| 6.5-06 A-Square | |
| Origin: | United States |
| Type: | Centerfire rifle |
| Designer: | A-Square |
| Design Date: | 1997 |
| Parent: | .30-06 Springfield |
| Case Type: | Rimless, bottleneck |
| Bullet: | .264 |
| Neck: | .296 |
| Shoulder: | .4425 |
| Base: | .4698 |
| Rim Dia: | .473 |
| Rim Thick: | .034 |
| Case Length: | 2.494 |
| Length: | 3.44 |
| Case Capacity: | 65.7 gr H2O |
| Rifling: | 1-9"[1] |
| Primer: | Large rifle |
| Max Pressure: | 60200 |
| Bw1: | 100 |
| Btype1: | Nosler Ballistic Tip |
| Vel1: | 3400 |
| En1: | 2566 |
| Bw2: | 140 |
| Btype2: | Nosler Partition |
| Vel2: | 3000 |
| En2: | 2797 |
| Balsrc: | A-Square Co. |
The 6.5-06 A-Square is a centerfire rifle cartridge that originated as a wildcat, based on the popular .30-06 Springfield. A-Square standardized the dimensions of the cartridge and submitted them to SAAMI in 1997.
The 6.5-06 A-Square uses a .264" diameter bullet loaded into a modified .30-06 Springfield cartridge. The neck is reduced to accept the smaller bullet, the shoulder is longer than that of the parent cartridge, and it has a 17.5 degree shoulder angle leading to the neck of the case, where the bullet is seated.[1] The Ackley Improved version of the cartridge uses a sharper shoulder angle and has a case capacity of 72 gr of water.
The 6.5-06 A-Square has power similar to that of the .270 Winchester and .308 Winchester, making it suitable for hunting medium-sized game such as deer and black bear.It is also used in competitions such as F-Class and Benchrest formats.
Currently (2011) none of the major commercial ammunition manufacturers offer factory loaded 6.5-06 A-Square ammunition. There are smaller companies that custom load the cartridge[2] however, and hand-loading can be accomplished using the proper set of dies and using .25-06 Remington, .270 Winchester, or .30-06 Springfield brass and making the proper modifications to fit the 6.5-06 A-Square chamber. After firing, the brass from the original cartridge (.25-06 Remington, .270 Winchester, or .30-06 Springfield) will be fire-formed to the exact dimensions of the 6.5-06 A-Square chamber.
As of 2011, A-Square listed two different rifles factory chambered in 6.5-06 A-Square; the Hamilcar and the Genghis Khan.[3] Several of the major custom barrel manufacturers offer the 6.5-06 A-Square (sometimes listed simply as 6.5-06) chamber as an option for builders of custom rifles. However, On 15 February 2012, the A-Square Company ceased to exist.