Pennsylvania Game News - April 2009 - 63

my head that I could do a bit better if I could find a cartridge that had less recoil, but was ballistically efficient. The more I read about the 6.5x55 cartridge the more I liked it, so I managed to procure a Springfield action, ordered a straight grained Bishop stock, a Shaw barrel with a 1- in 8inch twist and Lyman 48 aperture sights. I had always admired the early Springfield sporters that were the favorite of the early gun writers such as Crossman, Whelen and Keith, so I built a combination target/sporter reminiscent of those rifles. It ended up being 9 pounds, with a 24-inch medium weight/contour barrel that balanced nicely. It wasn’t too heavy to carry in the field after deer, but it was just heavy enough to hold steady on the target line. It became my favorite slow fire match gun and did very well out to 600 yards by loading a 140-grain match bullet just short of the lands. My favorite loads were a dose of either IMR 4831 or H4831 powder, which drove a 140-grain match bullet around 2,700 fps. As far as a hunting round went, I load 140-grain Remington soft points the same way, and it is deadly accurate to say the least. With the rise in interest of the Swedish cartridge, the 6.5 wildcats received a boost of adrenalin. The 6.5x284 Norma cartridge was developed as a long range target round, and became a factory round in 2003. It pushes 140-grain low drag match grade bullets (VLD, Hornady A-MAX, Sierra MATCH KING) between 2,800 and 2,900 fps. Its ballistics surpass the older .30 magnums, with much less recoil, and now has become a favorite for 1,000-yard competition matches. I recently mounted a Schmidt & Bender 5x25 56mm scope on a Savage M12F target rifle with a 20 MOA mount for a friend who wanted to start F class competition. Fun Game answer: COLUMBINE APRIL 2009 Once it was sighted in at 100 yards, I went straight out to 300 yards (maximum distance on our range) to try out the 140-grain moly bullet handloads. The first group shot inside of two inches, and the other four groups were slightly more or less than that. As far as a hunting round goes (using hunting 120- to 140-grain bullets), its ballistics put it into the same general category as the .270 Winchester, which is not bad company to keep. It also easily doubles up as long range varmint round, using lighter bullets from 95 to 100 grains. Another wildcat 6.5 cartridge that made it to factory status (1997) due to the efforts of outdoor writer Jim Carmichael is the .260 Remington. It was initially called the 6.5x308 (because the parent case is a .308 Winchester) and with a long throat the heavier bullets could be crimped farther out on the case to take advantage of more powder, making it an efficient case. It didn’t catch on quickly at first, but when target shooters with short action competition guns started using it, its popularity increased. Ballistically, it’s between the 6.5 Swede and the 6.5x284, but it gives tremendous results, using less powder, developing less recoil and longer lasting barrels. As a hunting round it’s great for young hunters, or for those who don’t want to contend with recoil but want something that can reach out. The recent 6.5 newcomers are rounds such as the 6.5x47 Lapua and Hornady’s 6.5 Creedmore. These were developed for competition, with cases designed for extreme efficiency. The Creedmore and Lapua have a bit less velocity than the .260 Remington. Some great scores have been shot with both these rounds, and you should be hearing more about them in the future. Some things, like yesterday’s spaghetti dinner warmed up, just seem better the second time around. I guess the 6.5 just needed a second time around for us to appreciate what it can really do. 63

Pennsylvania Game News - April 2009

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