6mmBR: The Next Hot Catridge For Hunting?

While many new factory loaded cartridges come and go, many cartridges go completely overlooked in favor of original factory loadings. Manufactures’ desire to capitalize on a brand name with little to no concern with what is happening with the most important developments in shooting , results in many great cases residing only in the hands of skilled hand loaders. Lately the trend has been the development of brand new factory loadings, mostly with an eye on what will turn the “Black Rifle” into a legitimate hunting arm in the hands of hunters. All too often the best loadings available are not brand new, but tried and true in the hands of hand loaders and shooting competitors the world over. One only needs to look at the 6mmBR to see its potential.

6mmBR first came around in the 1970’s from a group of competitive shooters. Based on a case released by Remington, the .308 benchrest was used to develop a series of new rounds that were short fat and inherently accurate. For those not familiar with the BR, it shares the case head size of the .308 and 243WIN, with a much shorter body, less body taper, and a sharper shoulder angle. The BR is about ½ inch shorter than the 243WIN, .005 smaller than the 243WIN at the shoulder, and at about 2.20 is essentially the same length as 223 Rem with roughly 30% higher powder capacity.

Quietly a following has developed of dedicated competition shooters and varmint hunters alike. Varmint hunters have long looked to competition shooters for the accuracy improvements and cartridge developments to make accurate long-range shooting easier. With that in mind a whole new class of shooters are taking up the BR and using the inherent accuracy of the cartridge to the full advantage of hunting. 6mmBR today is used in many forms of competition from F-class to highpower and has many varmint hunters singing its praises. The cartridge now enjoys its own website dedicated to it!

This trend is being pushed by varmint hunters and competitive shooters putting the 6mmBR right square in the crosshairs of being next big thing in the hunting realm. The BR is a common sight along the firing line at any 600 to 1000 yard competition, and while the small .243 diameter bullets were once shunned at these distances, bullet development has gone a long way to overcome this stigma. Today many custom bullet makers are producing .243 diameter bullets up to and over 115 grains just for competitive shooting.

6mm projectiles are a great selection as a midpoint between the large calibers required for big game hunting, and the velocity required for truly explosive results on varmints. With bullet selections from 55 to 105 grains from many manufacturers, one rifle can serve as a tool to harvest whitetail deer, antelope, coyotes, groundhogs, prairie dogs, and pretty much any other animal of similar size and structure. With the lighter 55-65 grain bullets the 6mmBR can match the 22-250 in velocity, and burn on average 10% less powder. This saves on barrel wear and throat erosion, all the while offering bullets with comparable B.C. and sectional density. Loaded with heavier 80-100 grain bullets, the BR can deliver big game bullets at similar velocities to the 257 Roberts. When the BR is matched with a barrel twist suited to a given range of bullets, five shot groups under .75 are not only the norm, but just the start to the real potential of this fat little case. All of this comes in a gun that will shoot on average over 2000 rounds before seeing drop offs in accuracy. Try and say that about the 22-250!

While speed has always been a trend in cartridges, more often than not, hunters will take raw accuracy over blistering speed. Arms manufacturers have started to realize this, and now a whole new class of rifles are being chambered in 6mmBR from makers like Savage Arms, Cooper rifles, Sako, and Blaser. Sometimes feeding can be an issue with short squat cases, but many companies have worked out the bugs, and now some AR15’s are now being built to feed and shoot the 6mmBR. AR’s sometimes struggle with the longer bullets desired for long range competition, but still the accuracy of this case design more than makes up for its few shortcomings. There seems to be a new custom gunsmith or gun maker offering the BR every day.

Most people shooting 6mmBR are hand loaders using high-quality components, primarily Lapua and Norma brass in the preferred 6mmBR Norma configuration which features a small rifle primer, and small flash-hole. This configuration has pushed out the Remington factory loading with a large rifle primer in the eyes of most shooters. Currently 6mmBR factory loadings are available from Remington in the 6mmBR Remington configuration, and by Norma and Sako in the Norma configuration. Remington makes precious few of these rounds available, and the Sako and Norma loads seldom make it across the pond where they are a hot commodity.

All one has to do is look at the amount of reloading dies being sold from every major die maker to realize that this cartridge sells. And like many other cartridges that have evolved in the hands of competitors and wildcatters such as the 243Win, 22-250, 25-06 and a long list of other cases, 6mmBR is poised to make a big impact on the hunting market.

Now the question is, who will be forward enough to capitalize on it?