Background:

Last year was the year of the 6mm BR (and its offspring; BRA, BRX, Dasher, etc) in both the PRS and NRL.  A survey conducted by Cal Zant with the Precision Rifle Blog showed 48% of shooters were using a BR in some form.  This is a swing that has been a few years in the making. Initially, when practical precision rifle shooting was becoming popular, .308 Winchester ruled the roost.  It was what military snipers had been using for decades, so how could you go wrong with that?  A few guys who understood external ballistics would venture out and shoot 7-08 Remington, .260 Remington, .243 Winchester and various wildcats in those bore sizes instead of the .308 because of their superior Ballistic Coefficient (BC) and reduced recoil.  As the sport progressed 6mm and 6.5mm bore sizes became the norm with Creedmoors and the x47 Lapua variants holding the lions share. Now for the same reasons 6mm and 6.5mm beat out the .308, the 6mm BR is coming into its own.

It should be noted that although the 6mm BR is just coming on to the practical precision rifle scene, it is not a new cartridge, far from it.  In fact, it predates most of the other cartridges being shot in the PRS and NRL. Wildcatters have been winning benchrest competitions and setting records with some variant of the 6mm BR since the early ’60s.  It is understood in the bench rest world for short range the 6mm PPC is king, but when you need the legs to stretch out to 600 or 1000 yards 6mm BR is the gold standard.

Lapua makes what is regarded as some of the worlds finest brass for the 6mm BR

The BR family has excellent components available for it.  It is extremely easy to load for and has been providing benchrest accuracy for over 50 years. So, why haven’t more PRS and NRL shooters adopted it sooner? MAGAZINES. Benchrest shooters have the luxury of time. They can sit at their bench and single feed their perfectly constructed rounds. They can even wait for ideal wind conditions.  For those of us who shoot practical precision matches time is not a luxury we have. We are expected to fire 12 rounds in less than 90 seconds all while changing positions and locating various targets.  Our rifles must feed from a detachable box magazine and feed reliably. This was the biggest challenge for the early adopters of the 6mm BR. The 6mm BR is nearly half an inch shorter than the .308 cartridge which all of the magazines were originally designed to feed.  The cartridge to magazine compatibility, or lack thereof, caused reliability issues. Of course, precision rifle shooters being the ingenuitive bunch that they are, came up with some workarounds.  Most of these involved buying a magazine designed for the .308 family of cartridges, then retrofitting it with a spacer kit (new spring, follower and spacer) to work with the BR.  To me, this always seemed a little wasteful as brand new parts were being discarded.

Notice the length difference with the 6mm BR. (Photo from 6mmbr.com)

A New Option:

MDT’s factory configured 6mm BR magazine 

Fortunately, thanks to the progressive thinkers over at Modular Driven Technologies (MDT), precision shooters now have a factory offered magazine specifically designed to reliably feed the BR cartridge family.   Here is what they have to say about it:

MDT is proud to announce the addition of the 6mm BR AICS pattern magazine. Available in 12 round capacity, the new magazine is a one-step solution for feeding your 6mm BR variant rifle. With a maximum allowable internal length of 2.580″, the MDT 6mm BR mags will accommodate many different bullet seating depths. Manufactured from high quality steel and nitride treated for ultimate durability. It is finished with a coat of black Cerakote Elite Series paint inside and out for corrosion resistance and low friction. To reduce friction between cartridge and magazine body as much as possible we’ve also added two internal ribs which provide a smooth transition from double stack to single feed.

The MDT 6mm BR magazine Is the one step solution smooth, reliable feeding for the most popular rifle cartridges in precision rifle competitions.

If these magazines are on par with the quality of everything else MDT produces, I am certain they will be an instant success.  I only hope they make enough to keep them in stock!

To purchase these magazines or to see the widest array of action inlets for chassis on the market visit: www.mdttac.com