Any ideas for better 6.5 Creedmoor load development for my bolt rifle

[Digger0051]

Hi everyone,
I was able to get a little H4350 and I have been working on some loads but have only been able to get just over 3/4" 5 shot groups. I have been using twice fired brass and started at 40.8 H4350 with Winchester large rifle primers and 140g eld match bullets with my oal at 2.82 this was my worst load at 1 1/2" groups. My best was 41.2 with everything else the same and that was my 3/4" groups. I have not gone over 41.2 and that seems to shoot pretty consistent. My rifle is a Savage 110 Elite Precision 6.5CM. Do you think my groups would get better if I went to 41.4 or 41.6 or if i adjusted the OAL?

I also just got some Berger VLD Target 140g bullets that I have not tried yet? Should I try them at the 41.2 and see if there is a difference? Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated. I'm shooting at 100yrds

 

[nn8734]

Seating depth and primer swapping, in that order, are the first things i look to when group size isnt to my liking.

How far are you jumping the ELDs?

 

[Newbie2020]

Bergers are as good if not superior to the ELDMs.

Have you done a seating depth test?

 

[Taylorbok]

It's best to go about this systematically vs just hoping and praying
I always start by finding a powder node with a chrono graph, with the bullet seated .020" from Jam or to mag length which ever works for you.
I usually have pretty decent groups at this point but now I start seating depth test. I seat them in steps .003" shorter groups of 5. usually 10 different seating depths now shoot these. hopefully you have 2 or 3 groups in a row that shoot really good. choose the longest seating depth and subtract .001" now I go back and do a fine powder test. Load .2gr heavy and .2gr light and see which one shoots the best.

 

[KnowNothing256]

Hate to ask, but are you sure you can shoot a smaller group? A 1/2" group with a perfect rifle is actually quite challenging for most people, so unless you have another rifle that you can consistently shoot smaller groups with, you might consider taking your best load and having a more skilled shooter take a stab at it. If they print a great group, you're done with load development and you need to practice your technique.

Not saying you're a poor shot, just suggesting that you need to eliminate yourself as an error source as much as possible in addition to tuning the load itself.

 

[Digger0051]

Thank you for all the quick replies. I don't get 1/2" groups all the time but on a calm day I can shoot 1/2"-3/4" groups consistently. With my last time out they are seated at .020. The Winchester primers are all that I have for now so I will have to make due with them. I will try adjusting the seating depth in the .003 increments and see how that work. I appreciate all the help, I wanted to ask here before I waste a bunch of powder and bullets trying things that dont work. I think I will try the ELD's again and see how this all works then switch to the Bergers when I get better primers. I will post my results with pics when I go out again.

 

[nn8734]

Thank you for all the quick replies. I don't get 1/2" groups all the time but on a calm day I can shoot 1/2"-3/4" groups consistently. With my last time out they are seated at .020. The Winchester primers are all that I have for now so I will have to make due with them. I will try adjusting the seating depth in the .003 increments and see how that work. I appreciate all the help, I wanted to ask here before I waste a bunch of powder and bullets trying things that dont work. I think I will try the ELD's again and see how this all works then switch to the Bergers when I get better primers. I will post my results with pics when I go out again.

With the ELD bullets: Try a single 5-shot group at .040” jump - ensure you execute the fundamentals as well as you possibly can.

If you don’t see any measurable difference in group size there’s prob no point in working with .003” increments as it would be a waste of time IMO. If the group tightens then go to more granular seating depth trials at .003.

Berger VLD bullets are more sensitive to jump and generally prefer to be much closer to the lands than their hybrid counterparts.

Lastly the WLR primer is a great primer. I use them, fed210m and R9-1/2 for all my .473 bolt face cartridges i load for. So don’t hesitate to use them with your VLDs.

 

[huntnh]

Iv noticed the eldms like to jump in all my loads between.060 to .065 works good for me and I use magnum primers

 

[nn8734]

Iv noticed the eldms like to jump in all my loads between.060 to .065 works good for me and I use magnum primers

Yep, I’ve noticed the Berger hybrids ive used all like between .030-.090+ jump and were not particular within that range.

 

[Campguy308]

I did not have great results in my current creed barrel with H4350 and 140 eldm, not bad just not really great either.

I switched to Berger 130 VLD Target, Lapua brass, CCI450 primers, and the bughole stars aligned. Been using it for the last 2000 rounds on this barrel.

My personal opinion is that THE bullets for the 65 creed are the 130 berger in either vld or hybrid designs.

YMMV

 

[Carlos Danger]

I've had some initial successes with 147ELDM's, Varget, and big jump.

 

[Heffo]

Great bullet. Common load is up around 41.8-42 gr of H4350. Eldms do well jumping 20-30 thou. Also do well at factory COAL. My load is Lapua brass, BR4s, 41.8g, 20/1000 jump, 2850fps. Goodluck.

 

[KnowNothing256]

Great bullet. Common load is up around 41.8-42 gr of H4350. Eldms do well jumping 20-30 thou. Also do well at factory COAL. My load is Lapua brass, BR4s, 41.8g, 20/1000 jump, 2850fps. Goodluck.

Wow, that’s cooking with the 147s, what barrel length?

 

[Heffo]

Wow, that’s cooking with the 147s, what barrel length?

Mate that’s for the 140eldm. Cheers. 26” barrel

 

[KnowNothing256]

Mate that’s for the 140eldm. Cheers. 26” barrel

Ah, gotcha, thought you were talking about Carlos's bullet.