6GT For Predator Hunting

I’m told that surveys of the top 200 PRS shooters show that the 6mm Dasher is currently the most popular cartridge among these competitors, and that the 6mm GT is second. I went looking for this information because I figured it was time to put together a new predator-hunting rig, and I wanted something mild-mannered, accurate, and with a 6mm bore. That seems to be what PRS shooters want these days as well, so I thought our interests should align.

I settled on the 6 GT, not because I think it’s a better cartridge than the 6 Dasher, but simply because it’s been approved by SAAMI, making it much simpler to get components, dies, and chambering reamers, all built to published specifications. The 6 Dasher remains a wildcat, and I just didn’t want to deal with the issues this can sometimes create. And from what I see in the published data, there isn’t much performance difference between the two cartridges anyway.

With the rifle’s chambering settled, I moved on to selecting rifle parts, with Pristine Technologies getting the nod for the action and International Barrels (IBI) for the barrel. The trigger came from TriggerTech, while the chassis is MDT’s excellent HNT 26 model. Other parts include MDT’s new titanium HUNT muzzle brake, lightweight rings from Warne, and a Leupold VX5 3-15x44 scope. I elected to assemble these parts myself, especially since the IBI barrel is the pre-fit version, complete with a Savage-style barrel nut. With the appropriate tools for this job already on hand, except for headspace gauges, this was an easy DIY project that just required some care and patience to complete.

With the rifle assembled, my attention turned to ammunition, and since there’s little factory ammo available for this cartridge other than Hornady’s Match ammo, handloading is necessary. Way back when I first decided this rifle would be a 6mm of some type, it was partially because of Hornady’s introduction of the ELD-VT bullet line, specifically their 80-grain version for the 6mm. With a G1 BC of 0.410, promised violent expansion, and a velocity expectation of over 3300 fps, I was really hoping this bullet would work in my new rifle.

After finding some bullets, I sourced 100 pieces of Lapua’s 6 GT brass to stuff them into. A little more research into what PRS shooters were using for powders and primers turned up that Varget and H4350 were popular propellants, both ignited by CCI 450, small rifle magnum primers. I already had the powders in stock, but the primers took some searching, and I eventually found 1000 at a local gun shop.

Finding a load that delivered good precision and necessary velocity wasn’t much of a challenge, but that’s what I expect when using good ammunition components and a high-quality barrel like this one from IBI. The load I eventually settled on uses Varget powder and launches the Hornady 80-grain at 3336 fps from the rifle’s 22-inch barrel. Standard deviations are in the single digits, suggesting a well-balanced load. The five-shot groups it prints are regularly between 0.50 and 0.75 MOA, and with some more tinkering, I might be able to shrink that once predator season is over.

But the season was already on, and with a 50-round box of ammo loaded, I zeroed the rifle at 200 meters and then tackled our club’s 500-meter range. The smallest steel targets on this range are 8-inch plates, and it’s always my goal to get first-round hits on these plates out to the 500-meter maximum. This turned out to be easy, and I declared the rifle ready to hunt.

As I write this, I’ve only had the rifle in the hunting fields for about one month, and so far, it’s been a death ray on a dozen coyotes. A standout example was a calling set-up in which a friend missed a relatively close-range coyote, which, in response, ran to the far end of the pasture and stopped to look back at us. I had enough time to range it with my Zeiss binocular and watch the built-in ballistic program call for six minutes of elevation to make the hit. I dialed the Leupold, gave it my best trigger squeeze, and watched the coyote fold. The distance was 505 yards.

Although designed and intended for competition, it’s clear that the 6mm GT has the chops to make it in the predator hunting fields as well. I prefer lighter, more explosive bullets than a PRS shooter would opt for, but other than that, I’m appreciating the same things about this cartridge that competitors do: mild recoil, great accuracy, and inexpensive to feed. My old 22-250 will likely spend the entire winter in the safe.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Al Voth calls himself a "student of the gun." Retired from a 35-year career in law enforcement, including nine years on an Emergency Response Team, he now works as an editor, freelance writer, and photographer, in addition to keeping active as a consultant in the field he most recently left behind—forensic firearm examination. He is a court-qualified expert in that forensic discipline, having worked in that capacity in three countries. These days, when he's not working, you'll likely find him hunting varmints and predators (the 4-legged variety)