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What are people's opinions on 6BR Norma


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this was my first centrefire calibre and where I learned to reload. A very rewarding journey. I don't use mine for competitions, only varmint hunting, occasional deer stalking and range days. A hell of a cartridge, easy to load for with a lot of information out there for it and a joy to have in the cabinet. You won't regret getting one.

 

best of luck

 

Finman

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You would be beginning with one of the very best allround cartridges available. Excellent accuracy,and very shootable.

Check out the detailed Accurate Shooter 6BR site for all things 6BR ( experts like it too).

 

There are no special issues or problems-it's a straightforward cartridge to reload,no vices,or pifalls for the unwary-it's SAAMI standardised,just like 308,243,223 etc. All components available,plenty choice-though not every retailer will stock 6BR brass-but enough do-and Lapua make it (the best).

Love mine-just excellent to 600y ;don't get too hopeful of 1000y records-it has to be a very benign day..

Just a great cartridge to shoot:in a medium weight rifle,recoil is very modest,performanc up with 308 etc.

Just enjoy (wish it had been around when I was beginning) :-)

gbal

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Probably the most accurate cartridge available. We have three 6BR's, and regularly shoot them to 1000yds for fun.

 

Yesterday, on a somewhat windy Stickledown, the Savage mod 12 6BR achieved two V's and four 5's out of a ten shot string on an F-class target at 1000yds.

This is a stupidly accurate rifle straight out of the box, and one I'd recommend to anyone starting out. There's really no need to spend strong money.

And as a bonus, when you've shot the barrel out, replacing it is a DIY job.

 

If you do go down the bespoke route, get a 1:8 twist barrel. This will stabilise the 105 grain bullets which are needed for long range in this calibre.

We have two with 30" barrels and a 24", and with the appropriate load, they'll all make 1000yds while still supersonic.

For 105 grain bullets, a muzzle velocity of 2950 to 3000fps is needed, and this is easily achieved using RS52 powder with a BR4 primer.

 

H/man

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6BR was my first centre fire caliber. Learnt to reload with it, now use a 6Dasher. If I could only have one caliber it would be a 6BR.

If you need any help let me know, I'm local to you.

 

Chris

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It's all been said in the above posts, this is the go too calibre in my cabinet, the 6br is stupidly accurate with very little recoil, it's a dream to shoot. Mag feed can be an issue but there are a lot of great smiths on this site who can point you in the right direction. Go for it, l guarantee you won't be disappointed.

 

Neil

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Thanks for the positive replies. Now I have to convince the wife to let me buy a new barrel ☹️

Wuss!get it done then tell her-as all the post have said you wont be sorry .if the wife does give you grief then you can blame the members on here!

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Wuss!get it done then tell her-as all the post have said you wont be sorry .if the wife does give you grief then you can blame the members on here!

Sorry to cut in but who makes a standard factory 6mbr rifle or are they custom made only, also what is the average price to get one made from a donar gun.

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Just got my first 6BR.

I bought a Sako M591 varmint in 22-250 Rem and had a 60 cm 1-8" LW stainless barrel installed.

Looking forward to shooting it soon :)

Feeds and ejects without modification to floorplate magazine.

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Savage offer the mod 12 single-shot in 6BR. Talk to Stuart at Osprey Rifles.

 

H/man

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Had a couple over the years now and find it the best medium calibre baring NONE.

 

easy to load for and if you stick with the same load for everything your laughing.

 

I ran 70 gr for fox and vermin.

 

and for longer ranges I used 87 and 105 gr in my 1 in 9 twist.

 

bob.

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Tubs, see other posts.

All that can be said about (semi) custom ,is that the 6br has no cost premium-and is well esrtablished (reamers,work done etc).

 

The final cost can't be any more than wide ball park,but each bit is about the same as any other common cartridge option.

Minimum is obviously barrel/chambering-as for any comparable. Donor choice needs some care if you want a reliable magazine feed.

You really need a spec list and chat with your smith for all this.

Factory ammo is expensive-Norma black diamond,but very,very good.

 

Is there a more shootable GP and specialist accuracy cartridge,for excellent 600 performance? 1000y precision is possible-weather permitting.

Get some quotes/get looking. :-)

 

gbal

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Tubs, see other posts.

All that can be said about (semi) custom ,is that the 6br has no cost premium-and is well esrtablished (reamers,work done etc).

 

The final cost can't be any more than wide ball park,but each bit is about the same as any other common cartridge option.

Minimum is obviously barrel/chambering-as for any comparable. Donor choice needs some care if you want a reliable magazine feed.

You really need a spec list and chat with your smith for all this.

Factory ammo is expensive-Norma black diamond,but very,very good.

 

Is there a more shootable GP and specialist accuracy cartridge,for excellent 600 performance? 1000y precision is possible-weather permitting.

Get some quotes/get looking. :-)

 

gbal

Thanks for the reply gbal had a look on youtube and saw a savage that looked nice but not so sure on the single shot left side loading,was thinking maybe Tikka ,Sako, or Remmy 700 as donor action but will read more into it thanks.

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Tubs,know what you mean-left port is newish. I really derives from Bench rest/Fclass shooting,where the rifle is in a fairly steady held position (back bag and front rest/bipod) so the shooting hand works trigger and bolt,and the more or less free left hand loads cartridge,and maybe clear fired one (ejectors are often removed,to keep pricey time invested brass under control!

It's also pretty fast,when slickly practised-allowing the five counting shots to be got off hopeflly in what is judges a steady wind-we're talking sub 15 seconds here.....

 

This may/not appeal, nor indeed be practicable for some shooting.I've come to rather like it,though not for it's speed option. As with most gear,it's a try a bit and see how it feels.

 

All the 'donor' advice still applies;and choice is a bit subjective-I'd rather have all the costs in a Sako action, than most others-but just because I like Sako,a bit more than some others-and the cost premium is small in the overall custoising cost. Plenty choice,and time to try out options-RPA did a competent 6BR.

 

g

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  • 2 weeks later...

6BR is a lovely cartridge to load and shoot, given the correct twist handles bullets from 58gr to around 100 gr so its ideal for everything up to med sized deer.

 

Cooper do a 6BR factory rifle.

 

Dont worry about the single shot aspect, it will be fine. You very very rarely need a second fast shot, its either dead or missed and legged it. I use a 6PPC single shot non ejector and have killed 3 foxes in under a minute with a miss included. but you will need a butt stock cartridge holder.

 

The benefit of the single shot action is less flexing on firing leading to better accuracy, 6BR does not feed well from a mag anyway usually, I suspect that most converted 6BRs have a single shot follower installed.

 

A

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Just to add a little comparative data,and mention the 6BR in fast twist(1/8 best) will shoot 115g well....

 

6BR 105@2920 300y 11/5 600y 73/22 drop/drift 10mph

 

308 167 S @2750 300 8/7 600 81/31

 

243 87 SGK@ 3300 300 6/8 600 67/39

 

243 115@3120 300 9/4 600 61/18

 

...allows some comparisons-the 6BR is ballistically better than 308 at 600y,using 1/3 less powder and 50% less recoil

In lighter bullets,the 6BR will not match the 243 with heaviest bullets....capacity matters as well as efficiency-and BC becomes ever more important with distance-see drift for 243 v 308,or the two 243 loads; of course these are just illustrative,but this is the ball park.BC and velocity etc are not exactly matched.

 

Nothing here changes the general position-at least to 600y,the 6BR is a sweet shooting varmint and target cartridge (with perhaps the best accuracy of any-something no ballistics can show).

It comes in above average rifles/barrels usually,and barrel life should be better than 243,less than 308.

 

Of course,a big issue is a suitable varmint bullets-for the 6 mms generally-and that is one major factor that limits the 243,for example-there is not a very high BC varmint bullet ...(yet?)

 

The Norma factory loaded cartridge for 300m target shooting is a 105g @2800 Diamond LIne;excellent,but expensive.

 

 

gbal

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Just to add a little comparative data,and mention the 6BR in fast twist(1/8 best) will shoot 115g well....

 

6BR 105@2920 300y 11/5 600y 73/22 drop/drift 10mph

 

308 167 S @2750 300 8/7 600 81/31

 

243 87 SGK@ 3300 300 6/8 600 67/39

 

243 115@3120 300 9/4 600 61/18

 

...allows some comparisons-the 6BR is ballistically better than 308 at 600y,using 1/3 less powder and 50% less recoil

In lighter bullets,the 6BR will not match the 243 with heaviest bullets....capacity matters as well as efficiency-and BC becomes ever more important with distance-see drift for 243 v 308,or the two 243 loads; of course these are just illustrative,but this is the ball park.BC and velocity etc are not exactly matched.

 

Nothing here changes the general position-at least to 600y,the 6BR is a sweet shooting varmint and target cartridge (with perhaps the best accuracy of any-something no ballistics can show).

It comes in above average rifles/barrels usually,and barrel life should be better than 243,less than 308.

 

Of course,a big issue is a suitable varmint bullets-for the 6 mms generally-and that is one major factor that limits the 243,for example-there is not a very high BC varmint bullet ...(yet?)

 

The Norma factory loaded cartridge for 300m target shooting is a 105g @2800 Diamond LIne;excellent,but expensive.

 

 

gbal

I use 65gr Vmax in my 6PPC, they work well in small cased 6mm's.

 

A

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A, agreed-the 6PPC shoots very well indeed with 65-68 g bullets (the modal BR weight).

 

So that gives a few out and out varmint choices-as you find good,the 65vmax;there is also the 70 Nosler BT; possibly some even lighter-58 vmax,which is pretty good in 243win......or 55Nosler BT...

 

....and these would be worth trying in 6BR also....

 

The downside is that they all suffer a lowish BC-inevitably-so can be pretty impressive over the short ranges,but soon start to flag beyond about 350y. No problem if that is max range,of course.

The 243 win,probably the fastest,with 58@3750 is 33/29 at 500y;improve the BC from .25 to Noslers .276 for the 55BT@3800 and there is a slight gain 29/25.

 

The 6BR seeems at it's best in the mid ranges 350-650 with 90-105 class bullets (and the 115 for very LR,on calm days -quite a small niche for most shooters)-proviso being a somewhat limited choice of 'varmint' bullets ( Nosler 95BT wih BC .377 is ballistically indicative,with 3025mv,in 243 offering 42/23 at 500).

 

Sako factory load in 6PPC was a 70SP@3140;love the PPCs-esp the 6- but no match for the 6BR from 400y and on...

 

Accuracy ,of course,tends to be superb in both,which is important.

 

g

.

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Yesterday morning on Stickledown, the girl shot her 6BR at 1000yds. Out of a 15 round string, 11 were in the five ring (F-class target), and 4 in the four ring, so with a fairly stiff load, they will get there.

In the afternoon, more for a laugh than anything else, she tried it at 1200yds..................another 15 round string on an F-class face, 2 in the five ring and 3 4's. The rest were

fairly evenly spread, (mostly in the black :D ). Bullets were SMK107's at approx 3000fps. Scope is a Vortex Viper 6-20x50 which she sets at 15x.

Rifle is a Savage mod 12 F/TR with the Savage 6BR monster 30" barrel on.

 

At 1200yds though, the 300WSM was king................

 

Pete

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

U won't go wrong with a tikka 590 or 595

Second that , i shot a 2" group at 600 yards on its second outing / after load development ... M590

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