6.5 Rem mag...what happened to it?

[Doyle]

A good example is the 260 Remington. On paper this would be an ideal deer cartridge. But Remington in its infantile wisdom decided that the default bullet weight should be 140 grains.

That seems to be slowly changing. Remington is still actively selling the 140gr CoreLokt in 140 but other ammo manufacturers seem to be concentrating on the 120 gr bullets. In fact, since my rifle likes (and is sighted in for) Federal Vital Shoks with the 140 Sierra gameking I have been wanting to stay with those. Unfortunately not one single on-line source I can find has any in stock. Federal still lists them as a stock number but it looks like they may have stopped production.

When my current supply of 140s runs out, it looks like I'm going to have to drop down to 120s.

 

[44 AMP]

The .244 Rem is a good varmint round. It gets 100-150ish fps more than the .243 Win, all else being equal.

The marketing failure was not reading Jack O'Conner and others who were pushing the 6mm caliber in general, and the .243 Win in particular as dual purpose rounds (varmint/deer).

After the first couple years production Remington did change the twist, to one that would handle heavy (deer weight) bullets, but by that time the .244 had a reputation, and it stuck. That's why the .244 became the 6mm Remington, to try and escape that rep., and hopefully increase sales.

Also true, other than the .35 Rem, none of the other .35s has been very successfull, commercially. Personally, I think the reason the .35 Rem has held on is because of Marlin. For a long time, the only .35 Rem you saw was the Marlin 336, and the Marlin essentially being the number two lever gun for generations kept the .35 Rem alive, commercially.

 

[Mike Irwin]

Remington has often left it to other manufacturer's to provide bullet weights for its cartridges that give the round the versatility and flexibility that it really needs.

The 8mm Remington Magnum is a perfect example. When introduced, it was loaded too light, wasn't offered with heavier bullets (just 220s, IIRC) that would have made it far more versatile, it required a magnum length action (as opposed to the .338 Winchester) and, probably worst of all, under performed the .338 by a fair margin.

Handloaders and other ammunition manufacturers addressed those issues and showed what the 8mm was capable of, but it was too little, too late, and too small of a potential market to support it.

As far as I can tell, Remington has abandoned the 8mm.

 

[Mike Irwin]

"After the first couple years production Remington did change the twist."

It took them EIGHT years to address the issue.

Had they done it in the first year or two, they could have given the .243 a serious run for its money.



"Personally, I think the reason the .35 Rem has held on is because of Marlin."

The .35 was also fairly popular in the slide-action 760 and 7600 series rifles after World War II, but it's no longer listed.

Various Remington semi-autos were also made after World War II.

Occasionally Remington has chambered the round in one of the bolt actions.

The 700 classic was offered in .35 some years ago -- hum... No, apparently it wasn't. .350 and .35 Whelen... Odd.


Winchester did, for a short time, offer the .35 in the Model 70. It's a pretty rare chambering, but not nearly as rare as .300 Savage, 9mm Mauser or the 7.65 Argentine, both of which can push $10,000 for a really fine one with paper and box.

 

[std7mag]

44 AMP; The 350 Rem Mag has close to the same ballistics as a 35 Whelen, from the much shorter barrel of the model 600.

As far as it being close to the Swede. Don't know.
What I have seen is that like many fine cartridges, is that there has been no experimentation with the newer, slower powders.
Case capacity of the 6.5 Rem Mag is just slightly smaller than the 6.5-284.

I have been eying this cartridge for a little while now. Looking to build a gun for it, but with a 26 inch heavy barrel.

Still looking for a Ruger 77 in 6.5 Rem Mag too.

 

[jason75979]

44 AMP; The 350 Rem Mag has close to the same ballistics as a 35 Whelen, from the much shorter barrel of the model 600.

As far as it being close to the Swede. Don't know.
What I have seen is that like many fine cartridges, is that there has been no experimentation with the newer, slower powders.
Case capacity of the 6.5 Rem Mag is just slightly smaller than the 6.5-284.

I have been eying this cartridge for a little while now. Looking to build a gun for it, but with a 26 inch heavy barrel.

Still looking for a Ruger 77 in 6.5 Rem Mag too.

I was under the impression(researched) that the 6.5 RM, 6.5'06, and 6.5-284 all had the exact same case capacity.

 

[std7mag]

Jason, better research again... Case capacity for the 6.5-284 is greater, albeit slightly than the 6.5 Rem Mag.

I'm wondering in part if it's due to Norma listing the COAL as 3.228" instead of the standard 2.806"??

Ordered the dies to make 7mm Rem Mag casings into 6.5mm Rem Mag. yesterday. Should be here on Tues.

Now just need to buy a used 7mm Rem Mag, and a new barrel...

 

[reynolds357]

If I were going to build ona long action,Iwouldbuild a .264 Win mag instead of 6.5 Rem mag.

 

[jason75979]

Jason, better research again... Case capacity for the 6.5-284 is greater, albeit slightly than the 6.5 Rem Mag.

I'm wondering in part if it's due to Norma listing the COAL as 3.228" instead of the standard 2.806"??

Ordered the dies to make 7mm Rem Mag casings into 6.5mm Rem Mag. yesterday. Should be here on Tues.

Now just need to buy a used 7mm Rem Mag, and a new barrel...

Well, I did. The best I could find was Chuckhawks, which gave a .31 edge to the .284?
And like you said, could that he contributed to the long seating depth? The RM has a short box length(factory). Plays a big part IMO.
So, I'll concede defeat and bow down to the ?.284's superiority

If I were going to build ona long action,Iwouldbuild a .264 Win mag instead of 6.5 Rem mag.

I would hope so, considering the win mag is long action and the 6.5 RM is short..... by design.

 

[std7mag]

You can build a short action 6.5-284, which is the way it was originally designed.
Norma changed their COAL to 3.228 so that the bench rest shooters could load the long 140-160gr bullets out of the powder column. (which the bench rest shooters were doing anyways, Norma just standardized it.)

And when I order my reamer I'm fully intending to request a long throat on it. Hence the long action, as well as not having to worry about magazine length, and the fact that a 7mm Rem Mag already has the correct bolt head.

And as far as the 264 Win Mag, if I wanted more velocity that the 6.5mm Rem Mag or 6.5-284 than I would probably neck down the 7mm Dakota, or get one of Lazzeroni's fine cartridges...

 

[44 AMP]

Case capacity for the 6.5-284 is greater, albeit slightly than the 6.5 Rem Mag.

I'm wondering in part if it's due to Norma listing the COAL as 3.228" instead of the standard 2.806"??

Cartridge Over All Length (COAL) has nothing to do with case capacity.

Case capacity is measured in grains of water filling the case to the base of the case neck. (at least, that's how my generation measured it.)

How much of that capacity you can use, depends on how much of it the bullet base takes up. That is where the COAL can have an effect (with a given bullet), not on how much capacity a case has, but on how my you can use.

 

[std7mag]

Ok, I will accept that.

Lee still lists the 6.5mm Rem Mag at 4.28CC and the 6.5-284 at 4.34CC..

Along with the listed measurements for both cartridges, 6.5 Rem Mag at 2.80" and the 6.5-284 at "to fit chamber"...

As a side note... I just today recieved my dies for making 6.5mm Rem Mag from 7mm Rem Mag casings, along with the case trim gauge.

 

[jason75979]

Ok, I will accept that.

Lee still lists the 6.5mm Rem Mag at 4.28CC and the 6.5-284 at 4.34CC..

Along with the listed measurements for both cartridges, 6.5 Rem Mag at 2.80" and the 6.5-284 at "to fit chamber"...

As a side note... I just today recieved my dies for making 6.5mm Rem Mag from 7mm Rem Mag casings, along with the case trim gauge.

If you could, keep us updated on your progress while re-purposing. I've been wanting to make that purchase and replenish my 6.5 mag sto k, just haven't due to time constriction.