Short barrel 6mm

BallisticPrimate

BallisticPrimate

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Feb 11, 2017
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#1
.243, BR, 6x47, 6 Creed, Dasher etc - Please tell me what you got that's 20inch or less. What velocity are you getting and with which projectile. I know the 6mm's seem to need more barrel than the 6.5's, but I'm interested in what people are achieving with shorter 6mm's. Ciao, BP
 
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#9
Just looking at the Hornady site the 6 & 6.5 Creedmoor trajectories seem quite similar to 500 yards.

If one was set on an 18" barrel and was only going to shoot factory ammo at steel targets out to 600 yards max. Which would have the better hit ratio?
 
#10
m6z said:
Just looking at the Hornady site the 6 & 6.5 Creedmoor trajectories seem quite similar to 500 yards.

If one was set on an 18" barrel and was only going to shoot factory ammo at steel targets out to 600 yards max. Which would have the better hit ratio?
Click to expand...

Both would be really close to one another at only 600 yards, flip a coin as the differences will be negligible. Personally I would want the larger bore for a shorter barrel.
 
#11
m6z said:
Just looking at the Hornady site the 6 & 6.5 Creedmoor trajectories seem quite similar to 500 yards.

If one was set on an 18" barrel and was only going to shoot factory ammo at steel targets out to 600 yards max. Which would have the better hit ratio?
Click to expand...

18" Rem 700. It shot the Hdy American Gunner 140gr HPBT factory ammo into tiny groups. Velocity was ho-hum, but very accurate.
6.5 CM.jpg
 
#13
m6z said:
Very nice. Looks like I'll stick with the 6.5mm, all the recent chatter about 6mm had me second guessing myself.
Click to expand...
The 6s are gaining steam as people realize that the minimal recoil is nice to have for spotting hits in the positional shooting that this forum caters to but most of them are doing so in long barrels, I myself built my first personal 6mm last year but I also went with the longest barrel Ive ever had to wring the performance out of it.
If you were doing a smaller cased 6br I dont think you would notice the lack of horsepower in a short barrel compared to a long barrel like you would if you compared a 243 in a short and long barrel but Ive only played with a 87gr vmax in a 20" br in person compared to a 22" 243 with a 100gr sierra. In other words the 10" grains of powder and 10" of barrel in a br wouldnt nerf you nearly as much as a 6 creed would. Although as I type this out now I suppose my above answer of going 6.5 would depend on the particular chambering. I would personally rather have a 18" 6br for anything under 600 but if you were looking at the creed capacity cartridges then the 6.5 would be the way to go from where Im sitting.
 
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#14
Not quite as short as you were looking for but figured the data could help.

22" 6 creedmoor
110smk at 3100fps w/ 44.0 h4350(no pressure signs)
6 mils out to 1k.

Shoot it in competition just fine...no handicap at all. Would have done 20" if I had a different head on my lathe.

I will say my barrel burned out at 500 rounds...not sure if i just got unlucky or the load just toasted it fast.
 
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#15
spife7980 said:
The 6s are gaining steam as people realize that the minimal recoil is nice to have for spotting hits in the positional shooting that this forum caters to but most of them are doing so in long barrels, I myself built my first personal 6mm last year but I also went with the longest barrel Ive ever had to wring the performance out of it.
If you were doing a smaller cased 6br I dont think you would notice the lack of horsepower in a short barrel compared to a long barrel like you would if you compared a 243 in a short and long barrel but Ive only played with a 87gr vmax in a 20" br in person compared to a 22" 243 with a 100gr sierra. In other words the 10" grains of powder and 10" of barrel in a br wouldnt nerf you nearly as much as a 6 creed would. Although as I type this out now I suppose my above answer of going 6.5 would depend on the particular chambering. I would personally rather have a 18" 6br for anything under 600 but if you were looking at the creed capacity cartridges then the 6.5 would be the way to go from where Im sitting.
Click to expand...

Agree with this. It's hard to think of a better mousetrap for 600 and in than the BR - provided it can mag feed reliably in match conditions it's likely the way I'll go this year
 
#16
FUNCTIONAL said:
Not quite as short as you were looking for but figured the data could help.

22" 6 creedmoor
110smk at 3100fps w/ 44.0 h4350(no pressure signs)
6 mils out to 1k.

Shoot it in competition just fine...no handicap at all. Would have done 20" if I had a different head on my lathe.

I will say my barrel burned out at 500 rounds...not sure if i just got unlucky or the load just toasted it fast.
Click to expand...
44gr of H4350 behind any 105+ gr bullet will torch a barrel. I would guess you were =>65,000 PSI. I bet it was fun to shoot though!
 
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#19
Many, many years ago I bought my dad a Winchester 670 in .243. It had a 19-1/2" barrel, and belongs to my son now. IIRC it's about a 1.5 MOA shooter with typical .243 velocities. Not quite as good as my M 70 Varmint Grade, but plenty good enough for a lightweight hunting rifle. Might be able to get more out of it with a little work.

Also, to piggyback on Petrock's post, I have been building a .308 target/tactical rifle on a Remington 700 AAC SD Tactical platform. It comes witha 20" barrel, and produces 1/2 MOA groups on a regular basis, which is on par with my 24" barrel .243 varmint rifle.

In my experience, a .243 Winchester with a 20" barrel will absoulutely do what you want to do. True, that the muzzle blast will be, uh, noticable, but .243 is not a quiet round anyway, no matter how long the barrel is. I really don't notice the muzzle blast any more with the 19-1/2" barrel than the 24" barrel. You will get more flash if you fire it at dusk, though, so it may take your eyes a second to re-adjust.

I'm a big fan of the .243. You can go from ground hogs to deer, ethically, and won't be over or under-gunned for any game in that range.
 
#20
This really interests me. I'm thinking a 23 or 24 inch 243 with a varmint contour possibly slightly heavier would be a good starting point. If you run alpha, peterson, or lapua brass i'm confident you can hit ~3175 fps with the right powder. I'm currently running a 6 Competition Match, and work has pulled me in a different direction and i don't have time to fireform anymore, so i want something simple, and I think a .243 win is going to be the ticket.
 
#23
Going from 27" to 22" in a 6mm Creed changes the 1000 yard drift (10 mph) by 0.3 MOA or less than 0.1 Mils.

The 243 is still a great cartridge but the 6mm Creed beats it in one area, off the shelf match ammo. The 243 is neutered by SAAMI.
 
#24
One area and one area only. Off the shelf ammo. I don't care about off the shelf ammo. I reload for everything i shoot. Running a 23 inch 243 with a bunch of 4831 sounds like the ticket for me.. its actually what i plan on doing once i get my nucleus action in.
 
#25
I'll soon be able to report on the velocity differences between a 26' & 22' .243 using 105gr hybrids. 26' with H1000 easily produced 3100fps - no pressure signs and super accurate/consistent. I'll be moving to H4350 with the 22' - I'll be happy with 3k
 
#27
BallisticPrimate said:
I'll soon be able to report on the velocity differences between a 26' & 22' .243 using 105gr hybrids. 26' with H1000 easily produced 3100fps - no pressure signs and super accurate/consistent. I'll be moving to H4350 with the 22' - I'll be happy with 3k
Click to expand...


Could you try H4831 in the 22? I believe you can get just as good of velocity with it and probably better barrel life. You'll likely be able to try it sooner than i can.
 
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#29
I’m very interested in running a 22” thermal hunting barrel for the truck - can’t decide between 6 dasher and 6GT though. Is there really anything in there for the 4 more grains of powder?
 
#32
Speed from the Dasher is very dependent on your brass. In terms of velocity\case volume : Lapua> Alpha> Peterson. The Dasher is crazy easy to load for, but can be finicky to feed.

I also have a 6 Creed that I run at reduced speeds with about 1500 rounds on it.

There are no bad options in 6BR\A\X, Dasher, Creed, x47. Pick one in and run with it.
 
#35
Getting ready to screw an 18" 6 GT barrel on a Solus action once all the parts show up... Going to try the 80 gr ELD-VT for suppressed predator hunting and 105-109 class bullets for longer range fun. Accuracy is priority over chasing max velocity for me. Feeding from AW mags hopefully won't be an issue with the KRG adjustable trigger guard in a Bravo chassis... Should be a fun little project!
 
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#37
Short barrel, I suggest a gt or the larger creed. The ability to get the extra velocity is nice if you want it for hunting situations, steel it means F all. I have several 6gt, various lengths 22-28" they will all run heavies at 2900-2930, but the short barrel is running hot to get there. My 22" 6cm does it with ease, and can run 112-115 up around 3000 as well. Plus lapua brass is the best in my opinion, alpha is bout a half step behind.
 
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