Type Rifle Designer Ben Musgrave Manufacturer Musgrave Rifles | Place of origin South Africa Designed 1955 Parent case .303 British | |
The 6mm Musgrave was the brain child of Ben Musgrave and introduced by Musgrave Rifles in 1955 and can be described as a classic Africa cartridge. It is based on necking down the .303 British with the original intent of it being a Springbok calibre for hunting on open plains in South Africa's Karoo, Kalahari and Namakwaland. It is also well suited for other smaller antelope where longer shots have to be taken. Although not designed for bushveld conditions, the calibre can be downloaded to drive 100 grainers at 2500 feet per second and makes a very good cartridge for Impala and Reedbuck.
Like the .243 Winchester it has a fast rifle twist of 1-10 inches, however if 105 grain bullets are used it is recommended that a 1-9 or even faster twist is used to stabilise the bullets.
PMP (Pretoria Metal Pressings) is one of the very few ammunition manufacturers of 6mm Musgrave ammunition, but a lot of South African distributors have the ammunition in stock.
Dies for handloading are available from RCBS and Lee Precision.
Most manufactures of bullets (like Hornady, Nosler, Barnes, etc.) manufacture 6mm (.243") bullets that are suitable for this chambering.