243-06?

T

tahunua001

New member
hello all.
so in my restlessness I have come up with my "hairbrained idear of the day" and have started wondering about wildcatting a heavier(100-110gr) 243 bullet into a 30-06 casing. has anyone ever done this? would it offer any real advantage over a 243 or 308 or would just be a colossal waste of time and money?
 
It has been done several times over and even smaller than 6mm/.243. But the performance over the .243 would be minimal and then only with long barrels and slow powders. The trade of for minimal boost would be an increased throat wear as you force the hot gasses down a smaller bore. The .257 bullet is about as over bore as you would want to go with the 06 case.

If you really want to do it go ahead, but it really will not outperform what is all ready commercially available. The .308 case is far better suited for small calibers when compared to the .30-06 case. Wild cats can be fun but rarely do you ever see something amazing when compared to what is already out there.
 
yes I just read a short article about 6mm 06 which was basically the wildcat of choice after the 243 was released since 06 components were cheap and everywhere. however with a lot of the ballistics meantioned it looks like they are getting almost identical results as modern factory 243 ammo.
 
similar to the 25-06 but a little different. basically instead of necking down to 257 roberts your necking down to 243 winchester.
 
6mm-06? Sure, why not. You won't be the first and it seems that there is enough data for you to get started. If you want to use heavier bullets, like the 105-107 grain bullets, or if you want to jump to the 115 class, you're going to need a faster twist barrel. My 243 will just barely stabilize 105 grain bullets, but it does fine with 100 grain. Many of the guys who use the long bullets have changed over to a 1:7 or 1:8 twist barrel.

We've got to remember that Weatherby makes the .240 Weatherby Magmum and some folks use a 6mm-284, so there's lots of starting places when you get ready to reload. Start low, be safe.

Sierra recommends a 1:7 or 1:8 twist barrel for their 107 grain Matchking bulelts.

Linky Here from Rifleshooter Magazine on one such wildcat.
 
6MM-284 would be the same thing.

Uh, wouldn't that be pretty much the same thing as a .25-06 Remington?
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No. 25-06 uses a .257" diameter bullet.

6MM-06 would use a .243" bullet.

But a 284 cartridge is a 30-06 case necked down to .284" bullets so a 6MM-06, in my mind, would be identical to 6MM-284.
 
But a 284 cartridge is a 30-06 case necked down to .284" bullets so a 6MM-06, in my mind, would be identical to 6MM-284.
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Nope.

The .284 Winchester case was loosely based on the 7x57mm (.30-06, if you follow the family tree), but it is unique enough to be considered its own case.

6mm-284 is not the same as 6mm-06.

When you get into the world of wildcats, even a 6mm-06 may not be a 6mm-06. ...It all depends on what dimensions are settled upon by the cartridge designer, and how well those dimensions are translated to the chamber reamer.

has anyone ever done this? would it offer any real advantage over a 243 or 308 or would just be a colossal waste of time and money?
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It has been done, in many different ways. My vote: 'waste of time and money'.

Even .270 Winchester is over-bore and inefficient. Dropping to 6.5-06 gets you a little farther over-bore. Getting down to .25-06 is pretty nasty territory (complete waste of a good barrel, with no real benefit over .257 Roberts, .243 Win, or 6mm Rem). Arriving at 6mm-06 puts us in a place where we have a cartridge that is even more over-bore than .220 Swift!

Don't waste your time. A good rifle chambered in .243 Win is perfectly capable of incredible performance. It's just a matter of using that good rifle. Sloppy tolerances and poor fit don't get along well with high pressures.
 
"The .284 Winchester case was loosely based on the 7x57mm (.30-06, if you follow the family tree), but it is unique enough to be considered its own case."

Given that about the only similarities the .284 has with the 7mm Mauser is rim diameter, I'd say it's VERY loose.

The .284 was the first modern American commercial rifle cartridge to use a rebated rim. The larger diameter body (closer to to the .300 H&H, IIRC) allowed .30-06 case capacity in a cartridge quite a bit shorter than the -06.
 
It depends...

Tahuna 001--On whether you want to be breaking new ground, or just want an exercise in wildcatting.

As has been pointed out, it has been done before in several variations, so you'd be re-inventing the wheel. As has also been pointed out, it'd be a considerably overbore case, so you'd be using up powder for no special gain, PLUS the thing would probably eat barrels for breakfast.

OTOH, there is nothing in the world that says that just because it has been done already, and there is no special gain to be had from it, you mustn't try it again. Wildcatting is a hobby, not a business enterprise. You aren't supposed to be making money at it.

So if you really want to, and can afford it, go for it. Please keep us posted, WITH PIX!!
 
As has also been pointed out, it'd be a considerably overbore case, so you'd be using up powder for no special gain, PLUS the thing would probably eat barrels for breakfast.
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I think I was the first person to say it is overbore, but it isn't as overbore as the .257 Wetherby. As long as you aren't putting hundreds of rounds a day through the barrel shooting prairie dogs, I'd bet the barrel will out last a guys normal hunting lifetime. Just keep the barrel at reasonable temps and you'll be fine.
 
My first two 6mm were 6-06 and 6mmAI. I shot 115 Dtacs out of the 6-06 an amazing cartridge out of a 28 barrel with brake with minute of a deer accuracy. The 6mm AI was a coyote rig and was more accurate than I was. You crank those bullets up to 3300-3400 fps and great things happen. I have firearm ADD and end up buying and shooting 500 rounds or so and sell or stash and buy a new toy or the latest and greatest to play with so I have no clue about barrel life.

I can tell you from barrel eater experience the average shooter will not shoot enough or fast enough to burn out a barrel. If you are not a super accurate shooter with the set up for great groups you may never notice. My dad shoots a 243 for coyote and deer and it shoots 2 inch groups at 100 and he is happy as ever. your mileage may vary but dont be afraid to try something different every now and then.
kdog
 
As has been said many times---

Just mentioning the 25-06 will start an argument. :D Seems to be a caliber that just ignites lots of fires one way or the other. I love the one my son has. Shoots great.

To become a wildcatter, do you need a lot of equipment? It would seem that the smithing would require messing around with shoulder angles etc to really develop an efficient round. So reamers and maybe some other machining equipment would be necessary? And would you purchase the dies that you yourself spec'ed out? :confused:
 
ive killed elk and deer with 25-06 and really like that round and im building a 6.5-06 on a mauser now. As long as you don't shoot 1000s of rounds and push them to the absolute max barrels would be fine. I think a 6-06 would be great for long range prairie dogs and antelope.
 
6mm-06 is a heck of a round, comparing it to a 243 is ludicrous. It is like a 243 on steroids. It will launch a 6mm 115 gr bullet at 3300 fps, a 243 would be doing good to hit 2800 fps with that bullet. 6mm-06 is a well-established wildcat, in fact it is one of the most popular wildcats based on reloading dies sales. Reamers are available.

There are lots of different versions: AI versions, versions based on the 270 Win case, different shoulder angles, etc. There is even the 6mm Gibbs, using a 30-06 case with the shoulder moved .150" forward.
 
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