Help me read my 6.5X47 Lapua results

Not sure of your POA but looking at 3 and 4 if I'm interpreting it correctly you have at least 9 shots printing together with 38.2-38.5 gn so that would look like a place to be. Don't put a lot of weight on the chronograph data beyond telling you the approximate velocity. If you need more velocity I think the 39.4 -40gn region might work with some seating depth adjustment. Just my opinion.

Being new your barrel will speed up. Right around 36gn. Of varget speed around 2760fps. Seems to be a magic spot for 6.5x47.

paraman1 said:

It actually had 100 rounds through it before we started so I’m not sure how much more speed we will get out of this barrel. I really would like to try some Varget but since I have 16 pounds of H4350 on hand I will probably stick with that for a while.

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H4350 is also a fantastic powder for the 6.5x47L.

Most guys like to push that cartridge quite a bit, because of the design and brass quality. I have two of them, and prefer to live in the "lower node" (123gr @ ~2,825 / 130gr @ ~2,725). Stupid accurate...but it depends on what you're needing from the rifle I suppose, as a lot of shooters like to run that cartridge hotter.

That whole area between 37.9 and 38.5 looks promising. I might try adjusting seating depth a bit -or- try those loads again at distance and see how similar the results are. That is just me though, and the next x47L shooter will probably tell you to run the snot out of it.

If it were me, I'd load 38.4, and try a few groups at .010 in and out if you're REALLY trying to dial in the load. Past that you're getting too much vertical dispersion IMO. It is also heavily dependent upon your skill. If you're a .5 shooter most of the time, chasing .3s is an exercise in futility.

Just my two cents....

Unless I don't understand your target, steps #1 through #9 are all pretty much the same POI zone, that is down and right.

I will suggest you can't really learn much more from short range testing and you may want to consider running the rest of your tests at distance. (This is a good problem to have.)

Think about running an Audette style test at 600 yards or more, and you will see if there is anything to be gained by selecting a charge (or not).

Sometimes there is an obvious favorite charge level, sometimes there is not. That isn't a bad thing either, it just means you must control the vertical spread with your loading discipline and then see if there is anything that comes from seating depth.

When the group centroids shift on a test like yours, it is more obvious. That it doesn't really move around much is not a bad thing. Every step was down and right if I understand you, except step #10? If that #10 was supposed to be the similar aim point and shifted left like that in one step (more than your 0.1 mil), that is what you want to avoid. To learn anything more, you will need to go much farther out on the trajectory curve and verify there is (or is not) something more to be gained.