6.5 Rem Magnum - Looks like a heck of a round

A friend of mine just left after a morning of shooting my 220 and 260 (he shot pretty darn well, too). His Dad had recently passed away and left him a 6.5 Rem Magnum rifle and a couple of boxes of ammo and brass. He knew that I reloaded but don't reload for others, but he just had questions about where to get ammo. It seems that Nosler makes and sells ammo in that caliber, so I guess ammo is available. I found load info in an old Lyman 46th, and online info. I really didn't know that it was a pretty hot round, and more so than my 260. Nobody much talks about that old cartridge, and now that I know what it'll do, I wonder why. Per Nosler data, it's right up there with the 6.5-284. Why aren't more folks using that 6.5 Rem Mag? The ballistics look to be right with the 270 Winchester. Heck, I wish I had one (except for the availability of brass maybe being a problem). Who among you has one, and do you use it much?

I don't have one, but it is an interesting round. I think its obscurity is due to the general unpopularity of the 6.5s at the time of its introduction coupled with Remington's ability to screw up a one-man rock fight when it comes to marketing.

Was kind of ahead of it's time when it first came out and an early "short mag" like the 350rem mag.

That and it was introduced in a 20in barreled "futuristic" rifle. Aside from the new/different rifle, the 20in barrel was just wrong.

Agree with the above. It is a fine round that deserved lots better than Remington did with it. But Remington has made lots of marketing and marketing people driving design mistakes over the years. Hind sight is 20/20 but some poor decisions can be seen from a mile away

The 6.5 Remington Magnum has 1 grain more case capacity than the 6.5-284, so they are very close but the 6.5 RM has higher SAAMI pressure specs so it gets a little more velocity when loaded to MAX pressure. As far as ammo Nosler is his best bet and for brass as well. If he doesn't reload ChadTRG42 can take care of that for him.

I was thinking about Chad, if my friend couldn't get factory ammo from a manufacturer. I'll email the guy and tell him about the Norma ammo. He doesn't shoot like most of us do, so a couple of boxes of ammo should last him for years. But as much fun as he was having with shooting my 220 and 260, he may start shooting more. I told him to save every piece of brass.

7 Rem Mag necked down to 6.5 mm?

Ought to be some big medicine loaded with a 140 gr bullet. Maybe he could use 7 Rem Mag brass as a supply. Plenty of that stuff floating around, as compared.

2.800 max SAAMI coal, not quite that big medicine. Though given it's based on .532 mag brass, resizing/trimming of 7RM is an alternative.

Chamber it with some freebore, and/ or run a compressed load of ________.

Several places have 350 Remington Brass available, it might be easier to make it from. Expensive but Midway has 6.5 Remington Mag Nosler Custom instock loaded with 125gr partitions.

And use a longer barrel.

Depends on which gun he has, could be one of the Remington 700s. There were some chambered in it.

It does appear to have been based on the 7 mag case, but it's shortened considerably. About the same length as the 6.5x55. Making cases looks like a lot of work if you start with the 7 Mag case. As someone mentioned, starting with a 350 Rem Mag case would be better. Anyway, I emailed him and suggested buying 100 rounds of Norma ammo. That, plus what he has, should be plenty for years of deer hunting. Worst case, if he has the brass, he could reload on my gear. I could get some dies, I'm sure.

That really looks like a great round. I'm not wild about belted magnum cases, but after once fired, we could size to headspace on the shoulder and not the belt.

I wish I had one. Looks like a firebreather compared to my 260.

I wish I hadn't seen or commented on this thread!

It was the availability of a certain rifle in .350 Mag some years back---a 700 Classic, IIRC---that through gas on the fire of my desire for a .35 cal. I missed the 700 Classic but by then it was too late and I had to have something, and a custom 98 in .35 Whelen ended up in my safe. But now the idea of a 6.5 Mag necked down to 6mm is echoing in my mind. I may have to rationalize getting rid of the 6-284 to make room for a 6mm-350 Mag!

7mag necked down to 6.5mm = 264Win Mag. Actually, the 7mag is the 264 necked up to 7mm, since the 264 was introduced 1st.

6.5 RM has about the same capacity as the 6.5/06.

Its a great round. It just never got main stream.

I really thought when they brought it back in the Model 673 it would take off, but once again it fell flat on its face. If it wasn't so hard to find ammo for I would hunt with one quite a bit.

10-4, thanks for the clarification.

Like 26"

You can make brass for it from 7mm Rem Mag brass but it is a lot of work

Is 1 grain more case capacity and a few thousand more PSI worth the effort and cost?

Just trying to save U some $

I dunno, kmon!

You gotta know how it is...something plops down in front of you one day that you've always said you would never want, and all of a sudden the "wants" set in. You're practical advice is on the money, but one day my 6-284 could take a hike and the right rifle for a 6mm-350 Mag might just fall in my lap. Come to think of it, that's how I acquired my current 6-284. Life is full of surprises. I could turn up with a 13-pound rifle with a 26-inch barrel, chambered in 6.5 Creedmoore, with a bigass ugly bolt handle and a FFP/mildot scope on it, and stock that's adjustable 27 ways (but do NOT hold your breath).

Why do I feel a cedar stick poking me in the ribs?






Naaah, can't be. I don't have adjustable stocks, and run 24" or less, barrels on short actions. Carry on!

Yes, that would squeeze the most out of this "short mag".

The cynic in me says the 6.5 RM is a short action .270 that's expensive and inconvenient to feed. Of course, the gun nut in me loves the obscure, the foreign and the esoteric.

As an owner of such popular cartridges as the 8x60S, the 7mm RSAUM, the .300 ICL and the .325 WSM, I can only applaud your taste.

AhHa!!! finally!!! a good use for all the RSAUM receivers & .532 bolt face's left over in some warehouse in Illion NY at Remmy's house.

Actually I looked at doing a 6.5RMg off a M70 WSM I was looking at super cheap...and gave up when I could not find any brass. Besides you can do a 6.5WSM off 270/300Whizzum brass mo easier than cutting up 7RMg stuff, but it looks like the WSM brass is drying up too. Don't hear much about the guy in Dayton Texas doing many 6.5WSM conversions these days either.

Seen 3 270WSM's go thru the Pawn Shop I watch in Sherman in the last month so I guess all the kewlkids are dumping them.
Ron

There is a company selling 6.5 SAUM ammo for those that are going to it. $5.85 a round in Remington brass. Velocities being reported are crazy high. I do not see 270 or 300 WSM going away any time soon. The WSSMs stock up if you have one and like them cause they are on the way out.

I am looking at lighter recoiling rounds these days hence the Grendel build, since I have been told blood thinners are a part of life now. Might be seeing some of the real shoulder thumpers in the classifieds before long.

KMon Ah the joy's of living with Plavix et al...Try an OTC herbal called Tumeric - active ingredient is Circumin and can also be labeled under that name. Pull the long Dallas Morning News archived article in the Life section titled "That Golden Powder" for some solid background by a Heart Doc from UTSW's cardio unit looking for a non conflicting Arthritus med for one of his Diabetic patients.

Got my 4 heart "bandaids" in summer '09 and have learned to live with the lifetime scrip of Plavix by using Tumeric...and it helps with all sorts of things beyond just the side effects of a blood thinner, and has no conflicts with all my other meds.

According to my local Sherman VA Clinic Doc can enhance the daily regimen of aspirin I'm on, who boosted my Tumeric daily intake & strongly recc'd double-triple response doses to other medical events too. Can be found at WalMart/Kroger/CVS/Walgreens etc.

FWIW I've been able to avoid an On the Spot decision for a Triple ByPass that was diagnosed during the Survey's surgical proceedure as the solution "but they could try the mesh Bandaids 1st as a temp solutuion that were not expected to solve the issue permanently" ...and have not heard a peep since about it from any one who's looked at me since. BTDT.
Ron

Wiley, you got me to thinking....Hmmm, used WSM chambering rebarreled to 6.5 RM. But, is the WSM action long enough? If so, that might be a good way to get a good rifle to be changed to 6.5 RM.

I started this chat because of a friend's rifle, but the more I look at the round, the better it looks. Norma has the brass, supposedly.

I love the little 6.5 Rem Mag. It's a great round. The main issue is finding brass for it. I did a custom load work up on a 6.5 Rem Mag a few years ago when you could get brass. Now, who knows. If you can find loaded ammo, get that and use the brass to reload it. It is a great little round.

603, Look at a #7 Nosler manual. 6.5RMg has an OAL of 2.80 & a 7mm & 300 WSM's OAL is 2.860...the first 2 I came to just now.

Even a 300 RSAUM's OAL is 2.825 and why I posted the snarky thought about how to use all those left over RSAUM recievers Remmy couldn't sell. Once again brass availability is the issue...but WSM brass is waaay mo easier to find than the 6.5RMg & RSAUM's is.

Charlie Sisk in Dayton Texas is who I saw on line that was doing lots of rebarreled conversions couple years ago in the 6.5WSM's ...and 338 WSM's too, and I still think it's a good idea.

OBTW John Barsness, one of the Editors at Handloader Magazine and an Editor on the Gun Writers board at 24HourCampfire also has developed a 9.3 BS (Barsness-Sisk) aka 9.3x300WSM that is a mild mannered elk / black bear thumper that's s'posed to be waay mo fun than a 338Fed....and lots better bullet selections than a 325WSM's 8mm stuff. FYI Clearwater in Oregon can do cut rifling barrel rebores on 325WSM's into either the 338 or 9.3's prolly for less $$'s than a new barrel will cost & should be no feeding issues either....was told prolly just not enough meat in my 300WSM M70 Fwt barrel contour's for a 9.3 rebore to make it worth trying though.

You can buy pushfeed M70 donors pretty cheap these days on GB if you don't care about condition...but I'm not interested in anything from Remington & haven't paid any attention to whats happening with the RSAUMS.
Ron

Does anyone use it in LR competition?

I meant 6.5 Mag.

Never seen it in my game. Most everybody runs short actions with brake. You are your own spotter, so if you missed and didn't see by how much you got no help. Occassionally you'll see a 284 or a 280, but the majority are running 6 Creedmoor, 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5 x 47, 260 Rem, and 7mm-08.