Thread: Seriously underrated 6.5x47 Lapua

I have been having a blast shooting Creedmoor for the last year or so and have tested the crap out of that little cartridge to the point I feel it was time to move to something else to keep me entertained.

I have been thrashing my Desert Tech with a new .308 barrel I made up for it and its been fun shooting the .308 again, I hadnt shot it in years and it still hasnt lost its hard hitting charm. I have shifted to shooting the heavier 175gr TMKs from 150 and 168gr in previous rifles Ive owned and I have to say Ill never look back. Getting 2610fps from a 21" Trueflight match 1-10" twist I chambered with a 95 Palma match reamer it shoots some of the smallest sub .5" groups Ive ever shot in .308win.







@Flyblown fire forming some new Lapua .308 Palma Match brass for me on the 100y range






While it is fun and does everything I ask of it, it is a cal I first started shooting with, hunting with and competing with, its predictably boring and feels like a very old relationship.
I worked up a ridiculously accurate load in about 20 mins and 15 shots in total with a couple of different powders 8208 and 2208 (BM 8208 was new to me in this cal) which just confirmed just how much time Ive spent with this cal before the 6.5 bug bit and challenged everything I thought I knew about reloading and ballistics.

So I wanted to make a new barrel that will become my "go to work horse".
When I moved from .308win to 6.5 I was tossing up between 6.5 Creedmoor and 6.5x47 Lapua for quite a while but after lots of online research (my first mistake) and seeing there was a shortage of Redding 6.5x47 dies at the time, in fact the the deciding strike was that none of the usual exporters in the states had them in stock, I went with Creedmoor by default.

Some of you followed my Creedmoor journey but to cut a long story short, I still really wanted to build a X47 Lapua.
So.. With a big thanks to @graeme for retiring from F class shooting this year and selling me his 6.5X47 Trueflite match barrel and bucket of Lapua brass for up cycling to fit my Desert Tech.
It was a low use 30" long 1-1/4" 1-8" twist that had the first 6" turned to a step-down for the target stock mounting block which had to be cut off to use the full dia with the clamping system of the desert tech. this gave me 24" to work with which in x47 Lapua standards is quite short but I knew what I could get out of a 20" Creedmoor so 24" was definitely right where I wanted to be for this project.

Here's the truck axle along side my 21" .308 barrel







Got to work on it, cut the rear 6" off and had a heap of meet taken off to match the factory Desert Tech profile.









I re-threaded it for the DTA barrel extension nut,threaded it for a suppressor and chambered it with one of Dave Mansons match reamers before dropping it off to @DPT for @Friwi to work his lightening magic cutting some flutes in it for me. Looks great mate, thanks again.







The growing 6.5 Family: .260 Rem, 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5x47 Lapua and 6.5 Grendel



Load development to come.

Easy to under rate perfection Starting to build my new one now on another Sako 75.

Ill be going 6.5x47 once 260 barrel on my abolt is shagged i think fine little round it appears

Originally Posted by quadhunter260

Ill be going 6.5x47 once 260 barrel on my abolt is shagged i think fine little round it appears

A very easy mod to just re-chamber the existing barrel as long as the throat and bore is in good condition, the 6.5x47 is a straighter wall than the .260 and has a longer neck and 30 deg shoulder so will clean up your .260 chamber with only about 3.5mm trimmed off the thread and pushed forward on the threads shoulder.

I have never pushed my .260s to their limits but by design they do best with higher charges of slow burning powders like 2213SC and longer 26" barrels. The shorter powder column 6.5x47 Lapua matches it and over takes it without even trying with a lot less powder and much shorter barrels.
My current x47 load uses 3gr less of the same powder as my hot end Creedmoor load did using the same projectile and gets 500fps+ more than the Creedmoor without any high pressure signs. It is the pinnacle of efficiency with 123gr to 140gr bullets in this line up of 6.5 cartridges.

Ive never owned a 6.5x55AI and personally not a fan of long actions but a few F class shooters run that cal. There is one for sale on trademe now. It is much like the 260rem and 260 AI.. likes slow powders and long barrels. The .260 has the edge IMO as it has better small rifle primer match brass available so can cope with higher pressure loads without burning out brass/primer pockets.
Take a look at 6.5x55 in any reloading manual and you will see its max velocities come from slow powders and they are still nothing amazing.

Originally Posted by Wingman

Ive never owned a 6.5x55AI and personally not a fan of long actions but a few F class shooters run that cal. There is one for sale on trademe now. It is much like the 260rem and 260 AI.. likes slow powders and long barrels. The .260 has the edge IMO as it has better small rifle primer match brass available so can cope with higher pressure loads without burning out brass/primer pockets.
Take a look at 6.5x55 in any reloading manual and you will see its max velocities come from slow powders and they are still nothing amazing.

6.5x55 is hamstrung in all the manuals and factory loaders because of all the old actions that could shit themselves with a proper load, loaded hard in a modern action the Swede has legs that would astonish you as is breezes past the tiddler 6.5 cartridges

Originally Posted by 257weatherby

6.5x55 is hamstrung in all the manuals and factory loaders because of all the old actions that could shit themselves with a proper load, loaded hard in a modern action the Swede has legs that would astonish you as is breezes past the tiddler 6.5 cartridges

Ive heard that story a lot but yet to see any truth in the theory. While it was only one rifle, I did some load development for a mates x55 with a 24" barrel and it showed pressure signs consistent with loading manual data.

Originally Posted by 257weatherby

6.5x55 is hamstrung in all the manuals and factory loaders because of all the old actions that could shit themselves with a proper load, loaded hard in a modern action the Swede has legs that would astonish you as is breezes past the tiddler 6.5 cartridges

Think it has something to do with the Norwegian Krag actions having single recoil lugs, or something to that effect. Load to lowest common safe denominator.

ok I will ask a dumb question here....what happens if you do that same/similar alteration to a swede???? sharpen up the shoulder angle and straighten out the walls... so a 6.5x55mm imp

Whilst that rifle is very cool is it not a pain in the ass to shoot repeated rounds? Seems you would have to move away from the scope/take your elbow off the ground every time you work the bolt? Just curious.. I keep coming back to this thread to look at it haha

Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

Whilst that rifle is very cool is it not a pain in the ass to shoot repeated rounds? Seems you would have to move away from the scope/take your elbow off the ground every time you work the bolt? Just curious.. I keep coming back to this thread to look at it haha

Nah it operates just like any other bolt action once you re used to it and you dont need to lift your head or elbow.. I have used bullpups for years and prefer them so a std rifle feels more foreign to me.. I often go looking for the bolt too far back

Have a quick search on youtube to see them in action.
I will have it in the field this week for hopefully some soft target tests and plan to do some video work so will make a point to demonstrate this.

Heres a newbie behind one being about as clumsy as any newbie gets..

https://youtu.be/GTKrPB6u1UM

Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

Whilst that rifle is very cool is it not a pain in the ass to shoot repeated rounds? Seems you would have to move away from the scope/take your elbow off the ground every time you work the bolt? Just curious.. I keep coming back to this thread to look at it haha

I found it very awkward to be honest, the bullpup design, having only over shot them on the odd occasional previously, like years ago. Once? Hard to remember. But gut feel is that it is like anything else, you would quickly get used to it... e.g. I went from a rear drive Beemer track day car to a front drive Golf and I truly hated that at first, but got used to it soon enough, I went from a old early 70s British motorcross bike with the gears on the left to a jap bike with gears on the right... that certainly took some getting used to (highly un-entertaining). Don't think it would be any different with a different configuration rifle.

What I found most difficult with the DTA was recoil control. The different configuration meant that I was putting too much pressure in the wrong places and the front end was leaping around a bit. I'm used to proper forend control but this rifle doesn't really have anywhere to hang onto that felt "right". Again just a question of getting used to it. I managed an inch group after a couple of "sighters" which didn't go particularly well, whereas Wingman was shooting half that and looks so much more comfortable on the rifle, and he was shooting at least twice as fast as me. So really just a question of familiarity and practice I think. I really liked the rear mono pod, that was cool. I'd be pretty confident that once I sort my shit out with position and control I'd be shooting that comfortably & reliably sub MOA in the field without bother.

It is still hard to get my head around the fact that such a short overall package has a 21 inch barrel and suppressor. It's not particularly light but it is super portable, and very very accurate, up there with the most accurate rifles I have ever handled. What you must remember is that as the photos above show, the shooting position is a pretty rough, sloping, pugged up dairy paddock, this isn't a benchrest shooting, so factor that in when you look at those sub half inch groups...

Originally Posted by Flyblown

I found it very awkward to be honest, the bullpup design, having only over shot them on the odd occasional previously, like years ago. Once? Hard to remember. But gut feel is that it is like anything else, you would quickly get used to it... e.g. I went from a rear drive Beemer track day car to a front drive Golf and I truly hated that at first, but got used to it soon enough, I went from a old early 70s British motorcross bike with the gears on the left to a jap bike with gears on the right... that certainly took some getting used to (highly un-entertaining). Don't think it would be any different with a different configuration rifle.

What I found most difficult with the DTA was recoil control. The different configuration meant that I was putting too much pressure in the wrong places and the front end was leaping around a bit. I'm used to proper forend control but this rifle doesn't really have anywhere to hang onto that felt "right". Again just a question of getting used to it. I managed an inch group after a couple of "sighters" which didn't go particularly well, whereas Wingman was shooting half that and looks so much more comfortable on the rifle, and he was shooting at least twice as fast as me. So really just a question of familiarity and practice I think. I really liked the rear mono pod, that was cool. I'd be pretty confident that once I sort my shit out with position and control I'd be shooting that comfortably & reliably sub MOA in the field without bother.

It is still hard to get my head around the fact that such a short overall package has a 21 inch barrel and suppressor. It's not particularly light but it is super portable, and very very accurate, up there with the most accurate rifles I have ever handled. What you must remember is that as the photos above show, the shooting position is a pretty rough, sloping, pugged up dairy paddock, this isn't a benchrest shooting, so factor that in when you look at those sub half inch groups...

I have heard "forend control" a few times on here lately. What do you mean by proper forend control?

Originally Posted by Tussock

I have heard "forend control" a few times on here lately. What do you mean by proper forend control?

Exactly what it sounds like, controlling the forend, by holding it.

It's fine get a 6.5CM instead it makes more sense now