I want a short 6.5 Gas Gun

[Eurodriver]

I was at Arena Training Facility a few weeks ago, and a guy was running the hell out of a 16" LMT MWS in .308. He almost outshot me on targets out to 800y in some decent wind (I was using a hand built 20" 6.5 Bolt Gun) He was running a 4.5-32 NX8 (which was a bit too much optic, I'm planning on 2.5-20) I fell in love with that gun. It lacked the speed and BC to get reliable 66% IPSC hits at >1k, and there was obviously a good shooter behind it, but I think my next rifle will be a large frame gas gun. I've always dismissed them for several reasons.

First, a .223 will do almost as well out of a 20" gas gun as a .308 will out of a 16" but with much less recoil and cost.

Second, a bolt gun is always going to be more accurate than a semi-auto.

Third, large frame gas guns are generally heavy.

Finally, They aren't as "plug and play" as AR15s are, so I want a factory gun. But factory guns are generally chrome lined and generally speaking, CL barrels don't shoot as well as say, a .223 cut rifled Krieger. I know this doesn't matter to most of you, but I will only consider factory guns

This guy's LMT kind of erased points 2-4. For typical target sizes a CL barrel will be more than accurate enough, and with that short barrel it wasn't heavy at all. Recoil didn't seem much worse than a 6.5 bolt gun.

Questions:

Who makes a quality factory 6.5 Gas Gun in 16-18"? What models are available?

Is going 6.5 on a barrel that is 16-18" worth it over .308? I will most likely just shoot factory ammo out of this gun so caliber doesn't really matter too much. I know 6.5 blows .308 out of the water at 20" and beyond, but are the ballistics for a 16"-18" barrel much different?

[PracticalRifleman]

From friends with short gas guns in 6.5, people make large variation in velocity. My 20” 6.5 would hit 2550 FPS with 140s. Friends have reported 2450-2500 FPS with a 16” and 140s.

Another friend has a 14.5” and is reporting 2350-2400 with 130s.

If one goes outside of 175 gr Matchkings, lots of gains can be had in .308, especially in shorter barrels.

I like you, have spent time and $ sticking with 5.56 for the most part.

Sniper’s Hide has a few threads on the topic.


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[hotrodder636]

Why not just get an LMT in 6.5CM yourself?

[Eurodriver]

Because I haven’t seen a 16” LMT MWS in 308 available for purchase, let alone 6.5” in my entire life.

From friends with short gas guns in 6.5, people make large variation in velocity. My 20” 6.5 would hit 2550 FPS with 140s. Friends have reported 2450-2500 FPS with a 16” and 140s.

Another friend has a 14.5” and is reporting 2350-2400 with 130s.

If one goes outside of 175 gr Matchkings, lots of gains can be had in .308, especially in shorter barrels.

I like you, have spent time and $ sticking with 5.56 for the most part.

Sniper’s Hide has a few threads on the topic.


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I get 2720 FPS out of my 20” with 140s. Is the velocity loss that much from a gas gun?

[hotrodder636]

https://lmtdefense.com/product/mlkmws/

Like this?

In 6.5CM there is this...which I am sure you could have cut to 16”
https://lmtdefense.com/product/6-5-show-special/

[PracticalRifleman]

Because I haven’t seen a 16” LMT MWS in 308 available for purchase, let alone 6.5” in my entire life.



I get 2720 FPS out of my 20” with 140s. Is the velocity loss that much from a gas gun?

I think it largely depends on the gun. I didn’t get near 2720 in a 20” bolt gun.


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[ggammell]

A complete build from citizen arms outside your parameters for “factory gun”?

[Furbyballer]

A complete build from citizen arms outside your parameters for “factory gun”?

Not sure how I missed this post. I can't recommend Steve's work enough. He can build a gun that will do exactly what you spec it do. He's absolutely amazing. Well worth the 4-5 month wait time in line.

[turnburglar]

I currently am shooting a Savage MSR10 in 6.5 CM at my local accurized AR matches. Unfortunately to get the gun reliable I had to get my local smith to work it over as Savage was completely incompetent at making a factory rifle semi auto. If I had to do it all over again and wanted a higher quality piece; I would look at the Larue ultimate upper kits, and have my local smith finish building it. If you HAD to make it matching; Larue even sells the Lower you can have sent to an FFL. I just played with the options, and the 18" 6.5 CM is under $1200.

https://www.larue.com/products/larue...5cm-upper-kit/

With all that said, I am happy with where my MSR10 is now as a rifle. It has been 100% reliable for the last 3 matches; totaling around 300 rounds. I just recently shot this group with Hornady 140 ELDM. Also the lower group is 140 FMJ from Seller bellot. Thats the typical fodder that I feed it for matches as its cheap and accurate enough. My tube seems to be fast swell because the Hornady 140 ELDM's average 2630 FPS from a 18" barrel.

[dpb1776]

We’re you at the MPA PRS match? I was there I saw a couple people with large frame AR’s that we’re doing well. At the precision rifle expo last year I shot a 14 inch I think KAC in 6.5 and got hits at 800 it was impressive


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