Thread: advice on buying

By the way, how far are you thinking in shoot deer or something else? the way you talk about BC and etc i think you are shooting 4-500+ meters. In my opinion if you shooting these distances or more you may consider another caliber where the projectiles will have more ft/lb energy. Ballistic coefficient is GOOD but energy at the target is essential…

round count "about" 250... hmm
You could just get a 6.5x55 for 1/2 the price, bung a decent amax load in it and go do the same thing you were going to do with the x284, except do it about 8 thousand times.

well i just want to get started on shooting futher now (just brought binos/rangefinder and scope with drop), but dont really wanna deal with the kick or the bang from the muzzle break on a 7mm, just seems like theres 2 sensible choices ethier 130-140 grain 6.5mm bullet or 168-180 grain 7mm for nz animals, i cant imagine id try shot an animal at more than 400- 500m away til ive done alot of shooting at distance, what distance is a 130-140 grain bullet out of a 6.5x55 good for taken down say deer?

the 6.5x55 is a mean round if you can get reloads good for deer out to 5-600 yards cheers

6.5x55 is an easy 400M rifle for a newbe and good for a lot further. Now I have a 6.5/284 which is good but the 6.5x55 or the .260 will do the same with less recoil but the 6.5/284 is better suited to a 22" or 24" barrel

trust us you will love the 6.5x55 dont under estimate this round it is very good ballisticly. when i had one i used 140gr dead is dead. invest in good glass and you wont look back dude i miss my old 55

yea ive been shooting for a long time just have never really done long range shooting before or really thought about the amount of energy it takes to take an animal down/or fps at target to get proper bullet fragmentation, just read that the 140 grain amax is good down to 1800fps witch is around 500-600yards depending on load development which sounds good.coming home next week so think il just go get a tikka 6.5x55 and some reloading gear when i get home been in canada for nearly 5 months so cant wait to get out shooting again and learn reloading, hopefully il be moving on to a 7mm in no time

If you are definitely going to reload the 6.5x55 is good. Other wise just get a 7mm08. Hornady superformance ammo shooting SST's will get you out to 400 easy. Factory ammo for 6.5x55 is mostly loaded very conservatively due to the age of some of the guns its being shot with.

once you have a 6.5 x 55 you won't need a 7mm

Originally Posted by 25 /08 IMP

once you have a 6.5 x 55 you won't need a 7mm

absolutely on the money there. when reloading 6.5 give the Barnes lrx a try they are lethal

Originally Posted by 25 /08 IMP

once you have a 6.5 x 55 you won't need a 7mm

If you have the knowledge/ability/and gear to develop a load, not that any of this is difficult just that some people will only ever shoot factory ammo.(which is limp wristed in this chambering)

Norma 144gr matchking loads do about 2600 and change from a 22 inch barrel (6.5x55) and killed stuff pretty good for me. Not totally anaemic and about $1.40 a round

If you had a hard on for 6.5-284 I can understand that,but to buy one in a tikka is a little odd I think and here is why.

The 284 cartridge was designed to try and get 280/270 performance out of a short action.

Running the 284 case in a long action (like a tikka) allows heavy for calibre bullets to be seated out not taking up powder room to take full advantage of the case but the case does not take full advantage of a long action.
There are better cases for a long action.

Something like a Mauser that will not take full length but is a bit longer than the "08" cases would make the best of the chambering and action.

Thats what it was designed to do and thats what it does. I disagree that it doesnt take advantage of the action length. It replicates rem mag performance with 20 grains less powder with the bonus of added barrel life. Unless you go complete custom wildcat it would be hard to beat.

thanks for that will go a 6.5x55 and if i like reloading and shooting at range then can worry about a long range rig futher down the track