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Post by AxeHandle on Feb 22, 2011 17:58:58 GMT -5
204 Ruger necked to 6.5. Barrel, dies, brass, and bullets in route. Planned for a Contender barrel for my G2 frame but there was an Encore barrel in stock. 13 inch heavy stainless barrel. Got a hope in the back of my head that recoil will be light enough for a rifle scope. I put a 12X Leupold on a 17 Mach IV Contender that turned out quite nice..
Pics and specs when it arrives!
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Post by waterboy on Feb 22, 2011 19:23:01 GMT -5
A teaser for you Axe! LOL. What is a sweetheart, and what won't be. I think you have rubbed it raw and I'm fearful to actually say 6.5 openly on there. It's just that for some reason our buddy has had repeated bad experiences with that diameter. Karma I guess. I too was a part of it with a re-done 6.5X55 that didn't sell till re-done to 6.5-284. Minor troubles continued still. In the end it worked. But was a sore memory. The 6.5 Raptor took a lot of urging. A hunting specific adaptation of an ill fated steel shooting round TC brought forth. So far it has been a slow seller in the lineup (which has a flavor for about everyone). A shame as I know how good it is and you will soon find.
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dmize
.401 Bobcat
Posts: 2,834
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Post by dmize on Feb 22, 2011 21:37:45 GMT -5
My God Axe. Is there a support group for T/C addicts?
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Post by AxeHandle on Feb 22, 2011 21:48:35 GMT -5
I think it is over on Graybeard... ;D ;D ;D
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dmize
.401 Bobcat
Posts: 2,834
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Post by dmize on Feb 22, 2011 22:19:36 GMT -5
im gonna stay the heck away from that page,have a Contender and an Encore frame in the gun safe and occasionally go to JD's website..JUST to look and wonder..
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Post by waterboy on Feb 22, 2011 22:44:20 GMT -5
LOL. Sometimes I find some I forgot I even had. It's like a little surprise Christmas!
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Post by Lee Martin on Feb 23, 2011 9:44:58 GMT -5
I like it Axe. So is there much difference between the Raptor and the old 6.5 TCU? -Lee www.singleactions.com
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Post by AxeHandle on Feb 23, 2011 9:52:22 GMT -5
Last count I had something over 30 different calibers for my TCs.. Mostly 10 inch bull barrels. No boxes no papers... Most bought from shooters as shooters. Wrapped in oil soaked rags and stacked in a sealed plastic bin. I think the only octagon is a 45 ACP barrel. Tripped over a pair of full blown Vern Juenke custom TCs and I was done.. Now there are quite a few Bullberry barrels. Do have the 6mm/6.5mm/7mm TCU family well represented. The TC classics like the 30/357 Herrett, 256WM, and 270 REN are there. Never did find a 257 TCU I could afford. These Reeder Raptors caught my eye early on. Did a good job resisting until I caught on to the 6.5 negativity and realized that the 6.5 Raptor could easily go away... I'll add the 240 and 257 Raptor to the set in time...
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Post by AxeHandle on Feb 23, 2011 9:55:40 GMT -5
Lets me get some hardware in hand and I'll post pics of the 6.5 TCU and Raptor case. I think over on Reeder's forum Scotty wrote that there was a 4-5 grain increase. Thats should be a pretty good increase for such a small case...
On Gary's web site he makes the statement:
"Our new Raptor cartridges are our newest Encore/Contender/G-2 cartridges. They are the 240 Raptor (.243), the 257 Raptor (.257) and the 6.5 Raptor (.264). The Raptors are based on the 204 Ruger brass. We chose the 204 case as it is readily available plus it has more case capacity than the 223. In the last year the Raptors have taken numerous deer size game out to 215 yards cleanly. The Raptors are very efficient and can shoot 75 and 85 grain bullets at 2600 fps, with no recoil. They are great long range deer cartridges."
Sounds like fun huh? ;D
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Post by zeus on Feb 23, 2011 21:18:36 GMT -5
I'm assuming that caliber can be had for the contender from the looks of the velocities and the parent case head size. I was under the impression that it was an Encore only cartridge until seeing those numbers. Should be a very mild recoiling round, I think you'll be fine with your scope...
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Post by AxeHandle on Feb 23, 2011 21:23:13 GMT -5
Yup it can be had in Contender barrel too. I had a G2 barrel in mind but Gary had a Encore barrel is stock so instead of waiting for a G2 version I took the immediate possession route...
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Post by magman on Feb 23, 2011 22:01:46 GMT -5
I have one of the two 6.5 Raptors that Reeder has sold. Mine is superbly accurate and even thinking about parting with my 6.5tcu. Mr Reeder must have had some bad times with 6.5s. I have many of them and they all perform as advertised.
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Post by magman on Feb 23, 2011 22:03:59 GMT -5
Bye the way, I have some cool 6.5x444 dummies made up. Just looking for somebody to build me the barrel.
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Post by AxeHandle on Feb 23, 2011 22:21:03 GMT -5
Can't help but wonder why SSK went to the 225 case for their 6.5 instead of the 444. I'd have thought that the 444 would have been their first choice. From what I understand Gary's big snag with the 6.5 is that they don't sell.. If we can inspire a bunch of people to buy one we might get the 405 based 6.5 I wanted in the first place..
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Post by magman on Feb 23, 2011 23:07:15 GMT -5
I think getting another 6.5 from Reeder is a no go. I did notice when forming these 6.5x444 there were alot of step downs involved, too much work for most reloaders.
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