Originally Posted By: muledhunterI've been reading about this. The bolt faces are the same. and guys are making the 6.5 a long action. Is it as simple as getting a new barrel on it or is there more to it that what I am reading? If anyone is a gunsmith or knows more about these custom builds I would love some insight. Thanks
This is on a rem 700 action
Do you already have a gunsmith to do the work? If not, I'd highly recommend Defensive Edge, they're in Rathdrum Id. which is pretty close to Spokane, They build excellent stuff and have the fastest turn around time of any build I've ever had done.
As was mentioned, I'd have the action blueprinted (some call it trued, accurized etc. but it's pretty much all the same when it's done by a skilled gunsmith) it'll add a couple hundred dollars to your build but it's money well spent. Also, depending on your stock, I'd also have the gunsmith that does your 6.5 build, bed the stock. That is unless it's one of the cheesy plastic stocks, in that case I'd look into just replacing it with something a little better before you spend any amount of money having it bed. I also recommend getting a barrel with a fast enough twist rate so you can shoot the 140's. It doesn't mean you have to shoot them but if you don't get a barrel with a fast enough twist you won't be able to if you ever decided you wanted to.
Another option you may want to think about is talking with Benchmark-barrel.com (they're in Arlington Wa.) they not only make excellent barrels but they can do all the other work as well. They do great work and are very easy to work with.
The 6.5-284 is an excellent choice for just about anything but like anything else, have it all done right the first time and your chances go up exponentially it'll turn out very well.