6X45 Question

[Cop Bob]

I am about to take possession or a 6x45 upper. It is a gift more or less...

I have NO knowledge of the 6mmX 45.. I am told that all I need to do is fireform .223's to come up with the cases... the dies are readily available. I see load data for it.. But I would like to hear from those who have real world experience with this cartridge..

My intent is for a feral hog gun.. any thoughts. Idiosyncrasies of the cartridge, bullet powder suggestions? Set up suggestions? Glass, mounts? I won't know the twist until I take delivery, but I'm thinking it will be in the neighborhood of 1-10...

I have some fairly open pastures at my place with extreme ranges of about 550 yards. Average 250, 350 yds.... would this cartridge even make a trip like that with enough retained energy. or am I asking too much of this cartridge?

 

[NCsmitty]

I don't have a 6x45, but I think it's still a viable round. Here's a site with some information.

http://www.predatormastersforums.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1687502

Powders that work in the 223, will work fine in the 6x45. You need to select bullets that will give good penetration on hogs, and not the light jacketed varmint bullets.



NCsmitty

 

[M1key]

I don't think you should try fire-forming 6x45. Split necks...?

M

 

[sixgunner455]

I'm considering that cartridge myself, and IIRC, you have to just size the brass - have to get the necks up to size to accommodate the larger bullet - and load'r up with primer, powder, and bullet.

I have the same reservations about effective range you are having. I'm probably going to go .243 as a result, but if I was gifted with a 6x45mm upper, I'd sure be glad to have it.

 

[Cop Bob]

Thanks to all... It has given me some good info...

Check the twist when it gets here, 1-10 may not be enough to go heavy...

Only two of the powders that I currently have on the bench will work with the published Hodgdon data...

The little cartridge has a good rep as a tack driver.. which IS what it is all about..

Good bullet selection with sufficient energies out to +- 400, maybe a tad more..

Ween myself off my beloved A-max bullets, need a bit more penetration. Or at least trying some other slugs...

Watch out for split and weakened necks.. still try the fire forming, (heck I 100's of pounds of brass... Retiring into the scrap metal business has it's benefits.)

What I am wondering about is...

Who makes a good 2 stage trigger? What other mods should I consider?

Optics? All of my other black guns are either open sights or running Meprolights (sorry I like em, no batteries, work in dang near complete darkness, and they shoot where they point, and they are tough, will take the abuse, the mounts repeat if I need to pull em.)

I have always been a Leupold kinda guy.. I a have a safe full of them, I run 4.5X14 50mm IR's on three or four bolts and they have served me well. I recently took possession of a 700 Rem in .308 that had a Burris stuck on it... I really did not think I would like it... Ah.. I was wrong... Nice piece of glass. Good solid positive adjustments on the turrets, excellent repeatability... it worked as advertised, nice IR...

 

[ants]

I neck up 270 to 30-06 using the standard 30-06 sizing die.
Be sure to lubricate inside the neck.
I haven't crushed or split one piece of brass yet.

I've never necked up 223 to 243 but that's a whole lot less than 270 to 308.
Rather than fire form, I find it too easy and simple to use the die.
You don't even have to pull on the handle very hard.

 

[Cop Bob]

I'll give it a shot, Thanks... I've done the same thing in the past, forgot all about it... The 06, is a bit shorter than the .270 if memory serves.. but they work...

 

[ants]

Yep, your memory serves well! I gotta trim a 270 when I open it up to 30-06.

Sometimes I neck some spare 30-06 down to 270 when I need them, shoot them a couple times for practdice even though the necks are short, then neck them back up to 30 caliber. Sure shortens brass life, maybe only 6 cycles, but I use the resources I have at the time I need them.

 

[griff383]

Keep us updated, I would like to hear more about this cartridge as I reload for both 223 and 243 and have an extra lower I was thinking about building into a 6x45

 

[LoonWulf]

I own a 6x47rem bolt gun, not the 45 and the AR.

Case forming should only require necking up in a 6x45 die, but you could fit the cases to your chamber a bit better by necking up to .25,6.5, or even the 7mm (what i do) then necking down slowly and bumping the shoulder back a little at a time till you get a secondary shoulder exactly in the right space. You may need to anneal after.

I use W748 for my 6x47 (my 5.56 also likes it) and 70grn balistics out of a 1-10 good groups, 4895 loses a couple hundred fps and is less accurate in my rifle. Im going to try work up a blc2 load after i move, well see how that goes.
Youll probobly be stuck with 70grn and under to keep your OAL short enough to feed out of your magazine, and get top velocity. You could use the heavier bullets and pack them deeper into the case but youll lose speed pretty quick, 100s clock 200-300fps slower from my gun then 70s and i can run a coal of nearly 2.5.
My rifle also realy dosent like the cci standard small rifle primers, so i generaly use mags or feds.

Specs for my rifle and loads are 70grn balistic at 29 and change out of a 24" barrel, using an oal of 2.34 and 29grns of W748

 

[Glock Glockler]

LoonWulf,

How much heavier have you gone in terms of bullet weight?

Thanks

 

[LoonWulf]

Ive shot 100grn spitzers, but i couldnt work up a load that went under 1.5-2s, and velocity droped to 2400-2500fps range. I also tried 95grn vlds and tho they didnt keyhole, they didnt stabilize well and were all over the target. Ive just got a box of 88grn flat base vlds, im hoping will give me a nice compromise in bullet weight and velocity (85grn sierra hps didnt work well for me). For my particular gun so far the 70-75grn bullets shoved along with 748 seem to be the magic combo. Also the lower velocity of this round (as compared to most other 6mms) makes these bullets very affective on med size game performance seems to be inline with my .243 firing 95grns at a bit faster.