6.5-300 Weatherby for Long Range Shooting

[bearpaw]

While doing a little research on long range cartridges I stumbled onto this new Weatherby cartridge that is being marketed in 2016:
http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/gun-shots/first-look-new-65-300-weatherby-magnum-cartridge

I'm curious if anyone has any experience or knowledge regarding this new cartridge?

[Bill W]

I had someone at work I knew that was shooting this in the 1000 yard matches at the Williamsport benchrest shoots in 1966/1968.   Amazing that it finally became a factory round. 

[bearpaw]

more info

[coachcw]

that will get it done !

[CAMPMEAT]

Ammo would be out of this world in price.. I know a guy that has a 6.5-300 mag. He shot his bear with it last year and it left quite a mess on the opposite shoulder..

[yorketransport]

I think it's what the 26 Nosler should have been! If you're going for a hyper velocity 6.5, why not to with the fastest? I do wish they had gone with a better bullet in the 140 class. The A-Frame is a great hunting bullet but has the BC of a brick. It doesn't make much sense in a long range gun/cailber. Handload the better 140+gr bullets and it will be even better.

Now if you really want to get a 6.5 bullet moving you can give the 6.5 Badger or 6.5 RUM a try. Why shoot 140s at 3400fps when you can hit that with a 160 with a better BC?

[jackelope]

 Andrew is the RUM a necked down .300 rum case?

[bobcat]

My concern with a cartridge like this would be the very short barrel life. Shoot a couple hundred rounds, then it's time to buy a new barrel and pay a gunsmith to install it. No thanks. Just not my thing I guess.

[kentrek]

My concern with a cartridge like this would be the very short barrel life. Shoot a couple hundred rounds, then it's time to buy a new barrel and pay a gunsmith to install it. No thanks. Just not my thing I guess.

Prolly get 600-900 rounds out of it...for most people shooting factory ammunition that will be plenty for a hunting gun

 reloaders and target shooters are a bit different tho 

[yorketransport]

Andrew is the RUM a necked down .300 rum case?

Yup. The 6.5 Badger that BiggerHammer designed is off of an improved version of the shorter 338 RUM case. After tweaking the case taper and shoulder angle it ends up with the same capacity as an unmodified RUM case. The big advantage is that the shorter 338 RUM case allows the Badger to work as a repeater on a Rem 700 action with the long VLD bullets. The 6.5 RUM will have the same capacity and ballistics but it can't' run as a repeater without seating the bullets deeper.

I'm getting 3430 fps with a 160gr Matrix VLD from my 30" 6.5 Badger in the right conditions. The biggest problem is that US869 is about the only suitable powder and 869 is incredibly temperature sensitive. I get the 3430 when temps are above 55*. When it's colder than that velocities start dropping. I was getting 3360 fps with the same load when I chronographed them at 34*.

I have a 270 RUM reamer sitting on my bench  that may be a bit better than the 6.5 versions. I think that the 270 version will allow the use of more stable stick powders without having the powder bridging problems that the 6.5 has. I had a 1-10" twist 270 RUM that would throw 140 ballistic tips at nearly 3600 fps but it didn't do well with heavier bullets. I'm waiting to build another one off of a 1-8 twist blank. Too many projects and not enough time though!

My concern with a cartridge like this would be the very short barrel life. Shoot a couple hundred rounds, then it's time to buy a new barrel and pay a gunsmith to install it. No thanks. Just not my thing I guess.

This is why the Savages are so nice. I can have a new barrel cut for about $350 and threaded on in less than 10 minutes. Plus the Weatherby should last at least 800 rounds, probably more if you take care of it. That's a couple years of long range shooting and probably a life time as a hunting rifle. When you think about how much money it would cost to shoot 800 rounds through that gun, replacing a barrel every 4 years doesn't seem too bad.

[grundy53]

My concern with a cartridge like this would be the very short barrel life. Shoot a couple hundred rounds, then it's time to buy a new barrel and pay a gunsmith to install it. No thanks. Just not my thing I guess.

That's a lifetime for most hunting rifles.

Sent from my E6782 using Tapatalk

[b23]

Andrew is the RUM a necked down .300 rum case?

Yup. The 6.5 Badger that BiggerHammer designed is off of an improved version of the shorter 338 RUM case. After tweaking the case taper and shoulder angle it ends up with the same capacity as an unmodified RUM case. The big advantage is that the shorter 338 RUM case allows the Badger to work as a repeater on a Rem 700 action with the long VLD bullets. The 6.5 RUM will have the same capacity and ballistics but it can't' run as a repeater without seating the bullets deeper.

I'm getting 3430 fps with a 160gr Matrix VLD from my 30" 6.5 Badger in the right conditions. The biggest problem is that US869 is about the only suitable powder and 869 is incredibly temperature sensitive. I get the 3430 when temps are above 55*. When it's colder than that velocities start dropping. I was getting 3360 fps with the same load when I chronographed them at 34*.

I have a 270 RUM reamer sitting on my bench  that may be a bit better than the 6.5 versions. I think that the 270 version will allow the use of more stable stick powders without having the powder bridging problems that the 6.5 has. I had a 1-10" twist 270 RUM that would throw 140 ballistic tips at nearly 3600 fps but it didn't do well with heavier bullets. I'm waiting to build another one off of a 1-8 twist blank. Too many projects and not enough time though!

My concern with a cartridge like this would be the very short barrel life. Shoot a couple hundred rounds, then it's time to buy a new barrel and pay a gunsmith to install it. No thanks. Just not my thing I guess.

This is why the Savages are so nice. I can have a new barrel cut for about $350 and threaded on in less than 10 minutes. Plus the Weatherby should last at least 800 rounds, probably more if you take care of it. That's a couple years of long range shooting and probably a life time as a hunting rifle. When you think about how much money it would cost to shoot 800 rounds through that gun, replacing a barrel every 4 years doesn't seem too bad.

How close to engagement are you seating your bullets?

I ask because its been my experience US869 does funny things when it's not loaded with the bullets touching or within 10-15thou of touching.  Whenever I start jumping them 30thou + or ++ I get BIG swings in ES.  If you're shooting near max you'll likely have to reduce your load when you change your seating depth.  If you're already seating them that close, disregard.

[CAMPMEAT]

The guys I know that shoot long-range once a month, shoot 90-100 each time. They use a bunch of different flavors of calibers just to see how they work...

[yorketransport]

The guys I know that shoot long-range once a month, shoot 90-100 each time. They use a bunch of different flavors of calibers just to see how they work...

If I were shooting the 6.5-300 Weatherby at that rate I'd just invest in a lathe and a pile of barrel blanks. Long range shooting is sort of like golf; it "requires" a different gun for every scenario. I usually drag a few different guns with me when I go out so I have something to shoot while the others are cooling down. It also gives me an excuse to shoot a smaller caliber when I get tire of being beat up by the big guns.

[CAMPMEAT]

The guys I know that shoot long-range once a month, shoot 90-100 each time. They use a bunch of different flavors of calibers just to see how they work...

If I were shooting the 6.5-300 Weatherby at that rate I'd just invest in a lathe and a pile of barrel blanks. Long range shooting is sort of like golf; it "requires" a different gun for every scenario. I usually drag a few different guns with me when I go out so I have something to shoot while the others are cooling down. It also gives me an excuse to shoot a smaller caliber when I get tire of being beat up by the big guns.

That's what I was getting at, burning up barrels. Here, you have to use the same guns throughout the shoot. Bolt gun, the an AR-15 or AR-10 course. Even a 22 sometimes.