16-18" 6.5CM H4350 or Varget?

[Shrubjr]

I'm sure there's probably 27 threads in here addressing this, so I apologize in advance for making the 28th......

What powder/loads are you guys using in shorty 6.5's??

I've got a 16.5 1:8 Proof barreled 6.5cm comin from GAP.

I've read Varget is faster, but H4350 is more accurate... I'm thinkin of using Barnes 127LRX's, 120GMX's or similar 120-130 stuff.

The aim is killin tasty animals at shorter ranges(0-300), and occasionally goofin off way out there(prairie dogs, coyotes, or steel at 400+).

I'd love some load opinions from the Hide?

Thanks!

 

[Choid]

I use RL16 with 140s and 142s in a 19" Creedmoor. It suffers velocity wise more than I had hoped, but is still a useful gun. I'm using right around 42 grains at 2.82 COAL. You should still get a full burn at 16".

 

[*Nine]

I think you'll find that by the time you're in the 120+ grain bullet range the H4350 loads will be giving you more velocity than Varget, though both will still work with those bullets. I've got a 17" 6.5 Creedmoor and I'm using 42.0gr of Varget with a 95gr Vmax just because I had a bunch of them lying around. They shoot surprisingly well and would probably suit your "goofing around" type use just fine. For the heavier bullets I actually like H100V a lot over H4350 because I don't mind accounting for a velocity swing with changing temperatures and I find it generally shoots really well. Either way, you'll probably end up in the 42-43gr range of either H100V or H4350 with a 130gr type bullet. My load for the Nosler 129 ABLR is 43.0 of H100V, it's not a max load but it's a pretty warm load.

 

[Shrubjr]

Excellent! I've actually got quite a few hornady 95gr cartridges that I bought because thats what's been around during firearmageddon 2.

I'm gonna use them for barrel break-in/ first blush on this rifle, we'll see how they do. I was getting almost 3100fps out of them back when I was rockin a 16.5 Q fix, that was 1:7 though.

I wish I could've obtained a 1:7 barrel for this rifle, but again firarmageddon 2's a bitch.

 

[BoilerUP]

Varget works great with 120-130s from 16.5-18" barrels...likely not giving up much if anything to H4350.

In limited testing, 39.5gr Varget under a 130 Hybrid shot best in my 18" and was within 13fps of factory Berger 130s.