6 Dasher - What bullets?

[Scwalker83]

@Dthomas3523

I've had good success across a couple of barrels with 31grs of H4895,110 SMKs, and 205m primers in Lapua BR turned Dasher brass. Good velocity (2900-2920 depending on barrel), excellent SD/ES (4/10), ragged hole accuracy. I've won some local competitions and placed in the top 5 at a major match this year. I start them at .15-.2 off and never touch seating depth.

I think I've shot around 4000 110 SMKs across various lots and they've all shot well in this load, I haven't noticed inconsistencies enough to warrant any changes. I've probably noticed .005 (I use junk calipers, so I doubt they are capable of this resolution of measurement with much consistency) differences between lots in bearing surface. I don't change my seating die, just seat them however and they've continued to shoot well.

As a note, I usually unscrew barrel at 1500 rounds even though every barrel was still shooting very well.

I'm concerned because this doesn't seem like the norm, this seems like an outlier and I'm planning on budgeting for around 10k bullets and 1k pieces of hydroformed brass. I don't want to buy nearly $4k in bullets just to turn around have them be the crap that I hear about and be difficult to turn them without taking a .50 cents on the dollar haircut.

I've tried to do things my way and this is sort of part of it, H4895 vs Varget, 110 SMK vs Berger/DTAC. In my experience doing things my own way has not been nearly as successful as following the leader. This combination has been decently successful but my self doubt is expecting the wheels to come off at any moment. I don't have Varget to pair it up with and I don't think that getting any quantity will be very feasible outside of paying $50+ lb in the near future as I still have 16lbs of same lot H4895.

Is there a reason that people don't shoot the 110 SMKs more? Were they inconsistent when they first came out and now Sierra has made them more consistent? The 110 SMK is used just as a small fraction of what the best shooters shoot. The Bergers and to a lesser extent, the DTACs dominate this category.

I want to buy 110 SMKs because I personally have had good luck with them. More than half of the original lots I bought came from a guy who had initially shot them with success, and then they went to crap. I've had no such luck yet... I still have 1000+ left.

Should I just buy the 109 Bergers in a similar quantity because at least then if they shoot like crap Dthomas3523 will buy them from me?

I know this is long winded and may be answered elsewhere, but if anyone has had any experience please chime in.

 

[Dthomas3523]

The short answer is:

Bergers are in general much more consistent than most any other brand. Even 115 dtacs have some pretty steep lot to lot differences at times.

Also, when it comes to common bullets (smk, dtac, hybrid, eld, etc etc), you will definitely not be the first nor reinventing the wheel. That’s why follow the leader works well. Because someone has already done all the testing and load work ups when the cartridge or bullet was new. So, feel free to tinker if you like. But know you’re only doing it for the sake of doing it. You won’t be finding something someone else hasn’t already.

Bergers are always a safe bet. They will always work. And if for some reason you don’t like them, they sell easily.

 

[Scwalker83]

Thanks so much for the quick and concise reply.

I'm just going to go with Berger 109s.

 

[jbailey]

Hey, when I read your post I thought of this article:

6mm Dasher Load Data – What The Pros Use

I’m really excited about the next few articles! Each year I survey the top-ranked precision rifle s...

precisionrifleblog.com

Sounds like you might have seen it before.
In any case, sounds like you are having success w/ the 110gr SMK. I say rock on with them!

 

[Scwalker83]

That article was the basis for my decision.

 

[LV Precision]

Berger 109s run fantastic with my 6 Creed, with groups consistently between 0.1-0.3MOA. As soon as the new Alpha OCD brass gets in, I'll run the same bullets for a Dasher barrel. Bergers just work with minimal effort.