03-14-2012, 03:27 PM
I don't have any intel, but I can offer my observations. The first company to produce a dedicated 6.5 mag available for widespread sale, C Products, also used the same mag body for their 6.8 mag. I have C Prod 6.8 and 6.5 mags, and other than the follower color and caliber marking, I can tell no difference in either mag. Mag ribs are the same depth and stamped into the same locations. Feed lips are the same size and angle. I assume the reason they used the same mag body was for economy of scale. If each caliber feeds sufficiently well from the same mag body, I can see why they'd prefer to use one stamping die rather than the expense of two for slightly different mag bodies. My only real complaint about the C Prod mags is that I wish they had used just a slightly thicker gauge of stainless. I'd put up with the slight increase in weight to make the mags feel a little sturdier and increase the stiffness of the feed lips.
Bill Alexander wrote fairly recently that another mag manufacturer is working on a 6.5 mag, so perhaps that mag will be tailored specifically to the 6.5 and not a 6.5/6.8 compromise.
Bill Alexander wrote fairly recently that another mag manufacturer is working on a 6.5 mag, so perhaps that mag will be tailored specifically to the 6.5 and not a 6.5/6.8 compromise.