.284 Win Redux — The Lure of the ‘Straight .284 Win’
Editor: With Jerry Tierney steering a straight .284 Win to victory at the recent NBRSA 1000-Yard Nationals, we thought readers would appreciate a “second look” at this story. Our friend Bruce Duncan talks about the .284 Win and explains why it has proven so successful in long-range competition.
By Bruce Duncan, MT Guns
Building a Straight .284 Winchester
Sometime back–at least two years ago–Jerry Tierney confided in me that he was givng up on the 6.5s, and moving to the 7mms. “If you could only shoot one 7mm, Jerry,” I asked, “which would it be?” … “Straight 284 Win,” he answered.
So when I was thinking to rebarrel my 6.5×47 Lapua, in the fall of 2010, the .284 Win came immediately to mind. I am not about to argue the primacy of any chambering. I look at the dominance of the 6mm Dasher, at Missoula, say, or the recent NBRSA 600- and 1000-Yard Nationals and wonder.
And I’m reasonably convinced that none of us ever makes an entirely rational decision — one based purely on fact, and void of prejudice and emotion. But I knew a bunch of the U.S. F-Class guys were moving to 7mm, and decided to build one myself. This would be a NBRSA Heavy Gun, using my existing Barnard PC twin-port action, and my existing Shehane MBR Tracker stock. Going to the 7mm made sense to me — an accurate heavy bullet with a high BC, such as the Berger 7mm 180gr Hybrid, has a good chance of getting where one wants it to go. That’s particularly important when you’re shooting in tough wind conditions.
I ordered a 1:9″-twist barrel from Bartlein with 5R rifling and 1.250″ straight contour. (By the way, MT Guns has racks of Bartlein barrels if you need one right away.) I spoke at length with Ray Bowman of Precision Rifle & Tool (PR&T), who has immense experience with the .284 Win, and his fingerprints on a lot of winning rifles. Ray was supportive.
“The .284 Shehane isn’t enough bang for the buck”, Ray suggested. I sense he was telling me that I could achieve what I wanted with a standard .284 Win, without the cost of custom-run dies or the hassle of case-forming. I had David Kiff of Pacific Tool & Gauge cut me a reamer with a .313″ neck. I hadn’t decided on a bullet — I shoot Bergers exclusively — but watched the results from Phoenix in 2011, and noticed Bryan Litz did well with his .284 Win, shooting the Berger 180 Hybrid, as did Danny Biggs, shooting a 7mm RSAUM. I did some preliminary 100-yard load testing, and settled on a few loads I wanted to try (at longer range) with the Berger 180.
Shooting in good conditions on an Ojai, California morning, I tried three, five-shot groups with three different loads at 600 yards. One load in particular gave me two groups out of three at 1.8xx”. That’s pretty darn good at 600. The only surprise was that the bullets were seated to have the ogive just kiss the lands, rather than the slight jump that most were using.
It turned out that my load development wasn’t a fluke. The gun shot well, taking Third Place, 6-Target Aggregate Heavy Gun Group at the 2011 NBRSA 1000-Yard Nationals in Sacramento. Together with my 6×47 Lapua Light Gun, I took Third Place Overall. (The LG also featured a Barnard Action, Bartlein barrel, and Shehane stock.)
Great Accuracy Is Possible
So I was not surprised when Ed Docalavich, one of MT Guns clients, wrote to say how happy he was with the .284 Winchester we built for him. He attached one of the proverbial “Wallet Targets” from load testing. You can see it at right. There are five (5) shots at 100 yards, in a ragged hole you could practically cover with the Excedrin tablet in the photo. Not bad for a stout-recoiling rifle. Ed’s gun features a Barnard P action, Bartlein 5R 1:9″-twist, 1.250″-straight barrel, chambered for a no-turn neck.
Like I said, I’m not about to argue the primacy of any particular chambering, and my hat is off to the 6mms that do so well at 1000 yards. But I like the idea of a heavier bullet; the Berger 180gr Hybrid seems like magic. And as you might imagine, I don’t think it’s any coincidence at all that Ryan Pierce recently set a new 1000-Yard F-Open Record shooting the straight .284 Winchester. (READ Pierce Record Story).
Similar Posts:
- Is the .284 Shehane Inherently Accurate? You Better Believe It
- Accurate Cartridges — The .284 Shehane, an Improved .284 Win
- .284 Shehane — Winning Wildcat for F-Open Competition
- Kopriva Sets New NBRSA 1000-yard, 6-Target Agg. Record
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Tags: .284, .284 Winchester, Bruce Duncan, Bryan Litz, MT Guns, NBRSA
“The .284 Shehane isn’t enough bang for the buck, Ray suggested.” Respectfully, incorrect advice. I believe I am the very first person to shoot a .284 Shehane and I had no problem whatsoever getting 2951 fps with single digit ES with a load of 57 grains of 4831SC and the Berger 180, Russian primers. In fact, I broke Mid Tompkins’ 9 year old Senior NRA prone record with the Shehane in June of 2008, in 105 degree heat at Camp Butner. This was the same weekend that Charles Ballard broke the F-Class record with his straight .284. I was shooting way inside a 300 Win Mag next to me.
Bryan Litz is a great prone shooter with his .284, but he was only running around 2825 fps with his load of H4350 — nowhere near a Shehane.
You have built a custom gun, with world class components, and even purchased your own reamer. So, the “bang for the buck” comes down to the one-time cost of custom dies (which I like to have with any competition chambering). John Whidden now makes great dies for the Shehane at a very affordable price.
BTW, before someone posts about having to fire-form the brass, the Shehane shoots GREAT with fire forming loads — which is right there with Charlie Ballard’s match load.
My $.02 in favor of the Shehane.
I’m not silly enough to argue with you, Jim Hardy.
LOL.
I have the utmost respect for Ray Bowman, and will continue to do so.
My background is in journalism, Jim, and usually, when you quote someone, you don’t get blamed for their opinion?
And yes, as you suggest, the Barnard Action is “world class,” although I don’t expect I have to remind any prone shooters.
LOL.
Nothing will change the fact that at Sacramento in the 2011 NBRSA Nationals and abysmal conditions, my Straight 284 Win did just fine.
And Jerry Tierney just showed most everyone what the chambering can do.
Come to think of it, Jim, why don’t you pick on someone your own size?
Are you ready to tell Jerry Tierney he should have been shooting a Shehane?
LOL.
Thanks for your post, Jim-
RBD
Since I have lost over 60 pounds, Jerry is my size:) You have forgotten something very important: Jerry is almost unbeatable in Sacramento! He has won at 600 and 1000 with everything from bench guns to tube guns. Jerry does not win because of the chambering — Jerry wins because he can read the wind on that range better than anyone else. He probably could have won with his Palma gun — don’t bet against him in Kalif.
I have great respect for Ray, but that does not mean that he is correct on this issue. I have turned shooters on to the Shehane who have placed high in the F-Class World Championships. Does that make me correct — no. What is accurate is that a properly set up 284 Shehane will out run a straight 284 by more than a little. Without going into all the details, this starts with the proper throat cut by a reamer made for the job. Jerry knows this in spades and does the same thing for more boiler room.
Another detail: The primary design of the Shehane was not more capacity but better extraction on quick runs in 1000 yard BR. The Shehane capacity was a bit much for the 6.5 but the extra case capacity was just about perfect for a 7mm.
Your rifle is shooting little knots. You know what you are doing for sure. But, the extra gain in fps can be helpful in the prone game where the strings are not run as quickly as BR or F-Class. Simply put, 100 fps, everything else being equal, will gain you an X or a 10 during a reginal when a fraction of an inch makes all the difference in tricky wind conditions.
I understand completely shooting a standard chambering. I also set a short lived 600 yard prone record with a straight 6BR. But, I don’t think that it would be correct for me to say a Dasher does not give me “bang for the buck” over a 6BR. Note that a Dasher is a more work to the final case than a Shehane.
All this is just food for thought and, truth be told, more than a little affection by me for the Shehane.
God bless,
Jim Hardy
Bruce:
In journalism you don’t you don’t get blamed for quoting someone’s opinion? When the opinion is quoted for the truth of the matter asserted, it gets an old lawyers attention:) Besides you know what happens to the messengers — everyone wants to kill them and the lawyers.
AS to old Jerry. You have to watch out for that boy. He will stir the pot on the net just for grins as he sits back with a big smile sipping on a brewski. We have exchanged many ideas and he has given me all his data on the 284 shooting the Berger and the Sierra. A true prince of a man and a great asset to the game.
Deseo saber si hay en USA donde poder alquilar torreta para rifle de F Class en modalidad Open para el National y el World Championship
I want to know if there is in the U.S. where you can rent turret rifle in F Class Open mode for the National and World Championship
I just had Jim Borden complete a chambering in 284 for one of his custom built benchrest guns. Its showing some REAL potential. I’m stepping up to f open after ftr 600 and 100 ppc benchrest. Wish me luck.
@ Jim Hardy Since you compete and win with the .284 Shehane your opinion counts very little. It is like anyone that wins with anything they will praise it. You have far too much invested to be objective. Your general advice is priceless but your specific endorsement of the Shehane is biased beyond what is reasonable. You have such skill and experience that you could likely win 6.5CM because of your years of patient, practices, prep and experience. Your attention to detail is obvious!