What's you favorite 6.5 creed powder?

K

kooman

Member
Lately I have be working up loads for my 24" bergara 6.5 shooting the 140 ELDM. I started with the popular h4350 and started getting pressure signs just before book max, I hear of a lot of guys that are able to go above book max without pressure, not the case with mine, I couldn't even get into the 2600's without pressure, using both hornady and starling large primer brass. I was getting very good accuracy just not the velocity I was hoping for. Next came RL-16, I wanted to try that because of its great temp stability. Working my way up I was getting some very good velocity without any pressure signs, I went up to 43 grains witch is pretty hot from what I hear without pressure, 2850 fps but didn't ever find a great accuracy node, several were moa but I was wanting better accuracy. What would you try next? Or would you just settle for either good velocity and decent accuracy or would you settle for lower velocity and great accuracy? I only shoot steel and paper for fun out to 1000-1200 yards so there isn't much at stake except the fun. Thanks fellas
 
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H4350 works ok for me, I've also been using H100V for 140s.
Was able to get 2700 fps with H100V, no pressure signs from 22" RAP, Hornady brass.
Like 8208 for 95 VMAX and Varget for 120-130s.
 
I use h4350 great accuracy and outstanding temp stability. For the best the "blend" of speed and accuracy I had really good results from Hodgdon Superformance, but the temp sensitivity was too high for my liking.
 
If you can’t run H4350 into the high 42gr range in 6.5 Creed and 140’s then something is wrong. Generally 43gr is where you would start seeing pressure and that’s usually a worse case scenario on a hot day, moisture introduced into chamber, etc. I’ve lost count of how many Creedmoor I’ve loaded 140 class bullets for and every one of them ends up with the node being somewhere in the 42.2-42.7gr range and well below pressure.

What pressure signs are you seeing? How much are you sizing your brass? Which brass and primers are you using? Are you jamming the bullets? Are you seating them way too deep in the case? Are you absolutely positive that you don’t have a carbon ring?
 
Originally Posted By: Redneckbmxer24If you can’t run H4350 into the high 42gr range in 6.5 Creed and 140’s then something is wrong. Generally 43gr is where you would start seeing pressure and that’s usually a worse case scenario on a hot day, moisture introduced into chamber, etc. I’ve lost count of how many Creedmoor I’ve loaded 140 class bullets for and every one of them ends up with the node being somewhere in the 42.2-42.7gr range and well below pressure.

What pressure signs are you seeing? How much are you sizing your brass? Which brass and primers are you using? Are you jamming the bullets? Are you seating them way too deep in the case? Are you absolutely positive that you don’t have a carbon ring?
Brand new starline and once fired hornady used, shoulders were all bumped back .002 with a full length die from the dimensions of a fired case, bullet seating was 2.810 oal, that's about .040 off the lands, pressure signs started with light ejector marks then as I snuck up 2 tenth say a time I was getting heavier ejector marks and then heavy bolt lift. I couldn't make it to 41.0 before the bolt got stiff
 
Less than 75 rounds on rifle, if something else was going on wouldn't I show high pressure with the 43 grains of rl-16? A fired case shoulder only expands about .003 from a new case according to my hornady headspace gauge
 
There’s no way you have a carbon ring at 75 rounds. But yes, you should see pressure with RL16 close enough to the same point. Do you have a different lot of H4350 to try?
 
I’ve heard that there were hotter lots of H4350 but I haven’t experience this myself and I’ve never heard of anything like what you’re experiencing.

I’d try to get a 1lbs bottle of another lot to try to compare. If your problems go away you might try calling Hodgdon to see if they’ll replace your jug. It might be worth a call now even, I know I wouldn’t be happy if this was happening and it turned out that a severely off lot of powder was the culprit.

If you want to try something completely different, Varget also works very well in 6.5 Creedmoor.
 
I shoot 120's with 39.5 of I4895 - straight out of the Nosler manual. Super accurate.
For my 6 Creedmoor, I use 41.3 of H4350 and 107 SMK. .290@200yds.
 
Just so you know if you are judging off primers looking cratered measure the firing pin vs the firing pin hole. The hole is oversized on bergara. Sorry just noticed you have case swipes. I had to go atleast a grain lighter on star line vs Hornady. R16 is what I’m using but I tried like [beeep] to use r26. I think r26 would work if I matched the avg creedmoor speeds. R26 is some crazy stuff. It’s worth a check. 2900 with a 22 barrel with 140 crazy
 
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MOriginally Posted By: HumpnessJust so you know if you are judging off primers looking cratered measure the firing pin vs the firing pin hole. The hole is oversized on bergara. Sorry just noticed you have case swipes. I had to go atleast a grain lighter on star line vs Hornady. R16 is what I’m using but I tried like [beeep] to use r26. I think r26 would work if I matched the avg creedmoor speeds. R26 is some crazy stuff. It’s worth a check. 2900 with a 22 barrel with 140 crazy
Yea I did notice some very slight primer crater with the hotter rl-16 loads but that was the only sign I saw with that load. The signs on the h4350 were definite swipes and heavy bolt early. So far I'm thinking my rifle just doesn't like h4350 but I'm going to shoot some test loads in my ruger and see how it does with the exact same loads
 
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I've been happy with Superformance. I've been shooting 140gr bergers with it for a couple years and haven't seen any major issues in temperature variation but maybe I'm not watching close enough. I have shot it when it is 90+ degrees on multiple occasions and as low as 40 degree temps. However, I haven't I shot it on paper when air temperature is colder.
 
Reloader 16 works great for me. less than 10fps spread from 12 degrees to 90 degrees. 2860fps with
Berger 140 VLD-H. Consistent,clean and accurate.
Bobby
 
I will probably work with rl-16 a bit more and fine tune it, I just can't figure out why I can't shoot h4350 without pressure signs and I can stretch rl-16 over max without pressure. Is it common for a certain rifle to have pressure under max with one powder and then with the exact same components be able to go above max with a different powder? I tested the h4350 in a different rifle without any problems to rule out a hot batch if powder.
 
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