SmallCaliberCentral

I"m sending my Cooper M21V in .221 Fireball back to the factory to have it rebarreled. I've already got two .20vTs and am considering having it done in either 6X45 or 6X47, and leaning towards the latter. Could anyone give me some feedback on this issue, and perhaps point me towards more information? Many thanks. George

Purely from a brass availability viewpoint, the 6x45 shines pretty bright. It would be hard to pass up all that good .223 stuff lying around, there isn't enough difference in performance to go thru all the PITA of finding good .222 Mag brass for necking up. That's just my view, limited though it is......

I'm using Rem 222 RM brass and have no issues with getting it to clean up or with longevity. I guess you could use 204 brass if you really wanted to, esp as the 'smith could allow for the fact that it would be a bit shorter than normal. I really like my 6*47....definitely the go to gun in my safe.

Magazine feed from a Remington action will be an issue, as the loaded rounds are longer than the 'short' magazine allows. A smith should be readily able to correct that for you.

jb747, I am having a 6x47 built right now. It will have a Stiller Precision Short action, 22" #4 Krieger S/S barrel, Timney Trigger, Boyd's Laminate Thumbhole in Desert Camo Stock and topped with a Nightforce 3.5-15x50. I was curious about your post about feeding problems, could you explain further?

Originally I was going with the 6x45 for brass reasons but several Knowledgeable folks told me that I would wear out the barrel before I ran out of brass and that the 222 RM brass was going to be around for quite a while.

augnmike wrote:jb747, I am having a 6x47 built right now. It will have a Stiller Precision Short action, 22" #4 Krieger S/S barrel, Timney Trigger, Boyd's Laminate Thumbhole in Desert Camo Stock and topped with a Nightforce 3.5-15x50. I was curious about your post about feeding problems, could you explain further?

That's a nice sounding rifle. I've also got the 'smith working on a Stiller for me. A Predator, in an HS stock, Jewel trigger, Williams metal, and fluted Lilja barrels, one 6*47 Lapua and the other 6.5*47 Lapua. Not really a switchbarrel, just a spare...

Originally I was going with the 6x45 for brass reasons but several Knowledgeable folks told me that I would wear out the barrel before I ran out of brass and that the 222 RM brass was going to be around for quite a while.

As I said in the other thread, I don't think brass is an issue. My Rem 222 based brass cleaned up nicely, and I'm not having any problems with it. I've also got some Sako brass, and there is no difference on the paper. Given the really nice quality 204 brass that is around, I think you have plenty of options.

The magazine issue is simple. A Remington 223 magazine has a blank at the rear which reduces its max length to something like 2.3" (don't hold me to that, I'm 4000 miles from home at the moment). But, my 6*47 rounds have lengths as long as 2.53", so they wouldn't even fit into the mag. Initially I though that removing the blank, and lengthening the follower would be a simple solution, but it didn't work as well as planned. In the end, we went with a thinner blank and a modded follower.

I think you'll be very impressed with the round. I initially found it a little finicky to load for, but once I'd played with a few powders and bullets, it really dialled in. A 70 gr Sierra BK at 3100 fps goes a long way, and has accounted for many a rabbit and fox.