An interesting development. Federal has developed a 6.5 Creedmoor loading using steel cases and is loaded to over 80,000 psi versus the normal 65K or so. There are many YouTube videos about the load, including the one linked.

It appears to increase velocities for bullets in the 130 grain range from about 250 to 300 feet per second.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PW3L7m6k5I

The 6.5 doesn’t have the reputation of having especially good barrel life as it is, so I can’t imagine that shooting a lot of the +Peak rounds wouldn’t be worse. But for limited use when the extra velocity and energy would be desirable, this is interesting, and I can only wonder what it portends for the future of other cartridge loadings. I will be trying some myself when it becomes generally available.

Some more of my thoughts about higher pressures, velocities, and barrel life in this thread:

https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...0601935/m/2180029025

quote:

The 6.5 doesn’t have the reputation of having especially good barrel life as it is ...

Why? We normally associate fast barrel wear with very high velocity and/or "overbore" cartridges, and this is neither.

Good question.
But my original answer was not based on personal experience and therefore could have been disturbing to some members.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sigfreund,

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:

quote:

The 6.5 doesn’t have the reputation of having especially good barrel life as it is ...

Why? We normally associate fast barrel wear with very high velocity and/or "overbore" cartridges, and this is neither.

Sigfreund's response is spot on.

My experience is based on quality SS barrels, used in precision competition & training. Strings of 5 to 15 rounds can be shot in short order on a given stage, and on hot days the barrel may not cool down all that much between stages. Accuracy requirements are definitely sub-MOA -- out to many hundreds of yards, every shot, every string, every day. It's a level of accuracy that not every shooter needs or wants. This means that the precision competitor will retire barrels sooner than most shooters.

I've retired two SS Bartlein 6.5CM barrels, using factory ammo. The first was at 3,236 rounds. It started acting up in a PRS-type match, with targets out to 1,000 yards. I experienced a number of unexplained low impacts from 600-1000 yards, with general accuracy not up to expected standards. My 'smith said the barrel had a badly eroded throat, with a jump to the lands of over 1 inch. The barrel still shot sub-MOA at 100 yards -- which really surprised my 'smith.

I pulled the second barrel at 2,924 rounds. Muzzle velocity was slowly dropping. Accuracy was still good, but my next match was an ELR event, with targets out to a mile. I didn't want a barrel that was long in the tooth shitting the bed in the middle of a big competition.

I've been around a bunch of competitors with 6.5x47, 6.5CM, and .260 Remy rifles. They pulled barrels at similar round counts. Now Joe Public Range Shooter might decide that something is wonky with a 6.5's accuracy at 5k or 6k rounds, but the instances of such a shooter ever shooting that many rounds down one rifle are about as likely as my dating a supermodel. In other words, just about the only people retiring barrels due to reduced accuracy are competitors in precision events.

I have a .308 Win SS Bartlein that's currently at 6,890 rounds. I honestly thought it would go tits up at around 6k rounds. The barrel has lost a touch of MV, and its accuracy has deteriorated slightly with Hornady ELD-M ammo. But it still shoots sub-MOA with FGGM 175 and Hornady 168 Amax -- loads that generally tolerate a big jump to the lands. The barrel might shoot about the same for another 1k or 2k rounds, or it might shit the bed on the next day out. My 'smith really wants to inspect the barrel when I retire it, because he's never swapped out a competitor's shot-out 308 barrel. FWIW, FTR guys might pull a 308 barrel at 4k to 5k rounds, but they shoot hot loads -- sometimes approaching the MV of a 300WM from a long-barreled 308.

Going down in bore size from the 308-ish case, 6CM and 6x47 competitors can expect their barrels to last about 1800-2000 rounds. Maybe less. The less hot 6 Dasher, 6 BRA, 6 BRX, 6 GT chamberings might be good in competition out to 2400-2700 rounds. Maybe about the same with the 25 Creedmoor. The "lowly" and ridiculously accurate 6 BR generally shoots well into the 3000+ round ballpark. The 6 BR case is pretty small.

The post mildly piqued my interest because I own a Savage 110 in this cartridge. But it's not going to see 2-3000 rounds in my lifetime. One thousand, maybe.