Hello from Spain! Questions about a Bergara B-14 HMR 6.5 creedmoor

[Echo Charlie]

Hi Padmi! Im from Portugal...
I have the same rifle. Very good one.
I'm also a reloader and can help you with same starting charges for the European powders we might have access.
Im using Hornady bullets 140 and 147 grain ELD-M and 143 grain ELD-X.
Dont know your intended use but let me know

 

[Victor Culpepper]

Hi guys,

My name is Pablo. I'm mechanical engineer in Spain, but to be honest, I love America! I was in your country fourth times, and I might return on September. My dream is to live in your country and work there. I have only one hobby: shooting&fireamrs, and in Spain is very difficult to practice it.

My best friend allays sayes: "about firearms, we have to follow the advice of the Americans... so my friends, here I'm.

Recently I bought a Bergara B14 HMR and 6.5 chambered (twist 1 8¨). (Excuse me if my english is not enought good) and I need a lot of advices, To start I have the following questions. Maybe you can teach me:

1. Which bulleds do you recomend? I think in 140 grains, and about the brand I think Sierra.
2.How much grains of powder per cartrige I will need? Nobody have this rifle here in Spain so to start is very difficult.
3. More advices?

What do you think about the rifle? It will be my first one.

Thanks so much in advance guys, see you on September!

Hi guys,

My name is Pablo. I'm mechanical engineer in Spain, but to be honest, I love America! I was in your country fourth times, and I might return on September. My dream is to live in your country and work there. I have only one hobby: shooting&fireamrs, and in Spain is very difficult to practice it.

My best friend allays sayes: "about firearms, we have to follow the advice of the Americans... so my friends, here I'm.

Recently I bought a Bergara B14 HMR and 6.5 chambered (twist 1 8¨). (Excuse me if my english is not enought good) and I need a lot of advices, To start I have the following questions. Maybe you can teach me:

1. Which bulleds do you recomend? I think in 140 grains, and about the brand I think Sierra.
2.How much grains of powder per cartrige I will need? Nobody have this rifle here in Spain so to start is very difficult.
3. More advices?

What do you think about the rifle? It will be my first one.

Thanks so much in advance guys, see you on September!

 

[Victor Culpepper]

Hi guys,

My name is Pablo. I'm mechanical engineer in Spain, but to be honest, I love America! I was in your country fourth times, and I might return on September. My dream is to live in your country and work there. I have only one hobby: shooting&fireamrs, and in Spain is very difficult to practice it.

My best friend allays sayes: "about firearms, we have to follow the advice of the Americans... so my friends, here I'm.

Recently I bought a Bergara B14 HMR and 6.5 chambered (twist 1 8¨). (Excuse me if my english is not enought good) and I need a lot of advices, To start I have the following questions. Maybe you can teach me:

1. Which bulleds do you recomend? I think in 140 grains, and about the brand I think Sierra.
2.How much grains of powder per cartrige I will need? Nobody have this rifle here in Spain so to start is very difficult.
3. More advices?

What do you think about the rifle? It will be my first one.

Thanks so much in advance guys, see you on September!

Hi guys,

My name is Pablo. I'm mechanical engineer in Spain, but to be honest, I love America! I was in your country fourth times, and I might return on September. My dream is to live in your country and work there. I have only one hobby: shooting&fireamrs, and in Spain is very difficult to practice it.

My best friend allays sayes: "about firearms, we have to follow the advice of the Americans... so my friends, here I'm.

Recently I bought a Bergara B14 HMR and 6.5 chambered (twist 1 8¨). (Excuse me if my english is not enought good) and I need a lot of advices, To start I have the following questions. Maybe you can teach me:

1. Which bulleds do you recomend? I think in 140 grains, and about the brand I think Sierra.
2.How much grains of powder per cartrige I will need? Nobody have this rifle here in Spain so to start is very difficult.
3. More advices?

What do you think about the rifle? It will be my first one.

Thanks so much in advance guys, see you on September!

I believe I can assist you with your questions. Send me an email at [email protected] and I'll provide you with additional contact info to verbally discuss as I have too many questions to simply reply via post here.

 

[Padmi]

Go on line to the powder manufacturers web sites and review their data. Look in your area for available powders and bullet manufacturers. Compare the data from numerous sources. Asking abstract questions on line can lead to dangerous advice. I am sure the guys on this forum intend no harm and want to help. If there are no manuals in your location, I am sure there are reloading data manuals available for you to purchase on line.

Yes, you are right. I prepare my own bullets in 9mm and 45colt so I have a little experience, and I go to championships with my own ammunition. But in rifle seems more difficult.

I will start with hornady SST 140 grain bullets, and RS 52 powder, that is a good option here in my country. I think that is better tu use SST model instead EDL because I will use the rifle to shooting and not to hunting. But maybe I'm wrong.

Anyway, thanks a lot again for your answers

 

[Padmi]

does it look like it posted well
Factory ammo that has worked extremely well was the Hornady ELD m 140 and 147 and 143 ELD X. .965 cm group at 91.4meters (100 yards)

Yes but I will use the rifle only for shooting, not hunting, do you think that ELD is better than SST? I don't know but SST has a higher ballistic coefficient

 

[Padmi]

Excellent rifle choice....sign up with ....www.loaddata.com it's an excellent choice which provides loads for all makes of bullets and powders....approx....380,000+.

wow!!! great advice! I wil do that

 

[Padmi]

I believe I can assist you with your questions. Send me an email at [email protected] and I'll provide you with additional contact info to verbally discuss as I have too many questions to simply reply via post here.

Thanks a lot Victor, I will do that. As I toll you, I make my loads in 9mm and 45 and since I go to a lot of championships I have experience, but to rifle is more difficult and I'm amateur

 

[Padmi]

Hi Padmi! Im from Portugal...
I have the same rifle. Very good one.
I'm also a reloader and can help you with same starting charges for the European powders we might have access.
Im using Hornady bullets 140 and 147 grain ELD-M and 143 grain ELD-X.
Dont know your intended use but let me know

Temos que nos conhecer, pois somos vizinhos, eu sou o Gallego, moro a duas horas de Portugal. Moro o lado de Parga, o campo de tiro de 1000 yardas.

But after joking in Portuguesse, we both live very close so maybe in holidays we can meet if you want.

Thanks so much, I didn't try with this calipper, this is my first rifle. I have experience with guns and revolvers, but not with rifle.

And what do you think about ST140 grains (Hornady) it has a higher ballistic coeficient

 

[Danehunter]

Congratulations Padmi, 6.5 Creedmoor is a good all around cartridge for a lot of big game. I have a Browning X-Bolt Pro in 6.5 CM and a Ruger Precision Rifle also in 6.5 CM.

Because the bullets, especially in the 140 grain weights, are so aerodynamic you have less wind drift than the average weight 30 caliber bullets.

**Be careful of going above 145 grains in bullet weight because your rifle's 1:8 twist will not properly stabilize higher weight 6.5 mm bullets. Browning offers a "Long Range" version of my rifle with a 26 inch barrel and a 1:7 twist for those heavier bullets.

Eric B.

 

[basinman]

I havent started load development for mine yet, it's the B14 hunter not hmr, but I can tell you this the hornady black factory ammo was a complete waste of money. It was all that was available and I just wanted to get a box through for break in. But really disappointed in how bad that stuff was. But I do have a box of 140gr Berger VLD Hunters sitting on the loading bench and a pound of H4350 based on recommendations I received from guys on here. One of these days I'll actually get around to it I hope.

I didn't like the Hornady Black ammo either. The Hornady 143 grain ELD-X ammo shot much better. I tuned my reloads to match this factory load as it was sub MOA.

 

[basinman]

Yes but I will use the rifle only for shooting, not hunting, do you think that ELD is better than SST? I don't know but SST has a higher ballistic coefficient

The ELD-M is a match bullet. The ELD-X is the hunting bullet.

 

[Echo Charlie]

Temos que nos conhecer, pois somos vizinhos, eu sou o Gallego, moro a duas horas de Portugal. Moro o lado de Parga, o campo de tiro de 1000 yardas.

I can easily shot sub moa groups from bipod at 500 meter with the 147 ELD Match @ 2730fps. 40.5 grain of Vhitavuori N550.
Bergara B14 HMR 24" barrel, NF NXS 3,5-15X50mm Iron Brigade Armory 20 MOA.
The Hornady SST bullet is for hunting purposes. Not match.
We must keep in touch. Have you ever shot any competition in Portugal?
Will PM you my e-mail address

 

[Rick_W]

First - welcome and congratulations.

This world needs more responsible shooters.

I have a shooting camp close of my house, the biggest in Spain but I only can shoot to 1000 meters. But to start is enough, I will start in 100m, and then move to 300 to check my loads. Then we can go to get the 1000m.

If you have 1000m close - you are doing better than a lot of people in the USA.

About the powder no, I can't get ADI powder in Spain, two famous powders here are RS50, RS52, RS60... and also VITAHVUORI N150.

Not sure what powders from Hodgdon are available to you, but give this link a look.

 

[Frog4aday]

Hi guys, my name is Pablo. <SNIPPED STUFF> Recently I bought a Bergara B14 HMR and 6.5 chambered (twist 1 8"). <SNIPPED STUFF> 1. Which bullets do you recommend? I think in 140 grains, and about the brand I think Sierra. 2.How much grains of powder per cartridge I will need? Nobody has this rifle here in Spain so to start is very difficult. 3. More advice? <SNIPPED STUFF>

Welcome Pablo! Spain is a beautiful country with wonderful people. It is nice to hear from you. I hope you do make it back to the USA. We love enthusiastic shooters here!

You are on the right track with SIERRA and BERGER bullets. They are both capable of a high degree of accuracy and are well made products. But in the 6.5mm range, the Hornady ELD-M bullets are also very good, if you can find them. As you said, bullets in the 140 grain range are going to be 'best' for long range shooting.

In the SIERRA bullets, I would start with the 6.5mm, 142 grain MATCHKING HPBT (hollow-point boat-tail), which is Sierra product (SKU)#1742. It has a G1 Ballistic Coefficient (BC) of 0.595. They says it needs a 1 in 8" twist, which you have, so that works fine.

In the BERGER bullets, I would go with the 6.5mm, 140 grain, LONG RANGE BT (boat-tail) TARGET bullet (SKU: 679459264099). This bullet has a G1 BC of 0.593 (and a G7 BC of 0.304.) Berger recommends a 1 in 9" twist or faster, so again, that works in your rifle fine. If you can't get that bullet, then the Berger 6.5mm, 140 grain, HYBRID TARGET bullet (SKU: 679459264143) should work just as well.

The "problem" is for the Reload Swiss (RS) powders, I don't see the Sierra or Berger bullets listed in their reloading data. They do show loads for the 6.5mm Hornady 140 grain ELD-M (which is their MATCH bullet), which is also an excellent choice if you can find them in Spain. The reloading data for the RS50, RS52, RS60, RS62, and RS70 powder and the 140 gr Hornady ELD-M bullets is shown below:

It sounds like you already reload for pistol calibers (9mm and .45) Do you have a chronograph? That will help you stay safe as you develop loads in your rifle. If you see your velocity shoot past the high end shown above for the particular powder you are using, you shouldn't go any further. If you notice stiff bolt opening, that's another warning sign to back off. No need to 'hot-rod' the gun! Stay within the velocity parameters shown in the chart, with the powder indicated, and you should be fine. You are more interested in a CONSISTENT load that is ACCURATE in your gun.