Anyone load the 6X47(.222 Rem Mag)?

[taylorce1]

I'm going pig hunting at the end of May over Memorial day weekend. I would love to use this rifle since the shooting will be done from a stand or blind over feeders. I don't have faith that the Nosler 55 grain BT's will do what I want, and the 80 grain Win PSP's I've been shooting are just a little too slow for my tastes. Both loads seem to like H322 the 55's use 29 grains and the 80's use 23.5 grains. The 80's shoot 5" low from POI of the 55 grain bullets at 100 yards.

I've ran the numbers and a 70 grain bullet would be doing around 3000+ fps and give me a little over 1000 ft lbs of energy at 100 yards. The problem is I can't find a 70 grain hunting bullet only varmint. Anyone know of a bullet less than 80 grains that is good for hunting? Sure wish Nosler would make a hunting BT or AccuBond in the 70 grain range, but I'm sure it wouldn't be a high demand bullet. Do you think I'd be safe running the 70 grain BT since I can't produce the velocities of a .243 Win or 6mm Rem?

Ever wish you had done things a little different? I built a 6X47 based off the .222 Rem Mag. I went with a 20" barrel 1:12 twist just to be able to use bullets heavier than 70 grains if I wanted. My main use for this rifle is going to be varmints using the 55 grain Nosler BT's. Kind of wish I had went with a 26" barrel now if I could get an extra 200+ fps out of the 80 grain bullets I'd be happier.

 

[enfield fan]

I wish could help with loads development with you,for i do not load for this caliber.I can suggest using the heaviest bullet that your gun can stabilize and shoot accurately.I myself consider wild hogs large game, even though with good shot placement one could kill them with a 22lr.A barnes tsx bullet would always be a wise choice,or a e-tip if possible to get hold of. 8)

 

[R Flowers]

What I am about to tell you is probably of little use to you, BUT, I shoot a 6X47 a lot at silhouette targets.

My gun is a 15 inch barrelled XP-100 rear grip fitted with a high rise mount and a fixed 12X Leupold scope. I shoot it in what IHMSA calls Unlimited Standing class.

I shoot the 100 grain Sierra Pro Hunter bullet for this use and it has yet to leave a ram standing at 200 meters. I use a load of 24 grains of H 4895.
The velocity in the 15 inch barrel is about 2150. It should be better in your rifle. At the ranges you suggest, I bet it would work fine on a hog.

Even at the slower velocity, this load would be my choice for your hunt.

 

[taylorce1]

Thanks for the input guys. My problem isn't load development, but legal ones. In Colorado for deer, pronghorn, and bear they require a minimum caliber of .243/6mm and 70 grain bullet, the kicker is that it is supposed to have 1000 ft-lbs of energy at 100 yards as well. So basically the magic numbers for me is 3000 fps with a 70 grain bullet, and 2900 fps with an 80 to meet energy requirements. Right now I haven't found a powder that gets me close to 2900 with an 80 grain bullet. I've tried H322, and H355 with no luck. Picked up some BLC-2 today to try as it tends to show the highest velocities in the load data I've got.

 

[Powerstroke]

I know it's a numbers game, grey area what ever you want to call it.

I don't have the regs out at the moment, but want to say at the end of that phrase it states " 1000 ft lbs @ 100yds as stated by the Mfg "
Is there a Mfg actaully loading the 6x47 ?

 

[30-338]

taylorce1, I've been following your post on 24hr about bullets etc for your 6x47. Rem made two model 40x in 6x47 one had 20" barrel other had 27" and they came with 1/12 twist barrel they had options example 1/14 twist barrels.

My 40x has 20" barrel with 1/12 twist barrel. One of my early BR rifles was a 6x47AI that also had a 20" barrel but had 1/14 twist barrel.


Rem makes a 75gr Accu-Tip for the 6mm should give everything your looking for. I'm not sure what state your hunting pigs in but might want to check see if their OK. Well good luck

 

[taylorce1]

I don't have the regs out at the moment, but want to say at the end of that phrase it states " 1000 ft lbs @ 100yds as stated by the Mfg "
Is there a Mfg actaully loading the 6x47 ?

Federal used to mfg the cartridge, but it has been discontinued. Don't know what the old specs are on it as well. However if I can prove that I can get 3000 fps out of a chronograph with a legal weight bullet then if it ever came into question I'd be on the safe side as that will put me around 1098 ft-lbs.

Rem makes a 75gr Accu-Tip for the 6mm should give everything your looking for. I'm not sure what state your hunting pigs in but might want to check see if their OK. Well good luck

I'll look into that bullet as well, and see if I can find any. I'm shooting pigs in Arkansas, and I haven't found any calbier restrictions in the Hunting Regs. I asked the outfit that I'm hunting with if my rifle was accepable to use and they didn't have a problem with it.

 

[SJB358]

I would think a 70gr BT at your speeds would be pretty lethal on a pig. Your not going to push it fast enough to be explosive. You may want to try your hand at shooting it into a few water jugs lined up, just to see what it does. Your kind of in that in between area where one bullet is too heavy to get what you want and the lighter ones are not built for what you need. Scotty

 

[taylorce1]

You may want to try your hand at shooting it into a few water jugs lined up, just to see what it does. Your kind of in that in between area where one bullet is too heavy to get what you want and the lighter ones are not built for what you need. Scotty

Picked up a box of 70 grain BT's last night to do just that just because I know I'm in the gray are of bullet performance with this cartridge.

I've been thinking of building some ballistic gel moulds and trying that. Saw on the web where a guy was using 2L plastic bottles for test tubes just splicing them together if he needed a longer tube. He making his own gel with pure gelitan and water. May not be perfect but should work well enought to test some bullets.

 

[Powerstroke]

Before I went to the hastle of mixing anything up, I'd go after the JD method -
Line yourself up 6 or 7 gallon milk jugs @ 100yds and let'em have it. I've launched a lot of Accubonds into them along with a few B-tips and VLD's.
Most have made it into jug 5, 6... the ones that come appart barely make it out of the second one.

I have zero pig experience, but if you plan on hunting that south east heard here in CO, I can't imagine a CO pig getting all that large ??? The 70gr B-tip I'd suspect should do the job.

Let us know how the testing goes.

 

[taylorce1]

Before I went to the hastle of mixing anything up, I'd go after the JD method -
Line yourself up 6 or 7 gallon milk jugs @ 100yds and let'em have it. I've launched a lot of Accubonds into them along with a few B-tips and VLD's.
Most have made it into jug 5, 6... the ones that come appart barely make it out of the second one.

I have zero pig experience, but if you plan on hunting that south east heard here in CO, I can't imagine a CO pig getting all that large ??? The 70gr B-tip I'd suspect should do the job.

Let us know how the testing goes.

I'll have to see if I can find any gallon milk jugs, just don't go through that much at my house. I can't shoot during the week as all the ranges cloes by the time I could make it to one. That is why I thought I'd try the gel. Doesn't seem too hard to mix up, plus I could cap off some PVC pipe and use that for the moulds. That way I'd have it ready to shoot by the time the weekend came around and I could get to the range.

I don't know how big a wild pig could get here in CO as well, however I've raised some on the farm that will get over 400 pretty easily. I'd imagine if one could find a good shelter, food and water source 200+ pound pigs wouldn't be that uncommon.

I keep hearing about these wild pigs in SE CO. I haven't found anyone that I know down in that area that has seen them. However I'd imagine that they could do well along the Arkansas river, get much further north of there and finding water for them would become an issue. It gets pretty dry between the Arkansas and Platte rivers out on the plains.

 

[taylorce1]

The more I shoot this rifle the more I love it. I shot some three shot groups with it yesterday and didn't have a single group that I couldn't hunt with. I'm running short on brass hence the three round groups, but I have three new loads to try that all grouped well under 1" and one that was better than .5" when I subtract the bullet diameter.

I was running 70 grain NBT's H322 and CCI 450 and BR4 primers. Now I'll go back and duplicate the load and try my hand at a few five shot groups to see if the accuracy is really there. This little rifle sure shoots better than I do.

 

[SJB358]

Thats great buddy. With that kind of accuracy you should be able to head shoot them dirty ol hogs! Good luck with them, sounds like you have a solid load. Scotty

 

[taylorce1]

Got to shoot this round over a chrony and I averaged 3066 fps for 5 rounds. Mangaed to put all 5 groups into 1.5", would have been better but I pulled one shot that I called. Making 3066 fps gets me over 1100 fps at 100 yards so I meet all of CO requirements for taking deer and pronghorn.

I'd still love to see a 70 grain AccuBond though! :wink:

Here is the load I'll be using to hunt pigs. The flyer on the left is my slowest shot across the chrony, but it was the idiot behind the trigger that put it there. 26.5 gr H332, CCI 450 primer, 70 gr Nosler BT:

This load was just starting to show pressure signs but was by far my most accurate group with the Sierra bullets. My primer was starting to flatten and crater, no extraction problems. 27.1 gr H322, CCI 450 primer, 70 gr Sierra BK: