.223 vs 6mm BR

[WhiteMeat]

Howdy all,

I currently have a tikka 595 .223 and in the future I want to move up to something in the 6mm area, I have pretty much based my dreams and aspirations on the 6mmbr - it looks the goods from what I have read in terms of powder used, effective range, not having to fireform cases & so on & so forth.

But my main questions relate to the recoil & muzzle blast of the 6mm BR...

Now the .223 i currently have has a 22-24 inch barrel (I cant remember atm) and is a relatively thin profile (sporter weight) and i'm ok with the noise and recoil of this. I'm not a largely built fella (6"2' but I weigh over 60kg & below 65kg so i'm fairly sensitive to recoil) I was just wondering - given that the 6mm BR is burning up to about 10-15gr of extra powder - what is the recoil like when compared to a .223 (I know the BR will be harder hitting, i'm just not sure HOW much harder ) I have shot a .243 in the past - but my memory isn't serving me too well these days.

The length of barrel that I would be looking at for the 6mm (the 6mm would be a walkabout, long range, precision bunny smacker & casual target rifle - ie - heavy bbl up to around a #7-#8 contour in the 22-24 inch length - possibly up to 26 inches - depends on how masochistic I want to be when i go out )

Also - for these barrel lengths, does anyone know what the muzzle blast is like (6br v 223) ?

Thanks in advance

On a bit of an unrelated note - does anyone know if any synthetic stock manufacturers actually make a synthetic for the tikka M595 long action?

[Archfile]

what is the recoil like when compared to a .223 (I know the BR will be harder hitting, i'm just not sure HOW much harder ) I have shot a .243 in the past - but my memory isn't serving me too well these days.

I don't have one, and never fired one, but I think you will find its not much more than the .223 with light varmint bullets, I'm thinking the recoil is likely to be in the realm of the 22-250 with a 55-60gr proejectile, not at all unmanageable.

Also - for these barrel lengths, does anyone know what the muzzle blast is like (6br v 223) ?

I'd go for a 24" barrel if walking around with it, and 26 for benchrest kind of use, the real issue is going to be 'will the benchrest 6BR projectiles stabilize in a barrel that will shoot varmint projectiles?' I think you might not be in nomansland with twist rates. The other thing to think about is do you want it to be a single shot? 6BR will be a pain to feed from a magazine, BUT the 595 22-250 mags are the way to go according to people.

On a bit of an unrelated note - does anyone know if any synthetic stock manufacturers actually make a synthetic for the tikka M595 long action?

The 595 is the short action, the tikka 695 is the long action, they made a magnum length 695 as well (IIRC) McMillan make one, I don't now if its listed on their site, but they do inlet for it.

Something i've noticed is the 6BR is rated as the superchild of all 6mm shooting, I'm thinking that in the same way that you keep hearing people say 'inherently accurate' (which i think is a heap of shit) that its the best 6mm for everything, its a pain to feed, its brass isn't cheap (may or maynot be an issue for the shooting that you are doing) and one of the major advantages is the pressure capacity of the good brass, which if you had that hardness of brass most chambering would be the same

Remember that if you want ALL that 6BR goodness you will need to run stupid pressures, and then the brass won't last.. I think you might be better off with the 243win shooting med projectiles or heavy VLD ones (which won't be much good for varminting)

-Arch [/quote]

[Ackley Improved]

The 6mmBR is very light in recoil, specially with the lighter projectiles.

What will determine the barrel length I believe will be what sort of target work you were wanting to do.

If it was long range, say 500m, then a 28-30" barrel is needed, and this is not what you were after. This length is need for the extra velocity shooting the heavier projectiles, 107's etc.

For the short range (100/200/300), a 24" barrel will be fine for punching paper using the 68grain match type bullets. This would be around the projectile weight I'd assume you'd be shooting varmints with as well.

Maybe a 24" 1:12 twist set up to shoot the 75 grain Vmax as its largest bullet?

I do not think you would be disappointed with the 6mmBR. It has a lot going for it!!

Cheers
AI

[ogre6br]

HI

http://www.6mmbr.com/index.html
welcome to the 6BR world.
there is a truck load of info here- there is a post in the forums about barrel length and velocity but one of the USA BR HOF members- he starts at IIRC 32 inches and progressivly cuts back to 26 inches and gives the results.
http://www.6mmbr.com/BlogJan2006.html

You are thinking of doing what I'm doing right now.
I'm waiting for my barrel to arrive.
What action are you planning on using because the Tikka 595 in 22/250 is tailor made for the 6BR.
In the http://www.6mmbr.com blog there is a samll write up bt fireball where hes talking about his 20 practical idea- asan aside he mentions the 6BR fittingand functioning from the 595 22/250 mag perfectly becasue the 22/250 mag has a block in it and different feed lips to the 308 length mag.
This mag difference means that the 6BR feeds from the single stack T595 22/250 mag.
I can vouch for the fact it does as I have a T595 22/250 and I have test fed both 6BR dummies from it.

another option is:
That the savage HB varmint guns also feed the 6BR from the 223 magazine. means with a new bolt head and a rechambering job you could have a 22 BR 1:9 twist that would shoot the upto the 69 grain HPBT slugs at almost the same velocity as the 22/250 does. maybe even the 75 A-max- neat.
http://www.6mmbr.com/22br.html

Dont worry about the recoil It isn't much more than a 223 and the extra weight of the heavy barrel will negate the heavier recoil.
Barrel length I would go for is 26 inches and have it fluted to weight the same or less than the same profile in 24 inch solid.
I would got for a 1:8 or 1:9 twist and shoot whichever weight bullet you want from 55 to 105
I plan to use the 65 V-max for varminting /culling and an 85 or 90 SPBT for hunting larger things.

GO for it- you'll love it

you might also have a buyer for your 595 if you want to offload it to fiscal the 6BR

later
P

[WhiteMeat]

Thanks for the quick replies!

Archfile - Thanks for claifying the action length on the tikka - with the 223 it has a fairly long bolt throw on it so i was sorta assuming that they did the old "one size fits all" with it and just changed the model specs depending on which caliber it came out of the factory as without actually changing the length of the whole thing. The single shot thing doesn't bother me all that much - this one (when i eventually scrape enough together to get the damn thing started ) would be more for putting myself on a hill with a good view and just enjoying the day... even if the hill is a fair walk away and i have a few packs of ciggies (note - no vehicle access)...

AI - My main concern with going with a faster twist rate on the barrel was not being able to use the heavier projectiles (90 + grain) I would be looking at the 1:8 to 1:10 predominately, but that is only through reading and not from what people in this country have actually done (not knocking the american side of things, but when they talk about doing their own home 'smithing i get a bit... well... yeah... they can change / customise things faster & cheaper than we can in this respect i guess)

ogre - I have abused the work printer with things off 6mmbr site for a while now The action i was going to look at was the rem 700 or the savage 10fp / 12fv both due to the aftermarket parts (*cough* McMillan HTG *cough* ) personally i think the floating bolt head is great, I dont know mechanically from a fitter machinist point of view is though, but after what Archfile said regarding the mcmillans - If I dont have to go that route there is a very good chance that I wont - still love the 595 & lazyness (PTA's take sooo long to come back )

Can one buy a "replacement" bolt for a Tikka 595 in aus without having to deal with Beretta directly (ie any retailers, etc) ?