6,5x284 Norma

Most likely, within months of 284 Winchester introduction (1963), the wildcat 6.5-284 had already been invented. Due to enormous popularity of the 6.5mm bore in Europe, and for long-range target shooting in the US, Norma chose to standardize this as a factory round in 2001, a year after marketing the first factory 6.5-284 cases for handloading. During decades as a wildcat, this number gained a well-deserved reputation for combining moderate recoil and muzzle blast with outstanding penetration, with heavier bullets. Equally, US popularity for 1000-yard target shooting was significant.

Today, most rifles in 6.5-284 are used in long-range target competition but it is gaining in popularity as a big-game hunting round and a long-range varminting choice. Useful range of this number surpasses the 6.5x55 by about 100 yards for any given application.

Subsequent to standardization, it has been used as the basis of a "mountain rifle" for hunting in Asia, Europe, and North America. In a recent hunt in Iran, the 6.5-284 Norma was proven capable. It produced an instant kill on a transcaspian urial ram at a distance exceeding 350 yards. One year earlier, in the Sierra Gredos range, near Madrid, it was equally effective on a Spanish ibex at 300 yards. The comparatively small diameter of the 6.5mm bullet is fully compensated by deep penetration, for which these relatively long projectiles are noted; for example, an unusually large Iranian wild bore, standing broadside at 80 yards, proved no match for the 140-grain bullet that smashed through both shoulders. This animal, with a live weight approaching 600 pounds, ran less than 30 yards before collapsing.

Whether one is a varmint hunter, a long-range target shooter, a big game hunter that is particularly sensitive to recoil, or is simply looking for a lightweight "mountain rifle," the 6.5-284 Norma is a fine choice.