New Barrel for My 12FV

[OLEJOE]

Well I’ve got a new build in the works. Got a Shilen #17 contour blank in 6.5 1 in 8 twist I’m going to chamber for 6.5 Creedmoor. Got it turned down on the chamber end and threaded today. Dialed it in to.0001 (1 ten-thousandths) and plan to chamber it tomorrow. I also aligned my lathe before I started. Tailstock is perfectly aligned top to bottom and side to side. Thread shank is a very good fit. Going to install a ground recoil lug also. The nut I’m going to use came off of a Remington 783 and has a 1.0900 diameter unthreaded inside diameter on the rear. I built a truing mandrel and faced the action and the nut to true them up. The stock recoil lug is bad out of square with the top thickness being.182 and the bottom being .190 so the ground .250 recoil lug from NSS should help with the alignment. I’ll report back when I get it all together and do a little group shooting with it. Oh and I plan to put it in a B&C Medalist stock. The muzzle diameter should run around.830 for 26 inches. I’ll probably put a 90 degree recessed crown on it too. I’ve cut 11 degree crowns before but the 90 seems to work better for me.

[OLEJOE]

A few pics of the process.

[Texas10]

Jealous, I am.

I see NSS has Shilen barrels on clearance. Considering a new 6BR barrel, buuuuuuut, maybe what I really need is a new 6.5CM. Hmmmmmmm

[OLEJOE]

I got it threaded, chambered, cut to length and crowned. Now to start the break in. Muzzle diameter turned out to be.825 @ 25.5 inches. I’ll post some pics later.

[OLEJOE]

I put 1 round through it and the dimensions off of the brass look great. Headspace is 1 thousandth over my Go-Guage. I’m going to have the barrel Cerakoted and I’ll tighten up the headspace then but nothing wrong with 1 thousandths over. I reload so I can just adjust the dies for the correct bump. This is the crown. Only pic I could get to upload.

[1vakid]

Looking nice. I'm looking to go from 6.5 Creed to 6.5-284 on my Model 12

[OLEJOE]

Looking nice. I'm looking to go from 6.5 Creed to 6.5-284 on my Model 12

I would like to find a short throated 6.5-284 reamer that would work in a short action.

[OLEJOE]

I finally got it broke in and shot some groups with it. I got some IMR 4451 powder and it seems to be what it likes. This is a 4 shot group at 100 yds.

[OLEJOE]

Here’s a 4 shot group with RL16.

[SageRat Shooter]

Have you tried any H4831SC or H4350 in it yet? Will be interesting to see if your groups are any better.... Not that they need to be... I just had better accuracy and MV with those 2.

[OLEJOE]

I used some H4350 during the break in but not any type of load work up .I opted for the RL 16 as a replacement for H4350 in the event I couldn't find any .I've got 12 lbs of it in my closet. LOL. RL16 has been reported to give slightly higher velocities and with the smaller case capacity of the Starline brass, I figured it was worth a shot. I only have 50 or 60 rounds through it so far. I'm having a little trouble with consistent neck tension but I'm about to get it ironed out.

[SageRat Shooter]

I used some H4350 during the break in but not any type of load work up .I opted for the RL 16 as a replacement for H4350 in the event I couldn't find any .I've got 12 lbs of it in my closet. LOL. RL16 has been reported to give slightly higher velocities and with the smaller case capacity of the Starline brass, I figured it was worth a shot. I only have 50 or 60 rounds through it so far. I'm having a little trouble with consistent neck tension but I'm about to get it ironed out.

Interesting... RL16 did not give me near the velocity that H4350 did nor was it as accurate. I've tried H4831, H4350, RL16, RL17, RL25, RL26, Vitavori something, Ramshot hunter, IMR4451... H4831SC had great accuracy but lacked MV. H4350 was the best of both worlds... I know, every barrel is different... I use Lapua brass so that may be a factor in the difference.

[NicfromAlabama]

On the H4350 comments........

I installed a 6.5 Creedmoor 28" Shilen bull barrel on one of my Cabela's 12FVs from NSS. I was tickled with the results. Put it in a HS Precision M24 stock. I have only shot it a total of 30 times with a spaced out ladder loading of 5 each. (This is my first barrel replacement) First 5 on the low charge had to be used to sight the scope. But, all the others were shot for groups on my crude bench. I used H4350, and I am very happy with the results. All loads grouped good. However, all could be covered with a dime at 123 yards, fliers included. I cannot see a reason to try different powders. Best group was with 40.5 grains H4350. 41.5 grains grouped near one hole on 4 shots and I flubbed one shot messing it up, but there may be potential there.

I like the H4350 for the Creedmoor. With my awful shooting, I don't see how I could shoot better with anything else.

[OLEJOE]

I have some ammo loaded for another rifle and it is loaded with 40.5 grns of H4350. It does work good. But sometimes it’s hard to find. This is why I’ve tried to develop a good load with other powders. IMR 4451 also seems to work pretty well. My 12FV also has a Shilen barrel. The blank I used had a larger diameter spot that didn’t follow the taper of the contour on the barrel. That’s the reason for the 25.5 inches. I loaded some up with 41.7 grains of H4350 in reformed 308 Lapua brass but started getting ejector marks.

[Robinhood]

Good post Joe. Thanks

For the guys that see chambering in their future, notice the round copper stock between the barrel and the jaws. Critical to keep from inducing stress or run-out in the barrel. there are other setups but this one works well for anything long and skinny. The round stock must be squared in the jaws normally in the first groove of the jaws.

[OLEJOE]

I used a no.4 copper wire for the barrel to be able to pivot on. The pics of the barrel sticking out that far were when I was cutting down the OD and threading with a live center helping support the barrel after it was dialed in. After threading, I repositioned it closer to the chuck for Chambering. I had to reduce the OD for the Savage.
This is by far the best chamber I’ve done. My fired brass measures .2945 at the neck.263 at the shoulder and.469 at the base where the brass expands. It should be a great shooter. I think the weakest link in my system is the tupperware stock.

[Iowa Fox]

Joe I'm envious of your machining skills. If you don't mind me asking what are the dimensions on your reamer. neck & freebore. Thanks

[OLEJOE]

Fox,
It is supposed to be a .295 neck and a .199 freebore. This is the SAAMI reamer dimensions. I’m probably getting half of a thousandths spring back on the brass. With the reamer inserted in the chamber there is no movement whatsoever so I know it is reamed straight. No reason to be envious. If I can do it anybody can. Even a caveman.

[Iowa Fox]

Joe, any test target results for us.

[OLEJOE]

There is a couple of pics of targets in post #10 and 9. I’m still doing load development and looking for the best one. 41.5 grns of H4350 looks good and I’m doing a little seating depth adjustment to see how it goes. So far it’s shooting around half inch 5 shot groups with just about anything put in it. I’ve been working on my bench set up and getting a little more trigger time. Also been working on consistent neck tension and made some improvements in that.