Sako/Tikka is based in Finland. Lapua is a Finnish company. Why isn't there a x47 factory offering from either Sako or Tikka?
Where is the Factory Tikka 6.5x47?
- Thread starter BallisticPrimate
- Start date
I believe Lapua was contracted to produce the brass. The Swiss dumped the round. No telling why they didn't follow up with commercial loadings. I know it was common to get brass for that cartridge a few years ago. I haven't looked into it lately.
I'm not following. Lapua makes and sells a ton of x47 brass, and they produce factory ammo. I'm raising the question as to why factory rifles (especially those produced in the same country as Lapua) in 6.5x47 are very rare.
Sako is in the ammunition business as well. Sako branded ammunition is, as far I know, manufactured by Norma (of Sweden).
http://www.sako.fi/cartridges
http://www.sako.fi/cartridges
I follow your question, but who does produce factory rifles in 6.5x47? It's a volume thing.
As to your logic that 6.5x47 ammo is produced in Finland and therefore factory rifles should be produced by a Finnish rifle maker, consider that .260 factory ammo is produced here in the U.S., but Remington doesn't produce rifles chambered in that round. And that despite the fact that they were the original releaser of that round as .260 Remington.
So your answer is that logic does not always apply and business decisions are sometimes enigmatic to the outside observer.
As to your logic that 6.5x47 ammo is produced in Finland and therefore factory rifles should be produced by a Finnish rifle maker, consider that .260 factory ammo is produced here in the U.S., but Remington doesn't produce rifles chambered in that round. And that despite the fact that they were the original releaser of that round as .260 Remington.
So your answer is that logic does not always apply and business decisions are sometimes enigmatic to the outside observer.
The cartridge was a Swiss design. The Swiss dumped the round. During trials for the round, they contracted Lapua to make the brass. When the round got dumped, they saw no need to go there. They make brass still as it became, as mentioned above, a boutique cartridge. Sadly, as it's a great cartridge, you only get brass. It's a business decision not to delve into a market they are already somewhat flush up on with 6.5 Creed and the resurgence of the 6.5x55.
Lapua still produces brass and ammunition with several of their bullet offerings. The round is still popular and still used for ISSF 300m shooting. Grunig Elmiger and Lapua designed the round to be equally as accurate and better in the wind than the 6BR. Grunig still offers rifles in this caliber.
Nobody "dumped" the round. It was built for a specific purpose and is still used and manufactured for that purpose as well as others. Saying it was dumped is like saying everyone dumped the 6XC because only Norma and Tubb make factory ammo for it. The 6.5 Creedmoor was designed to work in the same field as the 6XC, but Hornady picked up manufacturing for it and marketed it to the US market as an all around cartridge which it is. The 6XC and 6.5x47L are still alive and well.
Nobody "dumped" the round. It was built for a specific purpose and is still used and manufactured for that purpose as well as others. Saying it was dumped is like saying everyone dumped the 6XC because only Norma and Tubb make factory ammo for it. The 6.5 Creedmoor was designed to work in the same field as the 6XC, but Hornady picked up manufacturing for it and marketed it to the US market as an all around cartridge which it is. The 6XC and 6.5x47L are still alive and well.
The Swiss dumped the round as their next intended service round (the specific purpose) to replace the 7.5x55. They instead went with their version of the 5.56x45 NATO, while retaining the 7.5x55 in certain applications, i.e. machineguns.
Yes, it is still being produced and used as it is a great cartridge. I didn't say the WORLD dumped it, I said the Swiss dumped it. And, it's original incarnation was NOT for target shooting. It was a lighter weight general purpose cartridge the Swiss felt would supplant the reasons for using the 7.5x55.
Since you know so much, why don't you explain to the OP why no one builds an off the shelf 6.5x47?
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Factory Lapua ammo for the 6.5x47 ain't cheap, probably the main reason why. It's a reloaders calibre.
Many apologies...I didn't fully research the situation. You CAN get a 6.5x47 "off the shelf" rifle. Blazer, Accuracy International, and Desrt Tech. The least expensive of which is $4700. So, rifles are available, just not cheap.
http://www.lapua.com/en/ammunition/calibers/65x47-lapua
Read this page from the manufacturer. Specifically: "
The 6.5x47 Lapua is a cartridge designed for serious competition shooting, specifically for 300 meter matches. The chamber and throat dimensions are optimized for the Lapua Scenar bullets. After its introduction in 2005, shooters of other disciplines quickly saw the advantages of the 6.5x47 Lapua and began using it in several other venues as well. Fast, incredibly accurate and having light recoil, the 6.5x47 Lapua is an ideal cartridge for hunting fields as well as competitive venues."
Grunig+Elmiger builds their FT300 (Future Target, for 300m shooting) in a 6.5x47. Grunig is a Swiss firearms manufacturer specializing in ISSF (International Shooting Sports Federation) rifles and equipment.
I don't know if you are pro Wikipedia, but here is their page on 6.5x47L: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/6.5×47mm_Lapua
DUDE!! Get off it already...or do some further research. The Swiss trials for this cartridge were in the '90's. They may have tweaked the cartridge for target shooting, but the cartridge (6.5x47) was born in the 1990's.
very interesting. Please can you point me in the direction of the source of your intell. My googlefu is week and I have failed to find evidence of this.
I'm on my phone right now and it won't copy the site.
Google 6.45X48 XPL Swiss
They call it a "X 48" but it's actually shorter than that. The 6.5 X 47 is slightly longer than 47mm.
Added:. The cartridge was developed in 1980 and intended to be used in the SIG 550 rifle. The trials lasted until 1990. However, there were still faction in the Army that wanted to push this. When that was done is when it went to being a sporting round. Not like it hadn't happened already as people were necking down the .300 Savage. Necking up the .250 Sav was called the 6.5 International. That from the 1950's.
So, this wheel has already been invented for a long time. What made it special was better bullets and better powders.
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So we've concluded that the Swiss tried out a similar cartridge back in the 90s before Grunig and Lapua came together and came up with a similar cartridge with some changes such as larger bullet, shorter case, small primer pocket, thicker rim and base, wider shoulder, and we can assume a different shoulder angle.
To answer the OPs original question, yes, there are factory rifles made in 6.5x47 Lapua; and yes, Lapua still makes excellent brass and ammo for the round.
Added: Copper creek also loads and sells ammo for this round.
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They standardized the bullet to common 6.5.. So it would be mass produced. They took .020" off the neck. Small primers have always been an accuracy crowd wishlist item. Thicker rim to support higher pressures maybe? Not enough to change how rifles are made for it.
Here's another similarity. At some point in the process (1980-1990), Lapua was contracted to make brass for the project. What does Elminger & Grunig build? Precision rifles. Who's brass does everyone like to use (precision shooters), Lapua. So, they tweaked what they already had on the board to optimize it for target shooting.
As I said previously, this concept had already been done. But, never fully optimized like the 6.5 X 47.
Here's another similarity. At some point in the process (1980-1990), Lapua was contracted to make brass for the project. What does Elminger & Grunig build? Precision rifles. Who's brass does everyone like to use (precision shooters), Lapua. So, they tweaked what they already had on the board to optimize it for target shooting.
As I said previously, this concept had already been done. But, never fully optimized like the 6.5 X 47.
