Thread: 6.5's

Originally Posted by Puffin

Unfortunately no. Nothing to do with whether the brass feeds. Any bullet may be seated far enough down in the necks of .260 REM cases to allow the finished round to fit a std SA magazine length, but for a typical short action magazine of 72mm this will often mean that with the round chambered, the bullet will be positioned well off the lands. I say often because it depends on the cut of the chamber - by how much the lands have been removed beyond the neck to form the freebore.

The 6.5 SLR mentioned by John has the same brass length as the parent .260, so it suffers from the same problem. This issue is covered in the article here: 6.5 Super LR. At the end of the article there are two reamer drawings that demonstrate why magazine fit can be a problem. With reference to these drawings the cut for a SA magazine fit has the freebore at only 0.055" (1.4mm). There is sufficient anecdotal evidence to indicate that the 130-140gr VLD bullets perform better with a freebore of 0.160" (4mm) or somewhat more, described for the 6.5 SLR in the article as requiring a medium or long action length. It does depend on what profile bullets are used, and whether for the application they can be jumped.

Maybe some of the .260 or .260AI shooters on here can reply with their magazine and chamber freebore lengths, and COAL for just touching with VLD bullets, then we'll know the requirements.

Yeah I agree. It may be an accuracy thing but it is often sold as a speed thing. However there are plenty of examples of VLD type bullets shooting well when seated far off the lands and if you wanted speed you should have gone with the swede anyways... This isnt only a 260 issue either, anyone who has played with the 300winmag will know you can run into the same issue....

What I am trying to sat is that there is no real world difference between the two chamberings. If you buy a factory rifle and you're picking between a 260 and 6.5cm then it will likely be Sako or Tikka which wont be subject to the above issue. If you're going custom then you should get it chambered and throated in the appropriate manner to allow you to fit the projectiles you want to shoot. In general there is enough room to shoot VLD projectiles out of a well throated 260 with absolutely no drawbacks. So the only thing you're gaining with the 260 is cheaper brass and slightly more case capacity.

The factory ammo point in NZ is a moot point. There is no such thing as cheap factory in NZ apart from with the 223 and 7.62x39, and even then there is no range so you will likely have to reload anyways...

I'm not a fanboy of either round, I have owned a few 260's but I'd buy a Kimber adirondack in 6.5CM tomorrow if it was in front of me and I had the $$$$. I just dont see any real reason to get the latter when comparing the two. That is of course unless you want a 6.5CM and like the idea of it, then go with it and bee happy.