6.5 Weatherby RPM cartridge

[Bob33]

Weatherby is excited to announce two new Mark V rifles the Backcountry and Backcountry Ti in combination with an all new Weatherby magnum cartridge, the 6.5 Weatherby RPM cartridge.

“We set out to produce the best backcountry rifle and cartridge combination ever, it was a project we did not take lightly. At our core, we pride ourselves in ballistic superiority. So, the goal was not to simply achieve the production of a 5 pound rifle. Instead, our team was able to break the 5 pound mark while delivering magnum performance in a firearm that doesn’t demand custom rifle pricing. Additionally, the combination of the stock design, brand new muzzle brake and proprietary patent-pending 3D HEX recoil reducer make it enjoyable to shoot. After years of innovation and development, the Mark V® Backcountry Ti and 6.5 WBY RPM combination achieve the weight savings, ballistic performance and price that cannot be found in a production rifle anywhere else.” says Adam Weatherby.

Weatherby has been known for ballistic superiority, touting many of the fastest cartridges available by caliber, as well as the strongest rifle action available with the Mark V Magnum 9 lug action.  The new 6.5 Weatherby RPM (Rebated Precision Magnum) has been purpose built for the smaller Mark V 6 lug action.  This 15th cartridge introduction is unique compared to Weatherby’s 14 preceding cartridges because it is a non-belted, non-venturi shoulder case with a rebated rim. Out of the gate Weatherby will be shipping 3 offerings in 6.5 WBY RPM.

https://www.ammoland.com/2019/09/weatherby-introduces-new-mark-v-backcountry-rifles-and-new-6-5-wby-rpm-cartridge/#axzz5yTvyQUlo

[theleo]

There's enough Weatherby fan boys out there that I'm sure they'll sell a few, but I don't see it catching on with the hunting public at large. The brass will have to be proprietary (can't form it from anything) making it ridiculously expensive even for hand loaders. At least it doesn't have a belt or a double radiused shoulder. "Weatherby guys" will be quick to love it, the rest of us will look towards the 6.5-06ai instead.

[b23]

I'm hearing it's a stretched or long version of the 284 case but they don't say how much longer and no mention of case capacity. 

The velocities they are showing are pretty much inline or very similar to what the 6.5-284 does so I'm not sure I see a whole lot of advantage of this new 6.5 Wby RPM over a 6.5-284 and with the 6.5-284 we have the advantage of using Lapua brass, which we all know has durability second to none.

Now, if Weatherby would have stretched this new case out to have a capacity somewhere in the high 70's or even low 80's, then I could see it carving out a niche market all of it's own, but something like that would probably have taken to much away from their, already teenie tiny, 6.5-300 Wby market share.

[nwwanderer]

Regardless of new offerings, the move to Wyoming seems very positive.

[257wbymagkiller]

Beat me to this post. I was surprised I didn’t see a double rolled shoulder I had to double take to make sure I was seeing the picture correct. I don’t see it catching on to much but I’d love to get my hands on one and get behind it for a day and see what it’s like. I don’t think it would push out my .257 wby though.

[Bob33]

Beat me to this post. I was surprised I didn’t see a double rolled shoulder I had to double take to make sure I was seeing the picture correct. I don’t see it catching on to much but I’d love to get my hands on one and get behind it for a day and see what it’s like. I don’t think it would push out my .257 wby though.

If so you would have to create a new account 65wbyrpmkiller.

[carpsniperg2]

Love me some weatherby but pass on this one. I run a 6.5stw with the 140 at 3200+ so won’t get any love from me.

[Karl Blanchard]

Finally someone designed a .264 that can push a 140gr bullet at 3,000fps! Oh wait......

[Magnum_Willys]

But the price is right at barely twice a Hells Canyon speed.  🤔

[Jonathan_S]

Finally someone designed a .264 that can push a 140gr bullet at 3,000fps! Oh wait......

Sign me up!!!!

[BULLBLASTER]

Finally someone designed a .264 that can push a 140gr bullet at 3,000fps! Oh wait......

Sign me up!!!!

It’s truely revolutionary!

[yorketransport]

I actually really like the idea. In fact, I drew up a design for a lengthened 284 Win case a few years ago and and considered trying to have brass made.

I’m going to get my hands on a couple pieces of brass when it’s available to figure what the case capacity is. If you stretched the 284 case by .200” you should end up with a bit more velocity than Weatherby is showing and still be able to take full advantage of a 3.400” action length.

[JJB11B]

I actually really like the idea. In fact, I drew up a design for a lengthened 284 Win case a few years ago and and considered trying to have brass made.

I’m going to get my hands on a couple pieces of brass when it’s available to figure what the case capacity is. If you stretched the 284 case by .200” you should end up with a bit more velocity than Weatherby is showing and still be able to take full advantage of a 3.400” action length.

does it have any real advantages over 6.5 PRC, 6.5-284, 26 Nosler? honestly it seems very Marginal looking at the chart in the article. I thought weatherby generally gets its velocity by backing the bullets way off the lands, at least that's what I have heard from a lot of people

[syoungs]

yeah it seems I've heard that the throats in Weatherby rifles are cut deep to help with pressure and velocity. This round doesn't seem groundbreaking to me.

[yorketransport]

I actually really like the idea. In fact, I drew up a design for a lengthened 284 Win case a few years ago and and considered trying to have brass made.

I’m going to get my hands on a couple pieces of brass when it’s available to figure what the case capacity is. If you stretched the 284 case by .200” you should end up with a bit more velocity than Weatherby is showing and still be able to take full advantage of a 3.400” action length.

does it have any real advantages over 6.5 PRC, 6.5-284, 26 Nosler? honestly it seems very Marginal looking at the chart in the article. I thought weatherby generally gets its velocity by backing the bullets way off the lands, at least that's what I have heard from a lot of people

That’s why I want to get my hands on a piece of brass. The performance numbers that Weatherby is throwing out don’t match up with what I’d expect from a lengthened 284 case. I’d expect close to 100 fps more than what Weatherby is getting.

[b23]

I actually really like the idea. In fact, I drew up a design for a lengthened 284 Win case a few years ago and and considered trying to have brass made.

I’m going to get my hands on a couple pieces of brass when it’s available to figure what the case capacity is. If you stretched the 284 case by .200” you should end up with a bit more velocity than Weatherby is showing and still be able to take full advantage of a 3.400” action length.

does it have any real advantages over 6.5 PRC, 6.5-284, 26 Nosler? honestly it seems very Marginal looking at the chart in the article. I thought weatherby generally gets its velocity by backing the bullets way off the lands, at least that's what I have heard from a lot of people

That’s why I want to get my hands on a piece of brass. The performance numbers that Weatherby is throwing out don’t match up with what I’d expect from a lengthened 284 case. I’d expect close to 100 fps more than what Weatherby is getting.

I was curious about case capacity and how long the case is of this new cartridge and called Weatherby multiple times earlier this week and every time I called all I got was their Techs voice mail.  I left a message but have yet to receive a call back from them.  If I remember, I'll try again tomorrow and see if I can find out more specifics of this new cartridge.

[b23]

I heard back from Weatherby, not from the actual Tech himself but rather a CS agent that was given the information from the Tech so don't hold my feet to the fire on how accurate this information is.

New 6.5 Wby RPM Case capacity 81gr H20 

According to the CS person that called me back, this is approximately the case capacity.  Not really sure why she said it like that but she told me she was just repeating what the Tech told her.  Not sure if this is a projected number or if it's actually a measured number and they're calling it approximate because of variance from case to case.

Case length 2.570  (that's longer than a 06 case)

If that case capacity is correct, this would be slightly larger than a 6.5 WSM.  I'm a little confused as to why the velocity isn't higher though because a 6.5 WSM can sling a 140 well over 3200, even at conservative pressures.

Have to admit, I didn't think it would have this kind of case capacity and if the brass turns out to be decent stuff and will handle a little abuse, for a standard bolt face cartridge, it could actually have a lot of potential.  Only time will tell.

[BULLBLASTER]

Maybe they based their velocity on very short barrels? What’s the barrel length on the extra light ti gun? Most company’s would exaggerate speeds tho.   

[yorketransport]

They probably based their performance on a 3.400" OAL and a 24" barrel. It would give better numbers loaded to 3.600" or longer, but then it wouldn't fit in their 6 lug action. It's the same reason Weatherby didn't just chamber the 6.5 PRC or any of the other magnum cases on that action.

I've never really been drawn to the Weatherby rifles, but I think this makes their Backcountry a pretty attractive package.

[crabcreekhunter]

Seems to be trying to fill a niche that is already filled.  Lots of 6.5s out there that already throwing the 140s pretty fast, 6.5 prc, 26 nosler, 6.5 saum, etc kind of partial to the 6.5-06ai myself.  Either way will be a nice chambering in a nice rifle.

[b23]

Unfortunately Weatherby's brass has always been one of their biggest limiting factors.  Not because it's bad, but rather it just won't take a lot before it gives up the primer pockets.  I used to have a bit of a love affair with Weatherby's and I've had multiple, but their brass has always been a limiting factor when you wanted to push them to their potential.  If this new 6.5 RPM suffers from the same problem, that will be its Achilles heel, but if the brass can handle full pressure loads for multiple firings, then it could very easily be in a league of its own.

[yorketransport]

Seems to be trying to fill a niche that is already filled.  Lots of 6.5s out there that already throwing the 140s pretty fast, 6.5 prc, 26 nosler, 6.5 saum, etc kind of partial to the 6.5-06ai myself.  Either way will be a nice chambering in a nice rifle.

The 6.5 RPM is more about the whole package than just the cartridge. There aren't any other 6.5s which will give the same performance and fit within the limitations of Weatherby's 6 lug action.

I'm not really interested in the 6.5 version of the RPM, but neck it up to 338 and stick it in one of their Backcountry rifles and they'd have my attention!

[coachcw]

Barrel Burner !

[BULLBLASTER]

Barrel Burner !

When are you getting one? 

[b23]

Barrel Burner !

Maybe a little, but as the saying goes, barrels are threaded for a reason, so they can be easily replaced. 

And in all honesty, VERY, few people actually ever burnout the throat of a barrel.

[jasnt]

Barrel Burner !

Maybe a little, but as the saying goes, barrels are threaded for a reason, so they can be easily replaced. 

And in all honesty, VERY, few people actually ever burnout the throat of a barrel.

and even more rare are people worried about burning up a barrel and actually do

[bearpaw]

I like the direction Adam Weatherby has taken the company, they not only offer their proprietary cartridges and premium rifles they also offer a wide variety of moderately priced and very accurate rifles with their wide range of Vanguard models in many of the most popular Weatherby and many standard calibers. I didn't pay much attention to their new 6.5 RPM because I already have a 6.5x300 and I hadn't realized why the 6.5 RPM was developed. Their info and video explain it pretty well.

They claim the 4.9 pound Weatherby Backcountry Ti rifle weighs only 6.1 pounds with a Leopold VX-3i mounted on it, making it the fastest and lightest 6.5 production rifle available!
https://weatherby.com/store/markv-backcountry-ti/

They provide handloading info on the 6.5 RPM
https://weatherby.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/6.5WBYRPM_Data.pdf

t=40s

[Magnum_Willys]

That 6.5 ti back country looks like a heck of a long range deer rifle. 

I wasn't a big fan of weatherby long freebore, but its the original ++P throating that gets velocity, keeps pressure down to what weatherby brass can handle,  and has a large sweetspot for reloading.   I've custom loaded for two different 338-378's that can shoot 6" groups at 1000 yds and first shot hits on milk jugs at the same.  I can match or just beat em with my custom Lapua but not on the first shot.  That huge freebore helps.
If Weatherby brass was as strong as Lapua - would be game over.   

[b23]

I wasn't a big fan of weatherby long freebore, but its the original ++P throating that gets velocity, keeps pressure down to what weatherby brass can handle

If you're referring to Defensive Edge's +P throat, you do know it has absolutely 100% nothing to do with freebore, right?

[zwickeyman]

My buddy has the Mountain in RPM. Its a really nice rifle, Light and accurate. I have a HCS in 6.5 PRC. Both have 24" barrels and he is 40 fps faster with our hand loads.

[Magnum_Willys]

If you're referring to Defensive Edge's +P throat, you do know it has absolutely 100% nothing to do with freebore, right?

Long Freebore- bore rider - +p  = All the same concept .   Run a throater into the chamber and remove short length of part or all of the lands so bullet has less initial resistance creating a slower pressure ramp.   Weatherby takes all the lands out for 3/8”,  bore rider a little less, +p only half the lands removed.

[b23]

If you're referring to Defensive Edge's +P throat, you do know it has absolutely 100% nothing to do with freebore, right?

Long Freebore- bore rider - +p  = All the same concept .   Run a throater into the chamber and remove short length of part or all of the lands so bullet has less initial resistance creating a slower pressure ramp.   Weatherby takes all the lands out for 3/8”,  bore rider a little less, +p only half the lands removed.

I agree that the end goal of flattening the pressure curve is what they all are trying to achieve but it's how they go about it that is a fair bit different.