Perfectly Balanced Deer Cartridge OBSOLETE

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Who is Ron Spomer
For 44 years I’ve had the good fortune to photograph and write about my passion – the outdoor life. Wild creatures and wild places have always stirred me – from the first flushing pheasant that frightened me out of my socks in grandpa’s cornfield to the last whitetail that dismissed me with a wag of its tail. In my attempts to connect with this natural wonder, to become an integral part of our ecosystem and capture a bit of its mystery, I’ve photographed, hiked, hunted, birded, and fished across much of this planet. I've seen the beauty that everyone should see, survived adventures that everyone should experience. I may not have climbed the highest mountains, canoed the wildest rivers, caught the largest fish or shot the biggest bucks, but I’ve tried. Perhaps you have, too. And that’s the essential thing. Being out there, an active participant in our outdoor world.

Produced by: @red11media

Welcome to the RSO Podcast! In this episode, I read an article I wrote about an amazing pronghorn hunt I went on in Colorado.

Links:

Who is Ron Spomer
For 44 years I’ve had the good fortune to photograph and write about my passion – the outdoor life. Wild creatures and wild places have always stirred me – from the first flushing pheasant that frightened me out of my socks in grandpa’s cornfield to the last whitetail that dismissed me with a wag of its tail. In my attempts to connect with this natural wonder, to become an integral part of our ecosystem and capture a bit of its mystery, I’ve photographed, hiked, hunted, birded, and fished across much of this planet. I've seen the beauty that everyone should see, survived adventures that everyone should experience. I may not have climbed the highest mountains, canoed the wildest rivers, caught the largest fish or shot the biggest bucks, but I’ve tried. Perhaps you have, too. And that’s the essential thing. Being out there, an active participant in our outdoor world.

Produced by: @red11media

Disclaimer
All loading, handloading, gunsmithing, shooting and associated activities and demonstrations depicted in our videos are conducted by trained, certified, professional gun handlers, instructors, and shooters for instructional and entertainment purposes only with emphasis on safety and responsible gun handling. Always check at least 3 industry handloading manuals for handloading data, 2 or 3 online ballistic calculators for ballistic data. Do not modify any cartridge or firearm beyond what the manufacturer recommends. Do not attempt to duplicate, mimic, or replicate anything you see in our videos. Firearms, ammunition, and constituent parts can be extremely dangerous if not used safely.

[dagfinnster]

In Europe, and especially in Scandinavia, the 6.5x55 is still very much alive and kicking. It was introduced as the common Norwegian/ Swedish military calibre in the early 1890s. Today it is widely used in competitive target and field shooting, long range shooting, as well as hunting. including moose!
IMHO, the 260Rem, 6.5 CM, et al, is just reinventing the wheel, assisted by a massive marketing spin.

[georgemcarthur]

Speaking of obsolete cartridges. The old 348 Winchester would be a great show!

[tunnelrabbit]

Love my 6.5x55 that is nearly 130 years old. In a modern chamber, it will out perform 6.5CM, and .260 Remington. The Sweds call the 6.5CM, the 6.5 Cost More.

[ralphgreenjr.]

The last years I worked at Camp Perry I was introduced to the 6.5-284 by the long range shooting community. I had a chance to shoot it on the CP ranges and was hooked. I had a new Tikka 30-06 that I had rebarreled by E.R. Shaw to 6.5-284 Norma. The rifle was put together by Ken Cary, Whitetail gunsmithing in Loudonville, Ohio. I used the longer action so I could have a long throat and seat the bullets out farther than the 6.5-284 Winchester on a short action. I shoot Burger 140 gr VLD hunting bullets. At 200 yards, if I am having a good day, it will put 5 rounds in a quarter off of a bench rest. The 6.5 bullets are a killer. Ron thanks for reviving one of my favorite hunting cartridges!

[markr]

Ron, you have the best click bait, rather than being frustrated and feeling ripped off like most Clickbait. Your's are fun, interesting. educational and abound with historical significance! They are great, keep them coming!!

[bobjones-btbh]

one of the best firearms related channels in existence...Ron Spomor is a true legend and just a joy to listen to speak on these matters. no cuts every second or two...the man can speak and articulate. ideal presentations

[ronbates]

All the ballistics are interesting to mind blowing. Back in the early 60s I did not own a centerfire rifle but I had some interest in owning one, I was doing a lot of reloading for my 357 Colt revolver using Herter ( remember them, the best there is? ) bullets and using the Herter Reloading Manual which had a lot of information and stories and not so much reloading information. At any rate I was looking for the best rifle cartridge and read and compared until I damn near wore out the book. The conclusion was the 280 Remington. I was in the Army at the time using the M 1 Garand, 30-06 and receved orders for Germany where we receivd the new M 14 in 7.62x54 and frankly, I loved it. Returning to the US a retired Sgt I had worked for living in Montana, had bought a used Remington pump in 308 and did I want it with a cheap scope for the $60.00 he paid for it with me in mind. Yes and I never thought about the 280 much again. The collection grew and reloading was the next venture. I have said all this and doing little deer hunting I used to ask myslf, can a deer tell the difference in being shot with a 30-30, 308, 30-06 or most any other decent center fire or is all this just hype to sell guns and ammunition. Usng that Remington, my Cpt and I shot hundreds of ground squirrels with military ball ammo with the tip removed, which I had almost unlimited access to. and it was devastating. I eventually picked up a couple 243 for the squirresl but my question remains, can a deer, moose or other tell the difference in the caliber used to kill it? or is it hype for commercial use which is my belief..

[BLINDDOGG]

The old 264 WM
65+ years and still kickin

[oncall]

Great video Ron. I think many folk still have a spot for the 6.5 Swede. It may not be as fast or compact. However their are still a lot of Swedish Mauser M-96 and M-38 sporterized rifles still hanging around taking game up to Moose in Sweden and in use in other countries for deer size game. Plus the fact that it is still a factory chambering in many rifles such as Tikka, etc means that it's not going anywhere fast. Thanks for sharing!

[Accuracyst]

I'm thrilled the CM and PRC are so popular. I've found no shortage of Lapua 6.5-294 brass! I do handload and I've tagged out on many deer with it. Love it so much I'm about to have another one built. I'm not on the CM or PRC wagon as of yet. Simply no need considering what the 6.5-284 will do

[NavyAirframer]

Had it at 2:16, dang it Ron first the 257 Roberts and now the 6.5-284! You are hitting all my favorites!

[markhansen]

I have a 6.5 but it is 260 rem. It is a Ruger Hawkeye SS action with Shilen SS match grade barrel 1-9 twist 24" long and Timney trigger. Shoots awesome. It is a very good deer caliber rifle. I usually run 140 grain bullets in it. I chronographed it at about 2760 fps.
I thought you might be talking about the 260 rem.

[douglascramer]

When I was in gunsmithing school, I built a lightweight plains/mountain rifle in 6.5–284 Norma. The rifle was based on an M-48 Mauser action and Shilen barrel. Great antelope cartridge and will handle elk and deer, too!

[zachbinkley]

I have a 6.5Norma. Love it. I started with a Savage Long Range hunter and got around 1500 rounds out it. Put a McGowan barrel on it and save it for hunting now. I have taken tons of deer antelope and a few elk with it. It's all around a great round and if you look real hard you can find factory ammo

[stephenland]

I have a M-38 made by Husqvarna. When I acquired it, the stock had been refinished, nicely sanded and a varnish applied. The wood was all still there. It had also had a scope mounted so the receiver had been drilled and tapped. All and all, a reasonable sporterizing job well done. It proved to be quite accurate and recoil was mild. I'd read that this cartridge, the 6.5x55mm, was used in Scandinavia for moose (which they call 'elk'). It's the same species as our moose so I figured that this rifle was adequate for moose hunting in north central BC.

I went with the Hornady 160 gr. round nose for a bullet. It doesn't have much for a ballistic coefficient but it does have excellent sectional density for deep penetration. Shots on moose around here rarely exceed 200 yards and are often around 100 yards so ballistic coefficient is meaningless in this situation. One well placed shot was all I ever needed.

[zeljkoblazevic]

Hi Ron, did you ever consider doing a video on 8x57 Mauser? It is a great round and powerfull to take out everything on the planet

[jeremymcauliff]

6.5-.284 was one of those calibers that always had my attention. At the time, they were known for being barrel burners. 800-1000 rounds was all one could expect for good accuracy. Of course you could set the barrel back and chase the lands but this usually meant tweaking your load data to accommodate the change in barrel length. About 5 years ago I ended up buying a 6.5 CM. It's a slower round, but barrel life is easily 3-4x longer. If I were covering bean fields or shooting 500+ yards with regularity, the 6.5-284 Norma might be worth it. For my standard 250-300 yard shots, the 6.5 CM does the job without issue.

[jeffbrewbaker]

I've had a 260 Rem since 1999 in a Model 7, 20.5" bbl. Works great out to 350 yards on deer and pronghorn. Only 6.5 I really need, but I did recently get a 6.5 Grendel AR. Very sweet!

[lindellcenter]

Ron for 30 years I have been a fan of the 6.5 diameter bullet, my favorite cartridge is the 6.5-55 swede. There is another 6.5 wild cat the 6.5-06 my cousin built one in the mid 60s, I really enjoy your videos keep them coming.

[brinkee]

I had the parent case. A .284 in a Savage Model 99. That was one of my favorite rifles at the time as it was super accurate as most Savages are. I always liked things that were a little different. It took several deer, a bear and a moose. It also tore up some toilets, water heaters, counter tops and what ever else we dragged out to shoot at. The 6.5-284 can really reach out and touch deer. It will take deer and pronghorn out to 1000 yards