Thread: 6mm BR in a hunting rifle for deer.

I've had 2 6BR repeaters now (on on a T3 and one on a R700)and now have 20Br on a Stiller and none of them make a good repeater!

The issue with the BR case for a repeater is quite complex. Its not just the "feeding". There are challenges with loading, feeding, chambering and ejection.

I doubt any BR repeater has all four of these right!

The Tikka with single stack mag is not immune to feeding problems and my 6br with 70g was a real pain with the feeding case base sliding down the shoulder of the the underlying case causing the case to rotate upwards and lodge in the corner of the receiver/barrel face. The Tikka's are also useless to single feed as you have to poke the bullet right up into the chamber as it will not push feed in as the bullet hits the barrel end below the chamber and stops dead! The small loading port does not help on the T3, though the 595's are a little bigger.

Top loading the BR case in the R700 mag box is also an issue as the case often tips forward and jamming. Tweeking of the stop point of the Z spring is needed and a 0.5mm difference can have a big effect on this, but I cant totally eliminate it

Ejection with the R700 plunger ejector is another problem, as the case is so short that the acute angle means the case base loses contact with the ejector plunger and the case falls off the bolt head before ejecting. Put a Sako ejector on fixes that as the ejection angle is higher and misses the bolt lug cutout, but then you can have problems with the ejecting case hitting the scope turrets! The acute angle also means the case neck end gets damaged in the ejection process.

My 20Br has a problem with chambering, as the projectile tip catches in the corner of the chamber side/shoulder. A small pause then re-push and it goes in, but you cant always get a clean forward push, and I suspect it could damaging the tip if stopped when fast reloading. I understand this is a common problem with many of the Ackley improved cases due to the 40 deg shoulder, and not unique to the BR case. ( I always thought the reference to the Ackley improved cases having a problem with "feeding" was related to feeding out of the mag, but I think its probably more to do with that 40 deg shoulder in the chamber presenting a face for the bullet tip to stop on)

A few guys with Savage actions say their actions feed flawlessly with the factory Savage BR mag... but so have plenty with Rem 700's. I'd be interested to try one, but cant bring myself to buy one due to a agricultural look and feel of them!

A Sako 75 might be one of the better repeater actions to build one on, as it does not have the plunger ejector which is one of the big issues with the short case.

6*47, 6XC or plain jane 6mm/22-250 would be a much better option, but I understand why you want to use the BR case, it’s the optimum case capacity for a balance of performance, low recoil (so u don’t loose your sight picture), reduced barrel heat/wear (for high volume shooting), small powder capacity so ligher suppressor (I'm using 220 g A-TEC's on mine), accuracy and excellent brass (20+ reloads with no signs of fatigue).

NB in my 22" 6Br 1:8 twist rifle the 95's were doing 3050 fps, but I could only get 2750 fps out of the 105's and the accuracy wasn't good! I suspect I needed to go back down to 2600 to find the lower accuracy node with the 105's, so short barrel and fast twist not ideal.

Be warned...

Cheers

Grant