6.5mm Remington Magnum

• Name — 6.5mm Remington Magnum • Origin — United States • Type — Rifle • Designer — Remington • Design Date — 1966 • Manufacturer — Remington • Production Date — 1966 • Parent —.350 Remington Magnum • Case Type — Belted bottleneck • Bullet —.264 • Neck —.298 • Shoulder —.495 • Base —.532 in (13.51 mm) • Rim Dia —.532 • Rim Thick —.050 • Case Length — 2.170 • Length — 2.800 • Case Capacity — 68 • Primer — Large rifle • Max Pressure — 63100 • Max Cup — 56,200 • Bw1 — 120 • Btype1 — PSPCL • Vel1 — 3210 • En1 — 2745

The 6.5 mm (.264 caliber) has been extremely popular in Europe and especially in the Scandinavian countries and this trend continues today. The 6.5×52mm Carcano, 6.5×53mmR (.256 Mannlicher), 6.5×54mm Mannlicher-Schönauer, 6.5×55mm Swedish Mauser, 6.5×58mmR Krag–Jørgensen and the 6.5×58mm Portuguese are among these cartridges of originally military European origin. What the 6.5 mm (.264 caliber) bullets offered was excellent sectional density and ballistic coefficients. The Scandinavian countries dominated the Olympics in the Nordic events shooting 6.5 mm center fire cartridges like the 6.5×55mm until 1972 when the centerfire shooting events were dropped. However, in North America the.264 caliber did not make much of a head way in terms of popularity. Beginning in the 1950s several ex-service Norwegian Krag–Jørgensen and Swedish Mauser began trickling into the United States. Winchester had designed the.264 Winchester Magnum but it did not gain much of a following and the rifles were plagued by short barrel lives. In 1966 Remington introduced the 6.5 Remington Magnum, which was based upon the previous years'.350 Remington Magnum, in the 18.5 inch barrel Model 600 carbine. This was poor choice of rifle by Remington as it was unable to exploit the performance potential of the 6.5mm Remington. While Remington did later chamber the cartridge in the 24 inch Model 700 rifle, the damage was already done to the cartridge's reputation. Damage from which it would never fully recover, and eventually it passed into obsolesce. Attempts have been made to revive the cartridge by Ruger and then again by Remington in 2004 in the Model 673 Guide Rifle but these attempts at revival have been unsuccessful. The 6.5mm Remington Magnum remains an excellent rifle cartridge with a greater performance potential over all the European 6.5mm cartridges save the 6.5x68mm RWS which is similar to the.264 Winchester Magnum. Furthermore, due to its short stature, it can be chambered in lighter, quicker handling short action rifles. On account of the case capacity of the cartridge a barrel with a minimum length of 24 inches is necessary to realize the potential of the cartridge. With shorter barrels performance level drop dramatically especially when slower burning powders are utilized. Currently Remington no longer produces ammunition for the cartridge.

The 6.5mm Remington Magnum is based on the.350 Remington Magnum necked down to accept a.264 caliber (6.71 mm) bullet. It was one of the original short, fat magnum cartridges to be put into production. The short, fat cartridge design is known to promote efficient powder burning characteristics.: • Illustration — 6.5 Remington Magnum - All dimensions in inches (mm) The SAAMI recommends a 6 groove barrel with a 1:9 twist. The bore diameter is given as.256 inch and the groove diameter is.264 inch. The recommended groove width is.095 inch. SAAMI recommends a maximum pressure of 53,000 C.U.P. while CIP mandates a maximum pressure of no more than 4350 bar.

Remington is the only company that provides ammunition for the cartridge. They provide a single load, the 120 gr PSP-CL. This Remington factory ammunition with its light for caliber bullet is only recommended for small deer and predator species. Those wishing to take advantage of the versatility of the 6.5mm Remington Magnum have little choice but to handload their ammunition. • Cartridge — Criteria — Muzzle — 100 yd — 200 yd — 300 yd — 400 yd — 500 yd •.260 Remington, Remington 140 gr Premier Core-Lokt — Velocity — 2750 ft/s — 2554 ft/s — 2365 ft/s — 2185 ft/s — 2013 ft/s — 1849 ft/s • Bullet drop — -1.5 in — 1.9 in — 0 in — -8.1 in — -23.6 in — -47.6 in • 6.5×55mm Swedish Mauser, Federal 140 gr SP — Velocity — 2600 ft/s — 2402 ft/s — 2212 ft/s — 2031 ft/s — 1859 ft/s — 1698 ft/s • Bullet drop — -1.5 in — 2.3 in — 0 in — -9.4 in — -27.0 in — -55.2 in • 6.5mm Remington Magnum, Hornady 140 gr SP Handload — Velocity — 2900 ft/s — 2700 ft/s — 2509 ft/s — 2327 ft/s — 2153 ft/s — 1986 ft/s • Bullet drop — -1.5 in — 1.6 in — 0 in — -7.2 in — -20.8 in — -41.9 in •.264 Winchester Magnum, Winchester 140 gr Super-X PP — Velocity — 3030 ft/s — 2782 ft/s — 2547 ft/s — 2325 ft/s — 2113 ft/s — 1913 ft/s • Bullet drop — -1.5 in — 1.5 in — 0 in — -6.8 in — -20.1 in — -41.2 in • All values retrieved from respective websites. 6.5mm Remington Mag. data from Hornady Reloading Manual #4 The 6.5 mm Remington Magnum compares favorably with other 6.5mm (.264 caliber) cartridges. It terms of energy it is bested by the 6.5×68mm RWS and the.264 Winchester Magnum. However, neither the 6.5×68mm RWS nor the.264 Winchester Magnum can be chambered in a short-action rifle. It provides a leap in performance over the non-magnum cartridges such as the.260 Remington and 6.5×55mm Swedish.