SMK.

The rifle balanced well and the recoil were mild. This is a nice rifle to tot around everywhere. Perfect combination of easy handling for a quick off hand shot and excellent longrange capability if needs arise. I couldn't be more happier with this choice of chambering.

 

[DrMike]

I loaded for a couple of the 6.5-284s, and they were a pleasure to work up and to shoot. This one looks like a great deal of fun.

 

[Desert Fox]

Great shooting DF. I'd say that the preliminary reports are great. Just wait until the shooter feels better...lol. Dime size groups, you're on. Keep us posted and stay shooting straight. This new rifle is going to put the pressure on you... :grin: :grin:

Thanks for the encouraging word GB. The rifle have shown great potential so far. I know that after the first three shots I have a gem in my hand. Everything is right with these rifle. The receiver, barrel and scope base were so concentric that the bullet landed exactly where the colimator predicted it would. I shot three different load! the windage remain centered. The only thing that change was the height of the bullet impact. The SD and ES according to my Pact chronograph were in single digit. I attributed this to better uniformity of Lapua brass, Federal 210 Match primer, Sierra SMK bullet, Lothar barrel and of course the IMR Powder. The recipe might be old for these venerable powder but they always work even with these modern high performance cartridge.

 

[Powerstroke]

Looks like you're going to have a shooter :grin: great results the first time up to batt...
Let us know how the next outing goes.

 

[Desert Fox]

Looks like you're going to have a shooter :grin: great results the first time up to batt...
Let us know how the next outing goes.

Thanks Mark. I'm still in the load development at the moment. I'm pretty sure I'll have better result next time.