who can make me a tight bore 6.5 blank?

gugubica

Gunny Sergeant
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Minuteman
Dec 13, 2005
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Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri
This is an idea I have been kicking around for a while. I have not seen or heard of anyone doing it though.

The way me 308 performs has me convinced that tight bore is the way to go.

So, I need a SS tight bore 6.5 mm blank, preferably 3 grove (but 4 is fine) that will finish at 22"...anybody?
 
Re: who can make me a tight bore 6.5 blank?

A 25 is a little to tight. The bore needes to be about 0.263 and the groove 0.254.

I was hoping someone esle had tried this and would chime in!

I guess I will have to be the gueinee pig. Time to start making calls.
 
Re: who can make me a tight bore 6.5 blank?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: gugubica</div><div class="ubbcode-body">A 25 is a little to tight. The bore needes to be about 0.263 and the groove 0.254.

I was hoping someone esle had tried this and would chime in!

I guess I will have to be the gueinee pig. Time to start making calls. </div></div>

Show us a range report. That sounds like a good idea since there is a 30 tight bore.
 
Re: who can make me a tight bore 6.5 blank?

Don't know what you are trying to accomplish, but if there was an advantage to doing so, I would think top tier bbl mfgs would be selling alot.......and seeing them in the 'Winner's Circle,' as I do believe friction and pressure will go up, and speeds may suffer, accuracy - will be interested in hearing your results.
 
Re: who can make me a tight bore 6.5 blank?

The point of a tightbore 30c blank is to get extra speed from the anemic case capacity of the 308 in various forms of shooting as it aids in obturation. Shorter barrels on rifles that are meant for tactical applications, long barreled rifles meant for getting to 1k as quick as possible for things like F T/R, etc. How often do you find a tightbore 300 magnum used? Even for regular builds that aren't 30" barreled bench rifles, I've yet to find someone with a 30-06, 300WM, 300 Wby, etc. that's built on a 0.298/.308 barrel.

The 6.5's in 22" trim would be the way to keep a barrel slightly shorter on a 260 and get slightly better speed numbers. I have some reservations about the end all precision that can be gleaned from tightbores. Some have shown to shoot very well, but the vast majority of tight bores are found on 16.1-20" 308's shooting at longer ranges, 800+yd. The targets engaged are generally for tactical comps or actual field use and not usually shot to chase miniscule groups at those distances.

Lead is essentially a dead material. It has almost no elastic restitution, annealed gilding metal isn't much better. Therefore, if you take a precision bullet that's been been swaged into a match quality product and shove it down a tube that's 0.001-0.003" smaller than it's meant to be shoved through you run the risks of really F'ing with the bullet's repeatability.

Slightly tight bores and tapered bores are relatively common in Rimfire BR rifles and if you look at what Brux offers, they have a tightbore 30c option, a 22c centerfire and a tightbore 22 RF option. It is well known in the rimfire BR game that you can make a barrel TOO tight and it won't shoot to snuff.

If the OP was asking for a 16.5" 260Rem for a truck rifle or a duty rifle then I'd understand more, but at 22" I think it's going to be a waste of money.

Also, the tightbores out there are a function of how big the bore is to begin with. The tight 22's are 0.001" under bore with the grooves being 0.0002-.0004" under. The 30c centerfire barrels are -0.002" bore and either dead on grooves or -0.001".

Assuming you're going to go forward with this project (and as cautionary as I've been here, I'd like to hear how it works out, even if it means eating my words), I think that a -0.003"/-0.001" barrel on a 6.5mm is going to be VERY tight.
 
Re: who can make me a tight bore 6.5 blank?

Thanks bohem, that is really the reason for this post.

The theory is that a tighter bore creates more of a gas seal, increasing velocity over a shorter distance. Whether or not this is true, I don't know, but I have seen good results in tight 308 barrels.

I am considering it because I want a short barrel. To be honest, if I can't get a 140 class bullet moving at over 2750, I am not gaining much over my 308 launching 185s at almost 2600.

I have found that a good tight bore 308 does a good job of bumping speeds in shorter barrels. I am hoping that I can avoid loosing speed by loosing 4".

I have run factory 6.5 CM at 2675 and fairly hot 6.5x47 at 2750, both in 26" barrels. I want a shorter barrel (I shoot with a can), but can not justify running 6.5s if I give up ANY velocity.

I am looking into tight bore or gain twist (or even both) to accomplish this. Any other oppinions?

Thanks all.
 
Re: who can make me a tight bore 6.5 blank?

I think that the way to do this would be to go MAX 2 thou under on the bore and leave the grooves at nominal spec. I think that 1 - 1.5 on the bore is the better route to go. That material will get displaced into the grooves a litte bit and a lot will go to lengthening the bullet in the miniscule ways that it does (conservation of volume).

Something like the 6.5Grendel is going to benefit a lot more from it than a 260 will. Comparatively you have the 308 of 6.5's in a Grendel case as opposed to a 260 which is much more like a 300 WM of 6.5's (the 6.5-284 and 6.5-06 being like the 300 RUM of the 6.5 world if that comparison makes sense).
 
Re: who can make me a tight bore 6.5 blank?

Awesome thread! My buddy had a rifle built and a Benchmark Palma tight bore barrel was used..The barrel shoot like a house of fire but the pressures rose really quick with handloads...he finally gave up on it and switched over to a standard match 308 bore... just his experience though...NOTHING wrong with a Benchmark! He wanted to shoot 168/175's

<span style="font-weight: bold">I believe that the tight bores were originally meant for the Palma shooters who are restricted to the 30cal/155gr bullet...I have been told that it needs to leave the barrel at 2950fps to make it at 1000yards...so they shoot'em tight and get the pressure/speed up that way!</span>
 
Re: who can make me a tight bore 6.5 blank?

I am actually thinking along the same lines (1 thou under bore and maybe 1 or 2 thou one the groove).

I am thinking that the tighter bore will match actual projectile diameter beter and the least severe groove hight the better. I don't want the grooves to dig into the bullet any more than absolutely needed to get a good controled spin. This is why I am thinking a gain twist would help (start slower, let the rifling get a good purchase on the bullet, then twist it harder before it exits the muzzle).

The problem with that is that I wont have a lot of length for all this to happen.
 
Re: who can make me a tight bore 6.5 blank?

Btrapr,

I am thrilled with my tight bore 308. It runs everything faster than what it should, 155s up to 190s. It is a 20" though, not sure what you buddies was. I have not pushed any loads to tne pressure limit, I have not needed to. The accuracy node has always wound up well below pressure signs.
 
Re: who can make me a tight bore 6.5 blank?

Bohem pretty muched summed it up, and I agree, this probably isnt the answer. I don't see why you couldn't get 2750 out of A 22" barrel. I could be wrong but i was able to 2800 out of a 24" barrel with play-doh remington brass.
 
Re: who can make me a tight bore 6.5 blank?

Give me a call if you haven't found anyone to do it we would be willing to make one for you, but I think the tightest bore reamer I have is .2550 and of course we can cut the grooves to whatever size you want .2630 or maybe .2635 usually you run the bore 2 thou tight and the grooves only about a half thou tight (.2980 X .3075) for a .308 and of course it would have to be in 5R rifling. The only problem I can see with doing this would be that it may foul alot to start with.


Paul
Rock Creek Barrels
608-862-2357
 
Re: who can make me a tight bore 6.5 blank?

Options? Have you thought about a 7/08? Better expansion ratio....that said, I have run 2700 w/140s in 260 and 6.5x55 in 22" using IMR4350, and I know H4350 should give around 75 more.

My loads were not real hot. Good luck.