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Hand loading for the 6.5×55
Posted by Ericbc7 on July 18, 2015 at 5:35 amOk as you guys know I just aquired a Tikka Sporter in 6.5×55.
I am waiting on my mountain tactical pic rail, shroud and recoil lug. Soon as I get the rail I can put my Vortex Viper pst 6×24 on it since I have DNZ one piece mount on it. I set my turrets at zero and use em as micrometers so I can swap em between guns. I just write down the measurement on the stock and proceed.
I bought 500 Berger 140 gr hybrid target bullets and ordered 200 Lapua cases.
Cases are backordered till August so it will be a while till I get load data back to you.
Do you all have any load data that I can start with?
I have H4350, and plan to get some reloader 22.
But I am open to all brands. I have a fair variety of powders on hand.crossfire replied 8 years, 8 months ago 3 Members · 5 Replies -
5 Replies
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105 Bullseyes
Hey Eric,
The 6.5 Guys recently posted a good video on reloading for 2 bullets and 2 powders. I'm pretty sure you follow these guys but not sure of you have seen the most recent video…it should help you out for sure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTFogo7n-5E&feature=em-subs_digestGood Luck!
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17 Bullseyes
Hi Eric, I'm a longtime lurker here and don't post much, but since you were able to get your hands on a Sporter, I couldn't resist. You are going to like that gun and I'm going to be jealous. I was wanting one, but settled on a 6.5×55 Hunter version that I could use for the Silhouette game. It is easily the most accurate factory rifle I have ever owned. I too use Lapua brass, but got a deal on some Lapua Scenars in 123 and 139's, and load with H4831sc. Load development was nothing short of fun and mostly less than MOA. For Silhouette shooting, you don't need a bench rest gun, but I was getting groups that surprised me early on. I'm loading on the light side, since you don't need heavy velocity to knock over steel animals, and that helps with recoil as well, and should show less wear on the barrel. The throat on mine was pretty long, so beware as you reach out for the lands. However, the farther I stretched out the 139's the more accurate it got. When I get back home I'll get you some data and try to download some pics. As for your other thread about break-in, it won't take long for the barrel to smooth out a bit. At first I was using Butch's (used it for years) but switched to Bore Tech Eliminator and couldn't believe the difference. Good luck with your new piece and most of all have fun. T.
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21 Bullseyes
Hey crossfire thanks so much for your input! I've been on road for a couple weeks and just saw your post. And thanks Dog for the heads up on 6.5 guys (which I do indeed follow lol). Now an update:
I am still waiting on my cheap Lapua brass from bullets.com but broke down and just recieved 100 pieces from Sinclair which I ordered because I needed some tempilaq (which is cheaper on sinclair/brownells than Amazon) to set my new annealing machine (ordered from “anneal Eeze ” which has not arrived yet lol. The upshot is, I now have 6.5×55 Lapua brass, 500 140 gr Berger VLD Hybrid bullets, Wolf large rifle primers and a variety of powders including R-22, H4350 and several others.
I have now a Lee collet die, Redding body die and L.E. Wilson chamber seating die all in 6.5×55 and am “reving up my reloading shoes” to start finding loads!
I do have to wait on my mountain tactical rail so I can put my Vortex scope on it but I suppose anticipation adds to the sweetness of this whole situation lol.
I am proceeding with my prelim loading but I hate to damage one of my new Lapua pieces of brass for setting the loading depth. I will do it (by cutting slots in the neck of a piece of brass to seat a bullet to the lands) and just mourn the loss of one piece of premium brass. Loaded ammo was $27/20 Win 140 gr.
I was just in Scheels in Fargo, ND today to get a pound of R-22 and found a Dillon Media separator labeled $59.99 but with the sign saying $49.99. I asked an employee about it and he said they would honor the lower price so got it for $10 off! Not a great deal but I enjoy any deal. It will be great for separating ss pins from brass.
I also got a box of 50 XLR Barnes 6.5 127 gr bullets for deer hunting and testing – which seem promising in the Tikka's 1:8 twist.Oh I also got an Omega electronic trickler and check weights to calibrate my Gempro 250 scale with the hope my extereem spread on velocities will go down.
Whew, lots of stuff, lots of detail, it's gonna be a fun next couple weeks!
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17 Bullseyes
Wow, sounds like Christmas in July! So if you ever want to try some H4831sc, here are some moderate loads that work for me. With the 123gr Lapua Scenars, I shot three shot groups at 100 yards, starting at 42.0gr and going to 44.1, and watched the groups shrink as I went along. Velocity rose to 2444 and I don't need that much to knock over chickens, pigs and turkey's, and that ended at a .300″ group. With the 139gr Scenars, I tested 44.1gr to 43.1 and found that 42.9 (2374 fps) worked for me. Really worked for me, with one group measuring .100″. When that was tested at 500 meters, I got a 1.73″ 3 shot group. Plenty good enough to topple the steel rams. I'm feeling pretty good about hitting these nodes at lower velocities, and I'm confident there is another node waiting up there at hunting velocities if I choose to go there. Also, I see that you went with the Lee Collet die and Redding Body Die. Good choice. Same here. And I use the Forster Micrometer Seating Die. Concetricity runout is usually 1 thousandth or less. Good luck with your load developement, I'm looking forward to seeing some results. In the maentime, I know that feeling of waiting for components. I hope these pictures of the test targets come through. As I have said before, I am not an avid poster. Have fun. T.
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