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Calling all reloading Yodas out there - 6.5 Creedmoor recipe suggestions


deerman

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Hello gents,

 

I have succumbed to temptation and added a 6.5 Creedmoor rifle to my small armoury. The rifle will be used primarily for deer, but I want to try out a bit of medium range plinking as well. What ingredients (brass, bullet, powder, primers, etc.) would you suggest I start with and what load recipe can you share?

 

The rifle is a Christensen Arms USA, 24" barrel and 1:8 twist.

 

Many thanks in advance.

 

Best,

 

George

 

 

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If me id bite the bullet and get palma brass from the start , bullet choice - more difficult / many to choose . Activlll has had 2x now and think he using rs60 or 62 maybe , he may chime in at some point .

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142 grain SMKs and 140 grain Hornady A-Max bullets pushed by H4350 is just perfect. I think the A-Max has been replaced by the ELD.

I've recently tried the 130 TMKs and they show promise with the same powder but found them picky with seating depth.

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George

 

I am shooting 140 gr Berger Hybrids for good long range performance over RS62 (so I can get hold of it, it is not too expensive and it does not burn my barrel out), federal primers and lapua brass

 

The lapua brass has a small primer pocket AND flash hole - the latter is a pain if your dies have a thicker decapping pin but the brass is very strong and consistent - a comfort if shooting warmer loads

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Hobbit,

 

What dies are you using for the lap brass as im getting my 6.5 kit this week!

 

Yet to decide on primers...!

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I have redding bushing dies from Spud - I started out reloading with lee dies in 308 and 223 which worked fine but give you less control of neck tension

 

my 308 redding dies worked really well so got them for 6.5CM

 

Another issue with Lapua brass is the neck are quite tight out of the box and the redding dies don't have an expander so the first use neck tension is high - good news is that the cases last for a long time by all accounts

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What sort of velocities are you guys getting with 140s?

 

I'm using 139 gr scenars, lap brass, fed 205m and N160, max load gives me .4 moa or better but ran it over the chrono yesterday and it's a pretty sedate 2670 fps.

 

Thinking I need to change powders maybe?

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I have redding bushing dies from Spud - I started out reloading with lee dies in 308 and 223 which worked fine but give you less control of neck tension

 

my 308 redding dies worked really well so got them for 6.5CM

 

Another issue with Lapua brass is the neck are quite tight out of the box and the redding dies don't have an expander so the first use neck tension is high - good news is that the cases last for a long time by all accounts

Thanks for the info, will see what the rfd has!

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Boydy

 

I think Laurie suggested the N160 might be a little tame

 

I am cautious about handing out load data but the fact you are using the Lapua brass gives you, I believe, a bit of safety margin

 

with the scenar 139's my accuracy node was 42.9 gr of RS62 with an average MV of 2774 fps but these were loaded short AOL 2.71

 

with the Berger 140 hybrids it was 43.2 gr of RS 62 with a 5 round average 2779 fps and a SD of only 5fps OAL 2.815

 

In both cases I was typically 20 fps below what quick load predicted

 

I went a bit higher but accuracy dropped off and whilst the brass had no signs i reached a point where bolt lift was a bit heavy

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Boydy

 

I think Laurie suggested the N160 might be a little tame

 

I am cautious about handing out load data but the fact you are using the Lapua brass gives you, I believe, a bit of safety margin

 

with the scenar 139's my accuracy node was 42.9 gr of RS62 with an average MV of 2774 fps but these were loaded short AOL 2.71

 

with the Berger 140 hybrids it was 43.2 gr of RS 62 with a 5 round average 2779 fps and a SD of only 5fps OAL 2.815

 

In both cases I was typically 20 fps below what quick load predicted

 

I went a bit higher but accuracy dropped off and whilst the brass had no signs i reached a point where bolt lift was a bit heavy

 

I'm getting approx 2750fps with 42gr of H4350, Lapua Scenar 139gr / Lapua S/R brass seating 10thou off.

 

Thanks chaps

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26" proof research carbon wrapped barrel

 

So actually with my 24" barrel working on losing 50 fps / 1" The N160 doesn't actually look that bad compared to your results, I did get up to 2720 but was just starting to get primer cratering accuracy wasn't as good, I had superb accuracy with 40 gr but that was only giving 2580 fps!

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Interesting results, im getting the cci 450 magnum primers I think and will either use rs60 or 65 (using rs40 in my 308 and the barrel is still fine...)

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What lenght barrels are you guys using? Anyone else tried RS60?

My Barrel is 28". I get ~2860 fps with my H4830 load and 140/142 grain bullets. I did some load development with RS60 but don't use it as I want my Barrel to live a decent life.

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Interesting results, im getting the cci 450 magnum primers I think and will either use rs60 or 65 (using rs40 in my 308 and the barrel is still fine...)

 

Anyone else using magnum small rifle primers with success? Wondering if these may eek a bit more out of my N160 load.

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I know it's not the same calibre, but I had similarly sedate velocities in my 260rem with N160 (2,600fps with 120gn bullets). Very accurate and not a problem for shorter range woodland stalking, but it was still a bit disappointing.

 

N150 got me a fair bit more velocity (2,750fps with 130gn bullets) and no pressure signs.

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