6.5 Creedmoor 100gr ELD-VT + Varget Load Development

[Dylan4570]

I couldn't find very much online regarding results of testing the new Hornady 100gr ELD-VT. I just so happen to have recently come into possession of a 6.5 Creedmoor. So I thought I would give it a shot. My goal was a sub moa load with good(approaching single digits or better) SD.

The Rifle is a ARC Nucleus with a PVA 26" prefit.
Sig LRP brass. Because it was the cheapest I could get 50 pieces of 6.5 brass. Never tried Sig brass before, overall it seems to be acceptable quality.
Federal LRP's. Trying to use them up.
Varget Powder.
Hornady Dies.


Below is my initial loadings. The Hornady load data suggested 2.775 COAL. I started with 2.800.

It was hot and there was some mirage.

Although the general accuracy was good. I am not happy with the SD's This isn't to blame the bullet or anything in particular. I'm theorizing that either the bullet needs to be slightly deeper closer to Hornady spec. OR possibly the jump is to far. I am willing to dedicate 25 more shots to this combination because the accuracy is already quite good.

Subsequent loadings will be:

I like being 20-40 thou off the lands. I find that to provide good results most of the time. My issue is that there's not much bullet actually in the case with this length... Hence my additional 3 loads will be 2.790. slightly shorter.

Overall the bullet seems to be pretty good.

Now how much does the SD matter in the use case of this bullet? Well anecdotally last time I was Coyote hunting with my 22 250 with 40gr projectiles I had a dog stop on me at 500 yards. If I'm going into a situation where I expect to take that long of a shot. I'd take my 6 or 6.5. So what does a 25 FPS variation mean at 500?

The 6.5 ELD-VT
3200 FPS = 39.96 inches @ 500 yards
3225 FPS = 39.19 inches @ 500 yards

Given all the other variables in a hunting situation. How much does the SD actually matter? Not THAT much in my opinion. Regardless hopefully my further testing and now fireformed brass will improve results. I won't be disappointed either way. I think the importance of SD on this bullet is exasperated by it's intended purpose. Its a varmint bullet that can reach out. To reach out though, a good SD is important.

Should Hornady have gone with a ~115gr bullet that had a little longer body suited for 2.8+ seating depth?

Am I ignoring a potential area around 40.8gr because I like speed? Maybe...

 

[Jdowns0415]

i found with my ELDVT 6.5's and 6arc to load them at a shorter COAL to reduce SD/ES. I seated mine at 2.760 & 2.740 and they had 6-10SD instead of 15 like it was seating them at 2.800. This was with H4350 and the powder was basically almost in the neck of the cartridge so I stopped at 45.0 for my AR10.

 

[Dylan4570]

i found with my ELDVT 6.5's and 6arc to load them at a shorter COAL to reduce SD/ES. I seated mine at 2.760 & 2.740 and they had 6-10SD instead of 15 like it was seating them at 2.800. This was with H4350 and the powder was basically almost in the neck of the cartridge so I stopped at 45.0 for my AR10.

Thank you for the response. That is good info.

Hopefully I see slightly improved SD/ES with the shorter depth. if I do; I will keep going shorter. I also have some IMR 4350 to try if needed.

 

[Jdowns0415]

Thank you for the response. That is good info.

Hopefully I see slightly improved SD/ES with the shorter depth. if I do; I will keep going shorter. I also have some IMR 4350 to try if needed.

I'm going to try staball match and varget next. I have had good luck with 6.5 Staball in every load I have tried it with so I'm hoping the staball match works good too because Varget and H4350 meter like shit in my Hornady Auto Charge.

 

[Dylan4570]

This weekends results:

So shorter COAL did lead to better SD's. I'm pretty happy with mid teen SD's.

hard part is deciding what final load to use. I am leaning towards 42.1gr @2.780


Edit: Added some of the groups. 2x .6's and a 0.4 MOA group.

I would like to touch on the accuracy overall. I reload to a goal. Which in this case was decent SD and sub moa. I achieved it. When I keep tuning and tuning I find it very easy to get lost in the noise. If you shoot the same load into 20x 5 shot groups. You know the group size will vary... Just because the last group went into 0.4 doesn't mean it will always do that. Given the mirage and scope (Bushnell nitro SFP junk) I can't even say I could shoot much better with a perfectly accurate rifle.

 

[Prison Mike]

I’m seating these .020 off the lands and had fantastic results. I don’t have my book in front of me but I think it’s around 2.217 base to ogive. Loaded with 43.2 gr of Varget out of an 18” Benchmark. Results were 3192 fps at .373 moa with 4.1 SD. I do lube all my case necks prior to searing. That was on my very first load development trip and I didn’t mess with it again after that. For hunting that’s more than good enough for me. Now I just need to test out the killing capability with these bullets to figure out if I want to stick with them or switch back to the Vmax.

 

[Jdowns0415]

2.750 COAL, 42.3gr of varget, starline SRP brass, CCI450. No pressure signs on the brass out of my 20 inch criterion barrel in my AR10 these are going 3250 with an SD of 11 in 7x fired brass. Sub MOA (.6-.9) with no can, I can probably get that group size down with better marksmanship skills and a can on the rifle, overall very happy with the results with varget. Next week I'm going to try and take them out and group them around 600y and see how I do with them. then take them out to 1300 on some steel. rifle is a 20 inch criterion 6.5 stainless barrel on a aero reciever set, SA gas block, RCA Bolt, tubb spring and KAK AR10 rifle buffer.