Reloading 6.5 Creedmoor

[GrenGuy]

You shoot at 1,200yds. I shoot at 1,000yds. I want the maximum velocity I can get when the bullet arrives at the target. My first load development is PRESSURE TEST. I do this in My garage, shooting into a suitable backstop. I start with the bullet in the lands, and work up until pressure signs become apparent. This method will indicate the max pressure the case can stand. As we back out of the lands, the pressure reduces. But now we have a base line for MAXIMUM load. With what the wind does to ballets at 600yds and beyond, I want all the velocity I can get, THAT SHOOTS ACCURATELY. That means eventually loading and tuning for the desired target range. Only the target can reveal if the level of success has been achieved.

Be safe and proceed at Your own risk !! PS ... most distance shooters find their desired loads near Max Pressure.

[Ernest T]

You shoot at 1,200yds. I shoot at 1,000yds. I want the maximum velocity I can get when the bullet arrives at the target. My first load development is PRESSURE TEST. I do this in My garage, shooting into a suitable backstop. I start with the bullet in the lands, and work up until pressure signs become apparent. This method will indicate the max pressure the case can stand. As we back out of the lands, the pressure reduces. But now we have a base line for MAXIMUM load. With what the wind does to ballets at 600yds and beyond, I want all the velocity I can get, THAT SHOOTS ACCURATELY. That means eventually loading and tuning for the desired target range. Only the target can reveal if the level of success has been achieved.

Be safe and proceed at Your own risk !! PS ... most distance shooters find their desired loads near Max Pressure.

Interesting, I've only been doing this for a short while and have found that my gun is not very accurate near max loads. I've noticed it with RL-16, H4350 and StaBall 6.5 with the Hornady 140 ELD-Ms. It could very well be the bullet or the seating depth and not the rifle because I've stuck with seating depths that I can load in my magazine. I've struggled to find an economical way to identify powder loads. Mainly I've been shooting groups every .2 grains until I find several in a row that group close to 1/2 MOA, but that eats up powder, primers and bullets.

I've loaded rounds for the Barnes Match Burner's into the lands so we'll see how that goes.

[Ernest T]

I had one of the most disorganized days I have had in a long time, but it actually turned out to be a terrific shooting experience.

It started with the weather, it was supposed to be 61 and cloudy with a pretty good breeze blowing from the north. That's okay for shooting because the range points almost due north so there wouldn't be much side to side wind. However, by the time I got to the range, it had only gone up to 45 and had started to drizzle, blowing water under the roof over the shooting positions.

I used the targets I had labeled for 40.6 and 40.8 grains to zero my scope so right off the bat I screwed up. I was happy with the group I got with RL-16. I shot two rounds, then adjusted down 1 MOA and shot the other three. I loaded these rounds to the land with Barnes Match Burner 140 grain bullets and was flabbergasted by how accurate they were with RL-16. I had one round that wouldn't chamber and measured it when I got home. It was .003 too long and I thought I verified all of them were 2.300 last night when I loaded them. I seated it to 2.300 and the bolt closed on it. I also didn't have any loads of 41.4, none in the box or the bag. I found them on the bench when I got home. Go figure.

I was pretty close on my guess that what I had achieved with RL-16 and the Hornady 140 grain bullet in my gun would be closer to what I got with the Barnes Match Burner 140 grain bullet than the info provided by Barnes. I also got great ES and SD with these loads. I've found that CCI 450 Magnum Small Rifle Primers give much better ES and SD than regular SRP.

My Velocity
40.6 - 2597
40.8 - 2612
41.0 - 2634
41.2 - 2648
41.4 - screwed up
41.6 - 2656
41.8 - 2664
42.0 - 2670

Barnes Data
38.9 - 2500
41.3 - 2600
42.5 - 2700

These rounds were crazy accurate, but leaves me with a quandary. They are way longer than my magazine so I'd have to hand load them. I wonder what would happen if I shortened them to fit the mag?

The forgotten rounds.



The primers of the 42.0 grain load. I finally understand cratered primers and will address that soon.