New Savage shooter

Hi evryone.
I have been lurking on this forum for a while and I fianlly ordered a savage 12 benchrest in 6mm br. I am in Hawaii so i had to wait 2 weeks to get a permit to buy a firearm and i pick it up tomorrow.

I have been loading 223 for my ar-15's and sig 556 for about a year. I have everything ready for 6br. I am just waiting to get the gun so i can measure for seating depth. I have varget and h4895 powder. For bullets, I got 105 amax, smk 107, berger 88 varmint, and berger 105 hybrids.

Any advice for loads and things to check on the rifle is welcome.

Justin

What scope will you be using? With each rifle barrel being an enigma, it really doesn't pay to recommend loads as they may not shoot well in your barrel. Your starting with good powders and bullets. Loads are not hard to work up in the 6mm BR so you should see good results right from the get go. What ranges will you be shooting at? Though the 6mmBR is capable of making 1k, it really shines at 600 yards. Welcome to the Forums and the "Brotherhood of the Barrel Nut".

I will be cannibalizing an IOR Valdada 9-36x56 from another rifle. I am limited here in hawaii. the only public range is 100 yards with gongs out to 450 yds. I am planning to join a club so i can shoot on the army base if they allow shooting past 100 yards. If i had the choice, I would have a shorter slower twist barrel since the range is limited here.

The load data in hogdon and sierra seems very conservative as most loads i have seen online are at least 3 grains higher than the listed max load.

Cutting the barrel back a couple of inches is not a bad idea, but I would not look at a slower twist barrel, the 1 in 8 will shoot lighter bulets. It will shoot 65gr match bullets all the way up to the 108's, and maybe the 115's. Varget is one of the most popular powders for a 6BR, second would be Reloader 15. Primers I find that the Remington 7 1/2 is about the best choice for a BR case, regardless of caliber, Most people shoot the CCi 450 Magnum primer, and it also works well.
I did a review a few years back of this rifle, you can access it from the main page of this site.

Hello Justin & welcome to your new addiction :o :o

Did I hear (or read) you have to get a license to buy / own a rifle? >:(

Some of the stories I read about firearm ownership in different states are very disheartening.

I'm glad I live in Florida where it's still pretty rural. For now, anyway...


Welcome to the brotherhood of the barrel nut. AKA the Fraternal Order of the Switch Barrel Thunder Stick.

Frank in Fla

thanks for the info guys.

Yeah, Hawaii is really left, you have to take a safety course just to buy a hand gun. Florida is my home and I would love to get back, but uncle sam has other ideas.

If you go to accurateshooter.com there is an article on the cover page "6BR Loading for Newbies" which is excellent. Using those recommendations will get you very close to right for starters. I am not a great shooter but can get 0.15" groups at 100 yds using their recommendations when I do my part, and trying numerous other combinations of powder-seating depth, etc has given the same results within the error of my shooting ability.

I finally got to shoot today. There was some crazy wind at koko head, 20-25mph wind gusts.
I love this gun. every load shot less than 1/2 inch and with the hotter loads, 30.3gr varget with 105 amax and 29.5gr h4895 behind berger hybrids, it shot one and a half hole! and it was windy! ;D
I only shot at 100 yards but after i finish developing loads, i'll shoot further.

I heard five-o needs a new sniper! ;D