New 6.5mm Wildcat Cartridge

[6ANut]

Man, I hate that when I read this sometimes I feel like it's in German. One sweet looking gun and round though. Thanks for sharing.

[Big or Bust]

I ran a 6.5-280 Ackley for a bit...

 

It's all about the same dang thing...

 

H1000 should be your huckleberry...

[dse]

Lance do you anneal before and after fire forming?

[Zeke-BE]

Will you gun smith take my .270 and chamber it for a 6.5-270 AI??

[lancetkenyon]

Lance do you anneal before and after fire forming?

I do. I anneal after every firing actually.

[lancetkenyon]

Will you gun smith take my .270 and chamber it for a 6.5-270 AI??

I am sure he would. I will text him to check the thread.

[Douglas-gun-guy]

Will you gun smith take my .270 and chamber it for a 6.5-270 AI??

id be happy to! Text me. 520-732-9019.

My name is Chris.

[Titanium700]

Assuming you mean new barrel?? Lol

I can imagine a .26 rattling down a .27 bore.

[lancetkenyon]

I was out again this morning before it got too hot and windy. I finished all the fire forming of brass, and finally got around to shooting the ladder test after switching bullet of choice and powder.

 

Target today was at 327 yards for the ladder test, again, by myself. I also finally found a really good fire forming load....with 15 brass left to form. During fire forming, I used those rounds to help with seating depth testing too, and it seemed to have worked well. I went from .005" jammed to .120" jump, and found the sweet spot. The 140 SMK jammed is at 2.8715" CBTO, and going down .0400" during testing, I found the sweet spot @ 2.8310", and tried 2.791" and 2.751" CBTO also. Good, but not quite as good as the 5 rounds at 2.8310".

 

 

 

I switched to the 140 SMKs that the gun owner prefers. I also switched from RL22 (which works fantastic in my .25-06AI) to H1000 for some better temp stability.

 

This is a 5 round group of fire forming loads @ 327 yards using the 140 SMK and RL22 @ 2940fps & 2.8310" CBTO, a .0400" jump.

 

 

After I got home, I measured it. This was at 327 yards. 1.443" equates to .441 MOA. Not bad for fire forming loads at 327 yards.

 

 

Anyway, I finally got to shoot the ladder test. I had powder charges from 54.0gr. to 60.0gr. of H1000. No signs of pressure at the top end, so I haven't fond max load for this rifle and combo yet. The test did not have a lot of vertical dispersion from barrel whip. But I had a great node at the top end of the testing. 59.0/59.5/60.0 are a great node.

 

 

Depending on which two furthest rounds you measure, they are all about the same. 13 different charge weights, from 2845fps to 3156fps, a 311fps difference, and the entire group is under MOA. About .818MOA @ 327 yards. Not too shabby. A lot of guys would be happy with a 2.7" 13 round group at 327 yards. Good enough for most game, maybe ever prairie dogs.

 

 

 

 

 

But these 3 are my node of choice to work around and refine. #11/12/13. 3061/3115/3156fps respectively. Since I didn't have any signs of pressure at the top end, I am going to try a few higher groups at my final load testing. 1.218" @ 327 yards equals .372MOA for 3 different charge weights, and shows potential.

 

 

So I came home and loaded up my final testing loads for charge weight. 59.0, 59.3, 59.6, 59.9, 60.2, 60.5, 60.8, 61.1, all in 5 round groups. I hope to get out and finish this load development in the next 2 weeks.

 

[Douglas-gun-guy]

Great job lance! Love the way it's shaping up! Love those speeds!

[Big Browns]

I love reading about your load development testing. I learn something every time.

[Zeke-BE]

Keep it coming Lance. I really want to see how these turn out. Great work and write up!

[lancetkenyon]

If weather is decent in the mornings, I will be out to try and finish load development this weekend.

[lancetkenyon]

I got out this weekend to finalize load development for the new wildcat. I also got to spend the morning with Taylor. That kid can shoot….and is very competitive! Do you even have those days where you are just not feeling it? I was having one of those days. I probably should have just packed up and headed home, but I stuck it out. Taylor actually beat me on groups a couple times too. Maybe I should have had her shooting....

 

Anyway, on to the load development. Since the ladder test last week showed a good node, I went with the high node for the added velocity gains.

 

Rifle specs again:

R700 LA

28” Benchmark #3 fluted 1:8”

Timney CE trigger @ 1#

Bell & Carlson “Weatherby” style

I used my own Kahles K624i Gen III 6-24x56 w. SKMR reticle for testing

 

Load specs:

Hornady once fired (to fire form to Ackley configuration) brass

CCI250 Mag primers

140 SMK

H1000 (59.0-60.5 in .3gr increments)

 

Shooting conditions:

200 yards

89-97* F

Fluctuating winds from 10:00-2:00

Shooting was done from front bi-pod/rear bag (no lead sled)

 

So we got out there and warmed up with the AR, .260 Rem, & 7RM. Once warmed up, I began my final testing. The rifle has just a touch of cold bore shift from first to the next consecutive shots. We only shot 5 rounds per session between breaks to let the barrel cool. Shoot 5, then shoot another rifle to kill time. The barrel heats up fairly quickly, being a hot round and a light contour barrel. Not a problem for a hunting rifle though.

It is funny watching my 13-year-old daughter school most guys out there. Makes me proud. And confident in her shooting skills when she has time to get behind the gun and set up.

 

Taylor shooting my 7Rem Mag pushing 180 Hybrids @ 3000fps...

 

I started out working up from low charge weight of 59.0gr. and went up, looking for signs of pressure with each charge weight. I hit just the slightest sign (a slightly crated primer, but not flattened, no sticky bolt lift, no brass flow or extractor marks, no swipes, etc.) at 60.5, so I stopped there. Leaving 60.8 & 61.1 left to be pulled apart and neck sized when I got home.

 

Please note that even though some of the groups appear to shift a bit from center of target, with my personal scope on the rifle, it was hitting 1.4MIL high @ 200 yards. Since I didn’t want to mess with the zero stop to bring it down, I would pick a POA somewhere about 1.3-1.5MIL below center of target, and hold there. Some were slightly left or right, or above or below center of target center. So groups are all I was shooting for, not center of target necessarily.

 

I guess 59.0 photo didn't load, but it is not much different than the rest.

 

59.3

 

59.6 (cold bore was a combo of me and cold bore, I called it after I broke the shot before I even saw POI)

 

59.9 Needless to say, this is my load of choice.

 

60.2

 

60.5 (where I stopped due to very slight pressure signs)

 

I will be loading the 59.9 gr. load. Great speeds of 3150+, great accuracy. I can't wait to see what the rifle owner kills with it this year. He has a deer hunt and a cow elk hunt w. his sister.

 

I got home, finally got my scope back on it's home, thoroughly cleaned the rifle, and got all the brass resized, cleaned, and ready to reload. I have not needed to trim brass yet, even after 2 firings. It appeared to grow about .02". So trimming to minimum OAL should net 4-5 firings between trimming. One of the great benefits of an Ackley configuration. Plus the added case capacity and better speeds due to case volume increase and higher charge weights.

 

The rifle was dirty, as I had not cleaned it since I have had it, with 146 shots with fire forming 100 cases and then load development. But copper fouling was fairly minimal.

 

This rifle should rock some game in the years to come. From long range coyotes, pigs, and deer to medium range elk.

 

Taylor shooting the .260 Rem

 

5th shot was the top right @ 200. Boy was she mad!

 

We each shot 30 rounds (three 10 round groups each) of .223 @ 200. My best group of the day was about 1.5". She had two different 10 shot groups @ 1". Little brat teased me all day about that.

[Big Browns]

Great info lance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!