loading Berger 140 G target hybrids, 6.5 Creedmoor

[dzander]

I was loading Honady 140 ELD-m in my re-barreled Remington 900.
I was at a OAL OF 2.800" overall length, my magazine measures 2.900" inside. 2.800" left me with .023" jump to the lands with the !40 ELD-m's.
The Berger 140 hybrid needed over 2.90" to touch the lands so For the rounds to fit in the Magazine and feed I had to be about .060" off the lands.
Anyone else notice this?

 

[Steel head]

I was loading Honady 140 ELD-m in my re-barreled Remington 900.
I was at a OAL OF 2.800" overall length, my magazine measures 2.900" inside.
The Berger 140 hybrid needed over 2.90" to touch the lands so For the rounds to fit in the Magazine and feed I had to be about .060" off the lands.
Anyone else notice this?

The Hornandy bullets often have more bearing area than Berger’s.
It’s common among many calibers.

 

[Campguy308]

Same with mine. The standard 6.5 Creedmoor reamers have a bit more free bore than what I like when shooting VLDs.

 

[dzander]

Ya , ok. I checked like 3 times thought maybe i was doing something wrong. Good news is the shot pretty well at 2.8" oal.
Thats jumping about .130".

 

[Campguy308]

Sounds about the same dimensions as mine. If it shoots, don't worry about it

 

[Brux]

Load them at 2.800, they will shoot fine right there.

 

[LiveToDrive]

I'm loading to 2.830 haven't played with different depths yet, still developing and I thought this would be a good middle ground to start with after reading about others experiences.

 

[dzander]

First time loading Reloader 16 . Berger 140g hybrids.
all loaded with 41 g just to try different seating depths.
The hybrids don't seem to be too picky at all.
Brux was right.
The shorter lengths seem to feed a hair smoother. I think
The 4.160" length is with the measuring device on my caliper , that equates to a 2.800" oal.
Next I'll try charge weights , thinking I'll load 10 total rounds, each round jump .2 grain increments see if i find a spot where velocity is pretty close.
I did that with H4350 seemed to work pretty good.
Anyone have other Ideas or does this seem like a good plan?

 

[Shawd43]

First time loading Reloader 16 . Berger 140g hybrids.
all loaded with 41 g just to try different seating depths.
The hybrids don't seem to be too picky at all.
Brux was right.
The shorter lengths seem to feed a hair smoother. I think
The 4.160" length is with the measuring device on my caliper , that equates to a 2.800" oal.
Next I'll try charge weights , thinking I'll load 10 total rounds, each round jump .2 grain increments see if i find a spot where velocity is pretty close.
I did that with H4350 seemed to work pretty good.
Anyone have other Ideas or does this seem like a good plan?

I’ve been using R16 for the past 8-10 months and grew to trust the powders consistency. The only noticeable difference over the past 2300 rounds fired this year between the H4350 and R16 was the speed. H4350 is noticeably faster than the R16, even with less powder. It’s definitely my go to now when H4350 is scarce. What load data did you end up with for the 140 hybrids?

 

[whatsupdoc]

Many smiths have 6.5 creed reamers with a shorter than SAAMI throat for the berger hybrids. This helps keep the COAL shorter.

 

[Tokay444]

Mine seem to like to jump .080” over 41.0gr of H4350.

 

[dzander]

Krieger 26" barrel
Berger 6.5mm 140g Hybrid
2.800"oal
CCI 450
41.2 grains Reloader 16
Lapua brass new
2794 FPS
2770
2793
2787
2775
______________
2783 FPS average
Total spread 24 FPS

 

[salks]

The hybrids are supposed to be jump tolerant as i understand. You can measure a bullet base to ogive before seating and compare it to the OAL to see the difference in the 2 bullets. Check out the precision rifle blog they just did a great series of write ups on bullet jump.

 

[Tokay444]

I read Cal Zant’s article on bullet jump, and looked at all the data Mark Gordon has collected over the years on the subject and decided I really didn’t want to chase my lands all that much as my throat erodes. Did a seating depth test and found a good node from .08”-.105” off. Loaded on the long side so I’ll have .025” of throat erosion tolerance before I have to adjust my seating depth.
I could be giving up some precision, but it also just shot the best two groups I’ve ever shot in my life...

 

[acudaowner]

loved the berger 140gr 6.5 creedmoor bullets hope they work out just as nice for you or better .

 

[XLR308]

Old thread but just adding another data point.
I recently aquired some 140 Hybrids to check COAL to lands before starting testing.
Barrel has 240 rounds on it and was chambered with SAAMI .199" FB.
I measured five times to get an average.
1) 2.955"
2) 2.957
3) 2.956
4) 2.955
5) 2.956
All of these will just fit in the Alpha mags i have but will most likely end up jumping them somewere between .050-.080"

 

[Lone star Shooter]

Similar problem here. The hybrids seem to be jump tolerant in my rifle. I messed with absolutely maximizing COL within the magazines, even Filipino the spacer in my AICS mags. I would have to have the action opening recut to run the mags without the spacer. The rifle will shoot under .5 MOA as it is so I am leaving it as is.

My advice is load as long as you can get to reliably feed all rounds through your mags. If that doesn’t yield good results you can always load longer and single feed to determine if there is any improvement. Then decide if mechanical modifications and new mags are worthwhile.

 

[XLR308]

Similar problem here. The hybrids seem to be jump tolerant in my rifle. I messed with absolutely maximizing COL within the magazines, even Filipino the spacer in my AICS mags. I would have to have the action opening recut to run the mags without the spacer. The rifle will shoot under .5 MOA as it is so I am leaving it as is.

My advice is load as long as you can get to reliably feed all rounds through your mags. If that doesn’t yield good results you can always load longer and single feed to determine if there is any improvement. Then decide if mechanical modifications and new mags are worthwhile.

I dont really feel like jumping them is a problem since i can run them in the lands as is with the Alpha mags and my action will handle the length without mods.
Was just adding my observation and data.
I have allready loaded up a ladder at 2.885" with H4350 just need to get out to the range and chrono them, hopefully tomorrow or monday.