Forums.NitroExpress.com

My buddy Keith ran 120gr. "X" bullets at 3,340fps from his 6.5x68S - shot a cow moose at just over 300yards, just west of her bung hole - bullet stopped on the chest hide. On impact, she spread her front feet and refused to take another step- then just keeled over. Most deer are bang/flops.

I've seen him dust off 3 elk with that rifle at 140 to 250yards as well- 1 shot kills ecept ofr the first one, a bull calf. The first shot blew it's lung out the offside at 250yards, with a 129gr.Hornady SP at 3,200fps. I watched the spray out the intrance and exit sides. He shot again, same spot- same results - spray out both sides- and again, same thing yet that little elk kept his feet under him. I was quite impressed at his tenacity. He then ran 25 yards, stopped and fell onto his nose. All three shots made a 2 1/2" group on his side with what looked like 1" entrance holes. That was the only time I saw an animal do that - shot with that rifle or any other. It's a chambering he always has at least one of, for his long range deer and elk work.

Be careful you get a 9" or faster twist for the longer premium bullets if they are what you are interested in shooting. His first was a 12" twist and wouldn't handle the 120gr. X bullets. The next one was a 10" and worked with 120gr. "X" but not 140's, same make. Of course, a 130 would bride the gap and probably shoot just fine from a normal 9" twist.

My .260 CLC (.260 Rem. long chambered by .146") was very similar, but on a standard 57mm case expanded to .260 Rem. dimensions to 60gr. capacity, which is the same as a 6.5x.284, BTW. I had to shorten the 57mm brass slightly to fit the 2.181" chamber that happened to have been chambered (deep) by the barrel mfgr.

I was running Re#19 with 120gr. XLC's for 3,308fps, but Daughter Carol didn't like the recoil, so I set the barrel back the requisite .146" and it's now a .260 as originally desired. That one does just over 3,000fps with the same 120gr. bullets & TSX's. Still fairly potent- duplicates 6.5x57 standard- or should if loaded to the same pressure, same length bl. Carol's is 26" - perfect length.

If I was to do this again, I'd just go with a 6.5x57IMP - bit more capacity - maybe 62gr. so it would do about 3,350fps with the 120gr.- litterally the same.

My .264Win. Mag. only beat the Carol's .260 CLC by 40fps, BTW but used over 80gr. of powder to do it. The improved 57m.m. case is the way to go - very efficient in .264 cal.

It's even better than the .284 case as any 57mm case can be used, including 6mm Rem, 7x57, 8x57, 9x57, 9.3x57, 6.5x57.

With the 6.5x284, you need .284 cases.

--------------------
Daryl

"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V