Out of all of the different calibers of rifles I’ve owned, the various 6.5′s have always held the most interest for me. Especially fast 6.5′s. The various 130-140 grain bullets available in this caliber have always struck me as having the the perfect combination; high B.C. and high Sectional Density, enough weight to kill deer sized game effectively, yet light enough that you can launch them really fast without punishing recoil.
When Winchester introduced the 300 WSM in 2001, my first thought was that the case would make a great platform for a 6.5 wildcat. Like many ideas I have for projects, this one stayed on the back burner for several years. In 2004, I finally took the plunge and decided to build something. The basis for the rifle was a stainless MRC1999 action to which was added a 24 inch stainless Lilja barrel with a 1:8 twist. The barreled action was then sent to Lone Wolf Riflestocks to have one of their Kevlar and carbon fiber Summit stocks fitted to it. When we got it back, entire action and barrel was Duracoated in black and a Leupold 4.5-14X LPS was installed.
With the rifle built, it was time to put some ammo together. Using Lee dies, I ran a bag of Winchester 270 WSM brass through the resizing die and trimmed them for length and neck turned them. With the brass prepped, it was time to start experimenting with powder. I had already decided that the Barnes 130 gr TSX was the bullet I wanted to use. My hope was that I could come up with a load that would launch this bullet at close to 3400 fps.
I started with H4831 and RL22 in my initial loads. Using 270 WSM load data, I backed off the minimum charge by a few grains, then loaded up three rounds at each .5 gr increment. Much to my surprise, I found that my starting loads showed considerable pressure signs. Back to the drawing board.
I took the rifle back to my smith and had him bore out the throat to allow me to seat the bullets out as far as the magazine would allow. With some additional case capacity, I decided to try a slower powder, RL25.
The next weekend found me at the range to try again.
My starting load consisted of:
Winchester 270 WSM Brass, trimmed to 2.095 inches and neck turned
62.5 grains of RL25
130 gr Barnes TSX
Federal 215 Primer.
C.O.L – 3.172 inches
My first three shots grouped about an inch. The chronograph gave me the following velocity readings: 3384, 3427, 3401.
It was the velocity I hoped for, but I could tell by looking at the brass that I was at higher pressure than I wanted to be. With an antelope hunt only a couple of weeks away, I loaded twenty-five more rounds, backing the powder charge back half a grain and sighted in. It was off to Montana to see how it performed in the field.
On the second day of our hunt, I spotted a nice buck on the side of a bluff with a herd of does. The rangefinder said 385 yards and the wind was still. Taking a solid prone rest over my pack, I centered the crosshairs a few inches below his back and squeezed off a round. A fraction of a second after the boom of the rifle, I heard the smack of a bullet hitting meat. He dropped in his tracks.
While the load was doing what I wanted it to do, I went back to the drawing board with two goals: find a lower pressure load and do it with a softer bullet that would perform at the greatly reduced velocity between 300 and 500 yards.
Tags: 6.5 WSM, reloading, shooting
