6.5 156 EOL

[BThhr]

What is your oal for the 156? Mine is at 3.075 with a small jump to lands. Not sure I could run that hot in mine. Though I may go up a bit based on that. Nice shooting.

jumping .02 not home, but I'll measure when I get home, I use a hornady comparator, 2.47 to lands so I load to 2.45 with the 156 berger

 

[BThhr]

What is your oal for the 156? Mine is at 3.075 with a small jump to lands. Not sure I could run that hot in mine. Though I may go up a bit based on that. Nice shooting.

My oal is 3.154, no sign of pressure, I went up to 58.4 but groups opened up

 

[KurtB]

I think 56 grains of H1000 is about my max in mine. Shoots about like yours though. Have to get it out to some longer distances next.

 

[Sniper97]

Thanks for the info! Your results are just about identical to those achieved in my 26" barrel using R26 with the 156EOL. It's nice to see comparable results from other shooters! While I'm running at 3000FPS, your charge weight is within 10FPS of the results in my ladders. Interestingly, groups and ES were excellent(sub.5MOA/<20ES) with loads from 2950 through 3050FPS(hot!). Lots of latitude!
Optimum seating depth seems to be running in the .020"-.040" OL...barrel dependent. Early reports on terminal performance appear promising, and seem to indicate the 156 has expansion/terminal characteristics comparable to the well proven 140HVLD and JLK's. Given the performance, and ease of load development, this combo looks to be an excellent load for the 6.5x284, upping its capability significantly!

I sadly have come to the conclusion that I need to back my load down. I was achieving 3000-3025 with the 156 and RL26. Shot like a dream today, but blew 5 primers and had some nasty ejector swipes. I am all for running stuff hot, but it has become unsafe in my rifle. Will begin testing with a lesser charge and possibly a different powder soon.

 

[Wedgy]

I sadly have come to the conclusion that I need to back my load down. I was achieving 3000-3025 with the 156 and RL26. Shot like a dream today, but blew 5 primers and had some nasty ejector swipes. I am all for running stuff hot, but it has become unsafe in my rifle. Will begin testing with a lesser charge and possibly a different powder soon.

Was the temp higher than previous testing and was the brass formed or virgin for the first firing with this load ?
I have run into pressure spikes with RL26 when the temp gets around ~84F, but the velocity from that powder is magic ! Very stable at lower temps.

 

[codyadams]

Was the temp higher than previous testing and was the brass formed or virgin for the first firing with this load ?
I have run into pressure spikes with RL26 when the temp gets around ~84F, but the velocity from that powder is magic ! Very stable at lower temps.

He was running too hot to begin with. Back in August when he worked up loads (refer to posts 142, page 11, and 160, page 12) He was blowing primers he stated. After running them in a couple 6.5x284's, I think with RL26 you can get 2950 most times without issue. 3000+ is not going to run safely in every gun unfortunately, however 2950 with this pill is nothing to sneeze at out of these relatively small cartridges.

 

[Sniper97]

Using the Berger 156 EOL with R26 in my 26" barreled 6.5x284's I have been able to generate velocity in the 3000-3025FPS range with excellent accuracy and ES at safe pressures. IMO, the engineers did a great job with the bullet design given I didn't expect to get much over 2950FPS. I suppose the relatively short bearing surface has much to do with the results. From a ballistic standpoint, drops and wind drift is not materially different from a 140hr Berger HVLD driven at 3050FPS using R26 and delivering comparable accuracy and ES to the 156EOL. The major benefit of the 156 is terminal energy and penetration(sectional density). Given this bullet has expansion characteristics comparable to the 140HVLD, the 156 buys you and additional 15-20% greater energy at any given range and, in my case, get me an increase of 1000FPE normally capped out at 1000 yards, extended an additional 200 yards. I personally didn't pursue the Hornady 147 ELDM because the improvement didn't seem significant enough, best case, falling between the 140 and 156. IMO.

Any pressure issues?

 

[Sniper97]

Was the temp higher than previous testing and was the brass formed or virgin for the first firing with this load ?
I have run into pressure spikes with RL26 when the temp gets around ~84F, but the velocity from that powder is magic ! Very stable at lower temps.

Shot in about 20 degrees on previously fired brass.

 

[Sniper97]

He was running too hot to begin with. Back in August when he worked up loads (refer to posts 142, page 11, and 160, page 12) He was blowing primers he stated. After running them in a couple 6.5x284's, I think with RL26 you can get 2950 most times without issue. 3000+ is not going to run safely in every gun unfortunately, however 2950 with this pill is nothing to sneeze at out of these relatively small cartridges.

You are correct sir. Still amazed at how well it shot though!

 

[codyadams]

You are correct sir. Still amazed at how well it shot though!

I would be as well, normally when pressures are reaching high enough to blow primers, pressures are erratic and not very conducive to accuracy. Out of curiosity, by blowing primers, do you mean blowing gas around the outside of the primer, like it's leaking gas, or is the primer totally falling out of the case, both of which generally render the case unusable, or is it blowing a hole (piercing) the primer?

 

[Greyfox]

Any pressure issues?

I started to see pressure signs at 55.5gr. Used 54.2gr for my load.

 

[Sniper97]

I would be as well, normally when pressures are reaching high enough to blow primers, pressures are erratic and not very conducive to accuracy. Out of curiosity, by blowing primers, do you mean blowing gas around the outside of the primer, like it's leaking gas, or is the primer totally falling out of the case, both of which generally render the case unusable, or is it blowing a hole (piercing) the primer?

It began with gas flow around the primers, but later turned into primers falling out of the case.

 

[Greyfox]

In both of my 6.5x284's, both running 54.2 and 54.5gr of R26, very faint ejector marks showed up at 55-55.5gr. No pressure signs at 54.5gr with either and very low ES, and good accuracy(<.5MOA). Velocity with one rifle is 3000FPS, the other 2950.....IMO barrel/chamber differences.

 

[lancetkenyon]

6.5 SAUM
Hornady gen 3 brass
Fed GM215M
58.5gr H1000
156 Elite
2974fps from 26" 1:8" Proof
3 shots @ 100 yards
Shooting at the small target