The 6.5mm Remington Magnum was designed in 1966 by Remington Arms Company. The cartridge is a necked down .350 Remington magnum to make it one of the first short magnum cartridges available on the commercial market. The 6.5mm caliber was popular in European countries during the 1960's, but failed to gain popularity in North America and factory loads stopped being produced.
In 2003 Remington tried to revive the 6.5mm cartridge along with a new rifle M673, but it also failed to gain any traction on the commercial market. The ballistic performance based off one grain type for the 6.5mm Remington Magnum on muzzle velocity is 3,210 ft/s (120 gr), and is currently the only factory load for the 6.5mm Remington Mag available on the market.
Hand loading brass is available in a variety of loads for the 6.5mm. A 129 grain bullet has a muzzle velocity of 2,700 ft/s with 43.6 gr of IMR-4350, and 3,000 ft/s with 49.8 grains of IMR-4350. The round has been used for varmint, small, and medium sized game hunting. The 6.5mm can effectively shoot targets at a distance of 290 yards before noticeable drop-off in wound penetration and trajectory occurs.
