baldie

The .260 AI needs careful action/magazine choice. Mine goes on my AX, and with a simple magazine mod, works perfectly. The AX mag is 2.900 which is plenty long enough. I can seat to the lands, and have a bulging caseful of powder. The TRG is another good s/a to build this cartridge on, for the same reasons.

6.5 x 55 AI is not short action. The .260 AI has real potential, mainly due to the advent of the small primered Peterson brass. Mine is giving 3050 with a 142 grain bullet, and the barrel hasn't broken in yet. Not stupid speeds, and limited by my large diameter firing pin a little. A very useful and marked increase over the Creedmoor though. I've never been one to shove a cartridge as absolutely hard as it will go. Guns are never pleasant to shoot like that. Use enough cartridge/bullet, and run it properly. I have a 6.5 x 55 AI reamer, and plan to give that a go shortly too.

I know a lot of people that do. They are always very accurate indeed, but you cannot ignore simple physics. If you cannot push the bullet at the speed the BC was measured at, its as relevant as jeremy Corbyn. ie, as much use as tits on a fish. the 6.5 x 47 is, or can be a very dangerous little case. The knife edge between stupidly high speeds and abject disaster, is a very thin one indeed. Loose primer pockets in a couple of tenths of a grain of powder, are all you get, then its Kaboom.

The big difference between them, and I'm sick of saying this, is the 47 was never designed for 140 grain bullets. Its too much for the case, and you usually cant attain enough speed to achieve BC. The Creed WAS designed to shoot 120 and 140 grain A-max initially. The .260 has its own problems such as mag length.

Oh it will hold its own....you will be very surprised Dave. That sounds nice, the JP stuff is excellent quality. You want 90 grain bullets, preferably matchings, and RS52 powder. 4895 is the Darling in the states, but not for us "europeans"

Haven't had any time to pursue anything further Meles. I've just picked up another MIL scope, which now sees me fully switched to MIL from MOA, on all my rifles. I need to have a small switch around, and drop a Kahles onto the bolt gun, then some serious load development will ensue. The bolt gun has great promise, as it will run hotter than the AR.

Lord knows. This is this week's lot, going to proof on monday.

The PRC is a Hornady cartridge I believe, so only Hornady brass available at a guess. The norma mag is available in Norma, and Lapua cases. I personally wouldn't want to cane Hornady brass in such a large calibre.

It will excel at that Vince. CSR is pretty hard on any barrel, but especially so in a hot 6mm. you can sometimes end up shooting 30 rounds in 5 minutes. The groups only started to show, opening up at long range [5-600 yards ] I was most surprised. rem varmint will usually remain stable with most calibers, but apparently not in hot 6's. I've always thought the same as yourself, that the perfect McQueen's calibre is a 6mm of sorts. Stonking velocities out of a 22" tube, that. A sure sign of a pretty well balanced cartridge.

Interesting article Vince, and appears to bear out my own tests, and also Mark eu's. The cartridge is such a hot number, you need a good meaty barrel on there, to stop it walking. I mean HEAVIER than rem varmint. I've been down the butts when its been shot against its big brother, the 6.5, and despite what the figures say, it has no advantage in the wind. I watched the groups move just the same amount as the 6.5. I thinks the yanks have adopted it for one reason in PRL.....its flatter for UKD. It hasn't anything else going for it. The 6XC is a far more accurate case, and way easier to tune. barrel life on the CM is also not good,1000 rds in and its 2/3rds toast.

A picture tells a thousand words..... A most un-concentric chamber. Can't say why that land has worn like it has, but looking at that leade, it could be putting undue pressure on one or more of them. bet it still shoots however.

Nothing to do with not using a bore guide Dave. You wouldn't wear two lands away by cleaning, if you did it every day. The lands have worn/dissapeared, because it highly likely its a Hammer forged barrel. Especially the chrome moly ones, are very hard, but very brittle. pieces simply fly off. Saw it on a TRG .338 not long back. Lowish round count, and six inch of one land, completely missing.

I do wonder sometimes.... The police monitor this, and other shooting forums. Simply bouncing a cheque intentionally will see your FAC revoked. The police deem you "to be of unsuitable character" Post about defrauding customs and excise, illegally importing ITAR regulated gear, etc etc are just plain stupid. There are several companies who will import you ITAR regulated goods perfectly legally, I would suggest you use one of them.

It looks like DLC to me Terry. I was looking at the bolt closely. By its very design [3 lug ] The bolt has to be as fat as the lug dia. I swapped the head for the magnum bolt head, and it looked to me, to be about as far as it would go, ie, no lap mag or Norma. is yours a single shot ?

Very nice Terry. I was playing with one of these actions last week, and will probably end up barrelling it. There is one fault with them however. The bolt is so fat [its about .835 ] in diameter, it throws all the geometry of the cocking dog lower etc. Not a problem on a stock like yours, but it causes problems with chassis etc, as the dog won't clear the stock. This also means that the magazine [when fitted in a chassis ] fouls the fatter diameter bolt. All can be sorted with correct pillar heights in a composite/wood stock, but major headaches in a chassis. Nice smooth action though.

When you shoot enough, you can end up getting a feeling, simply from shooting the gun, that the load is "right" I've lost count of the times I've said it to shooting buddies..." I could pull that trigger blindfolded, and they would still go in the same hole" Sounds cobblers, but its happened to me that many times, its untrue. Personally, I usually shoot 5 rd groups. 3 round groups are just an easy way of making the figures look good, and to the uninitiated, sells a gun etc. If you get a flyer in a 3 rounder, you can easily dismiss that group, whereas it becomes a little more obvious if the other four have gone in one hole. I usually settle on a load, then shoot 5 x 5 groups, and average out the 25 rounds. A recently discovered method [satterlee ] for me though, gets you to a usable load quickly. I then like to mess about fine tuning on depth etc.

All forces should grant the bore size only eg 6mm etc. They dont. Some do however, mine being an example. You usually get bore size back when you apply for something, not on the computer. My 6mmAR was granted, and is listed as a 6mm.

I don't believe I have ever seen Ackley Improved written on a ticket. I always sign them onto the ticket as such, but the variation is usually for the parent case. you wouldn't be able to buy ammunition otherwise. The law requests bore size, not cartridge. Either new barrel of re chambered, it must be proofed, and will say ackley improved non standard on it. There is no CIP spec for any of the ackleys.

Yeh, but like riding a tuned bike, or bedding a goddess....fun while it lasts......

This is very true. The wheel always turns full circle though, and it was a visit to Tiff's to shoot ELR which prompted it. My creed just wasn't cutting it at 1300 plus with a 123. I suspect it would have been better with a 140, but it got me thinking, how far I could go, with a short action .308 bolt head in my AX rifle. In 6.5 , there isn't anything with more guts for this job. Retro.....😂

My new barrel in .260AI [ the creedkiller ] will shove a 142 grain SMK with 45.3 grains of RS62 at 3050, and the barrel isn't run in yet...😎

Finished last friday. The customer wanted a 6mmBr which was reasonably lightweight, for a variety of uses. I started with a Bighorn Origin action, which is a cracking action in its own right, but brilliant for small cartridges, such as 6mmBr, .22Br, .224 Valkyrie etc etc....because it's controlled round feed. This means the cartridge is actually picked up by the bolt head upon closing, rather than simply pushing it into the chamber. The same on extraction. Its held onto the bolt head by the extractor, and doesn't move, until it hits the manual ejector , in the rear of the action. Slow bolt manipulation, will just flip it out, fast use will throw it feet away. The barrel is a Bartlien 1-8" twist, at 22" long, and Rem varmint profile. Finished with an M18 x 1 muzzle thread and invisible cap, it also has an ASE SL5 moderator, all of which are finished in Cerakote Graphite black. The stock was a brand new HS precision, which came off a Remington. I fitted a Tier one floor plate, and it runs a 10 round AICS magazine, with my 6mmBr conversion internals. The stock paint is Patriot brown, OD green, and Coyote tan, buried under Cerakote matt lacquer. A very "pointable" little gun.

I'm going to get one of these for use in the shop. It will be far better to let customers look at a laptop, rather than watch them trying to bend my hawkeye.... One point I would make though....it takes a pretty experienced eye, too "read" a borescope. There are a lot of guys who are going to frighten themselves to death .

The 6mmBr works perfectly well in a Tikka. Just pick one of the modern chassis. My mag conversion will work with either a 5 or 10 round AICS mag , and covers a wide variety of "small" cartridges, including the .224 Valkyrie. I'm just finishing a 6mmBr, pics up later.

It won't work Woodlander. The stock was designed prior to AICS .223 mags becoming available. It won't feed 223, no matter what you do with it, and a 6mmBr is similar, length wise. Short cartridges are out of the lips, before they have engaged the chamber mouth, and jam. Feeds .308 length cases, no problem however.