6.5 WBY RPM: Best Sleeper round

In this video I go into detail all about the 6.5 Weatherby RPM. I compare it to some of the other popular cartridges in 6.5mm.

[@bustabass9025]

Great cartridge. Absolutely love mine. Handloaded, it easily joins the Weatherby family of high velocity, super accurate rifles and cartridges.

[@dewi4570]

Very excited to watch this and remember my 6.5 RPM Mark V Backcountry Ti which is at the bottom of an Alaskan river.

[@ReloadingWeatherby]

Oh yikes

[@Looscannon94]

oooof, that had to sting

[@justahologram2230]

Have you considered dive certs to go back for it

[@dewi4570]

@@justahologram2230 I contacted a dive company out of Anchorage and it was going to be expensive for them to do it. We have tried magnets, treble hooks, and underwater cameras and haven’t even been able to locate it sadly. It’s a very swift and deep spot in the river

[@GunGuyMatt]

Did it drop into the river before or after the shot?

[@wheelchairhillbilly]

I absolutely love mine. I've always been a fan of the 284 and 6.5x284 cartridges. It might be cool to see some even longer for magnum cartridges. I look forward to seeing your loads.

[@m444ss]

clicked like as soon as the video started. knew it'd be a good one

[@ReloadingWeatherby]

Thanks for watching

[@cw2a]

Good video man. (As ALWAYS) This one always intrigued me too.

[@jonbaniak9097]

They have been trying to kill the 264 win mag ever since they came out with the 7mm REM Mag. Reloading manuals have always underloaded it by as much as 5-8 gr. Love the 6.5 RPM!

[@jrhunt414]

300 win mag killed both of them and almost killed 300Wby too.

[@jonbaniak9097]

@@jrhunt414 I would disagree that the 300 win mag killed the 7 mag. Probably been equally if not more 7 mags made. At least in the whitetail woods.

[@jrhunt414]

@@jonbaniak9097 I have never once seen a 7mag in the woods in Maine. Seen a lot of rifles deer and moose hunting over the years. 7 mag is pretty rare on the shelves too. The ammo sits there week after week. I know a lot of hunters and none of them use a 7mag or have ever expressed any interest in getting one. If you have a 30-06 like everyone already does, why would you get a 7mag when you can get a 300 or 338 as your magnum. Why get the smaller bullet in a magnum? If you’re a field or power lines hunter you shoot 270, 300 wby or 28 Nosler or a wildcat benchrest gun as your magnum, The only 7mm I’ve seen in the woods is 7-08 and 280. 30-06 mostly. Lots of 300 win and wby for moose but still mostly 30-06. I’m sure out west it’s popular but here it might be less popular than 22mag for deer and 243 for moose.

[@jonbaniak9097]

@ things are obviously different where I live in WV. I have also hunted in VA, PA, MD, NE, SD, and Alberta for whitetail and mule deer. The 7mm mag is quite popular in my area and all those where I’ve hunted. I find it shocking really that it’s so unpopular in Maine. Maybe the 300 win killed it in Maine but not everywhere else? 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@GunGuyMatt]

In Saskatchewan where I work, the 3006 is still #1 selling rifle, second is 7mm Rem Mag, third is 6.5 creedmoor. For weatherbys it would be the 6.5 rpm, 300 wby, 7mm mag

[@mcsmedcastspecialists1285]

Intrigued!!!! Looking forward to the see the results.

[@drewriggs812]

I was thinking about getting a 6.5-300, but now you got me thinkin'. Can't wait for the part 2

[@ReloadingWeatherby]

I'm excited to see how this performs

[@tylervanwormer8302]

Get the 6.5-300 first then buy the 6.5rpm

[@nicholasbarcomb2324]

You're killing me with this!!!!! I'm looking to rebarrel a Tikka T3 Stainless action in a new 6.5 cartridge. Good luck, and stay safe!!! 😉😉😉

[@Justwannabefree]

Another cool cartridge buddy. A good friend of mine builds custom rifles for people and he has some wild wildcats haha one that reminded me of you is his 30-378 weatherby necked down to 7mm its absolutely insane. He has many crazy rifles but another one related to this video is his 6.5- 300 rum its pretty wild as well and my personal favorite he calls the 6mm incinerator it is a 264 win mag necked down to 6mm and the rifle he built in that cartridge is very very accurate and the accuracy node is 4250fps with 75gr vmax , very cool stuff . Just forget about barrel life and powder costs those considerations are silly anyway hahaha. Thanks for the great videos

[@nmelkhunter1]

Very intriguing cartridge, especially for longer shots on mulies and pronghorn. Looking forward to range testing.

[@montanamusings]

I can't wait to see how she does!

[@edwardhoward4708]

I like your videos, although not the same cartridges as you. Some positive comments; 1. You’re consistent about reviewing high power rounds and seem to always prevent whatever is “over the top”. That’s what a magnum is and what Weatherby is all about. 2. You tell people if you’re going to fire a magnum, you should get a 26” barrel. Spot on! On that note, I have a dream to design a single shot rifle chassis that essentially mates a falling block action in bullpup configuration to an AR-15 lower and you choose whatever chambering you want. Imagine a rifle that fires not unlike a bazooka, with 42” overall length, suppressed, and a 36”barrel. 10 lb rifle with a big fat shoulder cushion firing HEAVY magnums at 3200 fps and tolerable recoil ala the suppressor and big fat shoulder pad.

[@EricChmelarsky]

Proves, the 284 winny, way ahead of its time. Wish for a 26" bbl on the 6.5 rpm. Really similar to the 264 winny, other ammo would help the popularity of the 6.5 rpm. 26" pipe, I bet 3200 fps would be easily attainable. What I do not hear is anything about barrel life on a 6.5 prc. Why is that? Supposedly faster than the 264 winny and 6.5 rpm. Just my thoughts. Keep doing your thing, love comparison of cartridges, reloading experience with other people who take it seriously as you and I.

[@RT-gv6us]

Anxious to see the follow up video on this one. I have kept my eye on the 6.5 Wby RPM. I have not seen where it is offered in the Vanguard line. Would like to see that. My only other concern is the availability and price of brass. Other than those concerns I would love to have one of these. It would likely add an additional 300+ fps on top of what my 260 Rem currently gets. Would be great for Western deer hunting and more than adequate for elk as well.

[@ReloadingWeatherby]

The range results are up. Go check it out

[@LegendOfStrider]

I really like this and the 338 RPM. Biggest issue is honestly not trying to get it chambered more elsewhere (hell even within Weatherby's own lineup). Seems a really good cartridge to do wildcatting with as well. High BC .25s or 7mm being pushed through.

[@joeyindahl2593]

I bought a 338 rpm this year. I plan on getting a 6.5 soon. Cool design

[@cdavison9491]

The 264 was a barrel burner because they didn't have slow burning powders at the time. And they were loading up 90 grain bullets at insane speeds and going groundhog hunting, shooting a ton of rounds per day at a fast pace. It's funny how the 6.5 PRC is supposed to be close but it's not a barrel burner. I'm at my bench loading 142s in my 26 inch model 70 extreme weather SS 264 right now. With retumbo, N560 and rl33, I'm easily over 3200 fps. The main advantage of the RPM is its factory fast twist barrel. It's basically a twin to the 264, and that's a hell of a gun any way you look at it. Congrats!

[@hopefulballistics]

Cool cartridge

[@kalybmittenzmiller3300]

To RW and anyone else reading, get yourself some knipex (or similar) parallel jaw wrench pliers. The state of the top of your Lee die is the reason for this recommendation. Most of mine older does have the same plier chew marks.. PS the wrench pliers are very helpful with any other wrench flat work, especially muzzle devices, as well as installing retaining pins, etc.

[@ianwood5916]

Its a cool round. I have a 6.5 SAUM, which basically achieves the same with a mag bolt face and short action. I'm curious if a 7 RPM will come out and how it would compare to 280 AI. Best.

[@Snailz5]

I feel like the take I kept hearing was that it was basically a 6.5 PRC, which is wrong. The RPM has significantly more powder capacity and can tack on over 150 fps, which is pretty substantial. It is close to the same step up from the PRC and the PRC is from the creedmoor. I'd bet the 156 berger EOL and n570 would produce some bonkers velocities.

[@ReloadingWeatherby]

You are correct

[@Greyzonecompliant]

The 6.5 PRC is very close to the 6.5-284 Norma. And the RPM is the XL version of the Norma. So the 6.5 PRC is at least one suit size smaller 😉

[@Manbunmen65]

​@Greyzonecompliant You have to look past the hand loading and compare factory ammo. 99 percent of people don't hand load. You have to look at the full ballistic profile not just point blank muzzle velocity. At 300 yards the PRC and the RPM are the same. Unless you are shooting your deer at point blank to 300 yards there is a slight edge with the RPM. My PRCs shoot factory 120s at almost 3200 fps. Factory 130s at 3150. You tell me.

[@Snailz5]

@@Manbunmen65 Well I don't think anyone should give two shits about factory ammo when RELOADING is in the the title of the channel we're having this discussion on. The RPM and the PRC are shooting the same bullets so at no point are they "the same" the RPM bullet will always be faster, flatter, and experience less wind drift at every distance. Is it enough to matter at 300 yards? Probably not. Is is enough to matter out past 350 or so when things start getting squirrely? Potentially. Now if the factory loads are running the same velocity, then that's the fault of the manufacturer because they're wasting the extra case capacity.

[@TODinWY]

Not enough slow powders available when the 264 Mag was introduced. The Weatherby ammo for the RPM is loaded HOT!

[@quarterminutemagnums]

We used to build a lot of .264 Win. Mag.'s with 27.0" or 28.0" barrels - fast !

[@ReloadingWeatherby]

I bet!

[@umbertoharo3841]

That's a Hot Rod for sure!

[@KMV-49]

Love my 6.5 RPM. 124 Hammers with a heap of Retumbo @ 3350 FPS is deadly! I tried the 142 ABLR but I couldn’t get them to group worth a darn. It does like the 130 & 140 AccuBonds though.

[@matthewbutcher203]

I have a 264 win mag and i read all the detractors talk about barrell burner this barrell burner that, I took the round count that they claim burns out a barrell and multiplied that by grains of powder per shot then divided that by 7000 grains per pound and qiuckly realized that it would take about 10 pounds of powder down the pipe to burn the throat out... if youve shot a rifle that much in a lifetime you prob love it enough to not have a problem having a new premium barrell put in it. IMHO🤷‍♂️

[@jtrguitar6294]

Ive been hoping for guys to wildcat this round.

[@h.a.4286]

Some of my 264 WM cases have an average of 85gr water capacity which suprised me. (Winchester brass about 80gr) My load i was shooting (100gr TTSX 64.5gr N550 (not ideal)) got about 3710fps out of my 24" barrel. Got even 3740 with 65gr but the bolt had a little pressure on it when opening so i stuck with 64.5 gr

[@LeonardStone-vh9cm]

You have a real line thier. I use to shoot a 6.5 -06 wild cat that is a outstanding bullet in my mine use will love it mine was 1 in 9 ,other use 1 in 8

[@janbastein7355]

It’s actually a kind of clone from the German 6.5x68 , invented 1939 ! by August Schuler from Suhl. The big parent case was his 8x68S . More powerful than a 300 Win Mag.

[@terrycalvert7812]

I have a custom 6.5 RPM terminus action 28 inch proof sendaro barrel and it shoots the Berger 156 at 3160 fps with retumbo and there was a faster node in my rifle right at 3200 fps but had a half minute more vertical in that node when I did the ladder test for this load!! So 3160 it was and that bullet at that speed is a heck if a deer round!!

[@ReloadingWeatherby]

Wow

[@terrycalvert7812]

@ longer barrel and being able to seat my bullets out to 3.730 COAL all adds up lil at a time to more velocity!! My brother has a factory Adventure 307 in the 6.5 rpm and his rifle hits pressure at that velocity with a 140 but he can only seat a bullet to 3.350 COAL!! Mine I built on the magnum length action to get the longer COAL

[@hunt1198]

You should try taking you 340 weatherby mag. On Texas 1,000 plinking. See how that 220 grain shoots.

[@dhooter]

It has the sharper shoulder angles. Normal Weatherby rounded shoulders weird me out. Not a clue why they just do lol

[@swampdonkey3278]

Im just a old school bumpkin but all the numbers you put down was about the same as a 30/06 just asking for bullet weight and i know at 1 million yards it beats it but around 400 yard which one would do better

[@erikwallen4483]

Rebated rim cartridges have always been kind of odd, can weatherby pull it off?

[@jameswilson5562]

I have got to get one lol

[@RicardoGonzalez-ug6xm]

Are factory chambered rifles in this caliber all hunting rigs? Or is it available in a Heavy bull barrel target rifle ? The cartridge looks pretty sick 🤘🏽😁

[@ReloadingWeatherby]

Yes

[@jasonf.4107]

Not sure why Weatherby put 24” barrels on many of their 6.5 RPM rifles - seems like this is definitely a cartridge that could use a 26” barrel (which would further differentiate it from cartridges like the 6.5 PRC).

[@ReloadingWeatherby]

It needs a 26 inch barrel

[@trentsnaza3372]

Yup good sleeper round. 500 rds thru it and the barrel is toast!! Time to rebarrel already

[@ReloadingWeatherby]

It will go longer than 500 rounds

[@patrioticguy1791]

I'm pretty sure you have loaded 28 Nosler before. It is also a rebated rim cartridge. I do like this 6.5 RPM

[@ReloadingWeatherby]

Hmm... yep you're right

[@hunt1198]

Those must be reloading words lol. I don’t know anything about reloading yet. Just know I bought a 6.5-300 weatherby mag

[@natehayes82]

I love mine in a 307.

[@patrioticguy1791]

Reminds me a lot of the 280 Remington or 280 AI.

[@huntsimple9527]

How does this compare to the 6.5x300 WBY ballistically?

[@ReloadingWeatherby]

200 FPS slower

[@huntsimple9527]

@@ReloadingWeatherby Why do you think the 6.5x300 Wby did not take off, since it crushes all the others 6.5s? Too few gun choices and too high of cost on ammo/components?

[@ReloadingWeatherby]

@huntsimple9527 I think the 6.5-300 has been a huge success for Weatherby. It is their 3rd best selling cartridge. 1. 300 WBY 2. 257 WBY 3. 6.5-300 WBY I get people begging me to get one. Of course it's still fairly niche. But I think it's been a hit

[@huntsimple9527]

@@ReloadingWeatherby For sure. I guess I need to not compare it to the success of the PRC line of cartridges which is on a whole other level. I think people associate Wby with high cost ammo/components/guns and that limits Wby's position in the market space.

[@ntwtransam]

Oh man I can see this is going to cost me some money. I have been tossing around getting another back country in 6.5rpm and setting it up as light as possible.

[@MichaelRandall-f1o]

The king of 6.5's is the 6.5-300 Weatherby. Compare it to that.

[@hunt1198]

So is that round different than the 6.5-300 weatherby mag

[@TheAcesShow]

Yeah, the 6.5-300 wby mag has more velocity. The 6.5 rpm was made to be a 6.5 magnum that can function in a lighter and shorter 6 lug action. The 6.5 wby mag needs the 9 lug but gets the velocity boost to make up for it.

[@OhioOutdoors-f8p]

Yes it is a distinctly different round.

[@ReloadingWeatherby]

It's smaller

[@GeneralObeseus]

get a 270 Weatherby next!

[@justahologram2230]

I kinda wish weatherby learned into that RPM moniker and put this with like a 1:5 barrel for this and the .338 RPM

[@ReloadingWeatherby]

That would be interesting...

[@ggcutter4098]

What type of meat damage does it do ?

[@ReloadingWeatherby]

What kind of bullet would you use?

[@ggcutter4098]

@@ReloadingWeatherby probably a Barnes bullet going that fast it will most likely pass thru the animal unless you hit the front shoulder dead center

[@jrhunt414]

Still cheaper to buy a Vanguard in 6.5-300. Starting to see a lot of them used sitting on shelves for months.

[@Beesechurger296]

5:30 so I’m not the only one? I knew I wasn’t going schizo

[@kylecasetta4091]

338 rpm next , so want one of them to be chambered in a vanguard

[@kkeen2010]

My 6.5 RPM Gets 3242 MV with 127 LRX

[@ReloadingWeatherby]

Sweet

[@ChrisLegg-i6s]

Should have bin a 7mm

[@ReloadingWeatherby]

Don't think that is going to happen. RPM case is basically the same size as a 7 PRC.

[@JimParvin-o9e]

Why even mess with it when the 270 Weatherby Magnum is the best 270 caliber agoing? I'd rather have the 270 by a mile!

[@ReloadingWeatherby]

Fun to try new things

[@JimParvin-o9e]

@ReloadingWeatherby I just stick with what I have already worked on in my inventory because I know exactly what is going to happen.

[@Reptiles_for_recovery]

As a novice gun owner/shooter who is a 7mm PRC fanboy, I still very much enjoy your content 👌🏻😂

[@ReloadingWeatherby]

Glad you're here

[@thomasdaum1927]

Barrel life will be no problem if you just shoot 2 rounds and then let it completely cool ! It’s a hunting rifle ( NOT ) a target rifle ! Forget this 5 shot group Crap for hunting rifles . Once again , a Hunting Rifle is not a target rifle ! If you want a target rifle then buy one !……

[@feelsgooddoit]

Seems like a giant waste of empty space

[@ReloadingWeatherby]

Why?