Has anyone had a chance to try the Federal Premium 6.5 Creedmoor with the 130gr. Berger yet? Haven't found any in my area yet.
Range Report Federal Premium 6.5 Creedmoor
- Thread starter Polizei45
- Start date
Bud's has the Federal Gold Medal Berger 130gr 6.5 Creedmoor in stock; just picked up two boxes of it and two boxes of 140gr ELD-M and plan to run a comparison in my Bergara HMR.
I will be very interested in hearing how the Federal shoots. What did they charge you for shipping?
Interested to see accuracy and velocity. The only way to get the 130's to run with the 140's is to increase the velocity but FGMM velocitys across most of the calibers have always been extremely accurate BUT are usually slower as well. If these 130's can reach the 2875-2925 window and are accurate they will no doubt have a winner but my guess is they will be around 2800-2850 from most barrels in he 22"-26" range.
I bet these will be the go to semi-auto 6.5 load though. Should give PRIME a run for their money.
Federal list them at 2875. But will see how fast they run in my 24" AIAT. Brownells has penny shipping to 9/04/17. I just ordered a box to try.
Incidentally, I posted a mini-review this morning.
This stuff is basically equivalent to 43.2gr H4350 with a Berger 130gr AR Hybrid in either Hornady or Lapua brass in my rifle.
This stuff is basically equivalent to 43.2gr H4350 with a Berger 130gr AR Hybrid in either Hornady or Lapua brass in my rifle.
Not a bad review but I thought the ES is a little high for FGMM obviously not your fault. Curious as to the powder they use or can you tell if it's H4350. I may have missed it but what are the details on the test rifle as far as barrel lenght and make of barrel.
Oh, I probably should have noted that in the article. But it's a 24" 1:8" Shilen.
Ran the fgmm 130 out of my AT. 2951mv 10.3 SD. 26inch Bartlein with 800 rnds of eld 140 on it. Just finished a 100 rnds PRS club match. Dead center hits on 2 and 1 moa plates from 500 to 1100yards. Wind was 8-12kts from me, dof 267degrees. Just bought another 500. Will run it in a prs club match saturday.
Forgot to include this observation in my first post, mentioning powder type, I do not know what fgmm is running under those 130s, but it is dirtier than the Hornady. Much more carbon fouling in the chamber, action, and the bolt. Not enough to muck things up, but very noticeable after 60 rounds.
Still no complaints, in my limited experienceexcellent ammunition.
Still no complaints, in my limited experienceexcellent ammunition.
dang, thats my load lol we ran 43.1-43.3 gr of h4350 under a 130 hybrid for the last couple years down here in south tx
this will be perfect because i just ordered 400 rounds of this stuff to run in a gasser...hope it works out
I go to ammoseek to find the best online deals. So far outdoorlimited.com has had the best prices across the board. Vizards can be close, especially if they are a 12.99 or 14.95 flat rate shipping. Watch out for ammoliquidators though. Their prices are below 1.00 a round but their shipping costs are way,way out of line.
My average for ELd has been about 1.04 to 1.05 per round. About 210.00 per 200 case. The fgmm has run about 1.15 per.
Ran the gold match 130s in a match today. In hind sight I should have practiced with them more. I kept using 140 wind calls. At 1000 where .5 mil worked with 140s, need .8 for the 130. My elevation was always dead on for each course of fire. My own fault on the wind. Been using 140s for a year. Best SD I got was 7.2 on an 8 round string.
Recoil is a bit less which helped with spotting my impacts and misses.
Hope this helps. I like it, not 100percent convinced it's better than the hornady. I think it's going to come down to that nth degree of what each barrel/shooter is just a little better with.
All that being said, after running Sendero ammo's Bergers and EL D handloading still have the best vertical consistency. Curious to hear what some of talks observations are compared to my inexperienced eye...
My average for ELd has been about 1.04 to 1.05 per round. About 210.00 per 200 case. The fgmm has run about 1.15 per.
Ran the gold match 130s in a match today. In hind sight I should have practiced with them more. I kept using 140 wind calls. At 1000 where .5 mil worked with 140s, need .8 for the 130. My elevation was always dead on for each course of fire. My own fault on the wind. Been using 140s for a year. Best SD I got was 7.2 on an 8 round string.
Recoil is a bit less which helped with spotting my impacts and misses.
Hope this helps. I like it, not 100percent convinced it's better than the hornady. I think it's going to come down to that nth degree of what each barrel/shooter is just a little better with.
All that being said, after running Sendero ammo's Bergers and EL D handloading still have the best vertical consistency. Curious to hear what some of talks observations are compared to my inexperienced eye...
These are on currently sale and backorderable at Cabelas for $22.49/ea with free shipping.
Including shipping?
Including shipping?
No,forgot to add that's without shipping. If I can I will usually wait til they have a flat rate on shipping. Doesn't matter if you order 10 or 1000 rounds shipping is 14.95.
Some other places will do free shipping but they make it up by increasing ammo price. Or the other way around, ammo below 1.00 per but the shipping is insane... I need to handload.
Some other places will do free shipping but they make it up by increasing ammo price. Or the other way around, ammo below 1.00 per but the shipping is insane... I need to handload.
I finally got to try a box of the Federal 130 Bergers. The groups were a little tighter and the recoil did seem a little less, not that the recoil was much with the 140 ELD Match. I think I will give the Prime 130s a try.
Been running hornady 140 ELDM factory at 2,705 fps through my 24” 1/8 hawk hill and my buddy with the same Barrel is running the federal @ over 2,900fps..... I’ll pay the extra cash for 200fps more. Honestly I wish I had stuck with my Winchester 140 match for the money and went the the federal when it was time to re up
Anyone have any updates? I bought some to try on a whitetail doe this winter but didn’t get the opportunity.
The Federal Gold Medal Berger 130gr shot like shit in my Bergara HMR...absolutely zero consistency and 2MOA+.
I was very surprised by that.
By comparison, Hornady American Gunner and ELD-M 140gr ammo were sub-MOA and at least showed some consistency.
<shrug>
I was very surprised by that.
By comparison, Hornady American Gunner and ELD-M 140gr ammo were sub-MOA and at least showed some consistency.
<shrug>
B UP, thanks - I’ve gotta get out and shoot them up. Has anyone reloaded the Federal brass? How does it hold up?
I ran a 10-shot group of this FGMM across my Magnetospeed, out of a 21" barrel. ES of 90fps, SD of 25fps, avg mv 2820. No thanks.
They were very accurate out of my rifle at 100yards. But no more than the Hornady ELD-M that I usually shoot, which always has an SD in the teens.
They were very accurate out of my rifle at 100yards. But no more than the Hornady ELD-M that I usually shoot, which always has an SD in the teens.
Anyone have any reloads on the Federal brass? Wondering how it will hold up compared to Hornady.
I got a box of those federal 130’s to try out. I’m hoping they’ll be as good as the Norma 130’s in my rifle. They stock these at my local Walmart too.
I was recently told by a Federal employee that they have adjusted the load to make it more accurate. Including seating depth and Powder charge resulting in what has been said to be lower velocity and greater accuracy. They did not start producing the “more accurate” load until this year. For those that have not historically had good results it may be worth giving it another try. No I do not work or get paid in anyway for this. ?
I bought a couple of boxes of the 6.5 130 FGMM and it shot really well out of my Short Action Customs build (25.5" 1:8, Defiance Action) None of the other factory ammo would shoot out of that rig. The Federal was really very consistent give me .35-.45 moa groups. Average velocity: 2820 fps
I've tried these in 3 rifles now with pretty poor results. The most recent an AINA barrel that shoots the Hornady ELD match, American Gunner, and Federal American Eagle into little knots. This ammo struggled to produce MOA and the ES was 105fps for 10 rounds, unacceptable.
Any more recent results with the “new and improved load”? I’ll be passing by a retailer tomorrow that has some in stock and I won’t be back that way tomorrow, so I’m debating on how much to get.
My RPR has a LRI barrel with a short throat (-0.03” freebore) designed for Bergers, so this might be the ticket for me as far as factory ammo goes.
Brand new Tikka Tac A1 24" 6.5 Creedmoor, 5rd Magneto Speed Avg MV 2758 ES 71 , SD 19. Zeroed at 100 shot around MOA or slightly less, went to 600 had 8-10" groups (5-shot) with vertical stringing, went to 1000 and had 20-24" groups (5 and 10-shot) with vertical stringing. In all the groups I shot there would always be 1-3 rounds way outside of the main group (that was holding MOA or better) causing the groups to open up substantially.
I swapped scopes, checked torque on every bolt on the Tikka/Scopes. Shot my Sako .308 at 100, 600, and 1000 just to confirm it wasn't the shooter. Tried everything I could think of. I went with this ammo over the Hornady because I've such great luck with the 185 Juggernauts in my .308. 120rds later I'm pissed!
Guess I'll try some 140/147's and hope it's not my rifle and only the ammo...
I swapped scopes, checked torque on every bolt on the Tikka/Scopes. Shot my Sako .308 at 100, 600, and 1000 just to confirm it wasn't the shooter. Tried everything I could think of. I went with this ammo over the Hornady because I've such great luck with the 185 Juggernauts in my .308. 120rds later I'm pissed!
Guess I'll try some 140/147's and hope it's not my rifle and only the ammo...
Last edited:
Tikka barrel might just be slow. I have a T3X 6.5x55 that struggles to get velocity also.
I wasn't surprised at the barrel and MV, but I was suprised how erratic the bullet/rifle performed at 600/1000. Conditions were calm for the first 3 hours of shooting so getting hits at 1000 was not an issue.
Well, an extreme spread of 70fps can certainly show up as the type of inconsistency you were seeing!
I'm going to run a whole box through my magneto speed and see what the data says. I only shot 5rds because I've always had good luck with my .308 Federal Berger load being near 10 SD. My plan was to get a rough MV since conditions were so calm (instead of wasting ammo) then true my Kestrel 5700 at 1000, but that plan back fired on me.
My buddies tikka barrel is super slow. Shooting the same speed with the same round you are. I get 1moa grouping with this round at 1000 yards out of a Ruger precision factory barrel pushing them around 2830 per the magnetospeed. His shoots 140’s around 2650 although he maybe has 150-200 rounds down the pipe. I think once he gets around 500 rounds down it, it may speed up a bit.
Recent 5 round 100 yard groups.
Chronograph info from a 16.5” Bartlein 5R with ~300 rounds on the barrel.
Chronograph info from a 16.5” Bartlein 5R with ~300 rounds on the barrel.
My experience with the 147 ELDm Hornady Match was disappointing. From a Tikka Tac a1, 5 shot averages of 2629 fps and SD of 11.9. Groups were at 1". My 143 ELDx loads with RL16 were ragged one hole groups about 1/3", 2834 fps and SD of 7.7.
First 5 of the day with a cold bore on Sunday at 1000 yards. 6-15 mph winds varying from 0900-0230 per the kestrel, temp was around 46 degrees. Factory 130 federal bergers out of a factory Ruger precision 6.5 creed. In the summer I usually dial 8.4-8.5 mils of elevation for 1000 yards, needed 8.8 mils this day. No chrono numbers from Sunday but the avg fps is 2836 for this RPR factory barrel with this round. Sd’s usually from 12-9’s.
Hard for me to answer the question on consistency. It's at least as consistent as I am.
I have not shot it beyond 300 yards, though.
OK
This PRIME issue is really killing me. The Hornady works well but the PRIME is faster and in some applications better but I am talking beyond 1,000 yards. I like the PRIME ES values as well. I have 1,000 rounds left and don't want to eat into that. I like the Federal GMM MV so I will give it a try. My local range is out to 600 so I'll see how it performs against the PRIME and Hornady
Thanks for the response
Here is my chrono data, all pretty similar, I don't have Federal. S&B is as good as Prime in this very small sample on my rifle with the exception of Prime being faster. I would love to see best prices folks are seeing the S&B is cheap.
Chrono data 2/23/2019 -
RPR 6.5MM Creedmoor, Viper PST GEN2 5x25 FFP, Area 419 brake
103y, 51 degrees, 57% Humidity, 37 Dew Point, 27.36 inHg, 27.36 BARO inHg, 2453 ft, 2549 Dens Alt.
Group #1 Center, Sellior & Bellot 140g
2681 AVG
2692 HI
2667 LOW
9 SD
25 ES
Group #2 Top Left, Hornady 147g ELD match
2662 AVG
2674 HI
2646 LOW
11 SD
28 ES
Group #3 Top Right, Hornady 140g ELD Match
2686 AVG
2693 HI
2671 LOW
9 SD
22 ES
Group #4 Bottom Left, Hornady 140g ELD Match
2688 AVG
2717 HI
2664 LOW
22 SD
53 ES
Group #5 Bottom Right, Prime 130g Match
2739 AVG
2750 HI
2725 LOW
9 SD
25 ES
Your PRIME numbers are SLOW.
My average for PRIME is 2860 (multiple 10 round strings). Your ES and SD are close to mine though. Wonder why your velocity is so low.
Your Hornady 140 grain is about what I measured
How about any of the offering from Sierra in loaded ammo? Any tryers yet? Curious on the new 6.5 offerings from them.
