Hammer Hunter 124 in 6.5 PRC

I'm looking for a recipe for the 124 GR Hammer Hunter in 6.5 PRC. I need a CA legal hunting round for this rifle. So far I've tried RL 26 powder and the bullets sprayed all over the page. Please help. Steve from Hammer says to try H4831SC and RL23 which I will do, but maybe one of you guys already has a good recipe.

I'm loading for a cheap Ruger Precision Rifle that has demonstrated it is VERY ACCURATE. So far with every single powder listed below and every single bullet listed below the gun shoots 1/2 MOA. I was shocked when the Hammer bullets were shooting 2" groups with RL 26 because that powder has been the magic sauce for me with everything else I tried. The gun is very happy and easy going with lead core bullets. Steve says RL 26 is too fast for the 124 GR HH in 6.5 PRC and obviously he is correct (as usual). I love Steve and I love Hammer!!!

120 Lapua Match Bullets = Better than 1/2 MOA
139 Lapua Bullets = 1/2 MOA
143 ELD-X Factory Ammo = 1/2 MOA
147 Hornady Match Factory Ammo = 3/4 MOA

All of the above lead core bullets shot fantastically with all the the listed powders below. However, only RL26 gave me the velocity that I want out of this rifle.

H1000
RETUMBO
RL23
RL26 (WORKED BEST WITH LEAD CORE)

I have a 6.5 CR that I load the 124 Hammer Hunters with (Varget Powder at 2964 FPS) that shoots dimes for me! I love those bullets because they are the perfect choice for CA black tail. I really want them to shoot out of my 6.5 PRC. Please help.

Thanks,

Chesspunker

chesspunker said:

I have a 6.5 CR that I load the 124 Hammer Hunters with (Varget Powder at 2964 FPS) that shoots dimes for me! I love those bullets because they are the perfect choice for CA black tail. I really want them to shoot out of my 6.5 PRC. Please help.

Thanks,

Chesspunker

Click to expand...

One of my CMs is shooting -.25" with RL16 and 124s at 2950.....might try RL16 or RL23. RL26 works well in my 6.5x284 Cooper Backcountry with 140 VLDs.....RL26 seems to like heavy for caliber bullets in my experience!

Thanks STX. I've already got my CR shooting excellent with Varget. The PRC is a totally different animal though so I'm looking for someone who already has a load for 6.5 PRC. I definitely plan on trying RL23 because Steve told me to do that.

Ok so I finally got out to do a bit of testing with the 124gr Hammer Hunter in the 6.5 PRC and below are my results.

Browning X-Bolt Pro LR 26" Barrel
Hornady brass - 2.93 COAL

H4831SC
55.5gr - 2933 fps
57.5gr - 3070 fps

H1000
57gr - 2940 fps
58gr - 3000 fps

I also just got a 24" Proof barrel for a 6.5 PRC Hunting build so once I get the action I'll be able to run the loads in both rifles to see how they perform.

I really appreciate the response CMP. Did you try and run the Hammers at 3250 FPS or faster? I notice your velocity is about the same as my Creedmoor. I'd prefer the PRC to have a higher muzzle velocity as long as it's still Sub MOA.

chesspunker said:

I really appreciate the response CMP. Did you try and run the Hammers at 3250 FPS or faster? I notice your velocity is about the same as my Creedmoor. I'd prefer the PRC to have a higher muzzle velocity as long as it's still Sub MOA.

Click to expand...

Chesspunker, according to QuickLoads, it's possible to attain that MV w/ RL16 but you're on the edge of pressuring out when hitting the faster node. I used 2.900 for OAL and at 1.33ms(26" barrel), the predicted MV of 3008FPS is w/ 49.1g of RL16 and is safe to start at. To get to over 3200, you'll need to work up to 53.9g which predicts 3242MV at 1.90ms node. Again, this is on the very edge of pressure!!
Since Hammer bullets are not in the bullet file, I took the Barnes 120TSX-BT and edited the weight and length to match the HH124. RL16 is available and temp stable. I use it in my 25-06 and my sons 270 and 6.5CM.
I would start at 48.0g since this is predicted data, to catch the lower node also.
Might run it by Steve too. I'm sure he's tested it.

Rhett

chesspunker said:

I really appreciate the response CMP. Did you try and run the Hammers at 3250 FPS or faster? I notice your velocity is about the same as my Creedmoor. I'd prefer the PRC to have a higher muzzle velocity as long as it's still Sub MOA.

Click to expand...

Same here, 3200+ fps is my goal but I'm working my way up to it since there isn't much load data.

Per QuickLoad my 57.5gr H4831SC load should be going 3200 fps and over pressure but I'm only getting 3070fps while not seeing any pressure signs yet with no heavy bolt lift and still rounded primers.

The 58gr H1000 tracks much closer to the QuickLoad numbers at 3024 fps vs the 3000 fps actual but based on the numbers I run out of powder space before I hit velocity.

I will admit with all the people claiming 3000+ with the 140+gr bullets I was really expecting the 124gr to easily hit 3200+ but if I can't get the velocity it might be better to switch to the 131gr and see how fast I can push that. With the Proof Barrel on my new build being 7.5 twist I can't go any heavier if I'm going to find a common load between the two rifles.

CMP70306 said:

Same here, 3200+ fps is my goal but I'm working my way up to it since there isn't much load data.

Per QuickLoad my 57.5gr H4831SC load should be going 3200 fps and over pressure but I'm only getting 3070fps while not seeing any pressure signs yet with no heavy bolt lift and still rounded primers.

The 58gr H1000 tracks much closer to the QuickLoad numbers at 3024 fps vs the 3000 fps actual but based on the numbers I run out of powder space before I hit velocity.

I will admit with all the people claiming 3000+ with the 140+gr bullets I was really expecting the 124gr to easily hit 3200+ but if I can't get the velocity it might be better to switch to the 131gr and see how fast I can push that. With the Proof Barrel on my new build being 7.5 twist I can't go any heavier if I'm going to find a common load between the two rifles.

Click to expand...

Since you have QuickLoads, try VV N560. It will get you over 3200. Powder Valley has 115 lbs in stock. Non compressed load.VV N500 series supposed to be temp stable but haven't tested.
Using same specs as above on OAL, 26" brl, etc., 61.0g is pretty hot so work up to it.

So I got around to doing some more testing with both good and bad results. The good result is that I hit 3200 fps with 58.7gr H4831SC, slight ejector mark on the case head is consistent with the marks on factory ammo and the primers aren't as flattened as on the factory ammo so pressure should still be safe.

The bad result is that the Browning shot so poorly that I can't determine the accuracy of the load so the rifle is on its way back to Browning to be evaluated. It would shoot 1/2 MOA one group then have 2 touching and one 1.5" to the side but in a different spot than the first group. So I finally got frustrated with it I grabbed some Precision hunter ammo and shot a 10 round group. I can accept the accuracy improving as the barrel gets broken in but no amount of break in was going to improve a 4" 10 shot group. So hopefully they fix it and it will come back shooting 1/2" groups with cheap ammo like my dad's 6.5 Creedmoor.

However the good news is that my action comes in tomorrow so I will be able to resume the testing on my rifle as well as test Superformance power in this cartridge as well to see what kind of numbers it gets.

So I got to finalize some testing yesterday in my 6.5 PRC with a 24" proof carbon fiber barrel on a Mausingfield action. I was testing both H4831SC and Superformance powder and got the following results

57.6gr Super - 3150 fps with 1/4 MOA accuracy

57.2, 57.5, 57.8gr H4831SC - 3050 fps average for all 3 charges but 35fps extreme spreads on each one. Accuracy around 1/2 MOA

58.1 H4831SC - 3080 fps with extreme spread down to 11 fps - 1/2 MOA

58.4 H4831 - 3130 fps and I started to get the rectangular imprint of the extractor cut on my brass.

Based on my testing Superformance is the way to go as I'm getting better velocity with less pressure. I also tested up to 58.5 last week and didn't hit pressure signs but only did one round to check for pressure. Next weekend I will continue my testing to see if I can break 3200 while still maintaining good accuracy.

CMP70306 said:

So I got to finalize some testing yesterday in my 6.5 PRC with a 24" proof carbon fiber barrel on a Mausingfield action. I was testing both H4831SC and Superformance powder and got the following results

57.6gr Super - 3150 fps with 1/4 MOA accuracy

57.2, 57.5, 57.8gr H4831SC - 3050 fps average for all 3 charges but 35fps extreme spreads on each one. Accuracy around 1/2 MOA

58.1 H4831SC - 3080 fps with extreme spread down to 11 fps - 1/2 MOA

58.4 H4831 - 3130 fps and I started to get the rectangular imprint of the extractor cut on my brass.

Based on my testing Superformance is the way to go as I'm getting better velocity with less pressure. I also tested up to 58.5 last week and didn't hit pressure signs but only did one round to check for pressure. Next weekend I will continue my testing to see if I can break 3200 while still maintaining good accuracy.

Click to expand...

Not to pee in your cheerios but why waste barrel life developing another 50fps? How many yards of lethality will that add? 3150 and 1/4 moa seems to be right in the PRC wheelhouse and will result in dead ungulates

Andrew Massi said:

Not to pee in your cheerios but why waste barrel life developing another 50fps? How many yards of lethality will that add? 3150 and 1/4 moa seems to be right in the PRC wheelhouse and will result in dead ungulates

Click to expand...

3200 was my original goal but since I'm not actually sure what the upper limit is with Superformance the main reason I'm continuing my testing is to find it. Besides I've got less than 50 rounds through the barrel so I still have plenty of barrel life to work with at this point.

We just did load dev for a customer's 6.5 PRC with the 124g Hammer Hunter. We used rl26 and finished the load at 3225 fps. Out shot under 1" at 200y. I don't have the journal at the shop, but will get the load data and post it here.

Our load is as follows.

124g Hammer Hunter
rl26 topped out at 60g
Bertram brass
wlrm primer
coal 2.900"
vel= 3235fps

This load is shooting 3/4" at 200y.

We did take it up to 61g and 3280 fps. Here it showed an ejector mark so we backed away.