6.5 Creemoor 147gr ELD-M help

[Chesterrose79]

So I've worked up a load that shoots really well with 39gr ofH4350. The only thing is it's pretty slow. 1624fps. My question is do I drop bullet weight down to gain more velocity amd start load work up over again or stay with what I've got. Does more velocity out weigh a lower BC. I've shot it out to 840 yards and pretty happy with it but I'm wondering beyond that point.

I worked up to 42grains of H4350 and was getting pressure signs at 41.5gr so more powder isn't the answer. Up to 41.5gr the 39gr was the most accurate out of all of them.

 

[Dmagna]

Is 1624 a typo?

 

[Dmagna]

I think you need to find a good SD and ES on your OCW and then work on your seating depth, if that's how you like to work things. I do that as well. I shoot 147s at 2650 and am very happy with them.

 

[Chesterrose79]

Is 1624 a typo? Sorry I meant to type 2624 fps

 

[19 Badger]

You could gain another 200 fps if you have some RL 26 powder. I tried it with the 140 & 147 eldms with great accuracy and velocity results. I ran out of case capacity before I hit pressure using Lapua brass.

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

What brass are you using?

 

[Chesterrose79]

What brass are you using?

Lapua

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

I dont have experience with lapua, but I know in Peterson brass I lost just about 100 fps from hornady brass because the heavier brass loses capacity.

 

[Chesterrose79]

I dont have experience with lapua, but I know in Peterson brass I lost just about 100 fps from hornady brass because the heavier brass loses capacity.

And I notice it pressures up quick as well

 

[Tex_Hunter]

Sorry I meant to type 2624 fps

You left off details about your rifle such as barrel length, but assuming the standard 22-24" barrel that's actually about where I would expect that bullet to be over H4350. Factory Hornady Precision Hunter shoots around 2640fps in my 24" Rock Creek barrel with a 143gr bullet, and I get a little over 2700fps with Factory 140gr ELD-M loadings in the same gun. I havent run the 147gr yet.

If you are unhappy with that speed though, I would suggest you give Alliant Reloder 16 a try(the missing "a" in reloder is not a typo, that's their spelling). It's my default 6.5 Creedmoor powder, have yet to find anything better on speed and consistency/temp stability. My data is all for the 143gr ELD-X but I believe Rifleshooter.com did a workup with this powder under the 147gr ELD-M.

I am getting and avg. 2842fps with an SD of 5 and ES of 17 under a 143gr ELD-X almost a full grain below the posted data from Alliant; Lapua small rifle primer brass and CCI 450 SR Magnum primers (rifle is a Stiller Tac30 with a 24" Rock Creek 5R 1:8 twist). The same load in my old Bergara HMR with a 22" tube was running 2791fps, both rifles had single digit SDs at this node.

I know this will sound like Blasphemy but I completely skipped H4350 when I started loading for all of my 6.5 Creedmoors. Reloder 16 is very temp stable (friend did a test using RE16 vs Varget and H4350 in a 6.5 Creedmoor from freezing all the way up to 140 degrees and RE16 was the most stable of the 3 across the whole test) and for me has yielded around 100-150fps faster in my rifle than comparable data for H4350 would suggest.

The only note on RE16 is that its pretty compressed at max loads, I know that can be an issue with dies like the Redding BR seater. I run a Forster Micrometer die with zero issues on compressed loads.

 

[Tex_Hunter]

I think you need to find a good SD and ES on your OCW and then work on your seating depth, if that's how you like to work things. I do that as well. I shoot 147s at 2650 and am very happy with them.

Also... this advice is spot on, you shouldnt be looking at just group size when working up charge weights (especially for long range shooting). You want consistency. I would much rather a .75MOA load that shoots single digit SDs than one that bugholes and has a big velocity spread.

Look at your chrono data and find the group of charge weights with the smallest incremental change in velocity from one weight to the next. This will frequently align with the smallest group, but not always.

Once you have the most consistent charge weight dialed, load a follow up test for seating depth in 0.005" increments from the lands back to maybe 0.050" jump to find the best group at your chose charge weight.

Also with a Creedmoor, you are going to be losing a couple thousandths of throat every 100-150 rds, so if your groups start to open up you'll want to check distance to lands periodically to maintain you optimum jump.

 

[Chesterrose79]

Also... this advice is spot on, you shouldnt be looking at just group size when working up charge weights (especially for long range shooting). You want consistency. I would much rather a .75MOA load that shoots single digit SDs than one that bugholes and has a big velocity spread.

Look at your chrono data and find the group of charge weights with the smallest incremental change in velocity from one weight to the next. This will frequently align with the smallest group, but not always.

Once you have the most consistent charge weight dialed, load a follow up test for seating depth in 0.005" increments from the lands back to maybe 0.050" jump to find the best group at your chose charge weight.

Also with a Creedmoor, you are going to be losing a couple thousandths of throat every 100-150 rds, so if your groups start to open up you'll want to check distance to lands periodically to maintain you optimum jump.

 

[Chesterrose79]

Great advice thank you!

 

[TRG65]

I use the 147 eld in all my 6.5s. I have 2 different rifles that shoot very well at a speed node of 2670. On is a 22" 6.5 Creedmoor gas gun and one is a 24" 6.5x47 bolt gun (I expect this to speed up because it was on a brand new barrel and it is the same load as the next [2735], in the same length, same make barrel, and same gunsmith). I have another bolt 6.5x47 24" that likes 2735. The other place I have found a speed node is 2790-2800. That was where 3 different bolt rifles all 24" were 3 were 6.5x47s and 1 was a 6.5 Creedmoor. The slower bolt gun loads were using varget and the fast bolt loads were with RL16. The gas gun load is RL 16. With bigger a bigger cartridge, I think there is a node around 2880 and then at 2940. All these are give or take, but when I have gone back and forth between powders the speed nodes seemed relatively steady give or take 20fps.