6.5-284 load development (changing powder)

[j3564wost]

Like others have said I am a fan of the extreme powders as well, Retumbo and H1000. They are a bit slower for the over bore cartridges and are not temp sensitive. I have had great success out of my 6.5AI with retumbo. I think 4831 should shoot well too.

Attached are some pics out of bergers manual with a few more powders listed. Granted it's not the 143 but I would start at the low side and work up .3 gr until you find your node or see pressure.

Good luck!

 

[ElHefe101]

My 6.5x284 has the best accuracy with 52gr 4831 @ 2830, that being said 57.5 gr H1000 @ 3063 is still 1/2 min.

 

[confederate379]

I shoot the 140 grain berger elite hunter on top of 59 grains of retumbo and have had great success shooting whitetails from 300-650 yards. My rifle wouldn't group well until I got close to a compressed load with the retumbo.

 

[george vasiliou]

I use H4350 48.2 grains with a 1_8 twist 26 inch barrel and 140 grn Bergers and get 1/2 inch groups at 200 yards.
Ishot my antelope last year in Wyoming at 535 yards with confidence.
Keep them 10-20 thousands off the lands unless they like to be at the lands.

PS,
It looks like you're neck turning the cases on one of the pics. Try turning all the way down to the shoulder. That could be the other oriblpr your having with case uniformity.

 

[HunterLongRange]

What shoots great in ones rifle does not mean it will shoot great in your set up. I would suggest picking a powder that's proven for the 6.5 x 284...then doing a load development at every 3 grains, i.e. 48.3, 48.6, 48,9, etc. get a chrono on your load as well. Make (5) cartridge of each. It's my belief this will give you a great deal of info. Once that is accomplished, you can look into seating depths. (My thoughts)

Try Retumbo, seated .020"-.040" off the lands. Below:

Savage LRH, 24", 1:8 twist. 200 Yards
View attachment 103839[/

 

[Wedgy]

Some have also found that when changing to different bullet/powders that cleaning the barrel is necessary before starting with the new combination. I have not had too much trouble but the 1st few shots are erratic, similar to an unfowled barrel. Why take a chance ?
I have had great luck with Retumbo & H1000 in mine.

 

[30BR]

I don't see any disintegration of the case, so if you had shrapnel, the bullet either came apart in the bore, or there was something else in the bore. Be very careful!
As far as loads go, I shoot 600 yd BR with mine, so its a lot tighter on all the fitments, and I turn necks. Try taking giant swings at seating depth; like .020 at a time, starting at .005" into the lands. My best match group ever was just shot with 142 Sierras at 0.070" jump, over 48.48 gr H4350 (yes, a tad hot!). 5 rounds in 0.965".

 

[dchamp]

I've had really good luck with H1000 & RL25 with the 140gr range of bullets, haven't tried RL26 yet but am planning on it when I run out of the other two powders. In my rifle I'm shooting 136gr Lapua Scenar L's, 140gr Berger Vld's and 140gr Amax's (discontinued). My loads very from 56.3 - 57.0gr depending on the bullet/powder combination. The COAL for all three bullets hover around 2.085". I'm shooting a Blaser R8 with a barrel length of 24.75". Speed varies from 2875- 2930+/-.

 

[dennisinaz]

I have blown through two barrels in the last 3 years in my current 6.5-284. The first one a Chanlynn and the second a Shilen. I blame R17.

My go-to load was 50 grains of R17 and a 130 Norma Diamond. That was typically about .3 MOA @800 yards.

I have recently switched to 140s and find that Ramshot Magnum works well. As far as temp sensitivity, I really don't shoot outside of a 20F-100F degree window and it hasn't been a problem with those temperatures.

I loaded up some 143 ELD-X for my elk hunt in December and that is a very good hunting bullet. I plan to exploit it some more.

I am going to try Retumbo and H1000 and should look for some R26.

When I was younger I shot 1000 yd BR with a 6.5-284. I found the best powder for me was V V N-160. I shot 142 SMKs at that time. There were quite a few using the 6.5-284 back then and we discovered that 2900-2950 was the sweet spot. Pushing it faster was never better.

I see many of you with velocities over 3000 fps. Have you checked your ES? Maybe the newer bullets are less problematic with the 3000-3050 fps node that we had trouble with.

I am not sure what your reason for choosing a 7 twist barrel is? In years of BR we learned that your best accuracy comes from using the least twist that will properly stabilize a given bullet.
My preference is to 8.5 twist but most button rifle barrel makers don't make that twist.
If I had a 7 twist I would can the ELD-X and go straight to the 150 Sierra match kings- at least for LR use.

 

[Backcountry_IDN]

I chose the 1:7 twist because I wanted to use no less than the 143s but also I'm very fascinated with the 156 EOL (if it ever gets released) I also will be ordering 160 matrix bullets. I wish I could've done 1:7.5 but wasn't an option

 

[Backcountry_IDN]

I have blown through two barrels in the last 3 years in my current 6.5-284. The first one a Chanlynn and the second a Shilen. I blame R17.

My go-to load was 50 grains of R17 and a 130 Norma Diamond. That was typically about .3 MOA @800 yards.

I have recently switched to 140s and find that Ramshot Magnum works well. As far as temp sensitivity, I really don't shoot outside of a 20F-100F degree window and it hasn't been a problem with those temperatures.

I loaded up some 143 ELD-X for my elk hunt in December and that is a very good hunting bullet. I plan to exploit it some more.

I am going to try Retumbo and H1000 and should look for some R26.

When I was younger I shot 1000 yd BR with a 6.5-284. I found the best powder for me was V V N-160. I shot 142 SMKs at that time. There were quite a few using the 6.5-284 back then and we discovered that 2900-2950 was the sweet spot. Pushing it faster was never better.

I see many of you with velocities over 3000 fps. Have you checked your ES? Maybe the newer bullets are less problematic with the 3000-3050 fps node that we had trouble with.

I am not sure what your reason for choosing a 7 twist barrel is? In years of BR we learned that your best accuracy comes from using the least twist that will properly stabilize a given bullet.
My preference is to 8.5 twist but most button rifle barrel makers don't make that twist.
If I had a 7 twist I would can the ELD-X and go straight to the 150 Sierra match kings- at least for LR use.

 

[BWD99]

What was the range of those shots?

Which model of the vx-5hd. Does it have parallax knob? Do you know how to adjust for it?

Do you have a level on the scope while shooting?

 

[longrangebob]

I have had good results in 26" barrel w/RL 22 (50.5) 140 gr. Sierras & 140 gr. Wildcats -- out to 500+

 

[Backcountry_IDN]

What was the range of those shots?

Which model of the vx-5hd. Does it have parallax knob? Do you know how to adjust for it?
Do you have a level on the scope while shooting?

It does have the parallax knob. Impact 29 reticle and yea I do. And no level.

I wish I could say it were further than 100 yards but it's 100 yards lol