First range trip with Savage 6.5 Creedmoor

[Sudo]

Finally got my Savage 110 to the range.

Couldn't find ammo, but finally got a friend to load some 130gr ammo for it.

Worked really well. Good groups. With a muzzle brake, recoil was very light.

My question is, for you fellow 6.5c shooters what bullet weight works best?

[Longleaf73]

It depends on what you want to do with your rifle. Is it for hunting? If so, what are you going after - smaller game up to deer or even larger? Or are you going to be target shooting, and at what distances? Use the search bar up at the top right and their is tons of info about different ammo and loads on this site. For hunting deer in my area, with my Axis 6.5 Cr, I use a 143 grain bullet, but I am not going to be shooting them at 500 yards either. They will be at most 200-300 yard shots, most likely closer than that. The ammunition and reloading forum board will probably have some better answers for you than I can give. Whatever you do, good luck and be safe!

[NF1E]

I have been loading 140 gn Bergers for the short line. Most of my shooting is only 100 - 200 yds. Works fine for me. Here is a couple of 10 rnd groups at 100 from 3 weeks ago.

[Robinhood]

Nice shooting NF1E. Can I ask you load?

Sudo, for target shooting I mostly see 130 - 142. I have had great luck with 139 Scenar's, 140 Berger's and 142 SMK's.

[CFJunkie]

Sudo,



I have three 6.5mm CMs, all Savages.

They generally shoot all bullet weights from 130 to 147 accurately - they all shot 140 grain bullets about the same.
However, when I'd had gathered lots of data and did some analysis, I found that for 5-round group averages, two of the rifles shot 142, 143 and 147 grain bullets slightly better and the third shot 130 grain bullets slightly better.
So the three barrels had bullet preferences, and yours probably will also.

So I'm not sure that there is a definitive answer to your question that applies to every barrel.
In addition, the powder-bullet combination also seems to matter.
Some powders seem to shoot better with either heavy or light bullets, but not both.

Watch out for using the one 'great' group when you are making your decision.
It usually is an anomaly surrounded by a number of larger groups.

I find that to make a reasonable judgement on bullet accuracy, you need quite a number of data points.
It also helps to have a consistency in group sizes if you expect the decision to be a good one.
One really large group or one really small group from one load can really skew the result and give you a false indication of accuracy.
That one group is probably the result of 'shooter induced variation' rather than bullet or powder accuracy.

The Hornady ELD-Ms from 130 to 147 grain bullets, and even the 143 grain ELD-X, were easy tune.
For Sierras, I did find that the 140 grain SMK, an older bullet design, did not shoot anywhere as good as the newer 142 grain SMK.
The Sierra 130 grain TMK shot accurately as did their 130 grain GMK.
I did find that all three of the Berger 140s were a bit picky about seating depth and it took some amount of experimentation to find the best jump for each, but they eventually shot well.

[yobuck]

Yes but then its the anomaly’s that end up being record groups sometime isnt it? lol

[CFJunkie]

Your right, statistically, they are anomalies but those record groups are great benchmarks for single group performance.
Granted the probability of having a record group increases with the skill of the shooter, mainly because all 5 shots have to be great to have a record group.
Outstanding shooters also shoot a lot of 'near-record' groups as well.
Their consistency makes the record groups shot by outstanding shooters even more significant.
And the net results are statistically valid, and testify to the capability and prowess of the record holder.

I have seen some 'great groups' shot by shooters who were far from outstanding and have the vast majority of their groups measure far from adequate.
I couldn't conclude much other than they occurred, but often those shooters use them to make decisions on the best bullet or best powder or the rifle's capability.
Their single groups don't testify to the overall rifle, bullet, powder or shooter accuracy and aren't reliable measures unless they gathered a lot more data to make their decision.
The shooter could have pulled a poor shot into their 'great' group as easily as pulling one out of the next group.

[lastedtiger]

Lot of good powders and bullets in 6.5 . I shoot 140 to 147 , my favorite and most accurate bullet has been the 145 Barnes match burner followed by the 140 /147 eld M and 140/142 SMK.

[Texas10]

I put a 24" X-Caliber barrel on my model 10 action in the original BVSS stock it's stupid accurate with 140 SMKs out to 1000 yds at the local range. I don't have paper targets to show, they only have steel targets at long ranges but I did shoot a 100 yd varmint for score match with it and managed to not make a complete fool out of myself. A good load at a reasonable (pre-panic) price was Varget, 140 or 142 SMK's and Hornaday brass harvested from (used to be a dollar a pop) Hornaday Black 140 gr, which, BTW is stupid accurate out of just about any Savage rifle.

[wbm]

Hornaday Black 140 gr, which, BTW is stupid accurate out of just about any Savage rifle.

Ain't it though!! Bought a 200 round bulk pack of that in 2019....should have bought 400. Got great reviews as well it should.

[Kev1Doggy]

Nice shooting NF1E. Can I ask you load?

Sudo, for target shooting I mostly see 130 - 142. I have had great luck with 139 Scenar's, 140 Berger's and 142 SMK's.

I have been shooting 140 bergers and just bought a 1000 Scenar L 139. How much different are the Scenars in your loads???

[yobuck]

Your right, statistically, they are anomalies but those record groups are great benchmarks for single group performance.
Granted the probability of having a record group increases with the skill of the shooter, mainly because all 5 shots have to be great to have a record group.
Outstanding shooters also shoot a lot of 'near-record' groups as well.
Their consistency makes the record groups shot by outstanding shooters even more significant.
And the net results are statistically valid, and testify to the capability and prowess of the record holder.

I have seen some 'great groups' shot by shooters who were far from outstanding and have the vast majority of their groups measure far from adequate.
I couldn't conclude much other than they occurred, but often those shooters use them to make decisions on the best bullet or best powder or the rifle's capability.
Their single groups don't testify to the overall rifle, bullet, powder or shooter accuracy and aren't reliable measures unless they gathered a lot more data to make their decision.
The shooter could have pulled a poor shot into their 'great' group as easily as pulling one out of the next group.

I wont disagree with what youve said.
But in the many years ive at least associated with very good shooters, there is a large difference when distance is involved.
A good small bore shooter for example will shoot a perfect indoor prone score every time at 50’.
Not always all Xs, but non the less a perfect score.
Move the target out to 100 yds and it will become a different story.
As for long range, its always a different story.
If you were to go to a match at Williamsport for example there will be maybe 10 or 12 shooters walking around there who have the ability and the equipment to set a new record.
Lots of others have the equipment also, and there is at least a chance that one of them might, and fact is some have.
But everybody it seems has beat the existing record when practicing. lol
Preparation is of coarse paramount in pretty much everything we do.
To a point, especially when shooting at long distances or catching very large fish.

[ragsflh]

100 yd shot into a clover leaf.see if that gun can