Looking at a Cooper rifle. I have my choice of calibers. They will both be ready for shipment sometime in July. I had ordered a 6.5x284. My local dealer called & said he had a guy back out on buying a 6mmx284. He said both rifles should be ready at the same time & I can take my pick?
Both rifles should look the same. We ordered them at the same time with the same features.

What caliber/rifle would you pick & why?

Agood friend of mine had a custom 6x284 that he used for shooting at 1000yds and he had to say, although the gun shot very well it burned the barrel out in less than 1000 rounds. Should he have to do it over he would have went with the 6.5 instead of the 6mm. Now when I say he used the barrel up, I'm talking at shooting for accuracy at a 1000, it still would shoot fair enough for hunting purposes.
Polack

Thank you for your feedback polack. I should state that I am only going to use this rifle for Antelope & deer hunting.
Keep the information flowing guys.

I'd probably go with the 6.5 also. The 284 case holds a heck of a lot of powder for the small 6mm bore.

That would make a great antelope and deer round. A 100 grain partition at 3200+ fps would be deadly on deer size animals.

Go with the 6.5mm...it is a better all-around cartridge and is even better at long range due to the long, stable bullets available in the .264 cal.

Wolfkiller, I have a 6mm/284 and a wildcat 6.5 that slightly exceeds the 6.5/284 and both have there merits. Since you stated that you'll be using it on deer and lopes the 6.5 would be the ticket. The bullet weights jump up quite a bit in the .264's which will give you a little more energy down range. Another thing is that good 6.5 brass is available and it would'nt require the necking down process to .243. It really isnt no biggie, I have been forming regular 284 Win brass down to 6mm for years, it just takes more time.

Regardless of what caliber you pick, great bullets are available for both, my 6mm loves the now discontinued Barnes 75 X , 95 grain Ballistic Tip, 95 gr Partition while the 6.5 shoots all weights well... 95 gr V-Max, 107 gr MK, 120 gr Barnes X, 120 gr Ballistic Tip, 140 & 142 gr MK. The heavier bullets in .264 caliber are quite long and will take up powder space if they have to be seated deeply to fit in a magazine of a repeater....just a note for the stubby 284 case on a short action.

To some it up, if a person was going to hunt varmints more that antelope and deer the 6mm-284 is a great choice, while the 6.5-284 gets the nod if the bigger game is the quarry. Both can be and are good long range choices.



doubleA

Thanks for the help guys. After reading your posts I have decided to stick with my first choice. I will be getting my new 6.5x284 sometime in July.

Good choice!!!

Unless you are target or varmint shooter who will burn out a barrel quickly, the choice is determined by how big a critter you pln to shoot with it. If nothing larger than a deer, then the 6mm will handle big enough bullets for the job. But if you plan to go to shooting elk, etc., then get the 6.5 so you can shoot 140 and 160-grain bullets when required.

I have 6mm/284. But would probably like it better IF it was a 6.5mm.