6.5GT ..?

CK1.0

CK1.0

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Sep 2, 2020
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#1
6.5GT...anyone running it?

Why 6.5: recent trend in some top PRS guys shooting 6.5's, trading living with a little more recoil for more visual feedback off impacts/splash downrange (some running heavy 156's with a 7.5T instead of the usual/ubiquitous 140's + 8T).

Why GT: Varget.

(I'm lazy/impatient and generally shoot off-the-shelf prefits, but thinking this could be kind of cool...)
 
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#3
R_A_W said:
Lot of effort to keep the word Creedmoor off your barrel… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Click to expand...

I don't see it like that at all.

I see it as a reasonably unwild wildcat, in that brass and dies are already available (grab a .262 mandrel and swap bushings in a 6GT bushing die).

...and what do all the smaller "easy to load for" 6's like BR, Dasher, and GT have in common? ..fill a case near 80% full of Varget, and voila, stupid low SD's and small groups (one almost has to try to fuck it up).
 
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#7
I think with some of these cartridges experimentation is inevitable. If we can easily swap bushings, sooner or later someone is going to neck it up and/or neck it down and possibly stumble upon something cool that maybe works better for them.

The .25cal stuff like 25BR, 25CM, and 25GT is a perfect example of this, except 6.5mm bullets are far easier to score in quantity...

I think I might put together a "vanilla" version of a 6.5GT at some point using a common 8T blank with 140's... necked up Alpha brass, see how it goes. If it's cool, and if somehow I can track down enough 156's to make it worthwhile, maybe try a 7.5T after...
 
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#8
CK1.0 said:
I think with some of these cartridges experimentation is inevitable. If we can easily swap bushings, sooner or later someone is going to neck it up and/or neck it down and possibly stumble upon something cool that maybe works better for them.

The .25cal stuff like 25BR, 25CM, and 25GT is a perfect example of this, except 6.5mm bullets are far easier to score in quantity...

I think I might put together a "vanilla" version of a 6.5GT at some point using a common 8T blank with 140's... necked up Alpha brass, see how it goes. If it's cool, and if somehow I can track down enough 156's to make it worthwhile, maybe try a 7.5T after...
Click to expand...

Makes sense to me. If the 6.5 Grendel works well, and the 6.5 Creed works well, something in between ought to be great too. And for a low capacity cartridge, I think the GT is a much better case for a bolt gun than the Grendel; higher pressure capability and better feeding.

I'm about to get into the 6 GT, but own and like both 6mm and 6.5mm rounds like the two above, so I'll be watching to see how this works out for you.
 
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#10
If you want to run heavy (150+ class) 6.5 bullets, I don't think the GT is going to be enough to make the higher bc an advantage. My guess is you might reach mid 2500s. Maybe. I few of my buddies have been running 25GT with good success. Speeds with the 135 Berger tap out in the 2680-2710 range for match safe loads (with heavy bolt lift and pressure in the rain). A few have gone to 25x47 just so they can run the same speed and be rain safe.

Now, if you're looking to run something like the 130 Berger OTM Hybrid, I could see a 6.5GT being a neat little round. Low recoil, and will likely match ballistics of the 105-109 class 6mm shooting 2750-2800. Only difference would be more splash/energy on target.
 
#11
Hoyt7mm said:
If you want to run heavy (150+ class) 6.5 bullets, I don't think the GT is going to be enough to make the higher bc an advantage. My guess is you might reach mid 2500s. Maybe. I few of my buddies have been running 25GT with good success. Speeds with the 135 Berger tap out in the 2680-2710 range for match safe loads (with heavy bolt lift and pressure in the rain). A few have gone to 25x47 just so they can run the same speed and be rain safe.

Now, if you're looking to run something like the 130 Berger OTM Hybrid, I could see a 6.5GT being a neat little round. Low recoil, and will likely match ballistics of the 105-109 class 6mm shooting 2750-2800. Only difference would be more splash/energy on target.
Click to expand...

Yeah, with the heavies, capacity, and thus speed might be an issue. (The 153-156's are pretty rare and expensive anyways.)

But sounds like getting some boring 140's to ~2600fps might be doable... IDK?

I've got a couple of 6mm barrels to burn out before I can get to it, so it might be a while, but I might try it.
 
#12
CK1.0 said:
Yeah, with the heavies, capacity, and thus speed might be an issue. (The 153-156's are pretty rare and expensive anyways.)

But sounds like getting some boring 140's to ~2600fps might be doable... IDK?

I've got a couple of 6mm barrels to burn out before I can get to it, so it might be a while, but I might try it.
Click to expand...
Well did you do it??
 
#13
I'm guessing not, since he posts most of his experiences here.

I just found this thread. It seems like a solid argument for a 6.5x47L truthfully. You can still run Varget - H4350 powders and get great results with just about everything. All of the listed velocity goals are pretty achievable too without getting into pressure issues.
 
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#14
Fair point but I'm not interested in running anything fast, a 140 at 2725 is all I need for power factor, and given that guys are sending 134s close to 2800 in the 25 version this should be easily obtainable.
I'm all set with 6GT brass and dies so its an easy conversion, it's also an easy case to tune but I smoked that 6mm fast...
 
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#16
Or... Maybe a 6.5 GT with a long neck..
Here's a 6.5 creed case that I sized down in my GT die, the neck is lengthened so it could be throated for the 147 eldm (pictured) and also have plenty of neck for a 140 or 135 Atip.

Here it is next to a standard 6.5 GT, regular GT bushing dies would work since only the neck length changed.

20240920_073515.jpg20240920_073432.jpg
 
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#18
762 ULTRAMAGA said:
Well did you do it??
Click to expand...

Not yet, but I'm still planning to try it at some point.

BTW/FWIW, I just listened to a Hornady podcast (I think it was released Oct. 24, 2024) with George from GA Precision and Tom from Vapor Trail bullets (the "G" and the "T" in the 6GT name) and Tom said he'd shot a 6.5GT at a couple of 1,000 yard benchrest matches and that it did well (good enough that he's planning on running it some more). The pod was mostly about the 6GT and how fast it's taken off and that Hornady is putting factory 6GT ammo into full-scale production, but they also talked a fair amount about how guys were wildcatting it up and down (20GT, 22GT, 25GT, 6.5GT).

Incidentally, they also talk a little about how if a case works with Varget and the Varget-alike powders (SWPR, N140, etc), then that's probably what one should use... (it seems I'm not the only one who's noticed that those powders tend to have some sort of magic lol).
 
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#19
Just curious, how’s varget better than h4350 ? Are we just talking about availability or varget being faster burning is easier to get lower SDs ?
 
#20
st1650 said:
Just curious, how’s varget better than h4350 ? Are we just talking about availability or varget being faster burning is easier to get lower SDs ?
Click to expand...

I have no hard scientific data for you and IDK if anybody does… but I’ve noticed for a while now that Varget (and/or SWPR and some other Varget-like powders) automatically means lower consistent SDs for me than what I could ever get with H4350 and others, and turns out there’s a guy at Hornady who’s done a bunch of high volume testing and he’s noticed the same thing.
 
#22
Unless you prefer the hobby of buying custom reamers/resizing brass as opposed to shooting, why not use 6.5x47mm?

ADI who manufacture 2208/Varget list loads up to 147eldm. Most of their load data is with 24inch but this is 30inch so 26-28inch that a lot of guys compete with would give the 25XX fps velocities people are talking about.

1000008826.jpg
 
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#23
^^^ Oh common... I have Alpha 6GT brass :D

For the guys that just want to, I think it is a fine project. For the guys looking to put a little less effort into it, there are other options. As an owner of both the 6.5x47 and 6.5 Grendel, this falls too much into the middle to be a personal option.
 
#24
JR1200W3 said:
Ya, I'm just joking around. I have a 6.5 Grendel barrel and bolt for my TL3. Tell me that's not dumb, lol. A 6.5GT would be a much better option. But at some point 6.5G, 6.5GT, 6.5x47L, 6.5CM, 260 (6ARC, 6BR, 6GT, 6x47L, 6XC, 6CM), we're like the foppish renessaince dudes that were so engrossed in fashion of the day that they lost perspective and started to dress like women. Wigs, makeup, frilly sleeves. How does a group of people get like that?

This. This is how 🤣
Click to expand...

Yeah... I just came across a new TRG22A1 in .260 Remington that has me itching to get it. Then just as I am about to hit the "buy" button (BTDT 3 times now in the last 24 hours) I remember that I have (2) 6.5x47s and (3) 6.5CMs. At some point you have to give it a break.

I just haven't matured to that point yet...
 
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#25
I think 6.5x47L is a great option if you already have one.

That said, I'd be interested to see if a little less capacity and the slightly steeper 35-degree shoulder a 6.5GT would have might be even better?

I've been averaging an SD of 5fps over 20 shots for a while now with 6GT without doing anything special (I only trim my brass once when I spin on a new barrel, I don't turn necks, I don't mess with flash holes or primer pockets, and I don't weigh or sort my bullets). I don't even do load development anymore, I just pick a speed and load my rounds as short as I can (while keeping the bullet's bearing surface above the neck/shoulder junction) and my average 100 yard group is always ~0.1Mil/0.3MOA.

So I've started to believe there is something real about some cartridges being easier to load for than others (and the 6GT has been easy)...
 
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