6.5-06

6pt-sika

Well-Known Member
I have a nice old VZ-24 Mauser action that I've lapped the lugs , trued the action , drilled and tapped the reciever , changed the safety , changed the trigger and polished the exterior metal in prep for blueing . Also plan to jewell the bolt body , claw and follower .

Anyway it is my intention at the moment to barrel it with a Shilen #3 or #4 carbon steel barrel and finish it at 24" . Want to chamber it in 6.5-06 or 6.5-06AI .

Anyway (this is taking kinda long ) I am wondering if I ever come to the UK or Ireland is it legal to bring ammo that has a headstamp thats not what the ammo is actually for ?

I normally make 6.5-06 outta 25-06 brass so thats what the headstamp would say . Seems to me I remmember reading about some places back in the day saying the ammo needed to be head stamped correctly for the cartridge it was used as .


Would this be the case in Engalnd , Ireland , Scotland or Northern Ireland ?
 
I am thinking in the past I've used Winchester 25-06 brass . Perhaps this time I'll get Lapua 30-06 brass as the run out is usually a good deal less . Anyway I'd still have the same problem with the headstamp . There is a company called Quality Cartridge Brass here in the states that makes 6.5-06 headstamped brass but that stuff is about $3 a stick ! 100 pieces Lapua 06 is about $100 and 100 pieces of Winchester 25-06 is approx $45 .
 
I can't speak for the requirements on visitors permits per se, but over here there are certainly a number of folks who use wildcat calibres and the head stamp on the brass doesn't match the barrel stamp. But do bear in mind that we are pretty restricted in what we can hold and use. I have a 243 and 7x65r and I can have ammo for both but I am not allowed say 308 ammo. Most police, customs, and for that matter firearms licensing don't know or don't have any empathy, familiarity with shooting, rifles or hunting. Now technically I can have 308 cases necked down to 6mm and loaded with 6mm bullets quite legally, but I don't think I would want to try and explain that after an overnight flight.

My suggestion if you are proposing to travel with that rifle is make sure you have cartridges head stamped correctly. You won't need a huge number - 50 should be more than adequate for any hunting trip, but for the sake of $150 I would do so. And if you can some factory type boxes for loaded ammo - even better. I would also take your loading dies with you, and do your load development with a commonly available powder - (varget, N160, 4831 etc) 6.5mm bullets are available and plenty of 6.5x55 /260 rems in use, and you could always get brass as well if needs be, so that if you get separated or run of ammo you could at least reload a few.

Alternatively go with a 270 winchester -ammo is available worldwide for that, and not much that stands for very long with a 150gn bullet through its vitals. Same could be said for the 6.5x55.
 
surely explaining the origin of the cartridge and the fact it chambers in a smaller rifle would be explanation enough?


I could put .243 ammo in a .308 box......doesnt make it 308 ammo
 
out of interest what does the 6.5 have over the .270?

Weight for weight... longer bullets... which are often tougher jacketed and with superior BC's which seem to punch well above their weight.

I've had both 270win and a 6.5 with much the same case capacity. The six point five has an edge in my experience. I use hornady 140grain bullets with an MV of around 2950-3000 fps and they are the business.... Of course maybe I've just been lucky with my six point five and unlucky with my old .270... There's certainly no point arguing one is "superior" to the other.... in a UK deer stalking context.
 
out of interest what does the 6.5 have over the .270?

All 6.5 projectils have a higher ballistic coeifficient . Which it seems is a big deal in the USA at the moment as far as extreme long range is concerned .One of our bullet companies Berger is making money hand over fist on what they call "VLD" very low drag bullets in both target and hunting configurations . I have used the VLD's on paper in my 264 WIN MAG and a 300 WIN MAG with EXCELLENT accuracy on paper.
But to answer your question more directly the 6.5-06 has nothing on the 270 WIN in normal hunting situations .

Now with that being said I own rifles already in 25-06 , 270 WIN and 280 REM . But I actually prefer the 6.5-06 to the others . Kinda the same as I prefer the 260 REM over the 243 WIN , 7mm-08 REM and 308 WIN .
 
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Weight for weight... longer bullets... which are often tougher jacketed and with superior BC's which seem to punch well above their weight.

I've had both 270win and a 6.5 with much the same case capacity. The six point five has an edge in my experience. I use hornady 140grain bullets with an MV of around 2950-3000 fps and they are the business.... Of course maybe I've just been lucky with my six point five and unlucky with my old .270... There's certainly no point arguing one is "superior" to the other.... in a UK deer stalking context.


interesting, remember you talking about the 6.5 284 which does sound fun

but the )6 case variant got me thinking
just comparing one brand at the same weight
140gr Hornady Interlocks

6.5mm BC 0.465
http://www.hornady.com/store/6.5mm-.264-140-gr-SP/

.277 BC 0.486
http://www.hornady.com/store/270-Cal-.277-140-gr-BTSP/



the 150gr .277 Interbonds and SST's claim 0.525!
highest BC for Hornady 6.5mm seems to top out around 140gr in the SST at 0.520
unless you go for a pure match round at .580

it just seems a difficult trade off between the .270 and 25-06 with no obvious gain.
you lose the upper bullet weights of the .270 and don't have any real advantages over the 25-06 other than an ability to chuck 20gr more
 
surely explaining the origin of the cartridge and the fact it chambers in a smaller rifle would be explanation enough?


I could put .243 ammo in a .308 box......doesnt make it 308 ammo


Totally agree with you Bewsher on this, but then you and I and most on this forum have a good understanding of calibres. But try explaing that to airline staff, customs officials etc. For most what it says on the packet / case etc is what it is. My experience is don't give any excuse to start asking questions or to charge more money.

Non firearms related - I was coming back from France having been paragliding and on holiday with the family in the alps - I put a lot of our bulky coats etc into my paragliding rucksac, which says paraglider on the outside. Easy jet immediately tried to argue that this was sporting equipement and charge me extra (I had been stung £50 on the way out) - ended up having to open it to show it was just lots of dirty washing etc. but it took 20 minutes of discussion in my limited French with check in staff. Meanwhile Mrs Heym, had checked paraglider through with it packed in a normal suitcase!
 
With regard to the headstamp question. I've never been aware of any law on the matter but I am aware of hearing that... some estates and insurance companies leave themselves a get out with regard to home (hand) loads.

As for airlines/customs staff... valid point... but how often do airline staff/customs actually check headstamps? and if the permit/travel documentation is for 6.5-06... I'd put a vernier guage in the box too and let them measure for themselves... "they" can usually speak English over here and I gather "they" can sometimes even listen to reason.... just explain. If in doubt fling in a reloading manual too.... specially one that advocates case conversion... to back up your statements.
 
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interesting, remember you talking about the 6.5 284 which does sound fun

but the )6 case variant got me thinking
just comparing one brand at the same weight
140gr Hornady Interlocks

6.5mm BC 0.465
http://www.hornady.com/store/6.5mm-.264-140-gr-SP/

.277 BC 0.486
http://www.hornady.com/store/270-Cal-.277-140-gr-BTSP/



the 150gr .277 Interbonds and SST's claim 0.525!
highest BC for Hornady 6.5mm seems to top out around 140gr in the SST at 0.520
unless you go for a pure match round at .580

it just seems a difficult trade off between the .270 and 25-06 with no obvious gain.
you lose the upper bullet weights of the .270 and don't have any real advantages over the 25-06 other than an ability to chuck 20gr more

You're comparing a flatbase .264" to a boattailed .277".... So not really a straight/fair comparison.... Nice try though :D


Comparing SST's (of similar "tail" status)... the .270 only manages a BC of .465 to the six point five's BC of .520

And... readily available .264's run to 160 grains.
 
A fairer comparison would be to look at say Nosler Accubonds, for eg 130gr 6.5mm and 140gr .277.

Comparing 140gr in 6.5 and 277 will always give an advantage to the smaller calibre, same as comparing 140gr 277 and 7mm or 150gr 7mm and 30cal.

Ultimately we are splitting hairs....
 
A fairer comparison would be to look at say Nosler Accubonds, for eg 130gr 6.5mm and 140gr .277.

Comparing 140gr in 6.5 and 277 will always give an advantage to the smaller calibre, same as comparing 140gr 277 and 7mm or 150gr 7mm and 30cal.

Ultimately we are splitting hairs....


I do agree about the splitting hairs thing but... how does comparing different bullet weights and calibres constitute any fairer a comparison than comparing the same bullet weight and design where the only material difference is the actual calibre?

The two Hornady SST ballistic co-efficients that I quote (above) both relate to 140 grain hunting bullets. The only differences between them are the calibres; .270 (.277") and 6.5 (.264") and the resultant ballistic co-efficients (BCs) of .465 and .520... ie. showing a significant benefit in favour of the 6.5.

Not that any of this is relevant to UK deer stalking... However, since the two cartridges I have experience of ie .270 win and 6.5-284 norma, both launch similar bullet weights at similar muzzle velocities, I have found that the penetration from the 6.5's is actually better... and that is of some significance to deer stalking, albeit a hair splittingly small one...

Once we go over to European bullet design and manufacturers there's a clear advantage though, since the Europeans really have worked on the 6.5 far more than the American bullet makers. The Europeans make some very tough and reliable big game hunting designs in 6.5 and 7mm bullets (not so many in .277" though).
 
If I'm not mistaken the BC on the Berger 130 and 140 VLD's are at or above .600 !

I've been shooting the Berger 130 VLD in my Ruger #1B 264 WIN MAG . Think my best 3 shot group at 100 yards with them was .484" after removing the diameter of the bullet .

Range9-12-12009.jpg
 
nice group
doesnt BC only really only come into the equation when out past 300yds though?

Yes thats my understanding as well .

We have a boatload of folks around here that shoot the 6.5 Grendel , 6.5 Creedmoor and 260 REM and a good many of them will quote the Ballistic Coefficient , Sectional Density etc over and over . I actually find it a bit tediouse myself and to be honest I rarely shoot at a living thing beyond 300 yards . But I still like playing with this stuff !
 
Can we at least agree that 6.5s can be very good for taking deer?

Since we have actually agreed on almost everything else we've said in this thread, but no one seems to be admitting that.:D

ps... bewsh how's the bluing going?
 
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