Any experience with the 6.5 WSM Wildcat?

[HomerOz]

G'Day Fella's,

I recently took possession of a Rem M700 SPS in .300WSM, and not wanting to get the crap beaten out of me by a .300 magnum, I thought to myself.....what possibilities are there?

It came to me like a lightning bolt, I don't have enough 6.5 caliber rifles!
So I immediately thought of rebarreling this rifle, to 6.5 Rem Magnum?
I then thought, what about that awesome wildcat cartridge, the 6.5 WSM!

Any of you bloke have any experience with this WSM based cartridge?

Doh!
Homer

 

[Mountain Goat]

I knew a few shooters who were very impressed with the 6.5 SAUM. It seemed to be a better fit for a short action and not quite as overbore as the WSM would be.

Taking into consideration the cost of dies, time to fireform brass, and always using experimental load data associated with a wildcat, I'd consider the 270WSM as an alternative. With that, a 6.5WSM with a 27" barel and relatively quick twist would be much fun!

 

[FOTIS]

Called the 6.5 Rock.

Basically a tad smaller version of the 264 win mag. Not much of a difference really.

With a 24" tube you're looking at 3100 fps with the 140's.

 

[HomerOz]

G'Day Fella's,

Mountain Goat, thanks for the tip on the 6.5 SAUM and the advice on going with a .270WSM!
Makes sense actually! And I don't own any .270 at present!!!

Thanks also FOTIS, I'll go have a Google for the 6.5Rock!
That names got a Twang to it you know!
Shoot that 6.5 ROCK and make them critters ROLL!!!

Doh!
Homer

 

[FOTIS]

Let me know if you want a Q/L predix.

 

[HomerOz]

G'Day FOTIS, Thank You for your generous offer, but before I can ask you for the Q/L predix, I need to know What The Hell is That!
Please FOTIS, you will have to excuse my ignorance of Computer terminology, I'm at my best in a Workshop, not here!!!

Thanks again!!!
Homer

 

[DrMike]

The 6.5 mm Leopard (6.5 - 300 WSM) was the round Jim Carmichael developed. It maintains the dimensions of the 300WSM except for necking down to accept 6.5 mm bullets. The 6.5 mm Rock appears to have the should set back slightly, allowing for a longer neck to accept longer bullets. The data for these two rounds is similar, but the chamber dimensions do differ somewhat. I would think that anyone developing a reamer would want to be careful to distinguish between the two, however.

 

[Guy Miner]

Homer - I think Fotis said he'd give you load predictions from his Quickload computer program... :grin:

 

[257 Ackley]

I think your idea is outstanding... :mrgreen: ! Here is the one I had built on a Winchester action in 2011 with a 26" Brux 8 twist barrel, pillar bedded back in the original featherweight action:

I have hunted everything from p-dogs to elk with it and been very happy with results. I'm sure the 270 WSM will give similar results, I just wanted something different when this was built :roll: .

Scott shooting it off the bench (guy in the backround was dry-firing his pistol...not shooting at Scott :lol: )

Loads ready for testing:

Early load work:

Elk a couple months ago:

Waiting it's turn in the p-dog towns:

Results:

Let me know if you want some load data, otherwise Mike or one of the other guys that have QL can give you data for specific powders and bullets.

 

[Guy Miner]

Kind of looks like 66 grains of RL-19 worked out real well on target... Sweet rifle!

I think I'll leave my .300 WSM a .30 cal, but it is tempting to neck that case down...

 

[SJB358]

Joel and me talked a bit about this back before he built it. I really wanted to do something like it, but I found a Model 70 Sporter 264 Win Mag and rolled with that. Joel's 264WSM is straight out awesome.

 

[257 Ackley]

Kind of looks like 66 grains of RL-19 worked out real well on target... Sweet rifle!

I think I'll leave my .300 WSM a .30 cal, but it is tempting to neck that case down...

Guy -
That was a load with the 130 grain AB, but H414 gave similar groups. I have since gone to R25 for the 140 grain bullets that give really nice groups. I was getting chronograph readings over 3400 with MagPro with the 130's, but backed off to the low 3300 range for better accuracy. It is a pussycat to shoot and has been pretty easy to get almost any bullet to shoot under MOA. I use 270 WSM brass necked down.
BTW, this one started life as a 300 WSM (never shot it) and went straight to the gunsmith for the work done to it. I wouldn't have done that if I didn't already have another 300 WSM in the safe .

130 Siroccos and Magpro:

130 AB and H414:

 

[HomerOz]

G'Day Fella's,

Like Wow, Dr Mike and .257 Ackley, thank you for all of this information and details!
Nice to see the amount of knowledge and actual experience with this cartridge!!!

.257 Ackley, have you had the outside of your Model 70 Cerakoted?
It really does look impressive and backs that up with tiny little groups!!!

Doh!
Homer

 

[257 Ackley]

Hey Homer -
Thanks for the complement on the rifle. Some of those groups must have been on a good day or I was just lucky. :grin:

The finish on the rifle is GunKote instead of Cerakote. There is the big discussion about which is better, since Gunkote isn't baked on, but mine has held up well so far. I believe that Gunkote has a baked on version now, which is what my 6.5X47 was finished with (same gunsmith). Let me know if you need any more details.
Cheers

 

[SJB358]

I have found that the WSM follows really close to the 264 Win Mag Homer and it is REALLY impressive as a hunting cartridge. Joel has plans of making it a 7mm WSM when he rebarrels, but I bet that 264WSM will have him pretty wrapped by that point. It has an awesome track record so far!

 

[HomerOz]

G'Day Fella's,

.257 Ackley, thanks for that!
I personally apply Cerakote (generally the Air Cure version), to the things I manufacture and some of my firearms etc!
The reason I use this product (Air Cure Cerakote), is that apparently, it is better able to cope with repeated exposure to extreme heat!!!
Apparently, with repeated exposure to extreme heat, Cerakote becomes even more robust.
So far, I have no reason to doubt this manufacturers claim.
The finished coating will chip and can be scratched but still appears to maintain a barrier to rust/corrosion!.....?

SJB358, thanks for that insight into this cartridges capability! The more I read about it, the more impressed!!!

Just a question on reloading die for the 6.5/300WSM.
I see Sinclair International sell Redding Custom series dies for this wildcat.
The 2 die set is $160 and the Deluxe 3 die set is $260.
Do you blokes know of a better price option for these?

Doh!
Homer

 

[SJB358]

Homer, I don't think there is a better Price. I think Joel paid about that for his, but I imagine he'll be along to tell you.

I bet he got them Gunstop.com though. Great place to deal with though.

Yeah, the 264WSM is a SCREAMER.. One of my favorites (264 Win Mag) now that I figured mine out. Accurate, flat and very easy to shoot.

 

[257 Ackley]

Homer -
I think It was around $150 US that I paid for mine a couple years ago. I can check around for pricing if you want and see what can be found. It is considered a custom die, which always makes the manufacturer "bend you over" :twisted: . I only got the two die set and adjusted it for a shoulder bump (.001) with a neck size. The quality of the Winchester brass isn't as good as it could be, but Nosler is supposed to have their brass out sometime in 2013. Bloody expensive though.

You can buy my die at a discount in a year or two once this barrel is burned up. I plan on turning this rifle into a 7WSM once the barrel is fryed. The 7WSM won't be quite as overbore and a barrel should last a bit longer.
Cheers

 

[HomerOz]

G'Day Fella's,

Thank you for the advice and details on the die sets!

I was away bush (hunting & shooting) on the weekend, with a couple of good mates.
We spoke about the 6,5 WSM Saturday night, and I'm now having second thoughts about this cartridge?
As good as it is, I do like a rifle that I can get 1000+ rounds out of it's barrel, before it's knackered!

Decisions, decisions..........

Doh!
Homer

 

[longrangehunter]

We spoke about the 6,5 WSM Saturday night, and I'm now having second thoughts about this cartridge?
As good as it is, I do like a rifle that I can get 1000+ rounds out of it's barrel, before it's knackered!

Decisions, decisions..........

Doh!
Homer

Ok, first off this cartridge has more then a few merits. High BC, High SD, lower recoil then the parent case, less wind drift for a given bullet weight compared to it larger cousins, and a large selection of great bullets and weights to chose from.

But here's the thing. Shoot three shot groups instead of five, never over heat any barrel (I don't care what you're shooting, excessive heat will kill the life of the barrel), keep it clean, and work up a load as quickly as possible! And if your going to try every possible load combination, you're most certainly going to eat the life right out of your gun before you even hunt with it. And here's another thing don't hot rod it unless that's what it takes to make it a tack driver! Any caliber will last longer if the velocity is kept on the low end.

I've gotten lucky enough to tune the last two guns I own in 20 rounds after the barrel was broken in. A 6.5/300 WSM and a 300 Jarrett. The later was easy having worked with Kenny years ago tuning his rifles, so I had a starting point from hundreds of previous data. On the opposite side of that coin I ran 250 rounds through that gun which was built by Bruce Bear in 300 WSM, I might add that it also took him a very long two years to get done. In the end I couldn't keep it constant enough at long ranges, so I gave up, and had Kenny put one of his barrels on it. So go figure?

Point being is there are some rules that if followed that can and do have an effect on barrel life for over bore cartridges. Most guns will shoot well enough for a lifetime for hunting purposes if kept clean and not over used. I guess it's just a matter of how much you like having any great rifle, and whether or not you want to save it for good use. That's part of the reason I have so many big game guns.... I couldn't possibly shoot them all out! Which is why I like having a .22 around, they're cheap to shoot and cheaper to replace!

Is a 6.5/300 WSM better then any other great round out there, No. But it is near the top end of the food chain for speed, and the size of the case for a 6.5 mm round in my opinion. For me it was having a rifle in 300 WSM, and a cartridge I wanted to mess around with, and see what it was capable of doing? Was it worth it? I'd like to think so. Is it better then my other rifles, no not really, it fills a need for a given task. Is it cool, sure, and it's a joy to shoot. But in the end, it's just another tool!