156gr Berger 6.5’s in a short action?

[Sendit6.5]

I’m getting ready to have a new custom rifle built and in still toying with calibers. I have a BigHorn SR3 SA for this build and I’m wondering if it’s possible (and advisable) to have it built in 6.5cm to shoot the Berger 156gr bullets? What bottom metal would I need and what are my options? Is there a magazine option that will accommodate the longer COAL I suspect would be required to get the best accuracy out of the 156’s?

I currently school a custom 6.5cm with APA bottom metal and AI style magazines but I can barely fit 140gr and 143gr pill handloads in the magazine. I haven’t tried loading the 155gr’s because I think COAL will be an issue. The new rifle will be a SwitchLug rifle with the intention of replacing several dedicated caliber rifles in my safe. This will be a combination hunting & match gun. I’m building it on an adjustable McMillan A10 edge-filled stock so that my son and some other kids I take shooting can enjoy it; and in hopes my wife will start shooting a few local matches. Between the Switchlug and the adjustable stock, it should be a rifle the whole family can enjoy - not just me. I’ll likely start with having a 6cm barrel spun up for it as well.

Would switching to a different 6.5 caliber (i.e. 6.5prc, .260rem, 6.5 SAUM, 6.5x47, etc) enable me to utilize the 156’s effectively, without seating the bullet extra deep and reducing the powder capacity, and allowing me to use some sort of magazine? I’m not married to 6.5cm - I would REALLY like to be able to shoot those 156gr. IF those bullets are too long to shoot effectively out of a SA, then I’ll just have to build a LA next and I’ll run them out of a 6.5x.284. Lol

Any advice I can get would be appreciated!!

 

[Steel head]

6.5 Sherman short would be a good option.
Are you using long COAl magazines like ARC, MDT or Accurate?

I run 147’s in my 260 at 2.94 long in ARC mags.
That extra tenth of an inch REALLY helps.

That extra room should easily allow you to stay with 6.5 CM if you wish and your bighorn should have absolutely no issues with a longer overall cartridge length.

 

[BurnOut]

6.5 Sherman short would be a good option.

That's my eventual plan for my SA Archimedes. It just seems like other 6.5 solutions require significantly more powder to go just a little bit faster.

 

[b6graham]

That's my eventual plan for my SA Archimedes. It just seems like other 6.5 solutions require significantly more powder to go just a little bit faster.

and not as ideal of placement of bullet in the case

 

[BurnOut]

and not as ideal of placement of bullet in the case

Though it isn't terrible...

 

[b6graham]

Though it isn't terrible...

i meant SS or SST compared to a SAUM/WSM

 

[BurnOut]

i meant SS or SST compared to a SAUM/WSM

I feel like I'm missing something here... there doesn't seem to be all that significant of a difference in bullet placement between the 6.5 SS and the 6.5 SAUM:

 

[Steel head]

It’s not a drastic difference.
That’s why I went with a 7SAUM instead of 7SS.
With now common long oal mags it’s less of an issue.
I’m running 7mm 180’s in a short action.

 

[Simia Dei]

It’s not a drastic difference.
That’s why I went with a 7SAUM instead of 7SS.
With now common long oal mags it’s less of an issue.
I’m running 7mm 180’s in a short action.

Are you able to post the details of this mate? I'm considering a 7SAUM barrel for my tempest, if it's a significant difference over my 7SAW I'll probably go down that path

 

[Steel head]

Are you able to post the details of this mate? I'm considering a 7SAUM barrel for my tempest, if it's a significant difference over my 7SAW I'll probably go down that path

2850-2950 FPS with 180’s with H1000 or 7977.
If you want to be close to the lands with 180’s mag fed get a reamer with a shorter freebore than the sammi reamer.

With 175 and under bullets regular reamer seems to work.

I can get 180’s going even faster if I load them for single feed.

 

[Simia Dei]

2850-2950 FPS with 180’s with H1000 or 7977.
If you want to be close to the lands with 180’s mag fed get a reamer with a shorter freebore than the sammi reamer.

With 175 and under bullets regular reamer seems to work.

I can get 180’s going even faster if I load them for single feed.

Yeah, that's a big boot over my current rifles. With a quick run in AB it looks like 8.3mil of elevation versus my current rigs needing 9.8mil elv to get to 1000m. What length barrel?