The 6X45 project!

A few years ago I put together a 6X47 Remington on a Stevens 200 action. This was my first time ever assembling a Savage rifle and I had a lot of fun with it. I used a 20" Sin Arms barrel 1:12 twist, but I always felt I should have done things differently shortly after putting that rifle together.

My #1 regret was not using a faster twist barrel, as my 6X47 never liked bullets heavier than 70 grains. Regret #2 was not building the 6X45 for its brass availability, .222 Rem Mag Brass has been in short supply the last few years. I could make the brass out of .204 Ruger but I had to anneal the brass, and it wasn't easy to always find it as well.

Anyway, a little over a year ago I stumbled across two SS 6mm, 1:7 twist 5R, #3 contour blannlks from X-Caliber for the low price of $400 shipped. Right after Christmas I sent one blank back to X-Cal to be threaded for a Savage small shank and cut to 22". I was told it would be about 4-6 weeks until my blank came back, that day is hopefully near.

As I kept thinking about tearing down my 6X47 for the 6X45 build I just couldn't do it. My little 6X47 is amazingly accurate and has accounted for several pronghorn in CO, white tail in OK, and countless prairie dogs and coyotes even with light bullets. So my quest began for a new donor rifle and I stumbled across this Mod 11 for a decent price.

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...x512117488.jpg
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...x217462953.jpg

Anyway I'll post more pictures as the build progresses.

Looks like a good starter, but the bolt is on the wrong side :eyebrows: Keep us posted as you go.

Interesting--I received my 6X45-barreled rifle today, but I'll show no pic of it because its a UBR. We'll see how it goes.

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Originally Posted by jeffreybehr

Interesting--I received my 6X45-barreled rifle today, but I'll show no pic of it because its a UBR. We'll see how it goes.

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I like UBR's, but I chose to go with the bolt action again because it allows me to seat bullets longer than the an AR magazine. When I get the barrel back I'm going to have it throated for 105 Hornady at 2.35". I sent X-Caliber dummy cartridges, but they don't do anything other than SAAMI specs.

The main reason for going with the 6X45 is that I can't hunt with a .223 for big game in Colorado. I agree the .223 isn't suitable for all game, but it works perfectly well on our pronghorn and in a pinch deer. I found success on these game animals with the 70 grain NBT and now I want to see what heavier bullets can do.

My 6X47 barely has 1000 ft-lbs of energy at 100 yards with a MV of 3080 FPS. There are guys out there shooting Hornady A-Max and BTHP at 2500 FPS which keeps me at 1000 ft-lbs at 300 yards. While I believe ft-lbs of energy is pretty arbitrary IMO, but CO says I need 1000 ft-lbs of energy from a minimum of a 70 grain bullet at 100 yards to hunt deer, pronghorn, and black bear.

My brother and I are each building 6x45's this spring to use in tactical comps 800 yards and less. We are really excited to give this round a go!

You may want to reconsider using a 105 amax to setup your throat. they have discontinued that bullet so you may want to buy a box of 108 eld-m's unless you have a healthy stockpile of the 105's stashed away. I was planning on getting a reamer made for a 6x45 "improved" (ai specs with 30' shoulder) throated for 105's but once I found out the amax was dropped and replaced with the eld-m I was at first excited to see the gain in BC until I saw the price tag. the whole point was for max bang for the buck and at almost .10 cents a bullet more it's a deal breaker for me.

I may still persue it in the future but setup for the nosler 105 RDF. seems to be the best bang for the buck now. but I wouldn't hunt with one. I shoot the 175 rdf in my .308 and dug some out of the damp backstop and they did not hold up very well. the 168 amax did.
also take a peek at the 110 match king. that thing has some wicked BC!

I don't have a lifetime supply. However, by the time I shoot my stash of A-Max and BTHP 105 grain Hornady bullets I imagine my throat will be perfect for the ELD's. I also have a pretty substantial stash of 105 Nosler Custom Competition bullets to run through. The only thing I don't think I'll shoot in it is my 105-115 VLD and DTAC bullets I have. I'll build a fast twist .243 again or get a 6mm Creedmoor to run those.

Finally did some more work on my project. The barrel took 10 weeks to get back from X-Caliber, about 6 weeks longer than quoted but for the most part I'm happy.

Here was what I was dealing with, I bought the rifle off of gunbroker and when I got it I could tell it didn't have the proper recoil lug. They listed it as having an Accustock rifle but I had my doubts from the above pictures, it went cheap enough I bought it anyway. As you can see someone did a poor job grinding the factory recoil lug down .

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...410_165825.jpg

Not even close to the same dimensions as my factory lug.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...410_165921.jpg

They must have been scared to grind anymore on the recoil lug, so they decided to take a dremel to the stock. Bubba is alive and well.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...410_170037.jpg

Here it is all test fitted up in my other Accustock I'll be using.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...406_151028.jpg

I did tear it all back down so I could send it off for some more work. Bolt body and barrel are getting fluted by Twisted Barrel LLC. I ordered the Badger Ordanace recoil lug alignment tool which I've been told will work great for holding the lug to torque the barrel.

11 days after sending my parts off to Twisted Barrel, I got the call my barrel and bolt body were done. I can't wait to see the work when it gets here. I'll post up some better pictures than just with my cell phone.

I need to find a new bolt handle, I like the SSS handle as the knob isn't huge. I like the extra length that the SSS tactical handle gives without the mass in the knob. I've also used Kevin Rayhill's handle and it is a decent. However, I'd like to put something different on it this time than something I've previously used.

coming together nicely. looking forward to the velocities you get!

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Originally Posted by squirrel_slayer

coming together nicely. looking forward to the velocities you get!

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Thanks!

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...425_081101.jpg
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http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...425_080634.jpg

Got the barrel and bolt body back from Twisted Barrel yesterday. 14 days from the day I sent it off. Marty took nearly 11oz off between the two. I have the action out getting worked on, hope to have it back soon as well.

I like the work done on the stock and recoil lug.. "those guys on savage shooters are wrong. I can get this standard recoil lug to work."

that's one of the best bolt fluting job's I've seen for a savage yet! how much was that if you don't mind me asking? I assume that's a factory bolt body? I was going to try and buy a factory lightweight bolt but have since changed direction for a long action build.

$110 for the barrel.
$60 for the bolt body.
$10 for return shipping .

what powders are you planning on trying? if you have some 8208xbr I'd be interested to see the results. it's my go-to on a lot of stuff now. yields the best velocity and lowest es/sd in most cases. I use a mag primer for lower es/sd in .223 with 77's and 80's. got single digit es/sd with my .308 shooting 175's with 210m's

I like the fluting & build.
Ive built 11 6x45s so far on Savage actions and AR15 frames.
The best builds are on the Savage actions which are much more accurate and no real constrictions on COL like the AR15s.
I did them all with 1/9" twists to run 55-95g bullets.
Powders Ive run or use for 55-95g would be exTerminator, aa2015, H335, benchmark, 10x.
I can get mid 2800s with the 85g SGKHP bullet and 2588 with the 95g NHBT. I don't run heavier bullets in the 6x45s.
IMO the 85g sgkgp, 90 & 95g NBHT in front of H335 are the tops for antlope/deer to 400 yards, then energy really drops off.

H335 is what I thought I'd try first. I do have 8208XBR which I've tried but really haven't done a lot of testing with yet. I did find some acceptable loads with it in my .250 Savage.

your throating this for 105's right? if your up to the task I'd mail you a couple dozen 105 nosler rdf's if you'd load them with 8208xbr to see what kind of velocities you could obtain. might just be the nudge I need to build that 6x45ai 30' I've been thinking of these last few years.

The plan was 105's but X-Caliber only had the standard reamer. I'll have to take it somewhere else to get it throated and I haven't decided if I'm going to do it or not. I need to see what I can shoot when I get my action back and get the barrel back on.

However, I'd be happy to shoot some for you if you don't mind me single loading.

pm me your addy and i'll get some out to you. they may actually be seatable a good ways out because of how streamlined they are. but yeah I'd really like to see how they do with xbr

PM is sent, but it might take awhile for me to test them. I still don't have my action back yet, and I'm sending it off for coating as soon as I get it.

Xtreme Hardcore Gear has some nice bolt handles.

Thanks, I'll take a look.

I guess I was a little off, actually a lot off! I can't find my original weights for each piece to know how much weight was removed. However, in the end I lost 9.9 ounces for the sum total of $310 or nearly $32 an ounce. Anyway, I need to com up with a couple of more parts and then off to get it coated.

$160 for the bolt and barrel fluting from Twisted Barrel. Action work was another $150 and done by Stephen Field of Macon GA. I was going for a look similar to that of the Savage light weight hunter with the action.

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...601_100431.jpg

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...X45/16879.jpeg


http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...X45/16880.jpeg

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...601_100915.jpg

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...601_100934.jpg

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...601_100959.jpg

I'm very happy with how my build is progressing.

More pictures.

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...601_100922.jpg

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...601_101006.jpg

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...601_100934.jpg

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...601_100953.jpg

holy crap I forgot about sending you those bullets....dir! lol

man I love that flute job on the bolt!

What is the difference between 6x45 and 6TCU and 6x45AI, 30 degree shoulder? I am working on the same project, I just got a 110 bolt with a 223 bolt face and already have a set of 6TCU dies. Squirrel Slayer, did you get the reamer? Is it the same as 6TCU, I am looking for case dimensions for the TCU. https://www.loaddata.com/Cartridge/6...r-Bullets/3068

Bill

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Originally Posted by bsekf

What is the difference between 6x45 and 6TCU and 6x45AI, 30 degree shoulder? I am working on the same project, I just got a 110 bolt with a 223 bolt face and already have a set of 6TCU dies. Squirrel Slayer, did you get the reamer? Is it the same as 6TCU, I am looking for case dimensions for the TCU. https://www.loaddata.com/Cartridge/6...r-Bullets/3068

Bill

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I have yet to embark on a 6mm project yet. i'm still wrapping up a half dozen other projects at the moment :beaten: (sbr, two uppers, 1 being a wildcat from scratch making both barrels, my .260 long action build, and once my stamps show up I have two suppressors to make)

here's what little I know on the first question, 6x45 is a straight necked up .223, the 6 tcu and x45 AI are very similar both are based off of a 40' shoulder with the tcu having less case taper by a few thousandths.

My plans are a little different as I want the 30' shoulder which is very popular for accuracy with the body dimensions of the AI, throated for 105 nosler rdf's. my goal is something my kids can shoot with me long distance (should be supersonic to 1200yds) and I could chamber a hunting profile barrel with the same reamer load it with 103 hornady eld-m's and viola their first deer rifle! I have time though my oldest just turned 6, my step son (9) doesn't seem to show an interest otherwise he'd be first up to bat.

Only advantage with the TCU family is dies. They are still available and often found used. In my post above is a diagram of the 6 TCU. Almost no body taper and a 40~ shoulder. There is also a 25 TCU, 6.5, 7mm and a 30 TCU. There have got to be rental reamers for the TCU. I'll do some more research. Sending you a PM.

Bill

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Originally Posted by squirrel_slayer

holy crap I forgot about sending you those bullets....dir! lol

man I love that flute job on the bolt!

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Thanks, and no worries on the bullets. I'm going to try and send it off for some sort of coating, just haven't decided what to use. I have rifles with Cerakote, KG Gunkote, and Duracoat and have been satisfied with all three.

6mm TCU r eamer for rent, I thought about the TCU before. However, I decided to KISS it. I don't have to fireform or worry about any possible feeding issues with the standard 6X45.

Taylorce1, For your 6X45. Where are you doing for dies? And where are you getting your barrels and who is doing your chambering? I found TCU reamers for rent and plenty of dies, but they are pricey.

Bill

I bought my dies from eBay, Hornady New Dimension and micrometer seating stem, as well as a set of Wilson .223 neck die wit a few bushings to make it a 6X45 neck die. The Hornady dies cost around $40 shipped, the micrometer seating stem was $25. The Wilson die was around $70 with bushings and I picked up an Arbor press from Grizzly mfg for $75.

X-Caliber did the barrel for me, but most barrel makers who do Savage pre-fit barrels seem to have the 6X45 reamer on hand. If X-Caliber had a 6X47 Remington reamer I probably would have went that route again, as I already shoot a rifle in that cartridge. However it's far easier to find quality .223 brass compared to .222 Rem Mag brass, and I loose too many cases trying to form 6X47 from .204 Ruger brass.

Most barrel makers could do a 6x45AI instead of a TCU, if they have both 223AI and 6x45 piloted reamers. Cut chamber to 223AI length with the 223AI with a 6mm bushing, go in with the 6x45 and cut the neck and throat.

Just an update, as this project has slowed down due to life. Been busy working and now hunting, but finally got it off to the Cerakote applicator and had the sock Hydrodipped.

Attachment 3990

Attachment 3991

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I had to change the Cerakote color as the stock came back more green than I'd hoped. I was going to use Sage Green on the metal but went with a Tan (don't know exact color as applicator picked) after the stock came back. I got lucky, I was going to send both off at the same time but sent the stock off first. If I hadn't this would have cost me extra funds to fix, here is what I thought I was getting for the camouflage pattern.

Attachment 3995