AusVarmint

I know this gets done to death but I need another option for the longs in F Open.
I currently run a 6mmBR that I am very competetive with it to 600yards. I want something with some less wind drift for the ranges back to 1200(if I get to shoot match rifle)
I have three ways to go,
1 a change barrel using 260AI 260 6.5x284(prefer longer barrel life,have had one of these),6.5x47L.
2.One of the 6-6.5x47L has a total replacement unit for the 6mmBR
3.I have a donor rem long action that could be made into a 6.5 x 55 swede or a 6.5x55mm AI.
I know Rinso said he went through this process and came up with the 6-6.5x47L but I would like to know some reasons? Also interested in thoughts on barrel life of the 6-6.5x47L running at 3100fps.
I understand barrels are expendable but with two of us shooting(my son competes as well) cost is a bit of a factor.
I have not been able to find much on the accuracy and velocity of the Swede AI.
Many thanks,
Macca

Well, I went for the 6.5x55AI for several reasons. Case life is pretty damn good. You could run 50 or so good cases for the life of the barrel unless you are running it retardedly hot. Barrel life is pretty damn good too. I'm running mine pushing the 139 Scenar at 2950, have put just shy of 2000 rounds down it, and it is still shooting damn well. Had it bore scoped a couple of weeks ago and was told there is so little throat erosion that it shouldn't even be looked at for another 1000 rounds for shooting FO with. Still shooting 1 hole 100m groups in any case. Makes a good light gun for LR BR, and FO gun, even if on the light side there. It wins more weekends than it loses....

G'Day Macca,
Rinso has it sorted, as for barrel life the reports from the US suggest the 6x47lapua (6-6.5x47lapua) it will be very good and may well be comparable to the 6BR.

On paper, a 6x47lapua with a 107SMK doing 3150fps it is 99% equal to a 6.5-284 with a 142SMK doing 3000fps out to 1000yds, BUT with less recoil, wear and tear, easy to tune like a 6BR, etc, etc.

Personally, well for me anyway, it will be the one cartridge for all distances out to 1000, but for 1200?, I dont know. The plus is it avoids barrel changes (I do that a lot in BR) and keeps it simple and the costs down.

Since you have a donor action, I'd go that way, use the 6BR out to 600 and the other rifle out to 1200, in a 6.5 or 7mm.......or what ever takes your fancy, this should reduce the barrel wear by having 2 rifles to cover the all the ranges you want to shoot instead of only one.

Hope this helps

Cheerio Ned

Thanks Mick and Ned,
I have a bit more to work with.
Mick are you running 2209 in the Swede AI? The barrel life and accuracy sounds great.
How many FO shooters do you get at Canberra as the norm?
I do like the sound of the 6-6.5x47L but it may have to wait till the 6BR wears out or I win a lotto.
My son has been campaigning a 223 factory rifle with 69 grainers.His results require me to upgrade his equipment as well.It may be just a faster twist barrel so he can run 80 grainers to start but the little bugger can out shoot me with the 6mm so he may want to step up to FO fulltime.
thanks again,
Macca

macca,

I would look long and hard at the 6x47 Lapua, as Ned says it is easy on barrels compared to say 6.5-284 but is ballistically its equal. The 6.5-284 is the calibre so many F Class shooters run for the longer yardages and they can be very fussy to make work, they eat barrells and don't have that much over the Lapua.
The Lapua is easy to tune (like the BR) and is not a hard kicker making it easy to shoot. Mine has worked with every bullet i have fed it and the accuracy nodes are endless. The Lapua brass for the 6x47 is great, I have specced out over 600 and had I been super fussy I could have found about 5 to discard.
Will it shoot 1200 .. well the 308 will and it out performs that, the 6.5-284 will and it matches that so I would say yes it would be a competitive rifle at that distance.
The beauty of the 6x47 Lapua is that you can replace the 6BR altogether and shoot it from 300 to 1000yds .. yes I know the BR is good but lets look at a simple fact the BR struggles at the longs the Lapua doesn't and it will give you better results at the shorter yardages in turn.
Works on a short action and you can have the BR re-chambered to 6x47L use the other action to upgrade the young bloke to the same calibre and you get max use from dies etc ..
Best of luck in the choices you have to make .. feel free to ask any questions or for clarification of anything.

cheers
Rinso

I'm treading on Rinsos' toes here, but let me say i have shot the 6/6.5x47 at 600 and 1000 yards. It drilled holes at 100 and 200 yards and certainly looked like it would run the numbers at long range. Like Rinso stated, the case just lapped up any projectile and had a very wide node of useable accuracy. But on an average Townsville day with average wind and average mirage it was far from competitive at either range with anything other than another 6x47 or a 6 BR or a very ordinary 6.5. I don't know how well the 6x47 will do elswhere, but on my home range it is nothing more than an also ran in both score and group shooting.

If one looks at the last FCWC in South Africa, going into the final day had the yanks ahead as a team by a fair margin and the 6.5/284s looking like taking all before them. The SAFs pulled out their 7mm Tombi rifles and won the long yardages and the match aggregate to take out the championship. The cartridge is essentially the 280 AI and the pill they used was the 168 Berger. I believe the twist rate used was 1:10.

Everything written here and on other posts is relevant only to how cost effective or competitive you wish to be. The yanks got beaten by a better combination, cost was not an issue for the SAF team. Rinso says the Lapua is the way he wants to go, i'm saying the cases go in the bin and the barrel gets made into dies. Totally contrasting because of different objectives. The 6X47 is my last endeavour into a long range subcal because so many other combinations have given far better results over a sustained period of time and more recent advents have given outstanding barrel and case life.
If you go with a case like the 6x47 you will no doubt be on an equal footing with most everthing you are likely to encounter on most ranges around Aus. But one day, when someone has no money issue and wants to have the edge over all the others, and is also a complete shooter, the 22 pound 300 Ackley using the 187 BIB, 220 SMK or 210 Berger may appear. Certainly there are some big bangers already out there, but nothing that has set the world on fire, or is likely to as the majority have taken the shortcut route thinking bigger is better. A couple of 30/284s exist around the place, none are even close to the 22 pound limit, the biggest bullet they have used is the 190 SMK at around 2800 fps. Light rifles giving unnecessary recoil, using the ultimate crap cases firing a very ordinary bullet at a pedestrian velocity. Four strikes that have this combination actually behind the 6BR. Shoot the 30 at the shorts and pull out the 6BR for the longs. What a fucking joke. A complete backward move that gives the naysayers more ammunition to rubbish the bigger bangers.

The total decision on what any one builds is limited to either cost or do i want an edge over the others. The two are not intertwined.
Tony Z.

Thanks Rinso and Tony,
I know that the big 30's have less wind drift and if you can shoot them and they have an edge at the longs but unfortunately cost is a factor.I am not recoil sensitive(Tony I used to fire my SLR on 2 or 0 I also owned a 300 and 378 weatherby for awhile.)So I'd be happy to shoot them(not the weatherbys but maybe the 300AI) if I could justify the cost(Maybe when I get my three kids out of school)

I must admit the 280AI did get suggested to me but I was worried about good projectiles.
I can see myself developing a headache out of making this decision.I may have more questions yet.

Thanks for the imput fellas.
Macca

macca wrote:Thanks Mick and Ned,
I have a bit more to work with.
Mick are you running 2209 in the Swede AI? The barrel life and accuracy sounds great.
How many FO shooters do you get at Canberra as the norm?
I do like the sound of the 6-6.5x47L but it may have to wait till the 6BR wears out or I win a lotto.
My son has been campaigning a 223 factory rifle with 69 grainers.His results require me to upgrade his equipment as well.It may be just a faster twist barrel so he can run 80 grainers to start but the little bugger can out shoot me with the 6mm so he may want to step up to FO fulltime.
thanks again,
Macca

Yeah, Running 48.2gn of 2209 in it.
On an average weekend in canberra, we have about 6 or 7 people shooting FO.

Tony Z,

I agree with what you have said and that is why my main comp rifle is throwing 185 pills with 75 grns of powder behind them. The 300 Win Mag & 300 Ackley are the calibres for long range work IMHO (don't know about these 30 Redneck's though )

My advice towards the 6x47 Lapua was based on the equipment macca has on hand and the cost factor he mentioned regards having to kit out a junior shooter as well.

This leaves the ability to maintain short actions without giving too much away and garuntees that the recoil won't become a major issue for the young fella.

cheers
Rinso