Tired of losing LAPUA 6.5x47 brass at the match? CHECK THIS OUT!

[selfbowhunter]

I just finished up a 6.5x47 for hunting purposes and after figuring out some issues have it all screwed together and shooting. the rifle was designed to be light and has a 20" #2 shilen barrel on it and will eventually be bedded in a B&C Alaskan TI stock. for now it is bolted in a McCrees chassis. the basis for this post isn't the rifle though, it the brass. I had intended to build a 6.5x47 years ago but I didn't like the idea of being married to lapua brass. I know its good and all but Winchester does just fine for me in most circumstances. anyway, what I did was shortened a 308 die about .250. after finding the right setting I can run once fired 22-250 brass through this die and then through a full length 6.5x47 die. what you have is a 6.5x47 with a little more body taper and a little more neck. I then trim them to 1.850 because they shorten a little upon firing. 36gr of re15 and a 140mk yields a perfect 6.5x47 case with a large primer pocket. we can argue all day long about the large vs small primer pocket on ES/SD numbers or their ability to handle pressure but I can tell you this: I have fired these cases over TWENTY times now and finally lost one primer pocket! ES has been running in the teens and SD well under 10fps!!!what I have been shooting is the 140mk at 2680fps average out of a 20" barrel. THIS IS NOT A LIGHT LOAD AND THE PRIMER POCKETS HAVE LASTED OVER 20 SHOTS......I cant compare anything for you VS. lapua brass because I have never had any in this caliber and probably never will. what I can tell you is that this is certainly a viable ALTERNATIVE. let the bashing begin!!!!


chuck

 

[George63]

no bashing, I like this and now have something to do with range pick up 22-250 - now I have to go back and pull it all out of the scrap brass box

 

[selfbowhunter]

It really does work well. I can make a piece of brass ready to load in about 30 seconds with trimming and all. I intend to form it while shooting coyotes and other targets of opportunity! I would imagine I will be able to come up with a forming load that would be sufficient for long range practice as well.

chuck

 

[280nosler]

Maybe it is because it is the end of a long day, but I'm not following. I get you are using a 22-250 and making it into a 6.5x47 Lapua case, but how are you necking it down using a 308 die? Did you cut the die in order to access the shoulder of the 308 to reduce the neck to .344 before (using the 6.5x47 full length die) necking down to .297? Also, at what stage are you necking it up, and are you annealing it at any point in the 20 loads?

 

[Sixfivesavage]

That's pretty slick bud. Nice find.

 

[selfbowhunter]

Maybe it is because it is the end of a long day, but I'm not following. I get you are using a 22-250 and making it into a 6.5x47 Lapua case, but how are you necking it down using a 308 die? Did you cut the die in order to access the shoulder of the 308 to reduce the neck to .344 before (using the 6.5x47 full length die) necking down to .297? Also, at what stage are you necking it up, and are you annealing it at any point in the 20 loads?

the modified .308 die helps get everything started as you can see by the second from the left piece of brass. the next pass is through the full length 6.5x47 die. as you can see in the third piece of brass. the brass has NEVER been annealed and I havnt lost a neck yet in over 20 loads. this is some GOOD and CHEAP 6.5x47 brass that has just as good ES/SD numbers as I have seen with small primer brass and its holding up to a very stout load WELL! this is a good chamber that measures .294 and the loaded rounds measure .291. if you had a sloppy neck annealing may be in order.

chuck

 

[280nosler]

In theory, could you use a 30 BR Remington unmodified to do the same?

And what are you necking up from 22 cal?

 

[selfbowhunter]

the thing about the .308 die is that it sizes the body and neck area gradually while the 6.5x47 die finishes up. you could try the 30br die but you may end up crushing some shoulders. I just tapered my expander mandrel for the 6.5x47 and have zero issue necking up to 6.5mm.

chuck

 

[turbo54]

No flammage intended, but why choose 6.5x47 in the first place, if you don't like buying Lapua brass?

 

[308sako]

I use .250 Savage brass to make some 6 XC's for the same reason... brass availability!

Thanks 280 NOSLER for the .30 BR idea, saves some trouble!

 

[2ndPanzer]

I have made some really good 6xc brass from 6.5 creedmoor brass. On clearance at midway, $25-50... Size trim load. Easy. You could probably make the 6.5x47 from it as well. Maybe not in one pass though.

 

[scudzuki]

No flammage intended, but why choose 6.5x47 in the first place, if you don't like buying Lapua brass?

Seems like a relevant question, after all, .260 Remington and 6.5 Creedmoor are very comparable in performance. Some consider the availability of Lapua brass and the use of small primers the biggest advantages to 6.5x47.

That said, the process is pretty slick and the finished cases look very good.

Joe

 

[selfbowhunter]

Quote Originally Posted by turbo54 View Post

No flammage intended, but why choose 6.5x47 in the first place, if you don't like buying Lapua brass?

Seems like a relevant question, after all, .260 Remington and 6.5 Creedmoor are very comparable in performance. Some consider the availability of Lapua brass and the use of small primers the biggest advantages to 6.5x47.

That said, the process is pretty slick and the finished cases look very good.

Joe

gentlemen,

the reason for the 6.5x47 over the creedmoor, .260, or .260ai (I have reamers for them all) originated from motocross racing. I have some serious neck and shoulder issues and I find it very uncomfortable to shoot a heavy recoiling rifle these days. since this is a lightweight, I wanted every THEORETICAL advantage I could get concerning recoil. the 6.5x47 SHOULD have the least of the bunch due to the lesser powder charge. that was my reasoning but what about all the people that shoot a .260 or .243 that "don't like buying lapua brass". should they have chosen a different case?...........then why should I? I just don't get you people who swing from the balls of LAPUA! in my .308, .223ai, and 6TCU, I find Winchester to be just as good as lapua. if you will read the original post, this large primer brass is getting single digit SD's. will small primer lapua get me to zero? this brass has 20 plus STOUT loads on it and I expect more. will lapua get me 5 times that? I built a 30x44 on a BAT action using my .308 reamer held .250 short. this was a 100 and 200yd score rifle. I used Winchester brass to form it and it was beautifully detailed brass with everything done to it including neck turning. the rifle would shoot 1/4MOA at 210yds with boring consistency. I did make some brass from lapua .308 but I found it to be too thick in the new shoulder area and it would always click on the top of the bolt stroke. I guess if I would have made some brass from the new .308 palma stuff with its small primer pocket and renown lapua quality, I could have knocked those 1/4moa groups at 210yds WAY down right? SURELY YOU JEST!

chuck

 

[scudzuki]

Quote Originally Posted by turbo54 View Post

No flammage intended, but why choose 6.5x47 in the first place, if you don't like buying Lapua brass?




gentlemen,

the reason for the 6.5x47 over the creedmoor, .260, or .260ai (I have reamers for them all) originated from motocross racing. I have some serious neck and shoulder issues and I find it very uncomfortable to shoot a heavy recoiling rifle these days. since this is a lightweight, I wanted every THEORETICAL advantage I could get concerning recoil. the 6.5x47 SHOULD have the least of the bunch due to the lesser powder charge. that was my reasoning but what about all the people that shoot a .260 or .243 that "don't like buying lapua brass". should they have chosen a different case?...........then why should I? I just don't get you people who swing from the balls of LAPUA! in my .308, .223ai, and 6TCU, I find Winchester to be just as good as lapua. if I were shooting benchrest and trying to set records I would probably use it but in our game, you just wont see the difference. if you will read the original post, this large primer brass is getting single digit SD's. will small primer lapua get me to zero? this brass has 20 plus STOUT loads on it and I expect more. will lapua get me 5 times that?

chuck

It was just a question, no need to get all defensive.
The forum is for exchanging information.
BTW the brass I have the most of for my .260 Remington is, oddly enough, Remington brass.
If I shot a 6.5 Creedmoor I would probably have started with Hornady brass.

Joe

 

[selfbowhunter]

the 6.5x47 fits in an unaltered 700sa better than the creedmoor or the .260. this is a straight BDL without a detachable magazine so space is limited. I really considered the creedmoor but then I would have opened the receiver up for the wyatts oversized mag box. this is just more simple in that regard. all that said, I think the creedmoor is probably the perfect 6.5 for a short action Remington when all things are considered.

chuck

 

[Varminteer]

It is nice not to be hog tied to one brass manufacturer.

Just like Remington is the only maker of .17remington brass. Instead I use .204 ruger brass made by Winchester and push the shoulder back and neck down. .204ruger brass was half the price of 17rem brass at the time.

Also guys are starting to look at using 7mm or 300 wsm brass to make the 7mm Rem SAUM brass. Because I think Remington FORGOT how to make any....

 

[Rover31]

This makes me think hmmm I could have a 6.5x47

Thanks

 

[tipper]

Thank You

now I can shoot my 6.5 x 47 more. Just wish I'd know this sooner.

 

[CowboyBart]

Old post, but I'm going to try this with a 300 Savage die rather than a shortened 308 die.

 

[Dstoenner]

I make my practice 6x47 out of either 6.5 CM or 6 CM. Same shoulder angle and body is right on, just set the shoulder back about 100 thousands. Works great

David

 

[rady]

I'll probably embarrass myself with this, but I've been wanting to ask the question about the Winchester brass used in the hunter series. I have some of the 6.5 Creedmore and have been teaching myself center fire reloading. Using this Win brass I noticed the 4 crimps when I went to clean/ reload. Thought, damn this stuff is going to be worthless for reloading.

Long story short, I uniformed the pockets, then ran an L.E. inside neck reamer maybe a 1/16" into the neck to remove the indentations. Cleaned, primed and reloaded to find that I had the best es/ed readings. Single digit es, and close to Berger in performance. Groupings were great with Mrad. To be honest, I really don't go overboard on es/ed and instead concentrate on groupings and velocities. I also am particular on neck tension and bullet seating.

So I was curious as to whether your Win brass also had the bullet crimps. Berger doesn't. Hope you don't mind me asking.

 

[CowboyBart]

Fireformed 7.62x39 Winchester brass is more accurate in my AA 6.5 Grendel, than Lapua brass is. I did ZERO brass prep to either, and even if the Winchester splits or has a loose pocket earlier than the Lapua - it is still a bargain.