6 Dasher thread

Lawnboi

WKR
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Mar 2, 2012
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North Central Wi
Hunters need to know! This cartridge deserves its own thread, and at the request of a few people I figured we should start one.

6 dasher once was a wildcat that required forming, neck turning and was well known as an accurate match round. Today there’s plentiful brass, reamers and information. It has worked its way from something seen on the bench, to a round that works in a field rifle as a repeater. Before owning a dasher I didn’t think inherent accuracy was a thing. Having shot it for a while now I believe, and I think it’s a cartridge every hand loader needs.

I started shooting dasher last year, did a lot of research on reamers, brass, dies and loads to come up with what I thought would work for PRS and hunting. I have ended up with two similar but different setups. One 9lbs in an mdt hnt 26 for hunting, and one 22lbs in a mdt acc for comp use.

What I found in the last year is that the dasher is the perfect round for what I do hunting as well as comp use. Consistency, barrel life, inherent accuracy, quality of components and the ability to make a heavy for caliber bullet maintain 2000 fps at 500-600 yards is what I wanted. I wanted it in a package that had the least recoil possible.

The ease of loading and accuracy have pushed me to only shoot the dasher now. I see little reason to shoot much else for a hunter like myself that isn’t going to shoot at animals past 600 yards. Iv even gotten rid of my 223 stuff and just find it easier to feed and shoot the dasher.

So there you go, if you hand load; you need a dasher.

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I had the same general thought process on why to build a hunting dasher as you. It was helped by a convenience factor with access to a reamer. When asking around here I got confirmation that my thought process was sound - it’s an all upside build. But seemingly no one was shooting dashers for hunting.

My 6 dasher howa mini is the biggest gun I shoot now. I have enough 95tmk’s to shoot through the factory barrel we punched to dasher cut to 16”. The rifle is 7.5lbs scoped and suppressed. It’s such an easy gun to shoot and tote around the woods at that weight.


Loads of brass available from match shooters who sell their once fired brass.

Are you going to mess with the 116’s or stick with the 107’s?
 
If @pods8 (Rugged Stitching) gets the tikka mag figured I think I’ll join ya!

Have a 7.5 twist benchmark blank, think that would fully stabilize 107 tmks in a 20” tube in our negative DA winters?
I don’t have any issues the other day at -1000ft. But it does show marginal stability in AB.

That said I don’t know how tipped bullets work completely when it comes to stability. That 107 has a huge tip on it, much bigger than say a 108eld. I’d think that might make a difference in regards to stability but that would be a question for someone who knows a lot more than me.

I did order a 7 twist barrel though to try with the 116s and likely shoot some 107s in too. The 116s will also depend if my reamer works for them or if I need more freebore.
@KyleR1985

This mornings atmospherics
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I'm in the process of a build right now. 18" 1:7.5, plan is to shoot 107 TMKs. Should wind up one of my lightest builds ever.
 
How light of a build are you talking?

Forgot what I tallied up, but its going in a non-folding HNT26, Pure Precision Skltn-Ti action, 18" proof carbon. Hawkins LR Hybrid rings. Haven't decided if it will get a 2-12 NX6 or 2.5-10 NXS yet. I have a DD Wolf Hunter can I plan to use on it but may get Airlock's 6mm can when it comes out just for it.
 
I have run quite a few of the 6br improved benchrest rifles w/ 28" barrels and anytime I've asked about doing a hunting rifle I was always told it wasn't something you wanted to do because of feeding. Then the PRS guys got wind of how accurate and how little recoil and they pretty much figured out via a spacer at the back of the mag they could get them feeding.

I realized last summer I didn't have a range gun that I could run 10+ rounds through (retired from long range benchrest) and looked at the loading bench and saw all the 6mm stuff and thought, why not try a little dasher. So I built one on an MDT acc chassis, Zermatt TL3 and Outlier was running a barrel special I got for less than $250. I made it at 22" and shooting 108 Bergers and getting 2890 fps verified via drops out to 800y. I missed my dasher/brx days and it's cool to have another one.
 
I played around with one of @pods8 (Rugged Stitching) magazines with a GT. The GT required filing the shoulder stops, where the Dasher wouldn't. After that, it fed without malfunction for the next ~50 cycles or so while playing around with it. The GT had some issues feeding from an M+ factory mag, those issues were eliminated with his printed magazine.
If I end up deciding to chamber a Dasher on a Tikka, I'll try his magazines before going to an AICS setup.

Is there a reasonable expectation of 2800 FPS in an 18" barrel with the 116s, or is that asking too much?
 
Here is my 22" 6 Dasher hunting rig. Put it together basically for same reason as OP, even got rid of my 223 lol. It's so enjoyable to shoot and load for. Going to be running the 107 TMK this season. I have posted some initial pressure testing with Varget in the TMK thread.
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@Lawnboi @FrankieP1988 you guys got and trashed brass or willing to part with a few for dummy rounds? I don't feel like buying 100pieces. :)
If @pods8 (Rugged Stitching) gets the tikka mag figured I think I’ll join ya!
Its ready to be validated with Dasher now. Working with 6arc and so far minimal testing sounds like its working with BR also, so I'd think Dasher will run.
I played around with one of @pods8 (Rugged Stitching) magazines with a GT. The GT required filing the shoulder stops, where the Dasher wouldn't. After that, it fed without malfunction for the next ~50 cycles or so while playing around with it. The GT had some issues feeding from an M+ factory mag, those issues were eliminated with his printed magazine.
Just for clarity the 6arc mag has shoulder stops in it (designed to still accommodate dasher) due to the really short cases, the other mags do not. If designing a mag for GT I don't think stops would be needed. IE that mag wasn't targetted for GT. :)
 
@pods8 (Rugged Stitching)
I can grab some pieces next match out of the scrap bucket.

It’s still new enough to me that I don’t have any junk brass. (I fully expect 10 plus firings on this alpha brass)

I don’t have any actions left using tikka mags, so I’m of little help with testing. But I would keep in mind that you’re looking at the longer end of 2.5” with the new longer tmk.


I can say, aics mags with kits or built for BR dasher have been excellent. I shot creeds out of aics mags for year and had more issues with those than I have my dasher mags.
 
I’m currently waiting on a barrel for a 16” 6gt for the same reasons you describe. Does the dasher provide anything the gt doesn’t?
 
I’m currently waiting on a barrel for a 16” 6gt for the same reasons you describe. Does the dasher provide anything the gt doesn’t?
Marginally smaller. Less recoil, less powder burn, slower.

I didn’t want to go any bigger mainly for barrel life as I want a do it all rifle. Something I don’t mind a long range day with, or shooting prairie dogs with, but still something that will get me to my required range with a 107ish grain bullet. The dasher gets me there with the least powder burned (I want 2k at impact at my max)

The GT does it, and so does the creed. On the smaller end the arc wouldn’t with what I like to run pressure wise.

Like the GT the dasher also has the ability to run h4350 and varget burn rate powders, making it fairly versatile.
 
@pods8 (Rugged Stitching)
I can grab some pieces next match out of the scrap bucket.

It’s still new enough to me that I don’t have any junk brass. (I fully expect 10 plus firings on this alpha brass)

I don’t have any actions left using tikka mags, so I’m of little help with testing. But I would keep in mind that you’re looking at the longer end of 2.5” with the new longer tmk.
I can make dummy rounds with 109eldms and chamber them into a 243/6creed to function test as a baseline for folks. Can't run it super fast since they won't extract via the bolt most likely but it'll flag any issues feeding in at least.
 
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