6.5 WSM or 6.5 SAUM?

[HuntHarder]

Com' on Man!! You know those 6.5 guys won't acknowledge any other caliber. 270wsm is a pretty sweet round, but if it comes down to splitting a gnat's butt hair @ 800 yards, SOME of those 6.5's beat it.

[dse]

Yes the 6.5s are ballistically superior, but they are not going to make up for a lack of shooting ability. I run a 270 WSM pushing a 130 gr swift @ 3475 fps. My brother is shooting a 6.5-300 weatherby. I will out shoot him at any distance, any day of the week. If your willing to spend the extra time and money to form the brass to shoot enough to get good with your set up then the 6.5 WSM or the SAUM have some advantage over the 270 WSM. But if you would be likely to shoot the 270 WSM alot more because you can grab everything off the shelf load up and go shooting, it's a better choice for you.

 

The real difference is pretty small and 99 out of 100 shooters will never need the extra little bit the 6.5s offer. If you want to shoot stuff at 1600 yds you need the 6.5s. I've never shot game other than predators beyond 700 yds, but if a coues buck were to ever piss me off bad enough to want to take a 1200 yd shot I would bet he would not live to hear the crack from my 270 WSM.

 

With all the bs aside if I we're going to build a hot short action 6.5 the Sherman short looks pretty interesting with it looking like there may be quality brass available for it shortly.

[recurveman]

Yes the 6.5s are ballistically superior, but they are not going to make up for a lack of shooting ability. I run a 270 WSM pushing a 130 gr swift @ 3475 fps. My brother is shooting a 6.5-300 weatherby. I will out shoot him at any distance, any day of the week. If your willing to spend the extra time and money to form the brass to shoot enough to get good with your set up then the 6.5 WSM or the SAUM have some advantage over the 270 WSM. But if you would be likely to shoot the 270 WSM alot more because you can grab everything off the shelf load up and go shooting, it's a better choice for you.

 

The real difference is pretty small and 99 out of 100 shooters will never need the extra little bit the 6.5s offer. If you want to shoot stuff at 1600 yds you need the 6.5s. I've never shot game other than predators beyond 700 yds, but if a coues buck were to ever piss me off bad enough to want to take a 1200 yd shot I would bet he would not live to hear the crack from my 270 WSM.

 

With all the bs aside if I we're going to build a hot short action 6.5 the Sherman short looks pretty interesting with it looking like there may be quality brass available for it shortly.

 

 

Once you crack the 1000 yard mark then the game changes. The 338 lapua just crushes everything. The 6.5's and the 7MM have no business being shot past 100 yards at critters. Their KE just isn't there. Though in all honesty it is just about impossible to have a cold bore, first shot hit a WT deer at 1000+ yards. A ton of variables to consider that the average hunter doesn't even know to evaluate let alone how to compensate for the variables. But, it is a ton of fun to dump lead at those distances. Doing it at a competition and on paper really changes how you look at every shot. Frequently bullets move 6-18 inches and you wonder why.

[dse]

 

Yes the 6.5s are ballistically superior, but they are not going to make up for a lack of shooting ability. I run a 270 WSM pushing a 130 gr swift @ 3475 fps. My brother is shooting a 6.5-300 weatherby. I will out shoot him at any distance, any day of the week. If your willing to spend the extra time and money to form the brass to shoot enough to get good with your set up then the 6.5 WSM or the SAUM have some advantage over the 270 WSM. But if you would be likely to shoot the 270 WSM alot more because you can grab everything off the shelf load up and go shooting, it's a better choice for you.

The real difference is pretty small and 99 out of 100 shooters will never need the extra little bit the 6.5s offer. If you want to shoot stuff at 1600 yds you need the 6.5s. I've never shot game other than predators beyond 700 yds, but if a coues buck were to ever piss me off bad enough to want to take a 1200 yd shot I would bet he would not live to hear the crack from my 270 WSM.

With all the bs aside if I we're going to build a hot short action 6.5 the Sherman short looks pretty interesting with it looking like there may be quality brass available for it shortly.

 

 

Once you crack the 1000 yard mark then the game changes. The 338 lapua just crushes everything. The 6.5's and the 7MM have no business being shot past 100 yards at critters. Their KE just isn't there. Though in all honesty it is just about impossible to have a cold bore, first shot hit a WT deer at 1000+ yards. A ton of variables to consider that the average hunter doesn't even know to evaluate let alone how to compensate for the variables. But, it is a ton of fun to dump lead at those distances. Doing it at a competition and on paper really changes how you look at every shot. Frequently bullets move 6-18 inches and you wonder why.

 

If your using a 7x57 pushing a round nose bullet I'd agree.

A 28 Nosler pushing the 195 eol in the average conditions I hunt in is around 1800 ft lbs and in excess of 2000 fps. My 270WSM with a 170 eol is around 1500 ft lbs and 2000 fps. Both are more than capable of knocking a coues on his a$$ @ 1000 yds. My 22-250 AI pushing a 95 gr smk will be around 2000 fps and almost 900 ft lbs which will still destroy a coues.

[recurveman]

 

 

Yes the 6.5s are ballistically superior, but they are not going to make up for a lack of shooting ability. I run a 270 WSM pushing a 130 gr swift @ 3475 fps. My brother is shooting a 6.5-300 weatherby. I will out shoot him at any distance, any day of the week. If your willing to spend the extra time and money to form the brass to shoot enough to get good with your set up then the 6.5 WSM or the SAUM have some advantage over the 270 WSM. But if you would be likely to shoot the 270 WSM alot more because you can grab everything off the shelf load up and go shooting, it's a better choice for you.

The real difference is pretty small and 99 out of 100 shooters will never need the extra little bit the 6.5s offer. If you want to shoot stuff at 1600 yds you need the 6.5s. I've never shot game other than predators beyond 700 yds, but if a coues buck were to ever piss me off bad enough to want to take a 1200 yd shot I would bet he would not live to hear the crack from my 270 WSM.

With all the bs aside if I we're going to build a hot short action 6.5 the Sherman short looks pretty interesting with it looking like there may be quality brass available for it shortly.

 

Once you crack the 1000 yard mark then the game changes. The 338 lapua just crushes everything. The 6.5's and the 7MM have no business being shot past 100 yards at critters. Their KE just isn't there. Though in all honesty it is just about impossible to have a cold bore, first shot hit a WT deer at 1000+ yards. A ton of variables to consider that the average hunter doesn't even know to evaluate let alone how to compensate for the variables. But, it is a ton of fun to dump lead at those distances. Doing it at a competition and on paper really changes how you look at every shot. Frequently bullets move 6-18 inches and you wonder why.

 

If your using a 7x57 pushing a round nose bullet I'd agree.

A 28 Nosler pushing the 195 eol in the average conditions I hunt in is around 1800 ft lbs and in excess of 2000 fps. My 270WSM with a 170 eol is around 1500 ft lbs and 2000 fps. Both are more than capable of knocking a coues on his a$$ @ 1000 yds. My 22-250 AI pushing a 95 gr smk will be around 2000 fps and almost 900 ft lbs which will still destroy a coues.

 

 

It isn't the gun or the cartridge that has me concerned.

[Big or Bust]

Anyone who cites kinetic energy in any conversation has already lost...

[Ernesto C]

Really no accuracy advantage to speak of between the two. The biggest advantage of the 6.5WSM over the SAUM is you can find .270WSM brass or .300WSM brass pretty easy to form the cases with and you get a bit more velocity. The other advantage is that Dies are much cheaper for the WSM over the SAUM. The only real disadvantage is that you will have to turn the necks on the brass after resizing for best results so there is one extra step in your reloading process but you only have to do it once. As far as accuracy and performance though they are nearly identical. Here is the last 6.5WSM I finished up a couple months ago. As you can see it shoots just fine. This is a five shot group with 147 Hornadys at 3086fps.

 

Hey STOMP or anyone else shooting a 6.5 WSM...What's your overall catridge or round length in the 6.5 WSM? did you make it the same as the 270 WSM?

 

Thanks.

 

Ernesto C.

[PRDATR]

Ernesto I would figure out what the max OAL is for the magazine then work with that to determine how far off/into the lands the rifle likes.

[MMACFIVE]

Anyone who cites kinetic energy in any conversation has already lost...

[MMACFIVE]

Why doesnt energy matter? I might be old school.

[PRDATR]

Why doesnt energy matter? I might be old school.

 

Because animals just faint at the mere mention of whizz bang.

[Big or Bust]

Has it ever mattered?

[MMACFIVE]

I think a bullet requires a minimum amount of velocity, therefore KE, to expand properly. Otherwise all we would need are solids.

 

So yes, I think it always matters.

[Big or Bust]

So what about KE between a Vmax expanding and fragmenting at 1600fps and a Barnes TSX at 1600 that doesn't as it's below the velocity threshold to reliably expand? Same KE with like weights and speeds but vastly different results....

[STOMP442]

 

Really no accuracy advantage to speak of between the two. The biggest advantage of the 6.5WSM over the SAUM is you can find .270WSM brass or .300WSM brass pretty easy to form the cases with and you get a bit more velocity. The other advantage is that Dies are much cheaper for the WSM over the SAUM. The only real disadvantage is that you will have to turn the necks on the brass after resizing for best results so there is one extra step in your reloading process but you only have to do it once. As far as accuracy and performance though they are nearly identical. Here is the last 6.5WSM I finished up a couple months ago. As you can see it shoots just fine. This is a five shot group with 147 Hornadys at 3086fps.

 

Hey STOMP or anyone else shooting a 6.5 WSM...What's your overall catridge or round length in the 6.5 WSM? did you make it the same as the 270 WSM?

 

Thanks.

 

Ernesto C.

 

When built on a short action I make it fit the magazine so probably very near what spec is for the .270WSM. When on a long action I seat them about .025" off the lands. Depending on the bullet used the OAL can vary quite a bit.