243 short or 6mm X?

remingtongeo

I bought a Tika in 243 short or I believe it's also called 243 international. It's a great round, very little recoil and it will poke the eye out of a fly at 300 yards.

The problem is brass. I've been necking up 22-250 and fire forming it. Tubbs came up with the 6mm X, more angle on the neck, and then the 6mm XC, even more angle on the neck of the brass. Tubbs has XC brass for sale on his web site.

Do you guys think there is anything I can do with the XC brass to make reloading simple or should I just stick with the 22-250 brass?

nononsense

remingtongeo,

The cartridge that you're currently shooting was referred to as the 6mm International and a wide assortment of other names based on who was working with it at the time and what modifications were made. But the basic concept was the 22-250 necked up or the 250 Savage necked down and fireformed.

The problem noted is always the brass that we choose to make these cartidges. I've been working with a few of these variations including the 6mm International for varmint hunting and informal target shooting. The available brass has been more spotty the last few years which contributes to the falling off of interest in the 6mm International. This is all changing since David Tubb took it upon himself to get involved with Sierra and Hornady to design and create the 6XC for competition shooting at long ranges.

The drawback to the 6XC so far is not accuracy but that same old bugaboo of cases and quality. It is apparent from reports that the first 3 runs of brass were less than stellar quality no matter what David promises. I can't hold him personally responsible although this is his profit center, but he is at the mercy of his manufacturing base. It will be an ongoing improvement process, I'm sure.

Enter the newest addition to the competition circuit, the 6-6.5 x 47 Lapua. This is the necked down 6.5 x 47 Lapua case similar to all of those older accuracy cartridges like the 6mm Intl. It is already showing great promise in competitions and in the varmint fields. The problem is one of cost vs. execution.

We can usually buy about 2 times (or a little more) more domestic brass than we can get either Lapua or Norma here in this country. If we measure the Lapua and then compare it to the domestic cases, we generally see a much greater consistancy in the Lapua cases. So if improved consistancy in case manufacturing is worth the cost increase then this cartridge may appeal to you. There will still be a modification step for necking the cases down but that is proving to be a non-problem. The basic decision as always is how much of a difference will these cases make in your pursuit of accuracy as opposed to using domestic cases. It's also important to note that Lapua used a small flash hole and primer pocket as opposed to a large one.

More information and drawings are available at this link and website:

http://www.6mmbr.com/gunweek073.html

Best.

ADDED:

From 6mmBR.com

RELOADING TIP--Using 6BR dies for 6.5x47 Lapua: Warren B, aka "Fireball" has cleverly managed to load up his 6-6.5x47 cases with 6mmBR dies without buying a new set of caliber-specific dies. Warren reports: "I've found that my 6mmBR body die works great as a first step to necking down the 6.5x47 Lapua case for either the 6mm or .22 caliber version. It smoothly takes the neck down to 0.274" in one shot. I use various bushings in my 6mmBR type-S die after that." At some, point however, Warren and other 6.5x47 wildcatters will need a full-length sizer that will go further down the case. Forster Products makes these dies. We've also heard that, as a temporary work-around, people have successfully used .243 Winchester full-length dies to size the 6.5x47 brass down to the web.

Best.

remingtongeo

Thanks for the info. I guess I'll just keep getting Lapua brass and keep on doing what I was doing. The 6.5x47 info was very good to know as was the problem with the XC brass.

Thanks again.