Been awhile! Looking for 6.5 Creedmoor help!

TaterTot

New member
I haven't posted here for quite a while. I am motivating myself to get back into the swing of things and get to reloading again.

A couple years ago, I bought a Savage 12 LRP in 6.5 Creedmoor. I currently have only fired 55 factory rounds out of it. I plan to use this rifle for rockchucks, steel, targets and maybe an antelope hunt or two.

I have seen that the 140 grain bullets and H4350 appear to be the most popular, but I currently have some Hornady 130 ELD M's and some RL16 on hand. (H4350 is still hard to come by)

Can anyone help me out with some load ideas? Any suggestions on a better bullet for rockchucks? My ultimate intention is to kill a chuck at around 1000 yards.
 
Welcome back Tater.
I shoot a SAV 10 in 6.5CM out to 400 yards with 123 gn ELD-M over H100V.
Am getting under 0.5 MOA at 400 but am still working on that load.
Its near 2900 FPS and a stout load but not max.
Have a new Criterion 26" MTU with less than 100 rounds so far.

I would try 95 gn VMAX at lightning speeds... for rockchucks..
And that would be over 8208 XBR or Varget.
 
Thank you. I have been contemplating getting some lighter bullets in that range. I do use Varget and 8208 in a couple of my varmint rifles.

I may end up needing a couple different loads. One for some explosive performance on chucks, and one for the longer distance goals on chucks.
 
Welcome back.

I'm probably not much help but I use RL16 and Hornady 129 Interlocks. I use mine for Whitetail Deer.
 
Originally Posted By: K22Welcome back.

I'm probably not much help but I use RL16 and Hornady 129 Interlocks. I use mine for Whitetail Deer.


Any info on your load? I have done quite a bit of reading on RL16 and it seems to be a good alternative to H4350.

It seems that there is lots of info around for the 140 grain bullets, but not so much for the lighter stuff. Did you chronograph your 129 grain load?
 
I have not chrono'd it yet. 42.7 gr. of RL16, Hornady brass, Rem 9 1/2 primer, and the 129 Interlock bullet.
I don't see me going with a heavier bullet. The 129gr. Hornady is working pretty good for me.
 
K22: got curios about your load, also have some 129 SST and a 26" SAV 6.5 CM.
QL gave 2893 FPS and ~ 2400 ft/lbs at the muzzle.
(QL is only a ruff estimate) interested in real ##s when you chrono it..

Its a stout load and the RL-16 burn rate looks perfect per QL, see:

2717.jpg
 
Glad to see you back, Mike. Where were you hoping to get some those ultra long range rock chucks? I shoot them north of town here on occasion but I kill all mine (so far anyway) at 400 yards or less. I want to shoot a few this year with my .17 Remington using the 30 grain Nagel. That should be fun.
 
Originally Posted By: RustydustGlad to see you back, Mike. Where were you hoping to get some those ultra long range rock chucks? I shoot them north of town here on occasion but I kill all mine (so far anyway) at 400 yards or less. I want to shoot a few this year with my .17 Remington using the 30 grain Nagel. That should be fun.

Thanks Russ. I may have to head towards Mountain Home and the Jerome area to get some longer shots.
 
Originally Posted By: TaterTotOriginally Posted By: RustydustGlad to see you back, Mike. Where were you hoping to get some those ultra long range rock chucks? I shoot them north of town here on occasion but I kill all mine (so far anyway) at 400 yards or less. I want to shoot a few this year with my .17 Remington using the 30 grain Nagel. That should be fun.

Thanks Russ. I may have to head towards Mountain Home and the Jerome area to get some longer shots.

That's a great area for chuck shooting- or at least used to be. I have shot some in that neck of the wood several years ago. Been quite a few years now so I have no idea how good it is these days.
 
Originally Posted By: Bob_AtlK22: got curios about your load, also have some 129 SST and a 26" SAV 6.5 CM.
QL gave 2893 FPS and ~ 2400 ft/lbs at the muzzle.
(QL is only a ruff estimate) interested in real ##s when you chrono it..

Its a stout load and the RL-16 burn rate looks perfect per QL, see:

2717.jpg


That was interesting Bob. I figured the flatbase Interlocks have the pressure in the upper regions. LOL At 43 gr. with the same seating depth the groups were pretty good, but I figured it would do better if I backed off some more. I'm running .005 off the lands and at 43.3gr. a few rounds were showing pressure.
Another site I hangout at insisted that Fed. 210 worked the best and especially with RL16. I'm here to tell you that was BS, leastwise with my rifle. Accuracy was not to great and the primers were so flat they hung over the sides. Ackleyman suggested going to Rem. primers which are my favorite any way, so I did and of course, he was right on the money. Accuracy was back and the primers looked fine. Unfortunately a few rounds were showing slight rubs or extractor marks on the bottom of the brass. So I dropped the load to 43.0 then to 42.7 and everything is happy. LOL

Well I'm rambling so enough.
 
Well I managed to get out and shoot a few rounds. I worked up loads of RL16, starting at 41 and going up to 44 grains. I started to see the slightest ejector marks at 43.5 and 44.

43 and 43.5 grain loads had 3 shot groups at close to 3/8 inch. My 42.5 grain load was just over 1/2 inch. I would load some pictures, but have not attempted since Photobucket went all weird quite some time ago. (Any tips other than Photobucket again?) I tried from my phone, but it's an Iphone and didn't work properly.

I plan to reload a few batches in .2 grain increments and start at 42.6 I think. If they still look good, I'll strap the Magnetospeed on and see how the numbers look. Can't convince myself to do both at the same time.
 
Was this the 130?s what primer and what brass are you shooting? My bergara shoots h4350 and 140eldms with Nosler brass and h4350 just below max really well. Es isn’t the greatest but was at 20-30. Has always shot good. I have been playing with Norma brass and 130 sierra gamechangers with 210m rl16 found a load it’s doing just a little over 2800 with good sds. Now even better rl16 140g Berger hybrid about 2750 very accurate and god sds also. Have only shot this load at 100. The 140s i have shot out to 1100 yards.
 
Originally Posted By: zr600Was this the 130?s what primer and what brass are you shooting? My bergara shoots h4350 and 140eldms with Nosler brass and h4350 just below max really well. Es isn’t the greatest but was at 20-30. Has always shot good. I have been playing with Norma brass and 130 sierra gamechangers with 210m rl16 found a load it’s doing just a little over 2800 with good sds. Now even better rl16 140g Berger hybrid about 2750 very accurate and god sds also. Have only shot this load at 100. The 140s i have shot out to 1100 yards.

Yes that was with 130's. I'm using Hornady brass and CCI 250 primers. I still haven't had a chance to get out and re-test any loads. Hoping the weather holds this week and I can get out at least one day. Still haven't decided if I want to strap the MagnetoSpeed on the barrel at the same time I'm testing these loads.
 
VPByQMR.jpg


Got out to shoot a few follow up loads from my previous testing. This is only 3 shots, but it’s my personal best 3 shot group to date. This was with 43.2 grains of RL16. I didn’t run my Magnetospeed on all my loads today, but I did run an average of 2906 (only 3 shots and only ran these because I forgot to remove the magnetospeed bayonet) with 42.6 grains of RL16. For comparison, I shot 5 rounds of Hornady Precision 143 ELDX and got 2768 average.

I think I’ll probably settle on an even 43 grains, but I will re-test 43 and 43.2 and run the numbers on the chronograph. Hopefully I get some consistent numbers and can run with a load.
 
Back
Top