6.5mm bullet options.

[Scotch_egg]

I have a 6.5X47 barrel being screwed onto my TRG. I was looking to use the A-max but as they don't appear available and I'm forever seeing wanted adverts on various forums they are not an option. To be honest I don't fancy paying >£50/100 for the ELD alternative for clattering gongs.

 

 

Have the Nosler RDF landed in the UK yet?

 

I have seen some good reports confirming realistic BC claims. G1 .658 G7 .330 and prices appear keen.

 

 

There is also the sierra 130gr TMK. Not the best figures but appear to be available and reasonably priced.

 

Any more suggestions?

[Laurie]

The 123gn Lapua Scenar is always a good choice for the 6.5X47L. If your chamber offers enough freebore, the old but still very good 142gn Sierra MK is a fine 6.5mm. So far as Noslers go, the antediluvian 140gn Custom Competition is a very good performer and can (I'm told) be bought at a good price direct from European mainland suppliers. Its BC isn't as high as those of the latest numbers, but there is more to life than BC values especially in the 6.5s which are relatively high anyway.

[Hatzi]

I have been playing with RDF's and they are seating depth intolerant

[terryh]

SE

 

The 123g Scanar's have always worked well for me with little effort re. load development.

 

I've been trying the Berger 130g OTM's and they look to be very promising.

 

Personally I would not bother with the heavier bullets, you will not miss due to the bullet - it will be you

 

T

[meles meles]

Do the same recommendations hold true for the 6.5x55Swe ?

[Charlts]

I have been playing with RDF's and they are seating depth intolerant

I've found the same with regards seating depth and RDFs.

[Laurie]

meles meles .... 6.5X55 rifles tend to be very generously throated so cope with 140gn class bullets very well. Having said that, the 123gn Scenar is a long bullet for its weight and so can be seated at an acceptable distance from the lands without being barely seated in the neck.

 

Taking the 123gn Scenar as against the 140gn Berger BT LR that I used to shoot in 6.5X55 in F-Class at 2,845 fps, both bullets have very close Litz measured G7 'form factors', that is how efficient their shapes are in passing through the atmosphere. The 140 has a higher BC of course because of its additional mass, but the 123 can be driven faster at the same pressures (2,845 fps for the 140 has an equivalent MV of 3,035 fps for 123s).

 

I ran the ballistic programs for the pair at 600 and 1,000 yards some time back for a Target Shooter series on 6.5mm cartridges

 

http://www.targetshooter.co.uk/?paged=5&cat=58

 

Unfortunately, the results table has disappeared in the archiving process, but at 600 yards, there was nothing between the 123gn Scenar, 130gn Berger VLD, and 140gn Berger BT LR which have near identical form factors / drag generating values at their respective equivalent MVs. The 130 and 140 pulled ahead of the 123 at 1,000 yards. If you really want to know the 1K figures, I can dig them out of my original Word text and put them up here.

[PhilM]

I have wanted to try the 140ELD-Ms for a while now, but cannot find any at all, and have subsequently gotten distracted by other offerings.

 

The 140ELD-M loaded ammunition (in 6.5CM I tried) didn't shoot that great for me - I have a feeling with a bit of home brew I could correct that.

 

So, in their absence I started off by trying the 140 Berger Hybrids, these performed very well indeed for me (certainly at short range, long range they are good, but I feel some load tweaking may improve things)., and there is lots published on their excellent BCs also.

 

I also decided to give the 139 Scenar a go (£38/100, as opposed to £63/100 for the 140H). These are not a new bullet, and have been around for some time, so I was a bit skeptical as to how good they would be compared to the 140H, but much to my satisfaction, I can report they shoot phenomenally well in my rifle (at both 1000 and 1000).

Sure they won't resist the wind quite as well as the 140Hs, but they are still a vast improvement ballistically over .308 I was shooting before.

 

Don't dismiss the old 139 Scenar! Worth a go as probably one of the cheapest bullets available.

[Grum87]

I'll second the above re the 139scenar, between forums and facebook selling groups, over my last 1200 rounds I've averaged out at £25/100. Can't beat that. And they shoot.

[Scotch_egg]

Laurie that's most interesting to read about the 123gr scenar.

 

SE

 

The 123g Scanar's have always worked well for me with little effort re. load development.

 

I've been trying the Berger 130g OTM's and they look to be very promising.

 

Personally I would not bother with the heavier bullets, you will not miss due to the bullet - it will be you

 

T

Like I said I won't pay over £50/100 for bergers.

 

It's always going to be me that pulls the shot not the BC of the bullet I know that.

[Hatzi]

I have shot the 139 scenars with plenty of succes for the life of my 260 barrel of about 7/8 years. They might not have the highest BC but they don't get twitchy over seating depth or take ages to set up. I'm refusing to use the ELDM's because Hornady are bloody iseless at suppying demand and the only reason to use them is when expansion is required for long range varminting where scenars pencil through soft tisse. Who onows when the 500 ai have will be replaceable and i dont want to have to change bullets as well as powder anytime soon.

[Laurie]

I wondered about 6.5 Scenars at £38/100 - it seemed to good to be true! So, a look at Hannams' latest retail price list (dated August 2017) confirms it:

 

4PL6018 6,5 mm (.264) SCENAR HPBT 139g 100 £39.75

4PL6020 6,5 mm (.264) SCENAR HPBT 108g 100 £39.75

4PL6032 6,5 mm (.264) SCENAR HPBT 123g 100 £39.75

4PL6033 6,5 mm (.264) SCENAR HPBT 100g 100 £37.85

4PL6021 6,5 mm (.264) SCENAR-L HPBT 120 100 £44.40

4PL6019 6,5 mm (.264) SCENAR-L HPBT 136 100 £44.40

4PL6000 6,5 mm (.264) FMJ Boat Tail FMJBT 144g 100 £41.98

Yet other calibre Scenars are mostly on the wrong side of £50/100. It must be down to 6.5mm being so loved by the Scandinavians and Lapua making so many of them!

[Scotch_egg]

looks like I'll be going down the 123gr scenar route.

 

Thanks for the advice gents.

[Cienfuegos]

Hello good day...
What is the 4PL6020 6.5 mm (.264) SCENAR HPBT 108g for matches of 200/300/600 yards. They are fast competitions and I look for little backward movement, to face fast. But without losing precision and BC derives from wind. My field is very windy.
Thank you. Uso 6,5x47L

[TJC]

I’m a fan of the 139gr too for price and also consistent availability. It just works. I’m still struggling to get the RDF to shoot well. 

I’ve also been shooting a lot of the 130gr Norma Diamond with a G7 of 0.295 in factory Prime ammunition at 2935 FPS and if you run the numbers it does remarkably well vs more commonly used peers. 

[Laurie]

I know one very good F-Class shooter who had great success with the 130gn Norma in 6.5X47L. He has now switched to 6.5 Creedmoor and I presume is still using the Norma bullet.

RUAG UK (our importer) seems to need orders for them as they're not kept in stock. Brian Fox (Fox Firearms at Diggle) takes orders and gives a good price on these bullets.

PS I'm told that RUAG UK is now resuming supply of Norma powders (last imported by Parker-Hale a long time ago) in response to the REACH-effect on Hodgdon/IMR products. They aren't cheap, but may be of interest to some people. I used several members of the range many years back when they were last widely available and they are excellent products. (Note that one or two grades are the same thing as Alliant Reloder equivalents though, Bofors in Sweden manufacturing both companies' products.)

[Scotch_egg]

I have to confess I have purchased 1500 of the Hornady ELD-M 130gr bullets. 

I’m yet to collect the rifle but hope to soon. 

[Vortex]

123gr lapua are working well for me at the mo. Only used it out to 800 so far, 18 min elevation and they seem to handle the wind well enough. 

Getting about 2970 out of them with 39.6gr of n-150. Out of a 28 inch barrel.

Going to push it out to 1000 on Sunday at diggle in the F open see how it does. 

[ofrn]

hey guys dunno how things are over in England down here in Australia we get mostly ripped off with pricing of bullets. 142 SMK are between $90-94 per hundred, ELD M $75 per hundred, Bergers $75 per 100. The only match bullets that are reasonably priced are norma 130 in a 500 box around $45-50 per 100, RDF around same as norma and finally the lapua scenars from $59 per 100.

I have used both 123 scenars and 139 scenars in my 6.5x47l have settled on 139 scenars with 40g H4350 shot 1.25 inches at 300m off a bipod in a field gun for 4 shots during ladder testing was good enough for me.  Would love to try the 140 hybrid begers but we pay so much more than the states for them, the new 150 SMK is likely to be a dollar a bullet

[Andrew]

I buy the 140 grain Nosler RDF in 1000 lots. A very good bullet. Some of my best shooting has been done with them.~Andrew