6.5-06 opinions

I'm thinking of a rebarrel for one of my .25-06s. It is a Rem 700lh with an old sporter style McMillan stock. I have changed everything but the stock and barrel on this gun and it still won't shoot. I'm thinking the 6.5 offers a little more in bullet choice if I decide to take it hunting as well. My gunsmith has built several of these and has great references. Most are shooting well under .5 moa out to 750 yards. The one that "doesn't" hasn't been put on paper yet, but has slaughtered a lot prairie dogs.

A couple questions. My gunsmith mentioned taking it to a 20" barrel to save weight and stiffen the barrel. I was thinking more of a 24" medium to heavy sporter contour or varmint contour. I'd like to keep the velocity up.
I really need another long range rifle like another hole in the head. I've had my .260 for a few years and never shot it. My .308 and .338 have less than 100 rounds out of them combined in 6 or so years, so there is no rush on this one.

I necked my '06 up to .338-06 and I'm glad I did. Now I want to neck one down and shoot a .280 (possibly a .280 Ackley). I'm on your side in thinking 24" barrel (or 26") for the sake of velocity.

The 6.5 should give you slightly longer throat life than a .25-06, there are tons of cool-kid 6.5 bullets out there... so why not?

I guess I'll play devil's advocate here and ask if you have long range rifles you don't shoot, why not go for a heavier bullet for a medium range / hunting gun? Something like... oh, I don't know... .280 Ackley?

[Coffee]

If you have a .260, then I would not spend any money re-working the .25-06 to a 6.5-06.

I too have a .338-06 and it is my favorite rifle. Shoots under .5MOA, weights 5.5 pounds...maybe it is a unicorn.

If I were to have a spare LA Rem700 sitting around, I would build a .280 or a .338-06.

20" 6.5\06 is going to get you nothing over the 260 . I'd go 26" to take advantage of the cartridge which is pretty much equivalent to a 6.5-284 .

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Originally Posted by MarkCO

If you have a .260, then I would not spend any money re-working the .25-06 to a 6.5-06.

I too have a .338-06 and it is my favorite rifle. Shoots under .5MOA, weights 5.5 pounds...maybe it is a unicorn.

If I were to have a spare LA Rem700 sitting around, I would build a .280 or a .338-06.

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Yeeesh. Bet that gets your attention.

Not really. More than a 7.5 pound Rem700, but I shoot 20 rounds with a T-Shirt on every fall before hunting season.

Well, I do have a lot of .338 bullets laying around. I don't know if I will use it for hunting a lot, as I picked up a LH model 70 in .300 wsm last year.

Shoot a .338-06 on paper and on game, you will sell the 300WSM. :)

Going to a 20" barrel cancels out the whole reason of going to a 6.5-06. VELOCITY

Alright. Now we're totally putting on the full court press for .338-06. Compared to a 7mm, 6.5mm, a quarter bore, or just about anything else, you're going to get longer barrel life. It might actually qualify as underbore, if that was a real word.

[Coffee]

I own a few firearms and my .338-06 is my favorite. I have actually contemplated building another one the weighs a bit more than my UL.

This has really made me think of my options. The 338-06 would be a nice filler between my 30-06 and 300wm/338wm. I guess the best thing to do is hold off and learn more about the caliber. Either that, or build it and the pull apart another to build something else....

Mark has the leg up on me... I've only recently converted over. Took it on one hunt and didn't see anything... so I haven't hit flesh with one yet.

But one of the reasons I went that direction is the testimonials of a very trusted, very experienced friend that has dumped a lot of African plains game with the .338-06.

The way I see it, I'm getting 92-95% of the speed of the .338 win mag using about 20% less powder and to top it all off, I don't have to deal with the belt (bore alignment, feeding, case life). The practical result - I'm shooting 225 grain bullets at the same speed I was shooting 180's in .30-06 ( although my .338-06 does have 2 more inches of barrel).

what bullet weight are you shooting in these .338-06's?

I have shot from 160 to 300 grain bullets from my .338-06. I typically hunt with 225s, but I have been playing with the 185 Barnes a bit too.

I have shot close to 20 head of big game with mine including an elk at 505 yards. I have some hunting buddies that have switched from 300WinMag, 7mmMag and .270 to the .338-06 just due to performance. Great accuracy, easy to load and hits really hard all without magnum shoulder thumps.

I really wanted to make a 200 grain bullet work, but I can't find a combo that I like (or I should say my barrel likes). I can get them the speed of heat, but they don't group anywhere near what I can get with 225's. I'm shooting 225 accubonds and H4350. Haven't tried 250's yet.

So what is the velocity range of the 338-06?

200's doing 2,800, my 225 load is doing 2,620 and (haven't tried it but) most literature shows 250's going 2,500 or slightly better. In my case, a 24" barrel.

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Originally Posted by jmg8550

So what is the velocity range of the 338-06?

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3100 fps with the 160 Barnes X bullets to 2480 fps with the 250s. I am typically at 2650 with the 225s, and 2950 with the 185s.

How is it faster than a 30cal bullet? Serious question, I really don't know. I would think a bigger heavier bullet would be slower.

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Originally Posted by jmg8550

How is it faster than a 30cal bullet? Serious question, I really don't know. I would think a bigger heavier bullet would be slower.

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300 magnums are faster. :)

Has to do with efficiency.

Same reason a .30-06 in the same case can throw a 150 slightly faster than a .270 can throw a 150... or a .30-06 can throw a 120 a couple hundred fps faster than a .25-06.

Here's why I'm confused as to why a 338 is faster out of the same case as a 30. The 30 is a smaller hole, thus increasing pressure and pushing the bullet faster. Less volume for the gas to fill. This is my thought process. I could be way off. I guess I'm asking for a scientific explanation.

PV=nRT is the explanation.

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Originally Posted by jmg8550

Here's why I'm confused as to why a 338 is faster out of the same case as a 30. The 30 is a smaller hole, thus increasing pressure and pushing the bullet faster. Less volume for the gas to fill. This is my thought process. I could be way off. I guess I'm asking for a scientific explanation.

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Actually it is quite simple- more powder volume in the larger caliber due to a shorter bullet, more surface area to push against decreasing pressure with less bearing surface of the bullet touching the bore (less frictional drag) is why larger caliber bullets of the same bullet weight of a smaller diameter can be driven to high velocities in the larger bore. The downfall is less BC so the bullets are not as efficient and loose that advantage usually under 200 yards to the smaller bore bullets. In addition the smaller bore bullets because of their length usually have better sectional density as well. So you might be able to drive a 30-06 120 grain bullet at a higher velocity than a 25-06 with the same bullet weight, but the 25-06 with that same bullet weight will buck the wind better, have a flatter long range trajectory and have more energy at distance as it will retain higher velocity due to BC as well as have a higher sectional density increasing penetration even at the same velocity.

The 338-06 is a great caliber for all of the reasons stated before, but before you decide the 6.5-06 is still a great choice. Another thing to ponder... where you can still get ammo and dies over the counter is the 280 Remington or 7mm Remington Express which is just a 7mm-06. Almost all the advantages of the 338-06 for heavy weight bullets with all the advantages of the high BC 7mm bullets almost as good as the 6.5
Food for thought.

I built a 6mm-06 for a Gee-Wiz. It was a lazer. I also know that the barrel will probably start getting bad throat erosion under 1000 rounds being a serious overbore. Every time I shot it people were surprised how fast the bullet arrived on target at distance. I put it in a 1:9 and it loves 107 MatchKings at a distance. The 60 grain HP's are impressive fast.