Serious question, with .30 cal BC bullets being in the .7s now is there a reason to go 6.5 except for those chasing light recoiling rifles? It used to be the 6.5 held the advantage with higher BCs but that appears not to be the case anymore. I'm shooting a .30-06 in a AX chassis and with my barrel being a m40 profile the rifle isn't light. The 210 bullets don't recoil much at all through my rifle in fact it recoils less then some of my friends .308s through theirs. I know if I had a 6.5 through my rifle it would recoil even less but the barrel life would be shorter, I don't know if that lighter recoil at the sacrifice of barrel life is worth it. What say you?
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High BC .30 cals vs 6.5s
- Thread starter GhostFace
- Start date
Lathe turned .30 bullets are not cheap. You can crunch the numbers versus bullet cost vs barrel longevity. And your consideration with recoil is all true. Recoil is probably more of factor for someone shooting a match who is concerned with rapid follow up shots, and spotting impacts.
IMO, it also depends on what type of shooting you're doing... if you're just looking for a hole in a piece of paper or a smack on a steel plate, bullet construction doesn't really matter. However, if you're hunting, bullet construction is a big consideration... high-BC solids (or match projectiles in general) just aren't likely to do much other than poke a relatively small hole in the animal rather than transfer energy and/or do enough internal damage for a quick/clean kill.
Really, though, it's only the heaviest of .30 cal projectiles that are reaching the kinds of BCs that you're talking about, which is going to really limit the MV... which will in turn limit the effectiveness of the good drag numbers. Personally, I'm looking at 7mm as kind of the sweet spot in regard to weight/BC/bullet construction for viable long range critter killin'. Additionally, until you get into the magnums, barrel life seems to be fairly decent.
Really, though, it's only the heaviest of .30 cal projectiles that are reaching the kinds of BCs that you're talking about, which is going to really limit the MV... which will in turn limit the effectiveness of the good drag numbers. Personally, I'm looking at 7mm as kind of the sweet spot in regard to weight/BC/bullet construction for viable long range critter killin'. Additionally, until you get into the magnums, barrel life seems to be fairly decent.
Agreed,
7's for me, bridge the gap of superior BC and terminal ballistics. A big heavy 30cal still needs a lot of juice to take advantage of its BC. With Bergers 156grn 6.5 coming out, its another game changer. As is the 245grn 30!
Anything 6.5 or bigger will kill animals just fine. Windage favors the 7mm's, but there's going to be more recoil than 6.5. Monolithics come in all those calibers, so that option just moves the bar higher. 1,000 yards is about the max anybody is going to shoot what you'd call a "group," and that's also at or beyond the reasonable limit for hunting. F-class winners at 1,000 yards on a windy day will likely all be shooting 7mm. Maybe some 6.5. When you get a load that has a wind drift figure of around 5" per mph of crosswind at 1,000 yards, you're going to spend a lot of effort to get very minimal improvement from that point. Since 6.5 has less recoil and will kill anything I hunt, out to any range I'll shoot, I'm going with that. For me, Dennis DeMille and Creedmoor hit the nail on the head, although it took me 10 years to get with the program.
Well, I was just looking at the new 200 grain .30cal SMK that has a BC of .700 and I got to thinking what does this give up to a 6.5? I'm sure I could drive it a little faster that what I am using now. I'm driving a 210 smk at 2675 and it has real world BC of .629 and it shoots pretty flat, I don't have my data in front of me but the last time I was out in 35 degree weather I was under or right at 31 MOA at 1000 yards.
All depends on use and money! It’s tough to find a “do it all rifle” even tougher to find a “do it all caliber”
As said before 6.5s kill animals just fine. took two deer last year using hornady 143ELD-X. One dropped on impact, the other got about 3 steps before it was over, now these shots were relatively close so the energy was still high <250yrds It seems like now a days the variety in bullet choice is favoring the 6.5 over the 7mm. Lots and lots more available for all kinds of applications. .30 still has the advantage in the number of choices but to get the same or greater B.C you have to use a much bigger bullet. Some of which may be a little big for deer sized targets and smaller. As far as the recoil advantage. Again depends on use. In a precision rifle style match you’re going to want to be able to spot your shot, and probably don’t want to be quickly firing those thumping shots of the heavy .30 bullet from a 30-06 over and over and over again. Two things that might help you with that are your heavy rifle and a BIG BRAKE to bring that recoil down, now think about how much recoil you would have shooting a 6.5 out of heavy rifle and big brake. It be nonexistent. For a hunting application, I wouldn’t want to be carting around a heavy ass rifle mile over mile of terrain. All that weight adds up quick. it all depends on use and what your willing to sacrifice for $$. If it doesn’t make sense to go and buy a rifle for every possible use, from a medium-long range precision match gun, light weight deer rifle, light weight magnum big game rifle, long range target magnum etc etc etc then don’t. I like my 6.5CM it’s plenty enough for me to make an ethical hunting shot inside 400 or so yrds. Plenty enough to reach out and target shoot at 1200yrds, light recoiling enough to accurately spot my shot on a decent magnification at close ranges. There are better bullets and better calibers but for me it doesn’t make sense to go and build a rifle for every possible scenario and caliber. So to sum up. If it makes sense financially then buy one in something 6.5
As said before 6.5s kill animals just fine. took two deer last year using hornady 143ELD-X. One dropped on impact, the other got about 3 steps before it was over, now these shots were relatively close so the energy was still high <250yrds It seems like now a days the variety in bullet choice is favoring the 6.5 over the 7mm. Lots and lots more available for all kinds of applications. .30 still has the advantage in the number of choices but to get the same or greater B.C you have to use a much bigger bullet. Some of which may be a little big for deer sized targets and smaller. As far as the recoil advantage. Again depends on use. In a precision rifle style match you’re going to want to be able to spot your shot, and probably don’t want to be quickly firing those thumping shots of the heavy .30 bullet from a 30-06 over and over and over again. Two things that might help you with that are your heavy rifle and a BIG BRAKE to bring that recoil down, now think about how much recoil you would have shooting a 6.5 out of heavy rifle and big brake. It be nonexistent. For a hunting application, I wouldn’t want to be carting around a heavy ass rifle mile over mile of terrain. All that weight adds up quick. it all depends on use and what your willing to sacrifice for $$. If it doesn’t make sense to go and buy a rifle for every possible use, from a medium-long range precision match gun, light weight deer rifle, light weight magnum big game rifle, long range target magnum etc etc etc then don’t. I like my 6.5CM it’s plenty enough for me to make an ethical hunting shot inside 400 or so yrds. Plenty enough to reach out and target shoot at 1200yrds, light recoiling enough to accurately spot my shot on a decent magnification at close ranges. There are better bullets and better calibers but for me it doesn’t make sense to go and build a rifle for every possible scenario and caliber. So to sum up. If it makes sense financially then buy one in something 6.5
I dont think the practical relationship in bc between the two has changed much at all. Both bore sizes have seen improvements in bullets. You’re still left with the choice of shooting a heavy bullet(with a large cartridge to match) vs a light one. My current creedmoor load is a 147 eld at a pedestrian 2675 fps. 30 moa to 1000 here (2000’ASL), and a total pussycat to shoot. I’d choose it every single time over a 30 for target or hunting gun until the game gets big, and I have a dedicated hunting rifle for that.
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