Reloading Newbie 6.5 Creedmoor Confusion

[kenotic]

I recently took up long range shooting as a hobby. One of the first things I noticed was how badly inconsistent the locally available factory ammo was. So I decided to try my hand at reloading. I went and got the Hornady LNL Iron with Hornady Match Dies, Lee neck sizing die and so on. I have found a load that is working pretty good, I think, in my RPR from a pressure standpoint. I am shooting 143 ELD-X with H4350 (41.2 Grains) with Fed Match Primers. My SD is 2 with an ES of 9, but I have not shot a group yet.

Where the confusion comes in is that I see a bunch of people posting load data with much more of the same powder, but every manufacturer says that 41.3 is the max. What am I missing here? Are the manufacturers being to cautious or are the other re-loaders being to reckless? Should I be looking to get more speed? My end goal is to be able to shoot at my ranges max distance of 1250. Any help would be welcomed.

Thanks in advance

 

[Fursniper]

Book value for reloading is ALWAYS conservative, (well, at least most of the time, I have seen exceptions so you must always be cautious) obviously there are legal considerations, exposure, etc with any big company. Having said that, it sounds like you are in the ballpark. You didn't state your velocities which I assume you have since you identified your SD & ES (Nice numbers BTW, way to go for a first run at reloading, lol) Everyone is going to tell you to start low and work up from there because that's what you SHOULD do, especially if you're new at this & you're not experienced at identifying pressure signs. Posting your velocity would help that load will probably get you to your goal quite nicely.

 

[kenotic]

Book value for reloading is ALWAYS conservative, (well, at least most of the time, I have seen exceptions so you must always be cautious) obviously there are legal considerations, exposure, etc with any big company. Having said that, it sounds like you are in the ballpark. You didn't state your velocities which I assume you have since you identified your SD & ES (Nice numbers BTW, way to go for a first run at reloading, lol) Everyone is going to tell you to start low and work up from there because that's what you SHOULD do, especially if you're new at this & you're not experienced at identifying pressure signs. Posting your velocity would help that load will probably get you to your goal quite nicely.

Thanks for the encouragement. The Avg was 2649 FPS. Also that was over a Magneto Speed I am not sure if that helps.

 

[Fursniper]

Thanks for the encouragement. The Avg was 2649 FPS. Also that was over a Magneto Speed I am not sure if that helps.

The MS is generally very accurate. Sounds like you have some "wiggle room" as that is a conservative velocity for a 6.5. Some of it will depend on your barrel length of course. Plenty of guys are getting safe velocities in the low 28's but that doesn't necessarily mean that's safe for your rifle. Shoot your load & see how it does. Educate yourself on pressure signs and how to identify such and work up slowly if you feel you'd like a little more velocity. Most rifles have a low AND a high node that they do well in. In either event, 2650 with a 6.5 will take you to 1250!

 

[Kadams1563]

Were you shooting factory Hornady 140 eld-m ammo? If so I don't see how you can call that stuff inconsistent. It's no where near as good as most reloads it still very good ammo.

From what I have seen most of the RPRs run a little slow. I would imagine 2750 or so should get a good load.

My 26" bartlien runs at 2800 using 42.0 grains of 4350.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[kenotic]

Were you shooting factory Hornady 140 eld-m ammo? If so I don't see how you can call that stuff inconsistent. It's no where near as good as most reloads it still very good ammo.

That wasn't available locally.

 

[spife7980]

Forum member Orkan made this write up and I think it's one of the most comprehensive instructions I've come across.
https://www.primalrights.com/article...nding-pressure

Worth it to read for new and old reloaders alike.

 

[Fursniper]

Forum member Orkan made this write up and I think it's one of the most comprehensive instructions I've come across.
https://www.primalrights.com/article...nding-pressure

Worth it to read for new and old reloaders alike.

Good article to learn about pressure signs and the dangers that lay within! I had read that quite some time ago but forgot where I read it, nice of Spife to resurrect it once again.

 

[kenotic]

Forum member Orkan made this write up and I think it's one of the most comprehensive instructions I've come across.
https://www.primalrights.com/article...nding-pressure

Worth it to read for new and old reloaders alike.

I will absolutely check that out.

 

[PhOnEpHrEaK]

Were you shooting factory Hornady 140 eld-m ammo? If so I don't see how you can call that stuff inconsistent. It's no where near as good as most reloads it still very good ammo.

From what I have seen most of the RPRs run a little slow. I would imagine 2750 or so should get a good load.

My 26" bartlien runs at 2800 using 42.0 grains of 4350.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Im running 140s and 43gr of H4350 at 2802 , ES 11, SD 7 out of my RPR. No pressure signs, shot it in 98 degree weather.

 

[Juggerxxx]

As mentioned the books are conservative as they should be. Hornady increased they 6.5CM charges in their last addition because it was way low in the earlier version.
i seem lots of RPRs finding good accuracy right around 2750fps. This's is normally between the 42.0-42.7gr of H4350 range. I am at 42.2 for 2750fps in my RPR for the 140gr ELD and did not see pressure signs until 43.5gr.

 

[V-Ref]

Standard atmo of 15C/SL/29.92 two shooters in prone looking at a 2 MOA target at 800 yards.

Identical ammo, rifle and shooting ability. Only difference is one guy is shooting 140 ELD-Ms at 2650 the other at 2800.

Mirage is leaning very lightly left to right. Both shooters decide to hold on the left side of the plate.

About 5 seconds to trigger break, a undetected 5 mph wind gust rolls through and bends the mirage so it's rolling almost laterally left to right.

Both slow shooter and fast shooter snap the trigger as they didn't detect the condition.

The slow shooter bullets drifts 3.250 MOA right, and even with his half a plate 1 MOA hold into the mirage, just misses off the right side of the plate by .250 MOA. Damn it.

The fast shooter bullet drifts 3.000 MOA right, and even with his half a plate 1 MOA hold into the mirage, just grazes the right side of plate. The RO does not observe an impact. Damn it.

The slow shooter isn't beating his brass, has a wider node to find precision/ES/SD, and his ammo isn't "tempy" and won't blow up if it gets hot.

The fast shooter is beating on his brass, has a tweaky tempy load, is cratering primers, every now and then has a stiff bolt, just to say he got to an internet muzzle velocity of 2800 fps.
-----

the above is a story, not based on fact or cartridge spec, or even the OPs scenario. It's just a what's if. Run the numbers yourselves. The goal should be to find a load, that your rifle stacks all the bullets into the same hole, with tight ES/SD, is temp tolerant, and is easy on the brass.

If you need less wind drift, condition reading skills, should be skill #1. If you're still wanting more after you feel like you have a good read on conditions...then get a bigger cartridge.

Just my 2 cents for free.

P.S. strive to retell the story where there's a third shooter....and he detects the change in condition, and takes a moment to reevaluate breaking the shot, or his hold....decides to to hold a plate and a half...snaps the trigger, and gets an impact on the right 1/3rd of the plate.

What do you guys think?

 

[kenotic]

Nice!