This is the second time that I claimed that when I provided the last two results that I would close this thread and change the stock on the 12 FV 6.5mm Creedmoor. Well, I still wanted to shoot the 6.5mm Creedmoor and the new Oryx frame that arrived is mounted on the 12 FV .223 because the .223 magazine would accommodate the O.A.L.s that I want to shoot to get the best accuracy and the 6.5mm MDT mag wouldn’t. I had to wait for x-high rings for the .223 because the lowest setting for the Oryx stock cheek weld is 0.5 inches higher than the Savage stock and I couldn’t shoot it comfortably with the scope mounted so low. The x-high rings are now mounted and the action has been moved to the Oryx frame so I intend to shoot the 12 FV .223 with the Oryx stock tomorrow and will start a new thread to document its performance and then compare the results to the factory stock. The AICS mag with enough space for the 6.5mm CM O.A.L. I use hasn’t arrived yet, so this post still has data from the 6.5mm factory stock. When the AICS mag for the 6.5mm CM arrives with sufficient internal space to support the O.A.L. I desire, I’ll consider switching the Oryx frame to the 6.5mm. If the .223 results tomorrow are encouraging, I’ll probably order another Oryx frame. If not, I’ll try it on the 6.5 mm. If it doesn’t show any improvement in accuracy in either rifle, I guess a lightly used Oryx frame will be on the market.
The following are the results with the Savage 12 6.5 mm Creedmoor shot in Northern Virginia on Tuesday morning, July 2nd at 100 yards. Temperatures on Monday were from 74 to 86 degrees with winds from calm to 3 mph. Altitude of the range is 250 feet above sea level. Temperatures were warm so once I shot the first 10 rounds, I had to let the barrel cool until I could shoot the next set. I usually only got about 7 to 9 rounds down range before the barrel was over the 122-130 reading on the temperature strip I have on my barrel. It took a while to get the three loads finished.
All rounds were shot using Lapua brass and CCI BR-4 primers with an 8x32x56mm NightForce scope with a NP-2DD reticle. All bullets were loaded to achieve a 1.360 msec. exit time which should be the sweet spot for a 26-inch 3% carbon steel barrel with a 0.040-inch recessed crown. The action screws were torqued to 35 in.-lbs. prior to this session.
For this session, I loaded IMR4451 Enduron powder and I planned the seating depths so all the different bullets would achieve the same jump to the rifling – 0.020 – and then adjusted the seating depth by less than 0.005 thousandths to achieve the 1.360 exit time. This morning I shot Sierra TGK 130 grain bullets, Hornady ELD-M 140 grain bullets, and Hornady ELD-X 143 grain bullets.
The load description field shows the powder and charge, the O.A.L., the trim length, and the bullet exit time from the 26-inch barrel.
# Grps Load Description Bullet Weight Velocity Average Median St Dev 1 2 3 4 4 IMR4451 38.9 gr 2.830 1.906 wf 1.360 * 74/74 deg. F. 35 in.-lbs. Sierra TGK #4330 130 2702 0.250 0.267 0.076 0.146 0.241 0.293 0.318 3 IMR4451 39.0 gr 2.850 1.908 wf 1.360 * 78/82 deg. F. 35 in-lbs. Hornady ELD-M #26331 140 2669 0.301 0.283 0.056 0.257 0.283 0.364 4 IMR4451 38.7 gr 2.852 1.911 wf 1.360 * 82/86 deg. F. 35 in.-lbs. Hornady ELD-X #2635 143 2656 0..288 0.292 0.053 0.220 0.289 0.291 0.349 11 0.278 0.289 0.071
The first group of the 130 grain TGK was incredible - five shots into one ragged hole to start the day after one sighter to foul the barrel. The first three rounds were literally in the same hole and the next two enlarged it a bit to the right. I had great expectations after that but it went back to normal from there on although shooting a 0.278 average for 11 groups with the worst load barely larger than 0.300 is nothing to complain about.
The 143 ELD-X bullets continue to impress and today’s results bettered the initial session average of 0.298. The combined average for the 143 ELD-X with IMR4451 powder is now 0.304. Not bad for a hunting bullet. The 130 TMKs are also not shooting badly and performed best today, although the overall average for IMR4451 powder is 0.345.
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