6.5mm barrel Med Palma Barrel, VZ 24 Action, now what to do?

[jtoews80]

OK, I've got a VZ 24 Brno rifle in 8mm, a 28" Med Palma barrel blank in 6.5mm I found in a shop that I can have chambered, threaded & crowned for $350.

I've loved the 6.5mm for quite awhile, the ballistics are just a bit better than most 7mm's & the high SD gives the kind of impact results one expects from most 30 cal's, all the while most chamberings in 6.5 are quite well behaved for recoil.

Now the question is: 6.5-284 Norma, 260, 260 AI or 6.5mm Rem Mag. I've already got a 264 win mag. The 260 & 260 AI are almost too dimiutive to interest me since I've already got a 308 varmint rifle, just more of the same in a lighter bullet.

The 6.5-284 is a deadly accurate round and chambered in a 28" barrel could be pure poison out to 1000m with yotes. It's brass and/or barrel life is not great and with the price of norma brass(love their brass tho), ah hell with it, I already feel that way about my 30-378. There was an article on 6mmBR where a guy made a dandy LR rifle in 6.5-284 on an old mauser with a Richards laminate stock, seemed very nice.

The 6.5mm Rem Mag really has my eye with about the best ballistics availible in a short action chambering, brass availibity and quality being the BIG question. Has anybody had experiance with the 6.5 Rem Mag particularly in a 26" or 28", and how was the Rem brass. I've used R-P brass before and had decent results. It is however; quite soft and nowhere near the quality of the Norma 6.5-284 brass. Is there another way to get better quality brass or just build the darn 6.5-284 and have a purpose built coyote slayer that is just a touch slower. I still like the idea of the Rem Mag for some reason, not sure if I'll regret it tho. I'm not terribly worried about ammo availibility, just need a good supply of brass.
Any thoughts about these calibers, I'll be calling the shop to order the barrel and get it chambered Tuesday, will post my decision when the order is away. This will be my first build :lol: :lol: :lol:

CC

 

[Ol` Joe]

Personally I`ve no experiance with the 6.5 mag but, if given a choice would look hard at the 6.5x06 or the 6.5x55 AI since you have a long action. The 6.5x284 is a fine round and will do about anything the 6.5 mag will IMO but, brass although easier to find is still not as common as `06 or 6.5 Swede, both of which will match it for the most part.
I`ve a couple 260s, a 6.5x55, 6.5x284 and don`t see enough diference in performance (22"-24" bbl) to justify one over the other for targets, and there is very little one will do the other won`t on game.

 

[jtoews80]

The VZ24 is a Mauser 98 produced by CZ Bruno of Czechelsovalkia. Unfortunately, the action is designed for use with the 8X57mm, anything in the 06 family is 7.62X61 or 6.5mmX61. That 4 mm is a real pain in the butt with long action chamberings. It leaves the bullets of the 25-06 rounds I tried in it sitting on the feed ramp. It would work in a single shot, but I want a repeater.

I'm still leaning toward the 6.5 Rem Mag. It has the accuracy advantages of a short action and because the barrel will be a custom I'll be able to leave the throat a bit longer so the bullet doesn't engage the rifling with rounds loaded over the 2.81" SAAMI specs. This will leave me with more case capacity for use with heavier bullets. This is facilitated by the mauser being designed for the 8X57 not our standard short actions like the 308 that has a metric designation 7.62X51, leaving us with a spare 6mm of action. The 6.5-284 would also perform well with a little more mag/action room for the long loaded rounds.

The brass is going to be a problem for sure, I am going to try to locate at least 100 rounds of brass before I go ahead and order the barrel. The barrel I had found was on the Pac-Nor site in the "ready to ship" list. The savings weren't huge, so there isn't anything to lose waiting to find the brass first. If anybody knows how to make 6.5 brass out of 300 win or 7 rem brass I would appreciate the input. And for target/varmint use with a hotter 6.5mm is Chrome Moly better than Stainless Steel.

CC.

 

[Guy Miner]

I'd go with the 6.5-284 in a half a heartbeat simply because I've seen them shoot so well at 1000 yards. Wonderfully accurate cartridge for long range shooting.

Here's an excellent article on the 6.5-284 that's well worth reading:

http://www.6mmbr.com/SixFive284.html

The 6.5-284 has excellent components, brass, dies etc, readily avail and has proven itself over many years for long-range competition. Yup, it's the easy choice for me. BTW - my .308 match rifle has a Palma contour barrel, 30" long, and it works quite well in competition.

Regards, Guy

 

[Powerstroke]

+1 on the 6.5-284.

I have both .260's & a 7-08. Both very accurate, but I'll take the .260 hands down as a more versitile cartridge. My 7-08 is like throwing rocks compared to the ballistics on the 6.5's

 

[jtoews80]

I've come to a decision, the 6.5-284 Norma. This is due to a number of factors. First, I've wanted to build a custom for awhile, if I don't have to open up the bolt face(like the 6.5RemMag) and take my time with sporterizing the bolt, safety, mag & stock. etc, I should be able to do most of the work myself, then send the action into PacNor to have a 30" Med Palma barrel installed. The 30" definitely will be a little more weight, but a med palma in 28" is not really a carbine either, so it is a better option. The 30" will get the most out of the 6.5-284 chambering, while leaving a little more barrel for setback once the throat is worn. I may end up with a single shot, but I'll have built it myself & that is worth something too if you're the independent mule-headed sort like me... :lol: At the moment the rifle is still 1500 km away, the deal is done, but I still need to transfer registration & have it shipped up here. I think as soon as I've had it shipped, I'll start ordering parts: new bolt handle, timeny trigger & safety shroud, new firing pin & 22lbs? spring, most likely will order a Richards microfit laminate stock similar to the build I seen in 6mmBR. I don't want steal the thunder from that project, but I liked the finish product, lol.

CC.

 

[jtoews80]

OK, Question. Obviously, there is a way to open up the mag/receiver on a 98 to accept long action chamberings. How much does it reduce the stiffness of the action and is it worth the trouble? Or just find a Rem 700 with a burnt barrel.

CC.

 

[jtoews80]

Every time I think it would be a great plan to run out, buy parts and build. I end up picturing with a bunch of new parts on an old action that won't neccesarily shoot well, or function nicely. I can still get the old mauser 8mm, probably could build a darn fine 257 roberts repeater with a 22 or 24" barrel. Be not bad for weight, accurate for hunting use out to 300 yds or so. There is the exact same rifle already finished at a shop in Edmonton in 25-06 AI for $500CaD.

Now obviously I was wrong about not being able to chamber a surplus mauser to long action, but I was most likely the only one who missed that as the 8mm-06 would not have been otherwise..... Of course that means that I would be hard pressed to get a stock 8mm rebarreled, restocked, bolt turned & the receiver drilled/tapped for mounts for $500.

 

[YoteSmoker]

I had a VZ 24 that was sporterized and rebarreled to 243 AI. It shot house of fire. Most of the work was already done to it when I got ahold of it. The only thing I did was replace the trigger with a Timney sportsman. It was a great gun until one day my groups really started opening up real bad. I could have had the barrel set back and it would probably have been fine but I didn't want to spend the money to have it done so I parted ways and later purchased a Browning Abolt in 243 which I dearly love. One reason for this was the 243AI was a 14 twist and would not shoot the 85 or heavier bullets well.

I have a K98 Mauser that I rebarreled to a 308 and did all kinds of work to which for me was fun. I have shot 3 rounds into the same hole at 100 yds with it. Components used were: glass bedded Boyds laminated varmint stock, M82 Parker Hale 308 heavy sniper barrel, Timney trigger, Dayton Traister safety, Timney firing speed spring, Weaver base, Millet Rings, 4.5-14 Buckmaster.

The VZ24 action is just as good if not better than the K98. They are both large ring mausers with the 3rd safety lug and can be used in long action calibers to include magnums with the bolt face opened up or short action cartridges. These actions were made right! In fact, the US stole the concept of these actions to design the 03 Springfield converted to the 06 Springfield shortly after.

If you have the 6.5 bbl blank already and the VZ24 action, like others suggested, the 6.5X284 would be an awesome caliber to build on. The sky really is the limit as far as what calibers you can go with. Money wise, buying an already chambered modern rifle will probably be less expensive in the long run, and may be just as accurate or moreso. But, if you would enjoy building something and having a project that would bring fulfilment without needing a gunsmith for the majority of the work, the mausers are a fun way to go and you will have a truly custom rifle that you can't buy off the shelf anywhere else.

Savage rifles are very easy to work with, but if I were to have a custom rifle made for me, I would go with a M700 for resaleability and the plethera of aftermarket options available to you.

 

[JCalhoun]

I have shot F-Class with a .260AI and a 6.5-284. Both work great but I liked the .260AI better. Both are equally accurate but the .260AI barrel lasted longer and didn't use as much powder.

If you want to be blistering fast try a .264 Win Mag.

 

[bullet]

The 6.5mm Rem Mag

 

[jtoews80]

The VZ rifle is sitting in back were I grew up in Manitoba. I sold it to a friend when I moved in 2001. He wants me to buy it back when I go back for the fishing opener in May, I think he wants 100-150 bucks for it. It is still original minus a little bit of stock. The stock has been trimmed down to lighten it up some, but the bolt hasn't ben touched and it still cocks with the bolt going forward not on opening.

I already do have a Pre-64 model 70 in 264 win, it is a great gun. I've got a bit of 7mm brass necked down and a bit of 264 brass too, so I could build another without having to invest in Brass, dies etc. I was leaning toward an accuracy rifle with a long barrel although there isn't anything saying that I couldn't chamber in 264 on a 30" or 31" heavy barrel. I have a 308 heavy barrel and really enjoy shooting it. It doesn't use tons of powder like a 300 or 30-378. It is very accurate and not fussy about loads either. The powder consumption vs velocity is the biggest reason I considered the 6.5 Rem, 6.5-284 or 260.

The 264 win uses between 56-70 grains with the loads I use. I load a 120 NBT with 70 grns of Retumbo, If I load Partitions with IMR4350 I use 60 grns, I haven't got a load worked up for the 130 AB's. I just got 250 of them in the mail. I'll try RL22 & retumbo.

Thanks for the input, I will most likely buy the VZ. Then gradually sporterize it. Start with a bolt turn then drill and tap the receiver, making it useable even in 8mm. Be a good project and when it's done I'll have a unique rifle that I built.

CC