6.5-06 or 6.5A square or similar?

[CBH Australia]

@Boyd Brooks and @PerH took the words right out of my mouth. Properly head stamped brass is hard to come by and no one has commercially loaded for the .256 Newton in my lifetime, but it’s a classic cartridge that will do the trick.

Getting headstamped brass is probably not to difficult if you are prepared to pay for the setup they could be produced on a .25-06 case

If you wanted to go the whole way and get a reamer to the original Newton specs and get dies made and stamped correctly it's gonna add to the cost.

It still surprised me that it didn't take off but the .25-06 is available in factory rifles.
With so many 6.5 projectile options now it should be factory it' should be factory.

 

[PerH]

If Norma had gone in on it , perhaps they would kept it alive still . But with Asquare away so who knows if possible for it now to be factory once again .

 

[jpr9954]

@Boyd Brooks and @PerH took the words right out of my mouth. Properly head stamped brass is hard to come by and no one has commercially loaded for the .256 Newton in my lifetime, but it’s a classic cartridge that will do the trick.

According to Ballistics Studies, there is a slight difference between the .256 Newton and the 6.5-06.

The 6.5-06 and .256 Newton are very similar in outer appearances but the Newton does feature some differences in comparison to the simplistic 6.5-06 design. The .256 Newton has greater body taper, the base to shoulder measurement is shorter as is the over all case length. However shoulder angle is slightly sharper than the 6.5-06 at 23 degrees. In turn, the 6.5-06 is slightly longer in case body dimensions, has less body taper, but retains the parent .30-06 gentle 17 degree shoulder angle. Case capacity of the Newton is slightly lower than the 6.5-06.

I do have a .256 Newton that I bought because it came from P. O. Ackley's workshop. I was able to get .256 Newton stamped brass from, I believe, Grafs. It was from Jameson. I have dies which I think I got off of Ebay.

 

[yumastepside]

G'day Chris,
I had the same thing, I loved my 25-06, but could not get pills larger than 120 gr.
A gunsmith mate of mine gave me a model 70 Winchester in 265 RCBS, basically a 6.5-06 Improved. I use 129 Hornady's and 140's....Devastating !!!
There is always talk about why bother when there is already 270's etc. but it really comes down to personal choice...I've never liked 270's, 243's or 308's...but that's just me... I have lots of different 6.5's and I love them, especially my 6.5x55 Imp.

My 265 RCBS...Gabe Gatti stock, SS barrel model 70 Win.

 

[CBH Australia]

@yumastepside
That .265 rcbs sounds neat.

 

[GuttormG]

I had the same thing, I loved my 25-06, but could not get pills larger than 120 gr.

That can be solved

Buy .264"/6.5mm bullets and run them through a push-through sizer.

And I now feel a need to bring my 6,5-06-project higher up on my to-do list...