What barrel length is this out of, 24"?
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What twist?
What powder are you using? actually will you share all your load data? This is pretty interesting. I load some mean 223 precision loads but haven’t had the balls to try one of my 6mm’s on my progressive yet. I’m also assuming you’re doing all your brass prep separately right? I already seat decap and mandrel on mine, so getting the primer and powder is all that’s setting me back.No problem. Ive really enjoyed automating my 650 as much as I can(without an autosrive) so it's an enjoyable task for me. The powder die insert(little slide'y funnel) is the same for GT and 243.
For the bullet dropper, I used two 6.5mm bearings in the top row of detents and a .223 bearing in the bottom row. This is the only way I was able to get it to work. The 6.5mm hopper plate comes with two sections. Basically a two-layered cake type of deal. You'll need both for the long .243 bullets to work. Getting the hopper to fees was the most frustrating part.
What kind of consistency are you getting through your powder drop? .1gr? With staball specifically. I’ve got my hornady drop to do cfe black/223/pistol to do a es of .06gr I’m very very pleased with that. Also do you have crono numbers? For your gt with staball. I have 8lbs of this stuff and didn’t have any luck in my wife’s old creed.Sure.
.223, 75gr Hornady BTHP, 23.5gr 8208, mag length, Rem 6 1/2 primers, Dillon powder measure
Brass prepped separately. Ready to load.
6mmBR, 107 SMK 10 thou off, 29.4gr 8208, 10 thou jump, CCI BR4
Brass prepped separately. Ready to load. But I can just swap out the sizing die and reload the cases dirty. Using a Redding BR30 to throw powder. And a 6mm mandrel in pos 1 to set neck tension and ensure all necks are round when I prep brass/ on a different toolhead.
6GT, 107SMK 10 thou off, 38.2gr StaBall, CCI BR4, Hornady Brass, Redding BR30 manually operated.
Brass prepped separately. Ready to load. But again, Every once in a while I'll just lube dirty brass, put my sizing die in pos 1, and run it dirty.
308W, Hornady 178gr BTHP, 44gr BLC2, LC brass, Win LR primers, RCBS case activated drop.
Brass prepped on a case prep toolhead in the thousands.
300BO, 190gr Nosler CC @ 2.185", 6.8gr Hornady Longshot, CCI small pistol primers
Prepped, ready to load on a seperate toolhead. Using a Dillon powder measure
Case prep.
6br/ GT: i run it through the machine with just a Universal decapping die, wash, dry, anneal, lube and run through again with a sizing die, wash, and dry again.
.223 and 300BO: decapping die, press mounted swage it, RT1500 trimmer/ sizing trim die, Lyman M die to wear down the trimming burs and bell the mouths slightly. Wash, dry, ready to load.
I trim PR cartridges by exception, when necessary in large batches, on a Henderson motor powered trimmer.
Unfortunately, i am not getting ES of .1 powder charges. In anything besides an Autotrickler. I get SDs of around 15 in just about everything I mentioned above.
The whole 6mm/ progressive thing for me started when I did load development for a buddy. I helped him get into a Tikka CTR, 24" 6.5 Creedmoor. KRG Bravo, etc. I bought all his reloading components cheap. Hornady bulk pack 140 ELDMs at $.28 each and bulk pack Hornady brass at $.35 ea. $35 die set. I was loading on my 550 at the time. I tried RL17(bc I have a bunch I wanted to get rid of) and RL23. Then he saw I had an 8lb'r of StaBall and he'd heard the myth about it and insisted I try it. I did a powder ladder at 300yds and it was amazing. Huge flat node from 44gr to 45.5g. 1.2" groups. 2800fps out of a slow Tikka barrel. I chrono'd a couple of confirmation groups 4 days in a row, dialing in a Lee Perfect Powder Measure on a powder die on the 550. Comparing trickled and thrown charges to see if I could get away with just throwing bc I was about to load 500rds for him when I got everything confirmed and dialed in. It held, day after day. Finally, I took him out to shoot it before I committed to loading the 500rds for him. He shot 5rds trickled and 5rds thrown at 100yds. Both were a ragged hole. The SD on the trickled loads was 3. On the thrown charges it was....2.3! The charge weights weren't under .1 ES. I think the node was so flat that the error just hid in the white noise of the SDs. So I loaded 500rds for him on the 550 in an evening. Every other month for the last year, he has messaged me to tell me what a hammer the rifle is.
So this became my goal with 6mm BR. I figured it was the 6mm cartridge most likely to provide a wide node. Unfortunately I never found one with Varget, 8208, and H4895. I also played with StaBall in the BR and got some pretty amazing velocities and only a small flat node. So I decided at the time to try 8208 because it throws so well in a Dillon powder measure. I use it in my .223, get mid-teens SDs and really great accuracy. Worked out pretty similar in 6BR. Decent, but not amazing. 29.4gr gives me 2880 in a 28" barrel. By comparison I was getting 2900 with 30.5gr Varget. It is on the high end of pressure. I should probably try a much lower charge weight and see if it nodes.
So my goal was to find nodes to hide charge weight inconsistencies. Just didn't work out like it did for the 6.5 Creed. But I found SDs in the mid teens to be tolerable. The last club match I loaded 100rds of 6GT using StaBall in about 20 minutes and tied for first. We had 3 stages out to 1100 and one out to 1200. I had no elevational misses the entire day. SDs in the low teens. Worked like gangbusters.
So that's my long story, lol
Unfortunately, i am not getting ES of .1 powder charges. In anything besides an Autotrickler. I get SDs of around 15 in just about everything I mentioned above.
The whole 6mm/ progressive thing for me started when I did load development for a buddy. I helped him get into a Tikka CTR, 24" 6.5 Creedmoor. KRG Bravo, etc. I bought all his reloading components cheap. Hornady bulk pack 140 ELDMs at $.28 each and bulk pack Hornady brass at $.35 ea. $35 die set. I was loading on my 550 at the time. I tried RL17(bc I have a bunch I wanted to get rid of) and RL23. Then he saw I had an 8lb'r of StaBall and he'd heard the myth about it and insisted I try it. I did a powder ladder at 300yds and it was amazing. Huge flat node from 44gr to 45.5g. 1.2" groups. 2800fps out of a slow Tikka barrel. I chrono'd a couple of confirmation groups 4 days in a row, dialing in a Lee Perfect Powder Measure on a powder die on the 550. Comparing trickled and thrown charges to see if I could get away with just throwing bc I was about to load 500rds for him when I got everything confirmed and dialed in. It held, day after day. Finally, I took him out to shoot it before I committed to loading the 500rds for him. He shot 5rds trickled and 5rds thrown at 100yds. Both were a ragged hole. The SD on the trickled loads was 3. On the thrown charges it was....2.3! The charge weights weren't under .1 ES. I think the node was so flat that the error just hid in the white noise of the SDs. So I loaded 500rds for him on the 550 in an evening. Every other month for the last year, he has messaged me to tell me what a hammer the rifle is.
So this became my goal with 6mm BR. I figured it was the 6mm cartridge most likely to provide a wide node. Unfortunately I never found one with Varget, 8208, and H4895. I also played with StaBall in the BR and got some pretty amazing velocities and only a small flat node. So I decided at the time to try 8208 because it throws so well in a Dillon powder measure. I use it in my .223, get mid-teens SDs and really great accuracy. Worked out pretty similar in 6BR. Decent, but not amazing. 29.4gr gives me 2880 in a 28" barrel. By comparison I was getting 2900 with 30.5gr Varget. It is on the high end of pressure. I should probably try a much lower charge weight and see if it nodes.
So my goal was to find nodes to hide charge weight inconsistencies. Just didn't work out like it did for the 6.5 Creed. But I found SDs in the mid teens to be tolerable. The last club match I loaded 100rds of 6GT using StaBall in about 20 minutes and tied for first. We had 3 stages out to 1100 and one out to 1200. I had no elevational misses the entire day. SDs in the low teens. Worked like gangbusters.
So that's my long story, lol
You want a ball powder for 6 BR, try CFE223.Unfortunately, i am not getting ES of .1 powder charges. In anything besides an Autotrickler. I get SDs of around 15 in just about everything I mentioned above.
The whole 6mm/ progressive thing for me started when I did load development for a buddy. I helped him get into a Tikka CTR, 24" 6.5 Creedmoor. KRG Bravo, etc. I bought all his reloading components cheap. Hornady bulk pack 140 ELDMs at $.28 each and bulk pack Hornady brass at $.35 ea. $35 die set. I was loading on my 550 at the time. I tried RL17(bc I have a bunch I wanted to get rid of) and RL23. Then he saw I had an 8lb'r of StaBall and he'd heard the myth about it and insisted I try it. I did a powder ladder at 300yds and it was amazing. Huge flat node from 44gr to 45.5g. 1.2" groups. 2800fps out of a slow Tikka barrel. I chrono'd a couple of confirmation groups 4 days in a row, dialing in a Lee Perfect Powder Measure on a powder die on the 550. Comparing trickled and thrown charges to see if I could get away with just throwing bc I was about to load 500rds for him when I got everything confirmed and dialed in. It held, day after day. Finally, I took him out to shoot it before I committed to loading the 500rds for him. He shot 5rds trickled and 5rds thrown at 100yds. Both were a ragged hole. The SD on the trickled loads was 3. On the thrown charges it was....2.3! The charge weights weren't under .1 ES. I think the node was so flat that the error just hid in the white noise of the SDs. So I loaded 500rds for him on the 550 in an evening. Every other month for the last year, he has messaged me to tell me what a hammer the rifle is.
So this became my goal with 6mm BR. I figured it was the 6mm cartridge most likely to provide a wide node. Unfortunately I never found one with Varget, 8208, and H4895. I also played with StaBall in the BR and got some pretty amazing velocities and only a small flat node. So I decided at the time to try 8208 because it throws so well in a Dillon powder measure. I use it in my .223, get mid-teens SDs and really great accuracy. Worked out pretty similar in 6BR. Decent, but not amazing. 29.4gr gives me 2880 in a 28" barrel. By comparison I was getting 2900 with 30.5gr Varget. It is on the high end of pressure. I should probably try a much lower charge weight and see if it nodes.
So my goal was to find nodes to hide charge weight inconsistencies. Just didn't work out like it did for the 6.5 Creed. But I found SDs in the mid teens to be tolerable. The last club match I loaded 100rds of 6GT using StaBall in about 20 minutes and tied for first. We had 3 stages out to 1100 and one out to 1200. I had no elevational misses the entire day. SDs in the low teens. Worked like gangbusters.
So that's my long story, lol
Like I said before in the very least it might stay in a tighter node, it meters amazingly for me. In my Hornady measures. Which are rotary like your Redding. It doesn’t have the temp stability of most though. In Dallas we shoot in 40-105 degree temps. I found that out the hard way, I developed in January and was blowing primers in July lolWhy? Do you think it will node or provide better SD's? I'd agree, it's burn rate is probably about right. TAC probably is too.
Yeah, mostly the burn rate is good, some people have had good results with it. I’ve only used it for fireforming with crappy bullets so I’m not sure I have a strong opinion one way or another. But it’s probably worth trying.Why? Do you think it will node or provide better SD's? I'd agree, it's burn rate is probably about right. TAC probably is too.
I worked up loads for both the 112 Match Burner using Varget and the 115 DTAC using H4350 based on what others had done. Both shoot very well, under .5 MOA. Now I'm doing a round of seating depth tests with a lower powder charge (33.5 instead of the 34.1 I did my initial test with) on the 112's from 0.020 to 0.110 off the lands to see if what I heard about larger jumps is true. Just something to do...
Jamming or jumping those 109's. New gt this year still trying to decide what bullets , have a long neck long throat for 115 DTAC's . Some H-4350, some 6.5 Staball , but 37.2 is best so far with 115vld . Still trying to decide where to go with limited supplies. Probably just shoot BR this year at 300.Running 37.6 gr of H4350 with Berger 109
Jumped. They are hybrids, I realized they don't care what you do with them.Jamming or jumping those 109's. New gt this year still trying to decide what bullets , have a long neck long throat for 115 DTAC's . Some H-4350, some 6.5 Staball , but 37.2 is best so far with 115vld . Still trying to decide where to go with limited supplies. Probably just shoot BR this year at 300.
I am a benchrest shooter mostly 300yrd. Light neck tension so we tend to jam. I thank you for posting your data . I have been very limited on supplies so hard to decide where to go with what components. Only have about one pound H-4350 . Tried staball but small node and quick pressures. Around 36.8 with 115 Dtac was pretty good , just looking for bug hole load. Then hopefully get components. Thanks and good shooting.from N.Y.Jumped. They are hybrids, I realized they don't care what you do with them.
37.0 H-4350 109hybrid LR at three hundred five shots.
Sorry to bring this thread back to life.I've tried CCI 450's, BR, and 400's. I don't have anything else. I honestly haven't seen a difference between BR and 450's. Ever. I can't shoot the 400's in my GT bc its ona LFP AI. Pierces 400's pretty regularly.
CCI 450 - same thicker .025" cup as the BR4 and #41.
CCI #41 - commercial version of the fully-qualified DOD primer for use in U.S. military ammo. With this primer there is more 'distance' between the tip of the anvil and the bottom of the cup than with other CCI SR primers. .025" thick cup. Same primer mix as CCI 450.
Awesome! I’ve did a few loads with 41’s, 450’s, and BR-4’s. I made the start weight a little lower this time around as well, but I have a good feeling about going with the thicker cupped primers this time. I hope to get this tried out before the weekend.The 41's will work for you. My understanding is the anvil is slightly different and requires more impact before ignition on the 41's compared to the 450. I have used 41's in my bolt rifle loads in the past with no problems encountered.
I used to say that as well… used to.cci400 primers are the only primers I have ever used on two different 6GT barrels and not a single issue with well over 4,000 of them.
cci400 primers are the only primers I have ever used on two different 6GT barrels and not a single issue with well over 4,000 of them.
How old are we talking? Like the ones on the left? I use the ones on the left in my 223 loads and also find they are harder to seat. My SDs have never been so low when using the older ones so I might keep them around for the 6GT especially if the cups are thicker/harder.I've been using some old batches of 400s without issue as well. They are harder to seat so probably thicker from 1979/80/81, still no issues. Only a few hundred remain of this old stuff. I'll have to try my newer stock and compare.
How old are we talking? Like the ones on the left? I use the ones on the left in my 223 loads and also find they are harder to seat. My SDs have never been so low when using the older ones so I might keep them around for the 6GT especially if the cups are thicker/harder. View attachment 7749708
Think of all the room a guy could save if they still packaged them this way. Federal could take some notes.Late 70's, early 80's old...
All brought from gun stores, before you could mail order components.
View attachment 7749711
I've been a little slow posting up my load developments. Unfortunately, I'm just not able to find the Berger Hybrids, so I'm going down the path of the ELD-M 108's and SMK 107's, as those are semi-obtainable at the moment.This will be the first time that I'm trying to do it based on velocity, instead of OCW. Since I have lots of StaBALL 6.5, I think I will play with it. Time to search the threads to see if anyone has done with that and the Hornady ELD-M 108's.
Sorry I forgot this on my original post. I loaded up a couple dummy rounds for seating depth on the K&M Arbor press and the neck tension was about 35 to 40lbs on this new brass. I used a mandrel to ensure consistency of the necks in the new alpha brass. Does anyone have any insight if this is about normal or what value we should be aiming for for neck tension when seating?Hello,
Just took delivery of my new GAP 6GT. Lots of great information here on loading for the cartridge wanted to take the opportunity to say thanks for the information in advance. I have also seen questions regarding color choices on the forun so thought I would include a couple pics for reference. GAP did a fantastic job on this rifle and I am very excited to shoot this beauty for the first time. Paint is Scorched Earth and looks fantastic in person, much nicer than I expected. So far I have Varget, Alpha brass, two types of projectiles (105gr Nosler RDF and 110 Hornady A-Tip's). Time to break this bad boy in.
Happy new year everyone
On bolt gun I try to stay in the 1.5-2 range, and on semi's 3-4 range. I don't even chamfer the new alpha brass, it just works out of the boxSorry I forgot this on my original post. I loaded up a couple dummy rounds for seating depth on the K&M Arbor press and the neck tension was about 35 to 40lbs on this new brass. I used a mandrel to ensure consistency of the necks in the new alpha brass. Does anyone have any insight if this is about normal or what value we should be aiming for for neck tension when seating?
Thanks everyone.
I get excess resistance when seating new brass fro the first time on different batches and calibers of brass for whatever reason. Even if I size it and mandrel it. The next time you seat bullets into that same brass after firing I guarantee you that it will be much less.Sorry I forgot this on my original post. I loaded up a couple dummy rounds for seating depth on the K&M Arbor press and the neck tension was about 35 to 40lbs on this new brass. I used a mandrel to ensure consistency of the necks in the new alpha brass. Does anyone have any insight if this is about normal or what value we should be aiming for for neck tension when seating?
Thanks everyone.
You might want to try annealing it, then sizing/expanding to spec...I get excess resistance when seating new brass fro the first time on different batches and calibers of brass for whatever reason. Even if I size it and mandrel it. The next time you seat bullets into that same brass after firing I guarantee you that it will be much less.
Sorry I forgot this on my original post. I loaded up a couple dummy rounds for seating depth on the K&M Arbor press and the neck tension was about 35 to 40lbs on this new brass. I used a mandrel to ensure consistency of the necks in the new alpha brass. Does anyone have any insight if this is about normal or what value we should be aiming for for neck tension when seating?
Thanks everyone.