Copy, FL resize and dont use the mandrel, load 5 and see if it calms you ES down and we will go from there
Need help reloading
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a_savage02
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For the 6mm SMRP I'm using some CCI SRP but they are probably over 15 years old. for the 6.5mm I also use CCI LRP that are also fairly old trying to use all the old stock before using stuff I have acquired in the last two years. I have also used federal match grade magnum primers in the 6.5 when I was using imr 4350. I'm assuming the old primers might have something to do with it in the 6mm Creedmoor but I'm not going to just throw them away with how hard it is to find components now a days.
In the 6.5 it's possible your rifle doesnt like those bullets. Or you can try a seating depth test. Good accuracy can be found quite a ways off the lands. If you have H4350 and a fed210m primer with a 140 vld or hornady 140 eldm I would go that route. Somewhere from 20-40 thou off.
Absolutely understandable!
a_savage02
Well-Known Member
Okay I will try this. Might take me a while to get to the range but ill update you when i do.
a_savage02
Well-Known Member
With that said is it better to do a seating depth test before getting good ES and SD.
I would start with @ButterBean suggestion. And IMHO I would let the target tell you what it likes before worrying about #s. Sometimes good ES/SD numbers are not always the most accurate. My .02
a_savage02
Well-Known Member
i feel like im waisting components lol and its frustrating some times feeling like I'm chasing my tail. lot of 100 brass and i'm almost threw my 2nd firing on my 6mm creedmoor and 3rd firing on my 6.5 creedmoor. which i mean I enjoy reloading so its really not that big of a deal its more of wasting components and how hard it is to find stuff now a days. You cant just walk into your local store anymore and grab powder when you run out.
a_savage02
Well-Known Member
Yeah I think I might be getting obsessed over numbers on my chronograph and haven't even really tried to shoot groups. I Loaded up 20 or so a couple days ago with 45 grs 45.2 and 44.8 and am gonna go and try to just shoot some groups and see what happens. my process for load development so far has been look through hornady and usually the speer apps on my phone and finding max charge rates and for the components I have and usually go half a grain over max and then do a velocity test looking for nodes with usually 2 rounds at each charge weight. So to try and paint a pictures say my max charge weight was 45 in a reloading manual I would start with 45.5 and work my way down in .3 or .4 grain increments for ten or so shots and try to do 2 shots per charge weight for consistency.
QuietTexan
Well-Known Member
How many shots in a group for the ES/SD stats? I'm not sure that those are the stats to focus on at this point because you said group sizes are blown up over 1MOA. You might be better off to stop working on numbers and fix the bad group problem by running an OCW test to shrink group sizes down first, then worry what the paper numbers show. Start at 0.020" off with the bottom book load, run a 0.2gn ladder, and look at where the vertical stays tight.
I'm absolutely, 100% unrepentantly a numbers nerd and will go on for hours about nuanced BS to manage your muzzle velocity stats, but if you're over 1MOA on group size you have to solve the problem before statistics. I ran a full blown on work up on my 6.5CM - coarse seating depth test, velocity ladder, neck tension adjustments, yada yada yada, have a stack of paper data, and after all that ended up using a pretty low charge weight that runs 2750FPS on the nose, about a 1gn wide node, 0.020" off the lands, and it shoots under half an inch at 100. Didn't give a rip that is was a 5 shot SD of 8, ES of 13 because I didn't find that out until after I pulled down the target with a 0.4" group on it. I wasted a ton of components to get data instead of just looking at the target.
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QuietTexan
Well-Known Member
Yes. Exactly. Put the chrono away, look at the paper and do what it tells you to and get the group sizes down, then worry about the stats. You mess with the stats with things like new cases, different powders and primers, seating tension, etc. But none of that matters if the groups are blown up. Get a good group first, adjust from a good starting point. You'll be chasing your tail trying to get the stats all perfect before getting the rifle to shoot first.
I totally understand your pain. Don`t get frustrated. There is a lot of good advice to be had here. If you are at nearly 200 down the pipe, and still working on development, you need to figure it out for sure. Everyone has their own routine for load development. The members here like helping out for sure.
