Short barrel 6mm

[BallisticPrimate]

.243, BR, 6x47, 6 Creed, Dasher etc - Please tell me what you got that's 20inch or less. What velocity are you getting and with which projectile. I know the 6mm's seem to need more barrel than the 6.5's, but I'm interested in what people are achieving with shorter 6mm's. Ciao, BP

 

[BoilerUP]

20" 6mm Dasher
107 SMK
32.4gr Varget
2800fps

 

[usmc45]

20" 6 Creed
105VLD
41.5gr RL17
3000fps
but after reading Boiler's info on his Dasher I'm thinking i should have done one of those. Very impressive.

 

[Niles Coyote]

When new, 6XC 21" benchmark, 105 bergers with 38.8gr H4350 = 2980.

 

[WarbirdWeaponry]

18.5" 6mm Creed shooting 70gr BT's at 3350 fps. It makes a handy suppressed coyote rifle.

 

[KPLC]

Do any of you gents shoot the short 6s in competition? I'm interested in building one!

 

[SunuvaButch]

Do any of you gents shoot the short 6s in competition? I'm interested in building one!

I saw a guy locally shooting one this past fall and it was pretty impressive at the 300 yd mound

 

[KM375]

The original Remington 788 Carbine, .243 18.5 inch barrel... I really need to get a Chronograph to see what it is shooting.

 

[m6z]

Just looking at the Hornady site the 6 & 6.5 Creedmoor trajectories seem quite similar to 500 yards.

If one was set on an 18" barrel and was only going to shoot factory ammo at steel targets out to 600 yards max. Which would have the better hit ratio?

 

[spife7980]

Just looking at the Hornady site the 6 & 6.5 Creedmoor trajectories seem quite similar to 500 yards.

If one was set on an 18" barrel and was only going to shoot factory ammo at steel targets out to 600 yards max. Which would have the better hit ratio?

Both would be really close to one another at only 600 yards, flip a coin as the differences will be negligible. Personally I would want the larger bore for a shorter barrel.

 

[Vmaxed]

Just looking at the Hornady site the 6 & 6.5 Creedmoor trajectories seem quite similar to 500 yards.

If one was set on an 18" barrel and was only going to shoot factory ammo at steel targets out to 600 yards max. Which would have the better hit ratio?

18" Rem 700. It shot the Hdy American Gunner 140gr HPBT factory ammo into tiny groups. Velocity was ho-hum, but very accurate.

 

[m6z]

Very nice. Looks like I'll stick with the 6.5mm, all the recent chatter about 6mm had me second guessing myself.

 

[spife7980]

Very nice. Looks like I'll stick with the 6.5mm, all the recent chatter about 6mm had me second guessing myself.

The 6s are gaining steam as people realize that the minimal recoil is nice to have for spotting hits in the positional shooting that this forum caters to but most of them are doing so in long barrels, I myself built my first personal 6mm last year but I also went with the longest barrel Ive ever had to wring the performance out of it.
If you were doing a smaller cased 6br I dont think you would notice the lack of horsepower in a short barrel compared to a long barrel like you would if you compared a 243 in a short and long barrel but Ive only played with a 87gr vmax in a 20" br in person compared to a 22" 243 with a 100gr sierra. In other words the 10" grains of powder and 10" of barrel in a br wouldnt nerf you nearly as much as a 6 creed would. Although as I type this out now I suppose my above answer of going 6.5 would depend on the particular chambering. I would personally rather have a 18" 6br for anything under 600 but if you were looking at the creed capacity cartridges then the 6.5 would be the way to go from where Im sitting.

 

[FUNCTIONAL]

Not quite as short as you were looking for but figured the data could help.

22" 6 creedmoor
110smk at 3100fps w/ 44.0 h4350(no pressure signs)
6 mils out to 1k.

Shoot it in competition just fine...no handicap at all. Would have done 20" if I had a different head on my lathe.

I will say my barrel burned out at 500 rounds...not sure if i just got unlucky or the load just toasted it fast.

 

[BallisticPrimate]

The 6s are gaining steam as people realize that the minimal recoil is nice to have for spotting hits in the positional shooting that this forum caters to but most of them are doing so in long barrels, I myself built my first personal 6mm last year but I also went with the longest barrel Ive ever had to wring the performance out of it.
If you were doing a smaller cased 6br I dont think you would notice the lack of horsepower in a short barrel compared to a long barrel like you would if you compared a 243 in a short and long barrel but Ive only played with a 87gr vmax in a 20" br in person compared to a 22" 243 with a 100gr sierra. In other words the 10" grains of powder and 10" of barrel in a br wouldnt nerf you nearly as much as a 6 creed would. Although as I type this out now I suppose my above answer of going 6.5 would depend on the particular chambering. I would personally rather have a 18" 6br for anything under 600 but if you were looking at the creed capacity cartridges then the 6.5 would be the way to go from where Im sitting.

Agree with this. It's hard to think of a better mousetrap for 600 and in than the BR - provided it can mag feed reliably in match conditions it's likely the way I'll go this year

 

[WarbirdWeaponry]

Not quite as short as you were looking for but figured the data could help.

22" 6 creedmoor
110smk at 3100fps w/ 44.0 h4350(no pressure signs)
6 mils out to 1k.

Shoot it in competition just fine...no handicap at all. Would have done 20" if I had a different head on my lathe.

I will say my barrel burned out at 500 rounds...not sure if i just got unlucky or the load just toasted it fast.

44gr of H4350 behind any 105+ gr bullet will torch a barrel. I would guess you were =>65,000 PSI. I bet it was fun to shoot though!

 

[FUNCTIONAL]

44gr of H4350 behind any 105+ gr bullet will torch a barrel. I would guess you were =>65,000 PSI. I bet it was fun to shoot though!

Not a single pressure sign in my sfp AX... didnt show any until 45gr in 90deg weather. Was a laser though...i couldn't miss untill i couldn't hit the side of a barn haha.

 

[AIS]

While a touch long it might help some...
6 Dasher
22" 7.5 twist
110 Sierra
32.4 R-15
2820 fps

 

[shipereyes445]

Many, many years ago I bought my dad a Winchester 670 in .243. It had a 19-1/2" barrel, and belongs to my son now. IIRC it's about a 1.5 MOA shooter with typical .243 velocities. Not quite as good as my M 70 Varmint Grade, but plenty good enough for a lightweight hunting rifle. Might be able to get more out of it with a little work.

Also, to piggyback on Petrock's post, I have been building a .308 target/tactical rifle on a Remington 700 AAC SD Tactical platform. It comes witha 20" barrel, and produces 1/2 MOA groups on a regular basis, which is on par with my 24" barrel .243 varmint rifle.

In my experience, a .243 Winchester with a 20" barrel will absoulutely do what you want to do. True, that the muzzle blast will be, uh, noticable, but .243 is not a quiet round anyway, no matter how long the barrel is. I really don't notice the muzzle blast any more with the 19-1/2" barrel than the 24" barrel. You will get more flash if you fire it at dusk, though, so it may take your eyes a second to re-adjust.

I'm a big fan of the .243. You can go from ground hogs to deer, ethically, and won't be over or under-gunned for any game in that range.

 

[prcomte]

This really interests me. I'm thinking a 23 or 24 inch 243 with a varmint contour possibly slightly heavier would be a good starting point. If you run alpha, peterson, or lapua brass i'm confident you can hit ~3175 fps with the right powder. I'm currently running a 6 Competition Match, and work has pulled me in a different direction and i don't have time to fireform anymore, so i want something simple, and I think a .243 win is going to be the ticket.

 

[kingzero]

20" 6 Creed
42.5 H4350
105's
2950 fps

 

[redneckbmxer24]

The higher capacity 6mm's are all going to be really neutered with a barrel 20" and less. Anything under 24" they really start dropping off.

If I was going to do a short 6mm it would be a 6x47L and I'd still keep it 20-22".

 

[WarbirdWeaponry]

Going from 27" to 22" in a 6mm Creed changes the 1000 yard drift (10 mph) by 0.3 MOA or less than 0.1 Mils.

The 243 is still a great cartridge but the 6mm Creed beats it in one area, off the shelf match ammo. The 243 is neutered by SAAMI.

 

[prcomte]

One area and one area only. Off the shelf ammo. I don't care about off the shelf ammo. I reload for everything i shoot. Running a 23 inch 243 with a bunch of 4831 sounds like the ticket for me.. its actually what i plan on doing once i get my nucleus action in.

 

[BallisticPrimate]

I'll soon be able to report on the velocity differences between a 26' & 22' .243 using 105gr hybrids. 26' with H1000 easily produced 3100fps - no pressure signs and super accurate/consistent. I'll be moving to H4350 with the 22' - I'll be happy with 3k

 

[Cody S]

27ish inch dasher 110s 2955 with 32.9 varget. Hawkhill 135 fb 70 thou off. No pressure signs until around 34.

 

[prcomte]

I'll soon be able to report on the velocity differences between a 26' & 22' .243 using 105gr hybrids. 26' with H1000 easily produced 3100fps - no pressure signs and super accurate/consistent. I'll be moving to H4350 with the 22' - I'll be happy with 3k

Could you try H4831 in the 22? I believe you can get just as good of velocity with it and probably better barrel life. You'll likely be able to try it sooner than i can.

 

[WarbirdWeaponry]

I haven't tried H4831 but I am currently using IMR7828 SSC in a 22" Creed getting 3080 fps. Re-23/26 will also get good speed without the pressure of H4350. My 26" 243 was getting just under 3200 fps with 7828.