Check Out our Varmint Load Data
The 6mm BR, using a .272"-.274" no-turn neck, is an outstanding varmint cartridge. Lapua brass is so uniform it requires almost zero case prep, and shoots great right out of the box. You don't need to spend months on load development, and a wide variety of good bullets are available. H4895 and Varget work well, but you'll have good luck with nearly any case-filling powder with a similar burn rate. hunting varmint rifle varminting varmint gun varminter
For $1200, using a trued Rem 700 action and a $250 Shilen stainless select match barrel, you can put together a wickedly accurate varmint rifle that delivers quarter-moa accuracy. With 75gr V-Maxs and a standard 6BR case filled with Varget, expect velocities approaching 3350fps. That's enough to knock the stuffing out of the biggest 'chuck. The 75gr V-Max is a great bullet that can work in a 1:12 barrel, or even a 1:13 if you drive it fast. Low-cost, but very accurate.
"The 6mmBR has a lot going for it--while it is not the fastest 6mm cartridge it is fast enough and very efficient. You can push a 55 grain Ballistic Tip 3800 fps. That is as fast or faster than a 22-250 shooting the same grain bullet and you have a higher ballistic coefficient. Where I think the BR really shines is when using 65-75 grain bullets. Good velocity, good wind cheating, low recoil, little powder use, easy on the barrel and inherently accurate. What more could a varmint hunter wish for?" -- Mike Delbo
"There's plenty of retained energy down range for spectacular effects with the 20s. But I will be the first to admit that hitting them with a 6mm 70 grain Ballistic Tip going at around 3700 fps is hard to beat in terms of air time and splat effect." -- Warren B ("Fireball")
The 6mm BR case also has enough capacity to drive the longer varmint bullets, such as the excellent 87gr V-max, to 3000+ fps speeds. With a decent BC (.400), this is a varmint bullet that performs well even in windy conditions, when launched from a 1:10 or faster barrel. Berger's 80gr MEF (.314 BC) is another excellent, very accurate bullet for medium range varminting. It works great in either 1:10 or 1:12 twist.
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The 6BR shoots so well with minimal case prep, that we know varminters who crank out hundreds of rounds on a progressive press for extended varminting vacations. Just don't push the pressure limits, because high summer Dog Town temperatures can over-pressurize loads that seemed fine during a cool springtime bench session.
For varmint guns that will be shot prone as well as from a shooting bench, we like medium-weight wood stocks with some drop in the toe. Thumbholes are very comfortable when shooting from the ground or a vehicle. Out favorite varmint stocks are Richard's Custom Rifles' 005 Thumbhole Varminter (detail photo) and Bill Shehane's "Baby Tracker". Shehane also offers an excellent drop-in "Varmint Benchrest" stock for Rem and Savage actions. It combines a Tracker style fore-end with a more conventional grip and buttstock.
Here's Richard's 005 in beautifully figured Fiddleback Walnut laminate, and a Nesika-actioned 6mm BR "Baby Tracker" in Rutland Fall Camo Laminate (below):
The McMillan and HS Precision Tactical stocks also work well, expecially when employed with a bipod. Here is a
Mike Bryant-built 6BR Rem 700 in an HS Precision Stock.
Yes, that's a 5-shot group at 100yds (
target detail). That kind of accuracy will make your next varmint hunting session more productive. Greater inherent accuracy equals more first-shot hits, and less ammo expended over the course of the day. Combine that with long barrel life (6BRs aren't "barrel-burners" like .243 Ackleys), and you have a winning combination.
Copyright ? 2006, 6mmBR.com, All Rights Reserved. No reproduction without advanced permission in writing.
| Rich & Roy's 1005-Yard Groundhog Adventure |
In September 2008, Gunsmith Richard Franklin and his shooting partner Roy both achieved a varmint hunter's dream -- nailing a groundhog at 1000+ yards. The guns that did it were two of Richard's 300 Varminters. These are 300 WSMs that push a 125gr bullet through 32", 15-twist barrels to achieve velocities approaching 4000 fps.
The 1005-Yard Groundhog Adventure, by Richard Franklin
September 20th found Roy and I on our last groundhog hunt of the year. Bow season for Deer begins Oct. 4th and we wanted time to ready ourselves. Roy had killed 99 hogs so far this year and I had killed 97. In the morning, we headed over to the Overstreet farm leased by our good friend Richard Ruff. We set up the shooting trailer on top of a hill where we had a good view of several brush piles around the pasture. In the first ten minutes Roy put a hog in the air about four feet at 497 yards with his 300 Varminter, giving Roy an even 100 hogs for the year. I shot hogs at 180 yards, 506 yards, and 456 yards. That gave me a total of 100 for the year.
Then we decided to go up to Danny's and Bill's hard rock dairy farm. We set up on the top of a high hill and shoot over the farm buildings to another mountain where there is a huge pasture with large rock piles. We scanned this pasture for about an hour and a half. Roy has a pair of Ziess 8-power binocs and I use a pair of the Leica 10-power Geovids with built-in laser rangefinder. I also have a "Big Eyes" set-up -- two 22-power Kowa spotting scopes mounted on a bracket and used on a sturdy tripod. After some time searching the field for hogs and seeing none, we decided to pack up and go to a farm owned by Donnie Campbell. Over the years we have shot many a hog here. Roy once shot one here at 905 yards and my longest shot on this farm was 714 yards. Most kills here are made at over 400 yards. There's a perfect place to shoot hogs from a single firing position. At the back property line was a big hill about 400 feet higher than the surrounding pastures and we could see and shoot about 200 degrees around us all the way out to 1,200 yards.
Setting Up the 1005-yard Shot
I had the first shot and nailed an easy one at about 140 yards. He was thinking he was hidden from view. Wrong! BLAM...POOF. Roy nailed a hog at 469 yards under an old pear tree. Roy nailed another hog at 522 yards by a big log pile where we had killed about ten hogs this summer. Roy was looking through the Big Eyes and called out, "Hey Rich...I got you one way over there on the next farm by the edge of the woods." I ranged the hog with the Geovids four times, registering 1003, 1007, 1006 and 1005 yards. I decided on the 1005 as the distance. Checking my chart, I clicked up to 18 and 1/4 minutes.
Hot Damn, What a Shot!
We had a very stiff wind blowing left to right. I have a Nightforce 8-32 power scope with the MLR reticle. I held the fourth windage dot and touched one off. I see the bullet strike nearly in line with the hog but low. I click up another minute and a half making a total of 19 3/4 minutes. Roy is watching all this through the Big Eyes and can see better than I can. He confirms where the first bullet strike was. I hold the same windage and touch off another round in my Bat-actioned, 32", 15-twist Bartlein-barreled 300 Varminter. The hog was standing up for this shot. Through the scope I see the bullet's vapor trail going straight for the hog. I lost the vapor trail before the bullet got there but I saw the hog flip over.
Hot damn, what a shot! After Roy shakes my hand and slaps me on the back, I walk over to the Big Eyes for a better look. "Roy, there's another hog trying to fight that dead one," I say. This hog (evidently both are males) is biting and dragging the dead hog. He is really going at it. Both hogs were evidently eating fallen acorns from the huge White Oak tree at the edge of the woods.
Roy Gets His Chance
I tell Roy, "Get up there on your bench and try that hog, I'll spot for you." Roy clicks up to 19 1/2 minutes and holds three feet for windage. Roy lets it go and I see the vapor trail going in on the hog. It hits a foot to the right and low. "Hey Roy", I say, "click up two more minutes and hold one more foot of wind." The hog ran in under the tree at the bullet's impact but was back within 30 seconds. Roy is now clicked up and lets the second round go. I see the vapor trail dropping in on the hog but the bullet impacts dead in line, but still a bit low. "Roy -- give it another minute and a half and hold the same wind". I can hear Roy furiously working the bolt and chambering another round, then POW, and I see the vapor trail again. It looks like it's gonna be in the middle of the hog but it drops right in under his neck, nearly hitting him. The hog vacates back under the tree for an instant but decides he is winning the fight against the dead hog and comes right back. Roy lets the fourth round go with the same hold as the last shot. I see the vapor trail of the 125 grain Ballistic Tip dropping right in on the hog, catching him perfectly in the shoulder. The live hog flips up and falls on top of the dead hog, his tail coming up stiff as a poker as he flags us that he is instantly dead.
Two 1000+ Yard Hits. A Record for Roy, Near-Record for Richard.
This was Roy's longest shot ever. His previous record was 905 yards. This was my second longest shot, as I had killed a hog at 1018 yards seven years ago about 40 miles from this spot. I tell Roy that I'm putting up my hog rifle for the year. I'll let this long shot register in my memory as the last Groundhog kill of 2008. Roy says "That's fine, I'm gonna do the same." Hog hunting is officially over for 2008. Now it's time for Deer.
CLICK HERE to Visit Richard Franklin's website and learn more about this 'Hog hunt.
[Editor's Note: Richard's rifle has a BAT action and is able to drive the 125 Nosler at about 3975 fps. Roy has a Remington action on his 300 Varminter. The Rem doesn't take high pressures as well as the BAT, so Roy's load is down-loaded to about 3825 fps. Roy also uses a "boosted" Leupold rather than a Nightforce. Because of the difference in scopes, and the lower velocity, Roy needed more elevation clicks to reach the 1005-yard distance.]
