Despite American’s belated 6.5mm craze (Europe embraced 6.5mm cartridges as early as 1890) – including AR-chambered 6.5 Grendel, gun-media darling 6.5 Creedmoor and now Hornady and Nosler’s hot rod 6.5 PRC and 26 Nosler, to name the most obvious – a 6.5mm-06 seems all but inevitable. Yet the 6.5-06 predates all modern .264-caliber rounds by a significant margin. Its origins date back to 1913, via Charles Newton’s .256 Newton (a true 6.5mm, despite the confusing numbers). Newton’s cartridge varied only slightly from the wildcat 6.5-06 we know today, the first commercially-produced U.S. 6.5mm/.264-caliber round, chambered in Newton rifles, which went out of production in the early 1920s. Factory ammunition produced by Western Cartridge Company was discontinued by 1938, transforming a commercial cartridge into a wildcat.

It was only natural someone would neck down the venerable .30-06 Springfield to accept ballistically-talented 6.5mm bullets. This created a deadly-effective and highly-efficient hunting cartridge. Sitting firmly between the .25-06 Remington and .270 Winchester, the 6.5-06 handily outperforms both, while also offering a wider array of bullet options. Despite more recent developments like the 1959 .264 Winchester Magnum and 1966 6.5mm Remington Magnum (both cartridges with fading popularity) – and of course the “end-all-be-all” 2008 6.5mm Creedmoor – the old 6.5-06 remains highly relevant, mirroring the performance of the newly-popular 6.5-284 Norma.

The 6.5-06, sometimes labeled as “6.5-06 A-Square,” is only slightly less powerful than the .264 Winchester Magnum, a cartridge viewed as a laser beam in my youth. It also proves to be much less destructive on barrels over the long haul. With 90-100 grain bullets the 6.5-06 serves well as a long-range/windy-day varmint cartridge, 120-130-grain bullets serving well for pronghorn- to deer-sized game, while standard bullets up to 140 grains and long-range 6.5mm bullets like Berger’s new 156-grain Extreme Outer Limits (EOL) Elite Hunter offer effective elk options.

Brass for the 6.5-06 is easily created by running well-lubed .25-06 Remington, .270 Winchester, .280 Remington or .30-06 Springfield hulls through standard resizing dies and performing necessary trimming (trim-to-length specifications 2.494 inches). Properly headstamped brass is available from Quality Cartridge and was used in my testing. Ten randomly pulled Quality Cartridge cases showed an extreme weight deviation of about 3.5 grains – lower than many big-name makers. A recommended overall loaded length of 3.34 inches functions neatly in standard 06-length long actions and the cartridge is popular enough that dies are offered by most major manufacturers. A new RCBS full-length die set and CCI 200 Large Rifle primers were used for all accompanying loads.

Bullets varying from 107 to 156 grains were chosen to represent the 6.5-06’s wide-ranging capabilities (no 90-95-grain bullets were available before press time), from burrowing rodents to elk and long-range steel. Every effort was made to sample as many newer powders as possible, including examples from Hodgdon, IMR, Vihtavuori, Alliant, Norma and Western Powders.

The rifle used for testing was built by Ron Soderquist of Cherokee Firearms Repair in Spanaway, Washington. It is based on a commercial Mauser action (or at least it lacks the side stripper-clip thumb detent of many military Mausers) and fitted with an E.R. Shaw barrel measuring 24 inches long and .90 inch at the muzzle. The rifle includes a crisp Timney Trigger. The stock is a custom job carved from dense curly maple, contrasting maple panels added to create a wide forend that adds stability atop a rest. The barrel was threaded to hold a Precision Hardcore Gear Slotted Hybrid Brake, which combined with the rifle’s 12-pound mass reduces recoil to a varmint rifle push. The rifle’s Vortex Viper 6-24x 50mm scope is set in steel Talley rings atop two-piece Weaver bases.

The 107-grain Tipped MatchKing from Sierra offers a mild-recoiling, long-range option with a solid ballistic coefficient of .445. I’ve used similar weight TMKs in 6mm cartridges like the 6mm Remington with satisfying results on long-range rockchucks and prairie dogs, so I would expect the same from this version. These bullets were seated so the top of the boattail just reached the bottom of the case neck. From this 6.5-06 rifle, the most impressive results involved Accurate 4350. A charge of 53.5 grains pushed the 107 TMK to 3,100-plus fps and created a .53-inch group, 54.5 grains assembling a .31-inch group at about 3,150 fps – with an extreme velocity spread of only 40 fps. Worth noting, a 48-grain charge of Alliant Reloader 15 resulted in a .61-inch group around 3,100 fps with single-digit extreme velocity spread. Hodgdon’s H-1000 doing its best work (.88 inch at around 2,950 fps with single-digit extreme velocity spread) with 55.5 grains.

Nosler’s 120-grain Ballistic Tip Hunting – with excellent .458 ballistic coefficient – might represent an ideal fit for light-framed, thin-skinned big game such as pronghorn and deer taken at average ranges. I’ve used ballistic tips on everything from Northwest burrowing rodents to Southwest Coues’ whitetail deer with devastating effect. Again, this bullet was seated so the top of the boattail edge aligned with the case neck/shoulder junction. This bullet did fine work with Ramshot Hunter and Hodgdon H-4350, but proved surprisingly lackluster with faster Hodgdon H-4831SC, which produced groups measuring from around an inch to 1.5 inches. The best BTH group resulted from 49.5 grains of H-4350 (.35-inch at 3,000 fps, with 11 fps extreme velocity spread). H-4350 also produced a .50-inch group with 47.5 grains at about 2,900 fps. Ramshot Hunter did well with 50.5- (.43-inch at about 2,950) and 51.5-grain (.55-inch at almost 3,000 fps) charges.

The 130-grain Berger VLD Hunting gets us into true long-range territory, relinquishing an exceptional ballistic coefficient of .562 to flatten trajectories beyond average yardages and effectively minimize the effects of tricky crosswinds. The VLD, too, was seated so the top of the boattail reached the bottom of the neck, resulting in impressive groups with all powders it was paired with. With 47 grains of Accurate 2700 it printed a .52-inch group, 49 grains of VihtaVuori N-160 producing a .53-inch group and 50 grains of Alliant Reloader 23 an honest one-hole group (including single-digit extreme velocity spread to minimize long-range vertical stringing). All three loads listed clocked at around 2,900 fps. Reloader 23 groups measured less than an inch with all loads, including a .47-inch group with 51 grains at almost 2,950 fps, making it the top powder choice with this bullet.

Hornady’s spanking-new 135-grain A-Tip bullet is all about long-range precision, engineered with the aid of Doppler radar to be more tolerant of varied rifle twist rates and seating depths (listed loads seated to align the top edge of the boattail with the neck/shoulder junction). With an astounding ballistic coefficient of .637, a proprietary manufacturing process assuring unsurpassed consistency and a precision milled-aluminum tip to create dead-nuts-consistent BC bullet to bullet, this is a great choice for banging steel at extreme yardages. All loads tested resulted in five-shot/100-yards groups measuring less than an inch. Alliant Reloader 26 made a good showing with 57 grains, producing a .59-inch group at 3,174 fps; Norma MRP produced a .58-inch group at 3,148 fps; (all MRP loads produced single-digit extreme velocity spreads) and 56 grains of Vihtavouri N560 produced a .37-inch cluster at 3,148 fps, while also producing a single-digit extreme velocity spread.

Nosler’s 140-grain AccuBond is a rugged large-game bullet built with a tapered copper-alloy jacket and bonded lead core to assure high weight retention following deep penetration. It also sports a super .509 ballistic coefficient for dependable long-range performance. The AccuBond bullets I’ve tested from my .25-05 Remington have proven 1-hole-group capable. The best group with this bullet – .40 inch with single-digit extreme velocity spread—resulted from 44.5 grains of Alliant Reloader 16. IMR-7828ssc produced groups measuring less than an inch with all loads, the best .68 inch at 2,798 fps with 48.5 grains of powder.

 

Berger’s new 156-grain Extreme Outer Limits (EOL) Elite Hunter includes exceptional .679 (.347 G7) BC, those numbers combined with the extra weight promising a deep-driving, long-range payload. This bullet wasn’t originally included, as I believed my rifle’s 1:10-inch rifling twist wouldn’t impart adequate stabilization for this spear-like projectile (Berger recommends 1:8-inch rifling twist). But while waiting on straggler bullets to arrive I loaded five test loads (52 grains VihtaVuori N-560 at about 2,800 fps) to confirm the keyholes I expected to result. Surprisingly, those loads not only punched round holes but produced a sub-1-inch group. Alliant Reloader 26 and Norma MRP powders were added. A charge of 52.5 grains Reloader 26 produced the best group, .65 inch at about 2,900 fps and with low extreme velocity spread; 53.5 grains a slightly larger group with single-digit extreme velocity spread. Norma MRP produced average groups hovering around an inch, the best measuring .76-inch at 2,889 with 52.5 grains of powder. I’d wager stabilization issues would arise with my slow twist-rate rifling at elevations below the 3,200 feet above sea level mark these loads were tested.

The 6.5mm-06 is an undeniably talented cartridge largely neglected by modern shooters. Yet it more than holds its own against or exceeds the performance of many of today’s more popular 6.5-bores, while proving highly efficient and capable of producing single-digit extreme-velocity spreads that minimize vertical stringing at extreme ranges. It really deserves more respect, and would prove a worthwhile custom rifle choice, despite its 107-year-old pedigree.