Davy Posted July 25, 2013 Report Share Posted July 25, 2013 A new barrel for my Accuracy International arrived this morning. I have owned the rifle from new and the current 7,62x51 Border has had a fair few rounds through it over the years however I will still hold onto it just in case... Not sure of the round count until I pull my older log books out however it is going to be high. I have been muttering about a new barrel for a while however I was undecided on what to go for, we have a few .308's and 7,62x51's in the house and whatever the chambering I was going to need new brass so I opted for a 26" Border barrel chambered in 6,5x47. In theory the barrel should go straight on however I took the precaution of ordering some head space gauges at the same time.So I will be shooting a 6,5x47 AI from now on I have also ordered a specially built reflex suppressor from OneLessCharlie which should be with me end of next week. We have ordered suppressors from OLC in the past for customer rifles so I am looking forward to owning one of my own and shooting with it. The brass also arrived this morning, I already have a selection of Scenar's in 123 and 139 grain plus some 140 Berger Hybrid's. I have Forster Ultra Micrometer Seater dies and neck bushing/shoulder bump kit which should get me going so all I need to do now is decide on the powder load. The rifle will be used to 1200 yards so I suspect the 140 Hybrids may be the best option.Does anyone have any load suggestions? I prefer to use Viht powders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcampbellsmith Posted July 25, 2013 Report Share Posted July 25, 2013 Davy Good to see you're finding some time to play. The Berger manual says N540 starting at 32.0 gr going up to 35.4 gr with 140 gr Bergers. For the 130 gr Bergers, N140, N540 and N550 are all listed. Have fun. JCS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davy Posted July 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2013 JCS, yes it was about time I did something for myself. I did check my Berger manual however it looks to be very sanitised with it's load data when compared to other references. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baldie Posted July 25, 2013 Report Share Posted July 25, 2013 The heavier bullets are not what the cartridge was designed for Davy. I wouldn,t go heavier than 130,s personally. Get the 123,s singing at around 2950 and you have a very capable round , right out to 1200 yards. The 140 grain class of bullet are far better shoved out of a creedmoor or .260. 3000 fps or there abouts is the key. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcampbellsmith Posted July 25, 2013 Report Share Posted July 25, 2013 The heavier bullets are not what the cartridge was designed for Davy. I wouldn,t go heavier than 130,s personally...... Agree, that's what the fill densities in the Berger Manual are saying. The 140 gr bullets are down at 90-92%, whereas the 130 gr bullets are much higher. Regards JCS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davy Posted July 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2013 Well it was a bit of a spur of the moment thing hence the lack of real research on the cartridge other than looking at it when it first came out.. I have just spent a few minutes with Quickload and my load books and the 123 looks a lot handier at distances whereas the heavier 139/140 bullets seem to offer very little. I was going to use Viht540 because I always have some open however RL17 looks like it might work as well and that of course is also Elcho17 which is super cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris-NZ Posted July 25, 2013 Report Share Posted July 25, 2013 I know you favour VV powders Davy but 38- 38.5grs of Varget behind the 123 Scenar is a well proven load. Mine's a one-holer with that. Darrel (F2N) could chime in on this Chris-NZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcampbellsmith Posted July 25, 2013 Report Share Posted July 25, 2013 Davy http://forum.accurateshooter.com/index.php?topic=3820540.0 Regards JCS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnery Posted July 25, 2013 Report Share Posted July 25, 2013 I have a mod of onelesscharlie on my AI AE 308 18x1.5 with spigot on it don't think you will be disappointed you have got me thinking again about .260 barrel for my AE Colin made my mod strippable so I could put .260 baffles in it if I so wish when the time arrives have fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronin Posted July 25, 2013 Report Share Posted July 25, 2013 You should be able to change barrel tomorrow.... 38g Varget CCI BR, 123 Scenar All else pails in comparison... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian_K Posted July 25, 2013 Report Share Posted July 25, 2013 So I will be shooting a 6,5x47 AI from now on A choice I doubt you will regret. No doubt the 123gr SCENAR's run well in this calibre, but I've had very promising results with the 140gr Hyrdid and RL15, admittedly only out to 200yds so far, so more testing to be done. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brillo Posted July 26, 2013 Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 I have Dolphin build 6.5x47L built on a Barnard SM action and 31" 1:8 twist Lilja barrel and it is incredibly accurate with 120 SMK's, 123 Lapua Scenars and 139 Scenars. Best loads for my toy are: 120 SMK - 38.9 grains Reloder 15 123 Scenars - 38.2 grains RL 15, 38.1 grains TR140 and 40.2 grains Elcho 17. 139 Scenars - 38.1 grains Viht N550 and 40.5 grains Elcho 17. All these loads give me ~2990 fps and consistent groups between 100 and 600 yards. I've yet to try it at 1000 yds. HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rutland12 Posted July 26, 2013 Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 Hi I have done a lot of developement in my lawton/pacnor 1:8 short range fclasser. Was getting good results for 37.7 RL 15 and 123 scena's at about 2930. Changed to 120 bergers and was much tighter at 600 yds. Now getting 3050 with 39.1 of RL 15 ! Good luck Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxing2night Posted July 26, 2013 Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 As Baldie has stated I would stick to either the 123 scenars or the 130g bullets,, My load that I have used to good effect is 38.5 g of varget or rel15 at the same weight, Also I did use 39.2 for a while but to be honest it was not much different than the 38.5 load?? Re15 was very good but I found it very dirty compared to varget,, but please start low and work up,, also my rifle did not shoot very good until I spoke to Mike Norris and he recommended cci450m primers, now it will do 1\4 at 100 and 1.8 at 600 best groups,, If you need any drop figures to get you in the ball park, just give me a shout?? Darrel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brown dog Posted July 26, 2013 Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 As Baldie has stated I would stick to either the 123 scenars or the 130g bullets,, My load that I have used to good effect is 38.5 g of varget or rel15 at the same weight, Also I did use 39.2 for a while but to be honest it was not much different than the 38.5 load?? Re15 was very good but I found it very dirty compared to varget,, but please start low and work up,, also my rifle did not shoot very good until I spoke to Mike Norris and he recommended cci450m primers, now it will do 1\4 at 100 and 1.8 at 600 best groups,, If you need any drop figures to get you in the ball park, just give me a shout?? Darrel Now, I'm no reloading jedi; so I just made an assumption that my AW's barrel had been cut with the same reamer as Darrel's and copied his OAL. Worked straight off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronin Posted July 26, 2013 Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 Just completed a replacement tube for my AX chambered in 6.5x47 - testing sunday... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davy Posted July 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 Thanks all for the posts, messages and even 'phone calls on reloading for the 6,5x47. The barrel is fitted, many thanks to Ronin for the loan of the action spanner. The barrel felt like it had been torqued up to RF tight however it came off in the end and the new one is fitted and ready to shoot, I even found a spare thread protector for the muzzle. One thing is for sure, I will not be using Varget, Reloder or N550 as there seems to be a distinct lack of the stuff unless I am prepared to sell my first born and he may have something to say about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronin Posted July 27, 2013 Report Share Posted July 27, 2013 Good luck with finding powder Davy I have Varget, I have primers, I have new shiny brass. I opened my box of 123 Scenars to start making up some loads this morning........then realised it was empty and id not remembered to order another K box.......epic fail!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnery Posted July 27, 2013 Report Share Posted July 27, 2013 Andy if it is any good to you I am at Diggle in morning wheather permitting and I have a box of 6.5mm GB489 8,0/123gr HPBT Sceners which I can bring with me if your going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronin Posted July 27, 2013 Report Share Posted July 27, 2013 Thanks Barry im not going - at another shoot "up norf" I'll swap back to 308 and use that instead. Order a 1000 from Hannams on monday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davy Posted July 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2013 Andy, shout if you are still stuck as I have some here as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strangely Brown Posted July 28, 2013 Report Share Posted July 28, 2013 Davy I'm intrigued, are we going to see this used in competition? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davy Posted July 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2013 SB, about the only thing it would be eligible for is McQueen comps as it is a bit heavy for CSR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strangely Brown Posted July 28, 2013 Report Share Posted July 28, 2013 SB, about the only thing it would be eligible for is McQueen comps as it is a bit heavy for CSR Tell me about it!...................... says the old fart who using an AE for CSR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pork chop Posted July 28, 2013 Report Share Posted July 28, 2013 Thanks all for the posts, messages and even 'phone calls on reloading for the 6,5x47. The barrel is fitted, many thanks to Ronin for the loan of the action spanner. The barrel felt like it had been torqued up to RF tight however it came off in the end and the new one is fitted and ready to shoot, I even found a spare thread protector for the muzzle. One thing is for sure, I will not be using Varget, Reloder or N550 as there seems to be a distinct lack of the stuff unless I am prepared to sell my first born and he may have something to say about that. i think steve at trent firearms has some varget on it's way ,think he said next week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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