Tas,

 Your thought processes appear to be working here, altho in a very low gear range.

1. We will no longer mention Lee Loaders and Custom rifles in the same sentence for obvious reasons. If the reasons are not obvious you need to abandon this project and spend your money on video games or a skate board.

2. 284 brass is everywhere and has always been available. It is a very strong case design. Case capacity equals 3006/270 etc. Altho the case length is short, long bullets (6.5) seated properly, not crammed down past the neck, make the overall loaded length more than a REM 700 SHORT ACTION can handle. Rob's advise is dead on regarding the 'other' action. Either of those will work fine.

3. 'o6 based wildcats generally feed slicker than .284 based rounds. My experience.

4. I have forgotten what I intended to say about Kmart... The idea is gone into thin air PFFFFF! just like that. It may happen to you some day too.

5. Listen to Dakota, at least when he is talking about involving the kids. If they are not part of about 90% of the things you spend time doing then you are making a huge mistake. If you don't own any children go out and get a couple. They are every where and somebody who is too busy or selfish to devote time to their own will loan them out. If you already have some running around cut your on line time by 50% and figure out something else to do with them. You'll need to leave the Custom Rifle to one of 'em and need to know which one.

max

hey now!

lee is alright, the problem is the people who refuse to see that! don't forget , the world's record which stood for MANY years was held by a rifle which used ammo loaded by a lee loader! in either case, there won't be one for this new rifle, so what you say is true. lee is out of the picture, unfortunately!

still need to think about 6.5/06 or .6.5-.284. my insticnt is to go with /06, but i suppose i owe it to this project to look hard at both options.

i haven't shopped at k-mart for 4 years. refuse to!

i got 4 rugrats, and try to involve them in everything. if they show an interest in anything, i do my best to encourage it. i've already cut my time on-line by about 90% (at home, at least!) and am reaping the benefits!

Earl wrote: ...Listen to Dakota...

that doesn't happen often, either online or at home!  and, it just might actually be a first for me!

anyway, i agree w/ what max is saying here, especially the first 3 words of item #5!

tas...when in doubt, go long action. you will have more flexibility w/ it. if you decide to go w/ a short, medium, or long cartridge, they'll all fit in the long action. not so the short... of course, if i went w/ a long action, i would strive to fill it up: 264 win mag... but no flies on the 6.5-06. if i wanted the short action to wring out the desireable traits of the short, 6.5-284.

now, about that lee loader... it may have held a record, i don't know... but, how long ago was that? what record? how many lee loaders are still in use w/ competitive shooters, or custom hunting rifles for that matter?

the decision to build a custom is an easy one to make. it is all the details that hamper the building process... first tough call is the chambering. next tough call is the barrel maker... then the 'smith, and, jeez... lots of things to agonize over. might as well buy an off the rack rifle and save the stress!

best of luck on your project. when in doubt, refer to item 5!

i don't have the book right in front of me, but the record held was for a thousand-yard competition, and i believe happened in the late 70's or early 80's, possibly as late as 1985 or so. anyway, it was a thousand yard competition, and the lee-loaded group was the clear winner. this record stood for many years.

as for my own experience, i found the lee loader to produce very consistent ammunition, which is important. i believe that if i would have been weighing my charges rather than relying on the scoop (which IS subject to minor variations which don't matter for hunting, but do for target shooting), the groups would have been even smaller. anyway, it was no worse than factory ammo, and a lot better than a lot of factory ammo. the advantage, of course, is choosing my own bullet vs. factory ammo choices. between that and the portability of the lee loader, i am happy with it!

bkcorris wrote: I still say a 6.5WSM Ron!!!

hehe...yet another excellent choice thrown into the fray.

so, tas... if we keep this up, we're sure to burn you out, and the very thought of a custom will make you sick!  

Tas,

QUICK!!! Go out into the back yard and palnt a few english walnuts. One or two of them are bound to come up and by the time you are finished with the surveys, polls and information gathering one of them should be ready for the sawmill. Your stock problems have just been solved. No need to thank me.

max

i say go with the long action and '06 based case. i am a subscriber to the KISS principle. that is why the '06 case sings to me as long as you are messing with a rem/win/sav/tikka/sako/weatherby/howa action. now then, it you decide to go with 98 mauser, then the 6.5x55 gets my vote. next in line would be 7x57, then 8x57. but what do i know? it's your money and you're the one paying for your chances. no stinkin' wildcats for me.

the short actions just don't carry right for me, nor look quite right; kinda sow-bellied. you gonna go custom, make it carry as well as it looks, 'cause you're gonna do more carrying and looking than you are shooting when it comes to hunting.

as for children, i do really like earl's take on the matter, not that you need any advice in that regard. i just like the way he said it.

oh yeah, ain't no thang wrong with no lee loader, either, as long as you use a scale instead of the little cup thingies for middlin'-to-hot loads.

                  6.5 WSM 

 Dang who brought that up.

Now wait just a dang second, I brought up the 6.5 WSM on Tas' original post a a couple weeks ago.  At least give me some of the credit .  I think a 6.5 WSM would be a kick-butt cartridge..... but not for Tas' project.  I think the 6.5-06 is the way to go.  As Tas said in his other post, something about the idea of it (6.5-06) screams "western hunting cartridge" to me....right now.  Course "right now" was a couple of days ago. 

Tas, how 'bout a 6.5-50 BMG!!!!

i think the long action is the way to go, which would mean the 6.5/06. for all the above reasons, plus a couple more.

i have access to a pattern for a long-action MRC stock. this consideration alone will save quite a bit.

another reason is that "western hunting cartridge" factor. no matter how you slice it, anything with "/06" in it's name is going to be a prime western hunting cartridge!

so, back to the project, i guess we'd better name this rifle. any ideas?

the 6.5 bsb montana?

the .264 bear paw?

the .264 bsb western?

6.59 turtle?

.266 montana?

any other ideas?

6.5 Turtle is a cute name, although it doesn't sound very impresive.  And besides, who wants to shoot anything cute.  Next thing you know KP would be calling this a popcorn fart or something. 

How 'bout 6.5 Gipper?

 THE WONDER GUN

 It will  be a wonder if the talking stops and the building ever begins. But then, that ain't all bad either.

 Don't name it after me. It will not work very often nor well, and will be mishappen as it ages, be unpredictable in it's performance, and be prone to accidental discharges.

 And a single shot.

max

damn, that was a good set, earl/max.

BK,

And so we are all transformed by life.

And my labido has never given me any problems. It has apparently dissapointed the LATE Mrs. Pressure from time to time, but i have not noticed any problems personally. And since I will observe 88 years of survival this year, I feel qualified, if not encouraged, to explain my point of view regarding such things. It is much like taking a trip in a nice car. You enjoy and look forward to the journey, the vehicle, and the company. After more than 50 years, altho a nice pleasant drive in the country would be nice, the trouble of trying to get the old clunker to turn over, mush less fire and not have something break down half way there, and the resultant stream of advice and criticism from the passenger who never understood a blasted thing about cars, trips, or driving, makes the entire effort too much trouble for the returns. And since it is way too late to trade, it is better to just stay home and read.

I would have retired Earl but have somehow disabled Max's ability to login. So Earl it is. He is very friendly and won't mind.

max

Thankyou. That is the PLAN. The LATE Mrs. Pressure estimated my age at about 7 yesterday. You are much closer. I think I have some Alcan Powder around here that is maybe in it's mid 60s tho. I saw the can awhile back anyways. It might still have powder in it.

max

Hell Earl, i have a can of Alcan powder too and i am just shy of 16! I inherited it though, so that maybe different

NH_Hunter

Only in America can gun powder be passed down, one generation to the next.Got any brass .410 shells lying around?????????