6.5x47 Lapua; 130 Berger VLD; IMR 8208 XBR results

[Alan Griffith]

Friday, I received my 8lb jug of IMR 8208 XBR. Yahoo! Tried to get out yesterday but family emergency precluded that; too bad as the wind was only about 3-4 mps. Today, I did even though the wind was much worse. Decided to shoot a pressure/ladder.

Surgeon 591 (smithed by Chris Matthews of Longshot rifles)
26" Krieger 1:8.5 MTU contour (600 round count). No one's yet explained to me what MTU stands for.
AICS 1.5 stock
NF 5.5-22x50mm w/ NP-R1
6.5x47 Lapua, original throat .104" now .146". No turn .294" neck.
130 Berger VLD Hunting, .010" into lands
CCI 450 primer
Redding Type-S FL w/ .289" bushing
Redding comp seater, seated to OAL 2.760"
Just completed my load development for 40.24 gr H4350, .010" into lands, CCI450, 2800 fps, ES 24, SD 9, .25 to .6 MOA.

Harris 6-9" swivel bipod
CED M2 chrono with center of screens @ 13.5' from muzzle, sun light from my 9pm. Shot between 11 am and 1 pm today.
65'F @ start, 77'F at finish
47.47 Baro
Wind, 3 to 15 mph, average 9mph from 11 am to 1 pm direction.
Sunny

I started off by shooting 5 sighters into a group @ 385 yds. 33.5 gr = 2597 fps AV - 11 ES - 3 SD. Four shots into 1.5" with 5th out to 3". That's .389 MOA or .78 MOA. Looks promising as far as accuracy and good ES/SD. At least for me. Oh, and I shoot off a portable fold-up picnic table so with the wind, the rifle was not still. One of my favorite spots is a sort of bowl where I can shoot in a near 180 deg direction so I can keep the wind pretty much between 11 and 1; in my face.

31 gr to 36 gr in .5 gr increments. Three shots each shot at 385 yds. Used my VIC 123 elec scale to keep powder charges to with in +/- .02 gr.

31 gr/ 2436 - 2435 - 2454 / ES = 19
31.5/ 2474 - 2462 - 2445 / ES = 29
32 gr/2496 - 2504 - 2498 / ES = 8
32.5 /2522 - 2528 - 2523 / ES = 6
33 gr/2534 - 2548 - 2536 / ES = 12
33.5 /2599 - 2612 - 2616 / ES = 17
34 gr/2632 - 2634 - 2626 / ES = 8
34.5 /2643 - 2648ej-2641shiny/ES = 7
35 gr/2649ej-2657shiny-2650ej/ES = 8
35.5/2728ej-3734ej -2728 / ES = 6
36 gr/2768ej & stiff - 2762ej - 2780/ES = 18

ej = ejector mark on brass
shinny = shinny smear on brass
stiff = stiff bolt lift

ES 335 fps

Really haven't had a chance to eval the target which was a 3" circle. I color coded each 3-shot group of bullets with perm marker; green, red, black, blue, then repeating the same four colors again. Works great because my Zeiss spotter @ 45x had too much vibration from the wind to tell all the impacts. Thanks Jason Baney!

I'll try and post pics later.

For now, I'm impressed with the accuracy potential, ES and SD but not the velocity. I saw a post here on Snipershide where someone witnessed a chrono printout of something around 3000 fps. Must have been a looooong barrel and loooots of pressure.

Alan

 

[Savagebien]

Hey, I have an MTU barrel and it stands for Marksmanship Training Unit. Go figure.... I think you should be able to get up around 28-2900 easy with re 15 or varget, something a bit slower u know. I keep hearing more about that cartridge it sounds great!

 

[Alan Griffith]

Was able to run back out this morning and check out something that looked promising for accuracy and ES/SD.

Both the 32.5 gr groups (the first was the sighter load and then the next was within the ladder) ran .4 MOA'ish with low ES/SD. So, I loaded up 10 rounds each of 32.4/32.6 and 32.8 gr. I can't verify these exact weights because I "threw" my charges with my Harrell's Premium powder meter to see what sort of accuracy/numbers would present themselves. I was quite pleased.

Groups ran .36 to .69 MOA @ 360 yds SD's ran 5, 9 , 9 respectively. Something else. Velocity was a solid 70 fps slower when I dipped the bearing surface in some Sinclair's powdered graphite; 2530 vs 2600 ish.

So, again, not great velocity but very good accuracy, ES and SD's. Good enough to practice with.

Alan

 

[RMulhern]

Try 38.7 grs. Varget with BR4 primers and see what you get fps! I get easy bolt lift with no case head marks or other signs of pressure!


http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b67/Sharps110/Shooting/150-12XTgt.jpg

I missed the wind a tat on my first 3 sighters but they're still all within the ten ring plate! 15 shots here....12 of which would have made the X ring from 1000 yards.

 

[Alan Griffith]

Sharpsman,

I may need to apologize. I may have made this post sound like I'm looking for a great load for this rifle. I actually have one; 40.2 gr H4350 and the same 130 VLD/CCI450 combo for 2800 fps. Not super fast but quite accurate and consistent. I just wanted to report on my results with IMR 8208.

Alan