6.5-06

[L. Rivard]

Our club, Hat Creek Rifle and Pistol, will hold two High Power Silhouette matches this year. I want to give it a try and have a 6.5-06 hunting rifle with a 1 in 9 twist I will use. I am thinking 100 gr Sierra hp's out to turkeys and 120 gr Nosler BTs for rams. Anybody with 6.5 experience willing to comment as to if this sounds reasonable, or suggest other bullets?

[Trent]

I'm thinking you'll want to come up to 120 class bullets for ckn pigs and turkeys, and 140 class bullets for the rams. You can go with min/reduced loads since the 6.5-06 pumps them a little on the quick side at max loads.

[L. Rivard]

Trent, thanks for the reply. My initial thought was to use the 142 Sierra MK across the board, but I don,t think the nine twist is up to it. Maybe I ought to get some to try and see if they stabilize. They shot great in a Swede mauser I had, but I might have to push them pretty hard to get the rotations up in this barrel. Do you think the 100 grs would ding the pigs at about 2800 fps?

[Trent]

The pigs are heavy. We saw a couple "dingers" at St. Louis regional last year with 123gr Lapuas. That is extremely rare though. Only time I've seen it but I am no veteran.

You may find that your 1in9 twist can stabilize some of the 140ish bullets. Maybe not the real long ones. You'll need the heavies for rams. Maybe the 140gr Matchking would be more likely to stabilize, and they are less expensive than the 142gr MK.

We have a ton of knowledge on the forum with the 6.5mm cartridges. Hopefully we can get some more input here. I'm using 120gr matchkings for CPT and 139gr Lapuas for the Rams. I'm too cheap to spring for the 123 and 142 bullets.

[kevinbear]

Not sure where these theories come from that 1-9 twist won't stabilize 140 bullets, in any configuration, every 6.5 I've ever had shot them great, 6.5 IHMSA to .264 Win mag. Could be that the higher elevation in Colorado has a positive reaction on such things.....I wonder if there's a government grant available to study this!
Doesn't matter which 6.5 you have, I would use 120's for the CPT and 140's for the rams. I've tried 100 grain bullets on the CP without good success, wind drift is terrible and you ring pigs way to often, same goes for 120's on rams. I think I have a new set of Redding dies for 6.5x06 if your interested,would make you a smoking deal if I can find them,{I moved recently}.
Kb

[L. Rivard]

Thanks for the info guys, beats learning the hard way. I will try the 140 MK first. Kevinbear, thanks for the offer on the dies, but I am set to go for reloading. I only have a few rounds through this barrel, my first attempt at chambering a barrel, but it seems to want to shoot. I am eager to try the Match Kings, and will try to find some in Reno next week when I go down for the Gunmakers Guild show.

[Jerry G]

I shoot 107 bullets at about 2650 fps at the first three animals with no problems. I don't think the 9 twist will stabalize the 142 bullets but you might want to get a few and see if they will. 120 gr bullets might be a little light for a hard set ram.

[lone ringer]

Our club, Hat Creek Rifle and Pistol, will hold two High Power Silhouette matches this year. I want to give it a try and have a 6.5-06 hunting rifle with a 1 in 9 twist I will use. I am thinking 100 gr Sierra hp's out to turkeys and 120 gr Nosler BTs for rams. Anybody with 6.5 experience willing to comment as to if this sounds reasonable, or suggest other bullets?

Since you are only going to shoot a couple of matches I would recommend you stick with the match bullets and forget about the 100gr bullets.
Use 107s or 120s for the first two or three targets. I do not like shooting turkeys with 120's in windy conditions.

For the rams try some of the 140gr bullets, either MK or GK would do the trick. Do not forget to try the 139 or 144 Lapua makes.
The 123's are excellent and you may want to use one bullet for all your shooting since you will be able to drive them fast enough to do a decent job at the ram line. If your rifle does not like 140's or heavier for the rams you may want to try the Norma 130 bullets. I have a friend that does not like the recoil he gets with the heavier bullets and does quite well with the Norma 130gr bullets. Hope this helps you.