A hunting buddy of mine asked me about the availability of ammo for an old rifle he has. It's a 6.5 Rem. Mag., well I had never heard of this round before so I did some digging in older reloading manuals and found it. It seems this round was made from necked down 30/06 brass. My friend said he really likes this rifle, but needs to find some ammo for it. How does somebody go about creating brass for this round from 30/06 brass? Are there any good sources for older cartridge brass?

No... it does not use necked-down .30-06 brass. It is a very short belted magnum case, the only other thing that is close is the .350 Rem Mag (which Remington recently reintroduced in the Model 673) so you might look for that.

That's quite a lot of necking down if you go that route so I'd look at all the usual on-line reloading companies for 6.5 brass first (Midway, Lock Stock & Barrel, Graff's, Natchez, Mid-South, etc.).

Backing up what MikeG says, "Cartridges of the World", 9th edition, states the 6.5 Rem Mag was a necked down version of the .350 Rem Mag case. This cartridge was brought out in 1966 in the Remington Mod 600 carbine. Ruger was the only other manufacturer to chamber for this round. Currently, no one offers this chambering.

RCBS will still supply dies for this cartridge. Stepping down from 35 caliber to .264 will require careful stepping down in the neck reduction process, then trimming to length.

Had a 6.5RM build on a #3 action. Used a 27" barrel and a slightly long throat (so that 140gr. bullets would seat even to the case neck) so gained a bit of powder volume as well as the longer barrel. Idea was that I'd try it in 6.5RM and if I didn't like the results, would set it back and rechamber it to .264WM (wich is why that odd 27" barrel figure). Liked it just fine as it was and never changed it.

Better to find 6.5 brass. Have formed it from 7mm RM and 300WM, but it's a labor...mostly becasue the case is short enough taht the neck fo a formed 6.5RM case comes out at the thick part of a 7mag. case's sidewall. I reamed them, fire formed them, and then neck turned them after fire forming...considering the cost of the dies to form them, would look for the cases/loaded ammo.

I'm very impressed with the knowledge you guys have in this field. Thanks for the tips. After reading this I did find some loaded rounds from RTG Ammo, they will sell loaded rounds of 6.5 Rem. Mag. for $37.50. It sounds like it would be well worth it considering the work involved in trying to form cases. I do believe my friends rifle in this caliber is a Remington 600.

BigBlue...

The cartridge seems to still be in use down here in South Texas, I have a friend that reloads it for his 600. I tried to call him about the brass but he has left for the weekend deer opener.

A couple of things...

Try this fellow for brass dtraves@msn.com, he has found all types of brass for me. It might be expensive but it would save you the reforming steps and case life.

Lee still makes the 6.5 Rem. Mag. dies in the Limited Pacesetter series. They are $19.95 through Bose's Guns (402-695-2555.

Buy this off eBay today.... Lee Loader for the 6.5 Rem. Mag. (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3633909421&category=31826). These rare Loaders have assumed a cult following of collectors. They are fine thing to have in your pack on a extended hunt. A little powder, primers, and bullets in a ziplock might keep you in business one day.

Brass is out there...can usually find 6.5ammo pretty easily, but the going rate is (as you've fond) in the $36-$40 range. Factory ammo loaded with the short actioned Rem. 600 in mind, so it's a good choice in perfomance...reloaded ammo needs to be tailored to that length, which mean some care in selecting bullets. The object wasn't to beat 270balistics, was to match them from a short/light rifle...it does that. Is also loud.

Considering today's cult of short/fat mag. cases, seems like the 6.5MM should be due for a bit more attention.

I was able to find the unprimed brass at Graf + Sons. Inc. It does come dear, but at 41.99 per 100 they are still within reason. Thanks for directing me to a source. :D

If your friend has one, tell him to hold onto it!
The 6,5mm caliber has always been known for astounding penetration with heavy bullets in the 140-170gr. range.
For what I see, Remington issued a Short Magnum cartridge very much ahead of its time. The short magnum craze that is currently the norm says it all. Winchester has just announced a .243 WSM in its short magnum line along with its 7mm. and .270 and it is quite a long range performer. I wouldn't be surprised if some manufacturer followed suit with a 6,5mm.
The only difference is that the 6,5mm Remington Magnum is a belted case whereas the new short magnums line do without a belt.
P.

I own a 6.5 Remington Magnum that I inherited from my Dad. We used to deer hunt and I haven't even fired this gun for about 5 years. The rifle has been stored indoors in a special case that he had built for our two deer rifles. I also have two boxes of Reminington factory ammo that have never been used. In addition, I have 2 or 3 boxes of Remington cartridges that have been reloaded at least once. I also have the RCBS dies and bullets for this rifle. I am considering selling the entire package if anyone is interested. The rifle has a Leupold 3X9 scope. I live in the DFW area and I dont' want to ship the rifle. Thanks for your input.

Bill

The 6.5 RemMag has been reintroduced in the Remington M673 if you haven't seen it. Factory ammo will soon follow. Remington made some sense in bringing back this round instead of creating a 6.5 SAUM. Existing rifles will have a new ammo source. I really like to see the .350 and 6.5 back in action, cartridges ahead of their time in my opinion. This is a good, loyal to existing customer, move by Remington.

The 6.5 RemMag has been reintroduced in the Remington M673 if you haven't seen it. Factory ammo will soon follow. Remington made some sense in bringing back this round instead of creating a 6.5 SAUM. Existing rifles will have a new ammo source. I really like to see the .350 and 6.5 back in action, cartridges ahead of their time in my opinion. This is a good, loyal to existing customer, move by Remington.


I was reading these posts getting ready to say the same thing. I have the 673 in the .350 Rem mag and love it. Was trying to talk a friend of mine into buying the 6.5mm 'cause I know I'll end up trading him something for it down the road!!

-whizzum300-

You folks just made my day with that announcement.