6.5-284 in Savage short?

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bjs1187

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Good evening,

I have a bit of a conundrum. I have a Savage in 300 wsm that I’m looking to rebarrel. I bought a 7mm rem mag last year and haven’t looked back, and there isn’t anything I can do with a 300 wsm that the 7mm can’t handle. That being said I put a considerable amount of effort into the Savage as far as stock and trigger, and don’t care to part with it. I have a mind to rebarrel it to 6.5-284, but have read conflicting info on whether or not that cartridge will work in a Savage short action. Anyone with solid info and experience, I would appreciate it. If it matters it’s pre accu trigger. I’m looking for a caliber that kicks less than my 7mm, but has good ballistics if anyone has any other suggestions. I’ve thought of the creedmoor but it just doesn’t seem to live up to the norma.

Thanks,
Ben
 
I have a barrel coming in the mail for mine so I'll be able to tell you in a week or so. I measured mine and pretty sure it will work. Mine is a model 12 bvss that I converted to a single shot action by tig welding a floor plate into the mag well opening.
 
That would be great. I am hoping to retain use of the internal magazine. Mine is an old model 10.
 
I bet the magazine is going to be a no go due to length. How long is the magazine in yours?

The consideration on mine will only be how long of a loaded round I can be ejected. If a loaded round is too long the tip of the bullet won't clear the front of the ejection port if you pull a loaded round out of the chamber.
 
I was just doing some math and a 6.5x284 with a 140 ELD seated .300" into the case should be 3.250 total length. The max case length on a 300 wsm is only 2.860 so unless the magazine was really generous I don't think that will work
 
Not an experienced barrel swapper here, but the load data Nosler has for the 6.5-284 shows a 3.228 OAL and my model 10 magazine is limited to 3.00" max.

However, the Hodgdon reloading data shows a 2.900" OAL which should fit.

This reminds me of the 7x57 "problem" - too long OAL for a Savage short action by some accounts, and short enough by others.
 
Unless your willing to load short, youll run out of mag box. My savage 11 can take at most 3.1ish
Im using one of the savage center feed mag boxes in my 6-284 Arisaka, and with standard hunting bullets im in the 2.8-2.9" range. With 103ELDxs i think i was right at max mag length, ive got it written down i can check.

You may want to look at a wildcat bassed on the wssm case, since you already have the bolt and magazine for it.
Perhaps the 6.5 Leopard?
 
LoonWulf said:
Unless your willing to load short, youll run out of mag box. My savage 11 can take at most 3.1ish
Im using one of the savage center feed mag boxes in my 6-284 Arisaka, and with standard hunting bullets im in the 2.8-2.9" range. With 103ELDxs i think i was right at max mag length, ive got it written down i can check.

You may want to look at a wildcat bassed on the wssm case, since you already have the bolt and magazine for it.
Perhaps the 6.5 Leopard?
Click to expand...

LoonWulf,
You always come up with a new to me wildcat that I have never heard of that sounds intriguing if and when I finish collecting milsurps and turn to sporter arms--I am falling behind in keeping up with cartridges as is. Now that you have shared the secret of the 6.5 Leopard--any details?
 
So I tend to like wsm’s so I’ll bite on the leopard as well. What would it take to form brass? I’ll assume I would start with .270 wsm.
 
Horsey300 actually pointed me at it a while back when we were bouncing hi performance short actions off each other, but its basically 6.5-300wsm (i miss typed wssm earlier).
Heres an article on it
https://www.outdoorlife.com/articles/guns/rifles/2007/09/65-leopard

The other cartridge I was considering for my next short action project which i think might actually be better (just cause its a tad shorter and i was looking at a model 7) would be the 6.5-300Saum.

I havent gotten real far on conceptualizing or pricing either project, but both seem very reasonable if you start with a rsaum or wsm action. Dies and cases being the largest investment. If price point matters 4D has reamers for both available for rent. ER shaw (ive been using them alot lately) would probably be willing to provide a threaded, and profiled, but unchambered, blank for fairly low cost.

And yeah id probably form from .270Wsm for the leopard, or 7mm Rsaum for the 6.5 saum.
 
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Just from running the numbers i can find on the 142 ablrs, and the 300wsm case, loading till the shank of the bullet is flush with the base of the case neck (which is just how i prefer bullets to sit in the case, and not a requirement) will give you an OAL of right around 3" which SHOULD be doable from a savage box.
I forgot to ask if yours is centerfeed or staggered?
 
I remember my gun taking right at, or slightly over 3" when i checked function with the barrel off, but interwebs is saying sub 3". So a 6.5 Leopard might be a little tight, shouldnt be too bad tho. Even seated shortish youll still be out performing the x284 by a goodly margin.
 
You know, it’s super tempting to go that route. I’m just kind of concerned about what I’m getting myself into as far as reloading. I’m a Reloader, but this is a little beyond what I’m currently doing. Any insight on this would be nice.
 
From what ive read, both the leopard and 6.5saum are about as easy a conversion as can be. They are simply necked down variants of their parent case. Lengths and shoulder angles are retained from the parent case.

The process of making cases for the leopard would simply be sizing down a standard .270wsm, in the correct die. Then trimming to final length. The only issue i could see is if you had a reamer with a tight neck, that might require neck turning, but you can specify that.

Pretty much the same work i have to do when making cases for the 6-284, and less than turning 300wby into 7mm stw.

Ill do more research tomorrow, as this is one of those ideas thats been rattling around in my head for months.

And for reference there is a "factory" version of the 6.5saum called the 6.5 GAP 4S, for which they have hornady branded cases available. I havent looked at the drawings or done enough research of the GAP to have an idea if you could just use those cases (or if they would chamber a barrel in 6.5 GAP for you).
 
Isn't it a pretty easy job to replace the bolt face on a Savage. If so, then it opens up almost any short action cartridge. I'd go 6.5 Creedmoor or 7-08 if you want to stay with 7mm bullets and call it good.
 
LoonWulf said:
From what ive read, both the leopard and 6.5saum are about as easy a conversion as can be. They are simply necked down variants of their parent case. Lengths and shoulder angles are retained from the parent case.

The process of making cases for the leopard would simply be sizing down a standard .270wsm, in the correct die. Then trimming to final length. The only issue i could see is if you had a reamer with a tight neck, that might require neck turning, but you can specify that.

Pretty much the same work i have to do when making cases for the 6-284, and less than turning 300wby into 7mm stw.

Ill do more research tomorrow, as this is one of those ideas thats been rattling around in my head for months.

And for reference there is a "factory" version of the 6.5saum called the 6.5 GAP 4S, for which they have hornady branded cases available. I havent looked at the drawings or done enough research of the GAP to have an idea if you could just use those cases (or if they would chamber a barrel in 6.5 GAP for you).
Click to expand...
Somebody beat me to the punch here...... so upon further research since last we talked of such wistful wanderings, I've concluded that the velocities of the leopard will exceed the win mag but stay just below the Nosler. On average with the 140 weights, we should beat the wm by 50+fps easily with the right powder, necking down .270wsm and trimming would be easily done, and Lyman's manual, 49 I think, has a section devoted specifically to loading the fat stubby cartridges. Powders for the heavy weights exclude super slows like h1000 but include the 4831 and 4350 types. The bc and velocity will easily out distance most standard chamberings, including some magnums. Staying within the lengths given is easy but the obvious iteration should include attention to barrel twist, one school of thought says that with such excessive speeds, the fast twist is unnecessary, I lean to the other side to say that, while that's theoretically true, I'd not risk it. The recoil itself should be similar to that of a .30-06 in a similarly weighted rifle with 20ish ftlbs, so not a .243, but definitely not a 300 wm either. If other projects weren't calling for attention so loudly I'd already have real world input for you, but alas the fates have yet to smile upon the notion.
 
There is 2- 6.5x284 and 2nd one is 6.5x284 Norma COAL 3.224". Nosler reloading manual has data for that vs 6.5x284.
 
jmr40 said:
Isn't it a pretty easy job to replace the bolt face on a Savage. If so, then it opens up almost any short action cartridge. I'd go 6.5 Creedmoor or 7-08 if you want to stay with 7mm bullets and call it good.
Click to expand...
It is easy to swap bolt heads on savage guns, all you need to do is pull the firing pin and cross piece (if you have a second complete bolt head). To go from a mag to standard you will also have to replace the magazine and follower.

This was going to be my first recommendation, except the op stated he wanted more oomph than the CM can generate.
 
old heeler said:
There is 2- 6.5x284 and 2nd one is 6.5x284 Norma COAL 3.224". Nosler reloading manual has data for that vs 6.5x284.
Click to expand...
My understanding was that the original x284 wildcats and the norma only differ by the coal. The norma as standardized being longer (and on long/standard actions) to accommodate the long vld type bullets.

While you could run a shorter throat, or just set rhe bullets back into the case to fit In the magazine, i think you would lose some performance. The only real advantages the norma has over the wsm, and Saum bassed rounds is that it can be built on standard bolt heads. Dies, and cases are about the same price (my 6.5x284 is gonna sit on my bench for a while as i still need dies and a stock).

My biggest issue with going forward on a 6.5 leopard project myself is getting a wsm bassed savage for cheap, as changing the bolt head and mag will cost atleast 100 bucks.
 
LoonWulf said:
My understanding was that the original x284 wildcats and the norma only differ by the coal. The norma as standardized being longer (and on long/standard actions) to accommodate the long vld type bullets.

While you could run a shorter throat, or just set rhe bullets back into the case to fit In the magazine, i think you would lose some performance. The only real advantages the norma has over the wsm, and Saum bassed rounds is that it can be built on standard bolt heads. Dies, and cases are about the same price (my 6.5x284 is gonna sit on my bench for a while as i still need dies and a stock).

My biggest issue with going forward on a 6.5 leopard project myself is getting a wsm bassed savage for cheap, as changing the bolt head and mag will cost atleast 100 bucks.
Click to expand...
So a 110 for $300 preshipping brings you up to $400, barrel $200-400, stock $200 ish, custom chamber semi custom gun pre trigger work =$800-1000 and remembering that savage offered crf in the wsm heads.....;) since the op original chamber doesn't need bolt heads, and he's happy with the rest of the configuration he's only looking at a new barrel, easy peasy! And not breaking the bank for a giggle either.
 
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