And I don't even have the rifle yet!

[wvbuckbuster]

I have had an insatiable hankering for another .222 lately. And a Colt Woodsman. And another 20 gauge….and….

I feel your pain

 

[longrangehunter]

So Dan, what’s happening with the rifle itself?

Great cartridge, kind of in a class of its own for speed and accuracy IMO. One of the medium actions would be a fine choice.

Are you having it built, or buying the rifle?

 

[RememberBaker]

I’d rather have all the stuff to load for a rifle I don’t yet have than to have the rifle and then struggle to find the stuff!

 

[NYDAN]

So Dan, what’s happening with the rifle itself?

Great cartridge, kind of in a class of its own for speed and accuracy IMO. One of the medium actions would be a fine choice.

Are you having it built, or buying the rifle?

My gunsmith is building the rifle on a used left-hand Rem. Model 700 chambered in 30-06. The only part we are using is the action itself.

We have been working on the specifications for the rifle. It turns out that there are numerous reamers available for this cartridge (6.5-284 Norma). These reamers vary in the length of the free-bore and the diameter of the neck. I collected an assortment of bullets and did an analysis of how much free-bore each bullet would need to be seated so that the heel of the bullet was at the neck/shoulder junction of the case and the ogive of the bullet would be near the lands of the rifling. I just finished this analysis (would be happy to share the results with anyone interested) and we selected a suitable reamer for the bullets I expect to shoot.

We just finished reviewing barrels, contours, twist rates, and costs. We have pretty much decided on either a Brux or a Bartlein barrel depending on delivery time. We should place the orders the barrel and reamer next week. I decided against fluting or a muzzle brake.

Now I am reviewing stock options, which are limited for left-handed shooters. I have it narrowed down to two options. Will probably finalize this next week.

Meanwhile I shot the donor rifle on Tuesday. MISTAKE! I shot a 3/4" group with 150 gr. Rem. Core-Loc factory ammo at 100 yards. This rifle would have made a heck of an inexpensive rifle for someone who needed something to hunt with. Oh well. I guess we will save the 30-06 chambered barrel and offer it to anyone that needs a replacement barrel.

 

[Rol_P]

Well Dan, I look at my "Stash" of supplies and having seen your current addition, I know where my impulse was nurtured. What is the estimated delivery on your new addition? Looking forward to seeing you soon. Rol

 

[cloverleaf]

Dan- havent you learned anything from us.....? NEVER SHOOT THE DONOR!!! NEVER..... Good luck with the build! CL

 

[NYDAN]

Well Dan, I look at my "Stash" of supplies and having seen your current addition, I know where my impulse was nurtured. What is the estimated delivery on your new addition? Looking forward to seeing you soon. Rol

Yes, Roland. You haven't been spending enough time in Western NY lately for me to properly corrupt you with the rifle and component buying impulses.

This build is many months away from completion. Heck, with the lead times on the barrels, it may not even get done in 2026.

See ya soon.

 

[xphunter]

You just need multiple barrel blanks, in multiple calibers, multiple stocks, and several actions on hand...Step it up guys
High quantities of on hand: Quality brass, bullets, powder, and primers are a given, but I listed it here anyway
Then, the only wait time is on the gunsmith

 

[NYDAN]

You just need multiple barrel blanks, in multiple calibers, multiple stocks, and several actions on hand...Step it up guys
High quantities of on hand: Quality brass, bullets, powder, and primers are a given, but I listed it here anyway
Then, the only wait time is on the gunsmith

Ernie, that situation might be called "utopia".

 

[xphunter]

Ernie, that situation might be called "utopia".

Yes, but it's nice to dream

 

[longrangehunter]

My gunsmith is building the rifle on a used left-hand Rem. Model 700 chambered in 30-06. The only part we are using is the action itself.

We have been working on the specifications for the rifle. It turns out that there are numerous reamers available for this cartridge (6.5-284 Norma). These reamers vary in the length of the free-bore and the diameter of the neck. I collected an assortment of bullets and did an analysis of how much free-bore each bullet would need to be seated so that the heel of the bullet was at the neck/shoulder junction of the case and the ogive of the bullet would be near the lands of the rifling. I just finished this analysis (would be happy to share the results with anyone interested) and we selected a suitable reamer for the bullets I expect to shoot.

We just finished reviewing barrels, contours, twist rates, and costs. We have pretty much decided on either a Brux or a Bartlein barrel depending on delivery time. We should place the orders the barrel and reamer next week. I decided against fluting or a muzzle brake.

Now I am reviewing stock options, which are limited for left-handed shooters. I have it narrowed down to two options. Will probably finalize this next week.

Meanwhile I shot the donor rifle on Tuesday. MISTAKE! I shot a 3/4" group with 150 gr. Rem. Core-Loc factory ammo at 100 yards. This rifle would have made a heck of an inexpensive rifle for someone who needed something to hunt with. Oh well. I guess we will save the 30-06 chambered barrel and offer it to anyone that needs a replacement barrel.

What were your findings? For me personally, I don’t like tight necks, or worse neck turning.

Bartlein’s #3 or 3b is a great hunting contour barrel. There #3 is actually bigger than any other 3’s out there, actually Benchmark’s #4 is still smaller in every dimension. Neither is light, but a good sporter weight. Brux probably makes something very similar on one side or the other size wise.

Exciting to see how it turns out!

 

[NYDAN]

longrangehunter,

I will try to summarize but it is difficult to explain the results without a long boring technical dissertation. That dissertation is written up and available if you want to read it. I would send it via PM.

Basically, 6.5mm bullets come in a variety of boattail and ogive shapes which affect the amount of bearing surface, or straight shank length. This in turn affects the amount of free-bore you might want in a rifle. This photo illustrates some the visible differences in bullet shapes.



The following chart shows my analysis of shank lengths for these bullelts:

Manu- facturer​

Weight​

Style​

B.C. G1​

Measured Bullet length​

Boat tail to tip length using standard bushing​

Boat tail to tip length using 0.2632” bushing​

Difference​

Shank Length using standard and 0.2632 bushings​

Corrected Shank Length (Measured minus Difference)​

Calc'd. Free bore (shank length minus 0.264)​

Chamber Drawing Freebore Length​

Chamber Drawing distance from case head to end of Freebore​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Nosler​

120​

BT​

0.458​

1.208​

1.143​

1.133​

0.010​

0.560​

0.550​

0.286​

0.249​

2.446​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Hornady​

130​

ELD-M​

0.554​

1.320​

1.197​

1.171​

0.026​

0.526​

0.500​

0.236​

0.199​

2.396​

Sierra​

130​

TGK​

0.510​

1.360​

1.215​

1.201​

0.014​

0.549​

0.535​

0.271​

0.234​

2.431​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Nosler​

140​

BT​

0.509​

1.362​

1.300​

1.289​

0.011​

0.734​

0.723​

0.459​

0.422​

2.619​

Nosler​

140​

HPBT-CC​

0.529​

1.318​

1.120​

1.102​

0.018​

0.530​

0.512​

0.248​

0.211​

2.408​

Sierra​

142​

HPBT M​

0.626​

1.390​

1.208​

1.180​

0.028​

0.533​

0.505​

0.241​

0.204​

2.401​

Nosler​

142​

ABLR​

0.625​

1.456​

1.253​

1.225​

0.028​

0.554​

0.526​

0.262​

0.225​

2.422​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Hornady​

143​

ELD-X​

0.625​

1.426​

1.302​

1.276​

0.026​

0.605​

0.579​

0.315​

0.278​

2.475​

Hornady​

147​

ELD-M​

0.697​

1.459​

1.337​

1.312​

0.025​

0.644​

0.619​

0.355​

0.318​

2.515​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

As can be seen there is a large difference in "Chamber drawing distance from case head to end of Free-bore" between bullets. For example, for the Nosler 140 gr. BT it is 2.619" whereas for the Sierra 142 gr. HPBT M it is 2.401". That is more than 0.200" difference you might want in the free-bore of the chamber.

For the bullets that I am most interested in, a free-bore length of about 0.200" seems appropriate. My analysis with QuickLOAD shows that amount of free-bore would also work for the Hornady 143 gr. ELD-X and 147 gr. ELD-M.

So Pacific Tool and Gauge reamer part number T23207, "6.5-284 Norma Match Finish Chamber Reamer" and Manson Reamer 8173D5 (designed specifically for Sierra 142 MK) both seem applicable for the bullets I expect to use. Both of these reamers have free-bores significantly shorter than the SAAMI chamber reamers.

However, other reamers might be more appropriate for bullets such as the Nosler 140 gr. BT.

I hope this answers your question. If not, I can provide more detailed information and explanations.

 

[jimbires]

@NYDAN , I went through this too , trying to figure out how much I wanted to lengthen the throat on my grandsons 260 . all my info is in this thread .

throating , the one I couldn't pass up part 2

here is part 1 on this rifle . viewtopic.php?f=9&t=32610 I received the throating reamer from 4D Wednesday . I was disgusted when I got it , I thought I would get the "T" handle to turn the reamer since it's pictured with the set on 4D's website , but I didn't . so I thought about...

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