New to 6.5 Creedmoor

[jmr40]

A 139-147 gr bullet and a near max charge of H4350 just plain works. I've gotten nearly the same results with 143 and 147 gr Hornady ELD bullets, 140 gr Barnes Matchburners and 139 gr Lapua Scenar's.

I like the Scenar's a little better. I only have a handful of the others already loaded. Once I shoot them up, I'm sticking with only the Scenar's for everything.

 

[243winxb]

brass

I have Starline, large rifle primer brass. IMR 4350, BR2 primers. Barnes Match burners in 120 & 140 grs. Some Nosler 120 gr. Hornady factory ammo had the worse brass i have seen in a long time.

Dies- Redding standard & fl S bushing die. Neck turned brass, no help in accuracy.
Its all in the barrel, some shoot, some dont.

Over all, the Savage Axis is a 1 moa on a good day.

A must read, before buying brass.

https://www.shootingtimes.com/editorial/starlines-6-5-creedmoor-brass/99417
According to Emary

A Large Rifle primer is definitely needed to assure reliable and consistent ignition. If the throat is eroded and a round hang-fires, the bullet will plug the bore, and the reigniting propellant will likely fully burn before the bullet can began moving again. Skyrocketing pressures may damage the rifle and possibly injure the shooter."

 

[luv2safari]

I meant to say small RIFLE primers. I typed a brainfardt...blushes...

 

[luv2safari]

How much brass are you looking for?

40-50 would get me started to see how well this rifle shoots, before I get a deeper investment into it. Based on much I read here from the informed and experienced members, I have some loads I'd like to try. I have a decent supply of LR primers and will probably discount using the Small Rifle Primer brass. It can be 90 degrees or sub-zero here in the high desert where I hunt and anything in between. A 10 degree morning can turn into a 60+ degree afternoon. I tend to favor magnum primers, accordingly. I wish I could still get the wonderful RWS LR primers of old. They were "magnum-light" and were the most flexible primers I ever used, although expensive.

Fortunately, I have all the suggested powders on hand and 600-700 various flavored bullets, mostly 130gr-140gr. I had a 6.5-300 Wby and have a 6.5X57R combo gun. I love the 6.5X57R round. It's accurate, deadly with the right bullet at moderate ranges, and it's mild to shoot, something that's becoming increasingly important.

I might be wrong, but it seems max or near-max loads shoot best in this round on average. ??

 

[Varminterror]

I might be wrong, but it seems max or near-max loads shoot best in this round on average. ??

Nah, 6.5 creed will shoot just fine with reduced loads. Almost all shooters using the 6.5 creed in the PRS in the last ~5yrs have been shooting loads safely below max/near-max to avoid any issues with heat or rain or fouling. I loaded my 6 creed 2.4grn below max for a season and shot some of my best scores ever with that load, and my "go-to" load is 3/4grn off of max - reminding, a 10% reduced load which most guys would consider a "starting load" is 4grain off max. But most folks wanting to shoot long range with 6.5 creed recognize the penalty of giving up speed, so there's not much point in shooting super-reduced loads 400fps off of max, and most guys are pushing up within that 1grn off max - that's not a function of the cartridge itself.

I know some guys shooting 120 class bullets for coyotes over Varget (or still with H4350) over slightly more than book starting loads, around 2800fps, just cruising out there like a day off, and doing very well with it.

 

[rdnktrkr]

I was playing with my Howa 1500 and it shot the lighter bullets better when loaded a little below max, .3 and .5, the 147s had 2 accuracy nodes, one between start and 1/2 and the other near max again. BUT those were shot at 100-300yrds, I never found something I was happy with at 600yrds

 

[luv2safari]

I was playing with my Howa 1500 and it shot the lighter bullets better when loaded a little below max, .3 and .5, the 147s had 2 accuracy nodes, one between start and 1/2 and the other near max again. BUT those were shot at 100-300yrds, I never found something I was happy with at 600yrds

With this light and short Kimber my shots will be limited to 350 yds, maybe a just a bit more, but I shoot set-n-forget lower power scopes and not as well as I did ten years ago.

I'll be shooting a bunch of these that I got a few years back at a bulk sale. They were for my 6X57R drilling and were very accurate for that gun with a 1-10 twist.

HORNADY 6.5MM (.264) 129gr SP BULLET SpirePt 100/BX - Graf & Sons

Hornady's traditional line of bullets feature exposed lead tips for controlled expansion and hard-hitting terminal performance. Most have their pioneering secant ogive design — one of the most ballistically efficient profiles ever developed. Most feature Hornady's exclusive InterLock® design — a...

www.grafs.com

 

[rdnktrkr]

The 129s was what liked a hot load (near max for me), we shot them at CMP Talladega and could easily hold the x ring at 1, 2, and 300yrds, the wind was not our friend that day and the Howa easily out shot everything else but at 600 the 30-06 was the better option for me, another Howa 1500, 03a3, and a Springfield Garand. The Howa could hold the X ring and the others could hold the 10 ring, my loads for the Creedmoor was struggling and had a few shots in the 9 ring. I am going to try everything again with Staball powder this year, I have 129, 140 and 147gr bullets to try, I can try them all out to 200yrds at a local range and either a trip out to the property or to CMP Talladega for longer shots.