Re: Chad Dixon 6mm Competition Match "Scoped & Doped"
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Mike</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Dave,
You seem to be ignoring a great deal and yet expect us to be receptive to everything you say. So I'm going to address the other short action rounds and the I will address the 243 question.
You ask if marketing is the key to these rounds and the short answer is yes. How do I know? Because I've had these conversations with George who, ironically, is the inventory of two of the three cartridges you state. But let's discuss.
6mm Crusader. George takes a 6mm Remington due to the longer neck (theorized for better barrel life) and blows the body and shoulder out giving the case an increase of roughly about 8 gns of water capacity. The performance is phenomenal and since there has been literally tens of thousands of rounds shot with this caliber the results are amazing; much higher than initially anticipated. Now when George first came up with this it was originally designed as a varmint cartridge, not a tactical comp cartridge. However, like many of us like to think more is better and it was tried in the tactical competition arena and it showed some great success. However, since the speeds were very fast (3200-3300 with 115s) many match directors decided to implement a speed restriction and low and behold we have that 3100 fps limit. Where and why do you think that came from? Now you ask if marketing is behind this as well and let me ask you this since it's relevant to the SLR as well. If the reamer and dies are exclusive to one gunsmith and hence you must have your rifle worked on by THAT gunsmith to receive that chambering, is that not marketing? I think it's brilliant. Create hype and then control the distribution. Hello Apple, Inc. anyone?
Next, the 6mm Creedmore. Two thoughts. First, we all know how well the performance of the 243 w/115 shines. So why not try it in an AR platform? Well you need a long (27"+) barrel to really get the velocities. If you can't get the velocities you cannot get the advantage. Running a 243 with a short barrel does not allow you to take advantage of the 115's BC due to reduced velocity. Running an AR with a 28" barrel is not very feasible. Both have been tried years ago (again, I've been witness to this) and the conclusion was made it was a waste of time.
Second, with the popularity of the 260 with hand loaders Hornady decides to step up with the 6.5 Creedmoor; essentially a 260 with a different case shape and very similar performance. And here's the kicker, it's available as a FACTORY match load. What? No more hand loading to get great performance from the 6.5 bullets? Kick ass! How does it run in an AR? It runs fantastic, kick ass! Now the idea kicks in. George (again) says "let's neck down a 6.5 Creedmoor to a 6 Creedmoor and see what she does". What does it do? In a bolt gun it runs well and performs admirably but what does it do in an AR? It feeds extremely well and it throws the 105s at 3000fps. Prayers have been answered, a 6mm that can run from an short barrel AR and give 243 (the gold 6mm standard) performance. So to answer your question about is it marketing? Well, where do you get 6 Creedmoor brass? You either make it yourself or you buy it from 1 source, GAP. Where do you get a 6 Creedmoor die set? Exclusively at GAP. Where do you get the 6 Creedmoor chambering? Exclusively at GAP. Is it marketing? You tell me.
6mmSLR. What do we have here? a 243 massaged to give it a longer neck to do what? Theoretically increase barrel life. There is no performance increase over the 243 so again, all we're talking about is extended barrel life which may or may not be factual. And where do you get the dies? One source?
So again, I'm not seeing anything that tells me the 6CM is bringing something new to the table. Performance is the same as the 243 but now I have to fire-form too. So what is the attraction? Barrel life? Ok, in my eyes it's "prove it" and to me, that means I have to either physically do it myself or take the word of a very small circle of people I trust. So until that happens, I don't believe 3500 with sub .5 moa is possible.
So finally let's address the 243 and 105s to 3280. You're espousing in this thread the advantage of the slower powder H1000, but have you tried RL-17? Many don't like it due to perceived temperature sensitivity issues however it has shown time and time again the ability to push 6 and 6.5mm bullets way past the accepted "norms" of velocity.
Here's a nice article I believe you should read. Skip the XC part and go right to the sidebar where it discusses RL-17. Yes, the 6XC is not the 243 but this was the foundation for my 243 experimentation. And since the 243 has roughly 6 gns more water capacity over the 6XC getting the velocities with less pressure is not difficult at all.
http://www.accurateshooter.com/cartridge-guides/6xc-for-competitive-shooting/
So in conclusion Dave why don't YOU stop the smoke and mirrors and just admit that you've taken a 243, massaged it a little to create your own niche and call it a day?
Barrel life is (again theoretically) the only advantage potentially and I'm not buying it. Add in the PITA aspect of fire forming and I'm definitely not seeing where any advantage lies. </div></div>
...Boom...