how about a new commercial 6.5

[nitis]

with the popularity and versatility of the 6.5s and all these new magic powders why have we not seen any new commerically manufactured rifles and ammo? we see all kinds of 300s and 7mms but why no 6.5

what I would like to see is remington make me a 6.5-06 they could make up a crazy name for it and create a new rage. or maybe they could reintroduce the 6.5 rem mag which with a 24" tube should be a heck of a rifle and if they had to I guess they could rename it.

or is ruger going to beat them to the punch with a 6.5 rcm?

what do you all think or what do insiders know?

 

[TScottW99]

Well the 6.5Creedmore is now out, though it was designed as a competition cartridge in the AR10 platform. Would love to have one as it will allow longer seating of the bullet versus the .260rem in the AR platform.

There seems to be a good cult following of the 6.5Grendel for the AR15 platform. Even passed a truck the other day with a 6.5Grendel bumper sticker :lol:

Americans for what ever reason are not a fan of the 6.5. Too bad really because I would love to see some updated rifles and new rifles for the 6.5/.264 cartridges.

 

[OldMan]

I think the original .264 WM got a bum rap and would be a good long range round. It got tons of bad press as a barrel burner in the early days, but I can't imagine it is any worse than a 300 Ultra and is probably way less of a b burner than the 7mm Ultra! How about a new short mag without a belt and the same capacity as the 264 WM?

 

[nitis]

Well you are kinda touching on what I was getting at according to the nosler book the 6.5-06 is right there with the 264 win. And there is a ton of load data out there. So if us hand loaders can nearly duplicate the 264 win what can the manufactureres do with their magic powder?

 

[JD338]

I agree, the 6.5mm is a great caliber. I have a 6.5 JDJ in my Contender and I shoot it at 300 yds.
I kind of like the 6.5mm Rem Mag. :wink:

JD338

 

[Big Squeeze]

The 6.5mms over recent years have been making a pretty good strong comeback. 260 Rem, 6.5/284, Creedmore and a few others, plus publicity from their 1000 yard match shooting performances; ie the 6.5/284.

Maybe thanks to a certain event in Dallas on Nov 22, 1963, the 6.5s didn`t grow more in popularity amongst the shooting public, and it took more than a generation for the 6.5s to catch on more. The 6.5mm Mannlicher Carcano certainly became infamous.

 

[woods]

A 6.5-06 would be sweet. Problem is that it would be in direct competition with the 270 and the 25-06 which are already tremendously entrenched and popular. Matter of fact the ballistics would be very very similar to the 270.

The problem with the 260 is that it is a short action and a lot of the case capacity gets eaten up with the bullet base on the longer 130 and 140 gr bullets.

The 6.5x284 has a chance to catch on since it is becoming known as an accuracy cartridge. The dummies would probably introduce that in a short action also and take away a lot of it's advantages. I don't like short actions much.

The 6.5 rem mag is a great cartridge but they introduced it in a short action also. I rebarreled a 300 win mag with a short magazine to a 6.5 rem mag and can seat the bullet way out

It will shoot right up under the 264 win mag with a lot less powder and blast.

 

[JD338]

A 6.5mm WSM would be a cool one. 8)

JD338

 

[30-338]

We now have SAAMI spec called 6.5x284 Norma OAL 3.310" . Nolser makes that ammo plus Cooper/Savage chamber rifles for it mine is build on a Win long action. It has a .290 neck so have to turn necks been one of my LR varmit rifles.

 

[HunterJim]

I talked to Ruger last year about a 6.5 RCM, and they took it up with Hornady. The Hornady folks initially thought it would be a bit overbore capacity, but then the factory guys always say that kind of stuff. I don't know if they will go there or not. If they don't I will build a 6.5 Rem on a short action rifle like my Hawkeye .300 RCM as a hunting rifle. The package will be great for hunting.

For hunting use bullets in the 120 gr to 130 gr range are great as long as they are current designs. (I have shot a 6.5-'06 for over 20 years, and I have gradually moved down in bullet weight.) I don't worry overmuch about magazine length with these bullets, but I do want a barrel of about 22" or so.

jim

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

When the .264 Win Mag was first introduced, it was during the summer month. The only loading was a 90gr bullet envisioned for coyotes ect. When those light bullets were used on deer that fall, the .264 got it's repuation for explosive bullets, and being too fast and fragile for big game hunting. By the time Winchester introduced 120-140 gr loadings the next season, it was too late. Consequently, .264 Cal rifles, and 26" barrels have been out of style ever since.

 

[roysclockgun]

Some really great cartridges have come along, been a "flash" and then died. Perhaps the shelves are already too full and even when a better "mousetrap" is built, the great unwashed masses do not buy it in enough quantity to keep it in production.
The 6mmRem. comes to mind. Better ballistically than the older, more secure .243Win., but who cared? The 6mmRem. is dead, save for hand loaders. Same goes for the .280Rem. which was suppose to unseat the venable .270Win.! It did not accomplish that task.
A young man is just as likely to buy a lever rifle in 30-30 and be happy for as long as he takes to the field after deer, one week a year. A box of cartridges lasts him many years and he has no clue where the bullet hits past 50 yards. When the deer walks under his tree stand, it is potted.
Most of the "niches" are already filled. It is going to be very difficult to sell the "one week a year" hunter on something new, to the point where the cartridge will be sold in rifles in high enough volume to really cause cartridge retailers to stock their shelves.
To further make my point, we have already seen a shake-out of short mags and super mags, that have been introduced within the last few years.
There are simply not enough gun nuts like myself and others on this forum, who will buy a new, differently chambered rifle, just to own it long enough to see what it will do! A quick count shows me 20+ rifles in my battery.
Maybe Jack O'Connor was correct when he said something like :"Beware the man who only owns one rifle. He can probably shoot it!"

 

[1Shot]

As far as the loading manuals go I think they STILL are trashing the 264 Win Mag unjustly. If you look at many of the manuals they give velocity for the 6.5-06 and the 264 Win mag very close. In reality IT AIN'T SO. Many of the manuals use 26" barrels on the 6.5-06 but only use 24" barrels on the 264 mag. It has been my experience that on average the 264 mag will out do the 6.5-06 by 200 to 300 fps with ease in the same barrel length. You really need a 26" barrel on a 264 mag to really make it show it's stuff. I have a custom Rem 700 with a 27 3/4" Shilen in 264 mag and it will do 3300 with 140 gr bullets and 3600 with 120 gr bullets with ease. A 120 Nosler ballistic tip at 3600 fps in a rifle that will put 5 shots average in 3/4" at 100 yards is a reach waaaaaaaay out there and touch-em deer killing machine.
My 264 mag is named Rodney, after Rodney Dangerfield. It gets no respect.

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

I"d love to see the 6.5-06 as a factory cartridge.

Quite frankly it spanks my beloved 25-06 in all aspects, and whoops the .270 at LR as well with high BC 6.5mm bullets.

.257 and .277 leave something to be desired in the BC department and LR shooting.

I would waaaaay rather have a 6.5-06 then either a 25-06 or 270.

140's at 3000fps is all you need to kill deer and antelope a long long long ways away.

If its like any other 06 based case, it wont kick a whole bunch, easy to load for, good ballistics.

I have little faith in the factories to come out with a decent caliber. They keep trying to reinvent the wheel with all these smaller shorter cartridges that just look funny and dont feed all that great.

 

[Guy Miner]

There's already more cartridges on the market than even remotely necessary.

Nothing wrong with another commercial 6.5 I guess, but sheesh... One more deer cartridge when there's already a couple of dozen to choose from? What's the point?

 

[Ol` Joe]

I"d love to see the 6.5-06 as a factory cartridge.

Think 256 Newton....
I agree it would be a great cartridge for some company to offer

 

[nitis]

Well you all touched on things I thought you would but why wouldnt someone offer up the 6.5/06?

After the wsm and saum era we still got the rcm.

I know I would buy one.

Yeah I know just like most of you said its close to this or close to that but what caliber is not close to another?

Hey Big Green build me a 6.5/06 then give me 5% of all the rifle and ammo sales so I can retire you wait someone is going to do it and it will make it.

 

[Powerstroke]

I'd certianly jump on the 6.5 - 06 band wagon. As Remmy stated, the B/C of the 6.5's is impressive. Low recoil with great penetration. Nosler already has the pipeline handled with the 130 & 140gr A-bonds.... I'd certianly like to see around a 115gr A-bond however for the smaller 6.5's like the .260's and 6.5 X 47's

I agree... GO BIG GREEN ! Maybe in next years limited edition ??

 

[Guy Miner]

I guess it's the practical nature in me, or maybe a bit of the logistician...

I'd be a happy camper if all we had avail was:

.22 long rifle

A varmint cartridge.

A medium game cartridge.

A bigger/dangerous game cartridge.

Yup. That would do it for me. I wouldn't be all that picky about which one either. Could see a .22, a .223 Rem, a .308 Win and a .375 H&H - or any number of other combinations. Of course, this will never be reality, but I'd be happy with it!

Regards, Guy

 

[DrMike]

I'd be happy with it!

Guy,

I could never "be happy" with that state of affairs. If that were all the choice I had, I'd be changing rifles on an annual basis so I would have the challenge of building new loads.

I've always thought a .264 WM or a 6.5 RM would be cool, and I suppose I'll look for one in the next year or so ... just because. The 6.5-06 would be a fun cartridge to work up ... just because.