Range Report 139 Lapua Scenars: Time to move on?

[lennyo3034]

I have been shooting 139 Lapua Scenars out of my 6.5 CM and before that my .260. I have been getting phenomenal accuracy out of them, better than I ever would imagined. Consistency has been great as well and usually when I shoot them over the magnetospeed, SDs are lower than 5.

That being said, they have some of the lowest posted BCs for the 140 class of bullet and at 34 cents a round (if purchased in bulk) they are midpack on price.

I am about half way through my 6.5 CM barrel and am wondering if I should spend the time trying to find a new load. I have tried just dropping different bullets on top of my current load and results weren't spectacular:

140 ELD shot a little over .5 MOA
140 RDF shot into 1.5 MOA
142 SMK was promising shooting into .4s

None were as accurate as my 139 loads which shoot into .2-.3s. However I have not done full load development on the other bullets.

At this point in barrel life, is it worth trying to switch bullets? If I do full load development on the above bullets, I would imagine it would take several hundred rounds to find the best combinations.

Since the 142 SMKs showed promise, I am taking some to 1000 yards tomorrow. However I still have not done load development, I just dropped them on my Lapua load. They also happen to cost more and have the lowest BC of the "new" bullets.

 

[tndonor]

Sometimes you dont question why and acccept the results. What are you hoping to gain (aside from lots of load development, money spent, time used, and barrel wear)?You are likely at the point of diminishing results or none at all. Sounds as if you have a proven, reliable, and repeatable load. Scenars may not be not be the most "popular" bullet, or mentioned in every this bullet vs that bullet thread. The point is they work for you and your setup. Keep your head down and carry on.

This may all change, and likely so when you rebarrel. But until, carry on

 

[Darkside-Six]

I use to shoot 139 scenars when I first started shooting 6.5 cm. Got phenomenal results but then I switched to Berger 140 Hybrids and never looked back. I just dropped them in and was within .1-.2 of where I needed to be. It didn't take much tinkering. That being said, depending on how many bullets you have left and where you're at on your barrel you may just want to stick it out with the 139's until it's time to switch out your barrel and then Start new with another bullet.


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[Fursniper]

I use to shoot 139 scenars when I first started shooting 6.5 cm. Got phenomenal results but then I switched to Berger 140 Hybrids and never looked back. I just dropped them in and was within .1-.2 of where I needed to be. It didn't take much tinkering. That being said, depending on how many bullets you have left and where you're at on your barrel you may just want to stick it out with the 139's until it's time to switch out your barrel and then Start new with another bullet.


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I went through almost the exact same sequence as Darkside with my 260. The Scenars shot great but I really wanted something that would buck the wind a little better at longer distances. Tried the Berger 140 hybrids and never went back, they fly so much better. I did have to jump the bergers quite a bit more for the performance gain but at 1k and further out they just do so much better. 42.4 gr at .040 off out of a 26" bartlien 5r making 2830fps.

 

[tnichols]

I shot 139's while the 142 SMK's were AWOL a couple of years back in my 260. When the 142's reappeared, went right back to them as they were more accurate in my system and the added BC is a plus when the wind howls.

 

[Timo Turl]

I shoot the 139gr too and just ordered some RDFs to try. Fingers crossed they work just as well.

 

[Pusher591]

The Scenars are some of the most forgiving and accurate projectiles out there. If you don't want to change projectiles but gain some perfermornace you could always have them pointed. Their meplats a fairly large compared to its competition so you would possibly see a 4-5% increase in BC which would put it in the .600 range.

 

[lennyo3034]

The 142 sierras took .5 mil less elevation than the 139 lapua at 1000 yards. I shot some 140 ELDs as well and they did not need any less elevation than the Sierras.

I may have some hybrids at home somewhere to try out.

 

[wahootwo]

Scenars also shot great for me. I've switched to the 130 norma golden's, and they perform excellent as well. Bought some SMK's, but have yet to work up a load.

 

[CharlieNC]

For a couple of years I shot the 123Scenar in my 6.5x47. While it was accurate, when the 140ELD and RDF came onto the market I decided to give those a try to buck the wind better. The RDF is the best of the three for my rifle, and is much more forgiving in the wind. Happy to just pick up 500 for $125 too.

 

[rg1911]

In the "For What It's Worth" category, when I got my new AR10 in .260 Rem with a Krieger barrel, I tried SMKs, Hornady, Berger 140 Hybrids, and probably a couple others. All were more than 1 MOA. In desperation, I tried the 139 Scenars. Bingo; .5 MOA or a hair better. Haven't looked back. Figured I could shoot cheaply or accurately and went with the latter. Unless I miss the damn wind shift in the canyon, I don't have any problems hitting the 19-inch plate at 1160 yards.

As always, YMMV.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Renomd]

Consider this, Phillip Velayo just won a NRL match, and had a top 10 placement at the NM PRS match.... he shoots Lapua 139 scenars. I think you already said it, consistency. BC's are great and all but don't mean crap if you can't hit anything downrange. You don't exactly see everyone shooting David Tubb's 115 new dtacs and winning matches with them... many of us still stick with the 105 hybrids even though there are bullets passing them up when it comes to BC, and many of us are doing quite well in competitions.

 

[lash]

I've been following with a modicum of interest. I have been shooting the 136g Lapua Scenar Ls for years with great consistency. Yes, I know that there are better BC projos out there, but these just work every time and are very consistent. I guess I haven't seen the need to change.

Oh, and they are available. So there's that...

 

[FALex]

Consider this, Phillip Velayo just won a NRL match, and had a top 10 placement at the NM PRS match.... he shoots Lapua 139 scenars. I think you already said it, consistency. BC's are great and all but don't mean crap if you can't hit anything downrange. You don't exactly see everyone shooting David Tubb's 115 new dtacs and winning matches with them... many of us still stick with the 105 hybrids even though there are bullets passing them up when it comes to BC, and many of us are doing quite well in competitions.

LOL!! That's not because he shoots a 139gr Scenar, trust me. I shoot 139gr Scenar's but that started because none of these hybrid bullets were around at the time and was smoking primer pockets left and right running a 140gr VLD jammed into the lands. I had read the 139's were easy to load for, jump distance did not matter, and so I gave them a try. They shoot amazingly well in both my gas gun and bolt rifle (.260's). I am having a 6.5CM built right now and will likely try something different: RDF, Hybrid or an ELD, but I would have zero reservations about sticking with the Scenars. I do wish Lapua bullets were as popular as their brass at most of these retailers' though. I can't just run down to Sportsman's and grab a box of Scenars, it's always 1k cases or nothing which sucks when I only need like 20 to finish a batch for a match or something.

 

[Renomd]

FALex,
My bad with the misinterpretation, I'm not saying a bullet made him win or shoot well. His hard work ethic and wanting to be the best did that... Solo had something to do with it also I'm trying to point out that just b/c the 139 Scenar bullet has one of the worst published BCs doesn't mean the OP should change.

 

[lennyo3034]

Thanks for talking some sense into me. The Lapuas have run amazingly since day one. I had ordered some Sierras and Hybrids, but unless they totally wow me, I'll stick with the Lapuas.

 

[mojavejim]

I started messing around and weighing the bullets of different brands of 140gr class .264 bullets & instantly lost confidence in all of them except berger & lapua. BC isn't everything & like most things in life you get what you pay for.

 

[Cody S]

I started weighing bullets and out of 10 rdf 8 weighed 140.1 and 2 weighed 140.0. Not to mention they seem to hsve spectacularly tight bto tolerances.
I'm impressed, even though they don't shoot the best for me. .5moa is fine enough

 

[lennyo3034]

I've tried the 140 RDF. Rifle shot 1.5 MOA with it when it consistently shoots .3s with the 139 scenars.

That being said, I took it to 1000 with the 139s and was very surprised to find that it only needed .1 mil less elevation than my .223 bolt gun with 80 eld. Similar velocity.

 

[Killswitch Engage]

stick a 140 eld on top of 42.8-9 of h4350 and seat it .020 off. if it don't shoot sub half moa something is amiss. ive tested this load in probably a dozen creedmoor with the same results each time. its about like the gold standard fgmm 175 in a .308

 

[Iamero]

stick a 140 eld on top of 42.8-9 of h4350 and seat it .020 off. if it don't shoot sub half moa something is amiss. ive tested this load in probably a dozen creedmoor with the same results each time. its about like the gold standard fgmm 175 in a .308

Killswitch, what is the powder charger behind replicating the FGMM 175? I was running 40.6gr H4895 in my AR308 currently.

 

[padom]

41.8-42.0g IMR4064 with 175smk in FC brass

 

[JMGlasgow]

stick a 140 eld on top of 42.8-9 of h4350 and seat it .020 off. if it don't shoot sub half moa something is amiss. ive tested this load in probably a dozen creedmoor with the same results each time. its about like the gold standard fgmm 175 in a .308

What brass an primer? I'm currently using 42.5 of h4350, Hornady case, and BR2 primers. Results are OK, but it seems inconsistent.

 

[tnichols]

What brass an primer? I'm currently using 42.5 of h4350, Hornady case, and BR2 primers. Results are OK, but it seems inconsistent.

For my 260, F210M's and Lapua.

 

[Killswitch Engage]

What brass an primer? I'm currently using 42.5 of h4350, Hornady case, and BR2 primers. Results are OK, but it seems inconsistent.

hornady brass

 

[Killswitch Engage]

Killswitch, what is the powder charger behind replicating the FGMM 175? I was running 40.6gr H4895 in my AR308 currently.

ive always replicated with varget. 43-44gr depending on brass. its not fast but damn accurate.