6.5 Creedmore Experience

[Jlr2267]

Not looking for specific loads, just gathering a consensus (if there is one) on what powders and bullet weights generally give good accuracy.

I could not resist the T/C Compass sale and picked up a 6.5. It has 1/8 twist so heavier bullets should not be a problem. Will probably start with Varget,and some heavier match bullets.

Shot factory Hornady Black 140gr BTHP today in the wind and 3 of the 4 groups were between 1” and 1.1” at 100 yds. The 4th was almost 2”. I’m thinking with an optimum handload I can cut that down a bit. Not bad for a $180 rifle!

Any shared wisdom is appreciated.

 

[LoonWulf]

I had excellent results with Hornadys 143eldx, and good results with the 123amax.
I used h4350, and hodgdon superformance for both.

The 123s ran around 1-1.25, the 143s were consistently under 1".

 

[VAReloader]

H4350 and 140 gr ELD Match bullets. Holes touch if I do it right.
Tried Varget but it just didn't work.

 

[dh1633pm]

AA2700 and 140 ELD's worked wonders for me. Would love to try H4350 if I could get my hands on some.

 

[444]

H4350
Hornady 140 grain ELD or 147 grain ELD depending on what was available locally. For some reason the 147s give me a lower SD.

I haven't tried a lot of bullets in the 6.5 Creedmoor. I started out with some Hornady factory ammo mainly to get some brass, and it shot terrific. So, I tried handloads with those bullets and they shot just as good. So, I didn't do a lot of experimentation. I have fired 3/4" groups at 200 yards with this combo and it has proven itself at 1000 and 1200 yards many times over the last summer.

FWIW: I am shooting these out of a Savage. Nothing exotic.

 

[rayatphonix]

I got my first Creedmoor around 2011 and have added others since. H4350 on 129 & 130 gn bullets and RL17 on heavier bullets have worked very well for me. I've struggled with Varget, although it works for many.

If you want to try some factory stuff I recommend Prime Ammo. It shoots very good groups out of my bolt actions and you end up with Norma brass.

 

[jmr40]

I bought factory "Precision Hunter" ammo to get started with brass. It shot every bit as well as my handloads, but did not match advertised speeds. I was only getting 2600 fps instead of the advertised 2700

I started hand loading with the same 143gr. ELD-X bullets and a near max load of H4350 and beat factory speeds by about 50 fps . Excellent accuracy, but I felt there was room for more speed. I tried Ramshot Hunter with the same bullets and picked up another 50 fps with no loss of accuracy. I understand RL17 gives similar performance to Hunter but I've not tried it yet.

 

[LoonWulf]

yeah, h4350 leaves a bit on the table as far as speed is concerned. I never got 143s over 2700 from my 22" howa with it, but easily bettered that with Superformance.
RL17, and 19 both look like they maybe good options in the CM.

 

[rayatphonix]

I've tried RL 19 on 2 or 3 occasions. I was able to get decent groups across a wide variety of loads, but never equaled the groups I achieved with RL 17. YMMV.

 

[farmerboy78]

123gr amax and 42-43gr varget

 

[Jlr2267]

As some of you suggested, Varget didn’t work out (for me) with 140gr bullets. I will get some RL17 or 4350 at Cabela’s this weekend and try again.

 

[Captcurt]

Had good luck with IMR-4350, H4350 and R-17. Tried Varget but was not impressed.

 

[Jlr2267]

Tried Superformace today. To give a baseline, this rifle shoots Rem Cor Lokt into ~1.25" 3-shot groups at 100 yds, which I consider very good for hunting ammo...and Hornady Black 140gr BTHP into a hair over 1" groups.

Best group with Superformace was 42gr (my starting load) at 0.631"...every load I tried between 42 and 43 grains was under 0.8"...above 43 the groups opened up > 1".

Think I've found my powder and load...thanks to LoonWulf for the tip!

 

[jgh4445]

Win 760 and Sierra 130 gamekings. H4350 same bullet.

 

[LoonWulf]

Tried Superformace today. To give a baseline, this rifle shoots Rem Cor Lokt into ~1.25" 3-shot groups at 100 yds, which I consider very good for hunting ammo...and Hornady Black 140gr BTHP into a hair over 1" groups.

Best group with Superformace was 42gr (my starting load) at 0.631"...every load I tried between 42 and 43 grains was under 0.8"...above 43 the groups opened up > 1".

Think I've found my powder and load...thanks to LoonWulf for the tip!

Your welcome. I ended up at 46.5, but I was running a 2.9COAL, and my gun was surprisingly slow and only moderately accurate untill i got above hornadys max.
This loads pretty close to Sierras data, which as someone else showed me, maxes at just over 46grns.