6.5 PRC Loads
- Thread starter 357Max
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Alliant isn’t shipping to the US for the foreseeable future due to raw material shortages.
The only Alliant Powder you may see available for the foreseeable future is RL15. Some of it is made in VA and is used in some military ammo like the garbage that is 118LR.
RL 15.5 has been fairly available lately & it works well in 308 with 169gr+ and 6.5 CM with 130gr.
For the PRC I’ve got a few pounds of the new Ramshot Grand inbound. Reports have been good for 6.5 & 7 PRC. I’ve seen +100-150fps more than Staball HD.
Meanwhile Vit N565 has been working well.
Barrel just hit 120 rounds & I’ve now got fire formed brass to work with. Fairly LT profile Carbon barrel and I’m pleased that it’s not really shifting as it heats up. Didn’t have any pressure signs on any of these. Not pushing it hard with the Virgin Brass.
How's temp stability of the 15.5 compare to 16? I use RL16 in another cartridge but it's getting spendy, phew
From my experience, 15.5 is very stable in a 6 Dasher. I've shot matches where it was 50 in the morning and 95 at the end of the match and I had maybe a few FPS difference at the end of the match. So the difference didn't matter. It is not like RL15 at all where in my 7.62x51 if I shoot my 118LR at 60F its 2660 FPS and at 95 it is 2740. 26" barrel.
Try 4831SC, I find it to be better in every way. I am getting similar velocities, great temp stability and excellent extreme spread.
Im also running shorter barrels and the N565 is super slow, I gave up on it right away when it was running CM speeds.
RL 26 is an excellent powder, for a variety of cartridges. It's gotten ridiculously expensive and almost unavailable.
The 6.5 CM gets the same velocity as the 6 .5 PRC with RL 26, And hybrid cases with good accuracy. And the AR 10 in 338 RCM with and 18" barrel does well with RL 26 and a 250 gr bullet, as does the 338 WM.
Here is RL 26 in 6.5 CM 150 gr SMK with hybrid 6.8X 51 reformed cases, in a factory 24" Ruger Precision Rifle.
I'm a big fan of RL 26 in quite a few cartridges, but can't get enough in a 308 Win case to beat out 6.5 Staball with heavy bullets, maybe the 250 Atip in long throat long action.
The 6.5 CM gets the same velocity as the 6 .5 PRC with RL 26, And hybrid cases with good accuracy. And the AR 10 in 338 RCM with and 18" barrel does well with RL 26 and a 250 gr bullet, as does the 338 WM.
Here is RL 26 in 6.5 CM 150 gr SMK with hybrid 6.8X 51 reformed cases, in a factory 24" Ruger Precision Rifle.
I'm a big fan of RL 26 in quite a few cartridges, but can't get enough in a 308 Win case to beat out 6.5 Staball with heavy bullets, maybe the 250 Atip in long throat long action.
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I’m shooting N565 with 156EOL in a 20” barrel. 58.5 grains = 2,825 fps.
N560 works great with lighter bullets.
Same rifle, 58.3 N560 with 140 elite got 2,980 fps
Is this a SA? How long you loading the 58.5 156eol load?
I was fire forming and breaking in barrel so I didn’t push the load to find pressure.
Yep. Used 58.3 N560 with a 140 elite hunter last fall, was 2,950 fps
Again, it worked in my rifle, others might might want to work up to that.
That consistent with the speeds I'm seeing with 56.5 gr of H4831SC. Seems to be about the peak of what's to be expected with a 20" barrel and 140 gr bullets.
I don’t see any mention of H4350. I found some load data for it in the 6.5 prc and the numbers looked decent but searching various forum posts I see no reports of anyone using it. I have a ton of it on the shelf and was thinking of trying it but was wondering if anyone else has used it?
Likely too fast burning for this, essentially magnum, round. Others probably know better than I do. Look for something near H1000 and RL26.
I am thinking hard about getting into the 6.5 PRC game. I too am wondering about H4350 and RL16 as I have a LOT of it. I only have 3 lbs or 7977 and 3 of 8133. Id hate to work up a load with it and then run out.
You can use H4350 and RL16, but it's almost too fast for this cartridge. Pressure signs will likely be seen with case fills around 93%.
What dies are you guys using to get good repeatable results?
I was thinking about getting some Redding dies.
I was thinking about getting some Redding dies.
I have tried them, they shoot well. However, I am running the 140's for additional weight.
What kind and how much powder were you running? I can’t find any reloading data for them. I did load some 140 SBT’s with H1000 this afternoon. I’ll try tomorrow. I just love that 130 HPBT #1728 those things are wicked in the 7 mm and 30 cal.
I am running 55.5-56.5 gr of H4831SC, in a 20" barrel they ran just over 3k, but I settled on 140 game changers 2950 fps average.
I have shot a ton of deer with the 130's in 6.5CM's and had excellent results with much slower speeds. The does below were at 540 and 523 yards with a 6.5 gasser and both of them dropped right where they stood. I imagine the PRC would be even better; I am running 140's so my wife can shoot a cow elk hopefully.
Stumbled across these:
I have with the eld vt bullet. I have an 8 twist 28" barrel so my numbers are a little skewed, but I'm running 60 grains in ADG brass and I'm averaging 3660fps with no pressure signs. I haven't shot enough of them to get a good feel on e.s./s.d. yet, but it looks promising.
GRT shows 100% burn. I have found I get much better SD, ES with staball using mag primer and near full case.
I just ran a few ladders with the 143 ELD X out of a 24" Shilen select match barrel on a Rem 700 action. OAL was 2.950. Lapua virgin brass and CCI-250. Temp was a balmy 25 F.
H1000 got up to 3050 fps at 59 gr, and 2980 at 58 gr. No pressure signs.
N565 was a dead on the same. As there is not as much factory load data I only went up to 58 gr at 2970, but again no pressure signs.
To conserve barrel life none of these were more than 3 shots, so I don't have meaningful ES/SD data yet. Going to shoot some 5 round groups next outing and creep up a bit on max. I think 3100 will be achievable.
I think these powders are very well suited for the 143-147 class bullets in terms of burn rate and case fill.
H1000 got up to 3050 fps at 59 gr, and 2980 at 58 gr. No pressure signs.
N565 was a dead on the same. As there is not as much factory load data I only went up to 58 gr at 2970, but again no pressure signs.
To conserve barrel life none of these were more than 3 shots, so I don't have meaningful ES/SD data yet. Going to shoot some 5 round groups next outing and creep up a bit on max. I think 3100 will be achievable.
I think these powders are very well suited for the 143-147 class bullets in terms of burn rate and case fill.
I think you'll run out of case capacity in trying to get that 3100 fps with the N565 and especially with the H1000. . . particularly at 25°F.
It was pretty full at 59 gr, but there seemed to be a "little" more room to compress at that point... Honestly I would be perfectly fine with velocity in the 3050 range at that temp. Both H1000 and N565 are relatively temp stable but I don't want to push it if it is going to overpressure in more reasonable temps.I think you'll run out of case capacity in trying to get that 3100 fps with the N565 and especially with the H1000. . . particularly at 25°F.
I’ve been having somewhat disappointing results with 6.5 PRC. Shooting a Zermatt Origin w/ a Snowy Mtn (Bartlein) CF 22” barrel, 8 twist. SAAMI chamber w/0.188 freebore.
I’ve tried Berger 135 and 144. Hornady 147 and 153 Atips. Have tried N565, H4831SC and a few with Superperformance. Started with BR2 primers but shifted to FED 215 in hopes of better performance. ADG brass.
I’ve shot about 100 rounds of 5 and 10 shot groups. The best 5 shot groups I’ve had so far is:
1) 0.699 MOA 57.0 N565 Berger 144 with an SD of 13.5, 2794.8 fps
2) 0.711 MOA 56.0 H4831SC Berger 144 w an SD 9.6, 2881 fps
3) 0.807 MOA 57.5 H4831SC, 144’s w an SD 10.8, 2961 fps
So the 144’s have shown a little something, But none of the other bullets, Berger 135, Hornady 147 ELEM or 153 Atips have shot under 1 MOA out of 12 different 5 shot groups.
Next I’m testing some H1000 and CCI250 primers. Any advice on the results above is welcome. Also, I feel like this barrel is slow. Wondering if I got a dud barrel from Snowy Mtn Rifles.
I’ve tried Berger 135 and 144. Hornady 147 and 153 Atips. Have tried N565, H4831SC and a few with Superperformance. Started with BR2 primers but shifted to FED 215 in hopes of better performance. ADG brass.
I’ve shot about 100 rounds of 5 and 10 shot groups. The best 5 shot groups I’ve had so far is:
1) 0.699 MOA 57.0 N565 Berger 144 with an SD of 13.5, 2794.8 fps
2) 0.711 MOA 56.0 H4831SC Berger 144 w an SD 9.6, 2881 fps
3) 0.807 MOA 57.5 H4831SC, 144’s w an SD 10.8, 2961 fps
So the 144’s have shown a little something, But none of the other bullets, Berger 135, Hornady 147 ELEM or 153 Atips have shot under 1 MOA out of 12 different 5 shot groups.
Next I’m testing some H1000 and CCI250 primers. Any advice on the results above is welcome. Also, I feel like this barrel is slow. Wondering if I got a dud barrel from Snowy Mtn Rifles.
3 loads under 1 MOA (2 under .75 MOA) with decent velocities that are likely to speed up in the next 50ish rounds sounds good pretty good to me. Definitely doesn’t sound like a dud barrel.
I stopped chasing velocity years ago, it’s just few more clicks on a turret and since you know your velocity, it’s predictable.
I’d pick #2 with a jump that will work for a while as the throat erodes and just go shoot.
I stopped chasing velocity years ago, it’s just few more clicks on a turret and since you know your velocity, it’s predictable.
I’d pick #2 with a jump that will work for a while as the throat erodes and just go shoot.
I would give the barrel a little while Mine sped up over the first 50 rds. I think you will settle on either N565 or H1000. They are ideal for this cartridge and 140 gr class bullets. I have found them to be equivalent in terms of charge weight, accuracy, and SD. The N565 is a bit bulkier in the case.
I was able to get up to the 58.1-58.5 gr range for velocities in the 2950-2975 range. My last 10 shot string during load development was 58.4 gr of H1000 under a 143 ELDX, with an SD of 5.
I was able to get up to the 58.1-58.5 gr range for velocities in the 2950-2975 range. My last 10 shot string during load development was 58.4 gr of H1000 under a 143 ELDX, with an SD of 5.
Thanks for the vote of confidence. I’m at 100 rounds now. I really don’t care much about speed, but seems everyone else is getting 100-200 fps more with similar loads.
Have you found 143 ELDX to work better for you than other bullets? I tried some Hornady factory loads. Precision Hunter I think. one 5 shot group was the best I’ve shot with this rifle - 0.550, but then shot another 5 shot group that was 1.20”. Still might buy some 143 ELDX to try.
I tested the 130 TGK with N560, Lapua brass, GM210M and got them up to 3125 out of a 20" carbon six suppressed. Ended up going with 147s at 2910 with N565. This is in a Tikka using short action AICS magazines. I have been tempted to go with a LA chassis so I can load longer, but so far I am happy with them in the short action mags.
I slowly worked up to 59 grs with both powders and then backed down some. The 147s hammer deer and I will probably use them for elk.
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