Load development on my 6.5x55

[Benonymous]

I Took the Tikka Master Sporter out for a run on Sunday. I was load testing with Sierra Match Kings in 140 Gn with ADR 2208 powder. I have fogotten which primer I'm using but it's a leading brand. Anyway I started at the lowest pressure load and worked up by 0.2 Gn increments. This is the best 5 shot group I shot but it's only 0.2 Gn above the lowest pressure load. The group on the left had the projectile loaded to SAAMI specs but the right hand one was loaded with the projectile loaded out so it was off the lands about 2 thou. Big difference huh?

I suppose this means the muzzle velocity will be lower than max but its a super little group.

BTW I think I may have overstated my "flinch" problem in another thread. I talked to one of the old guys at the range and he said my problem was recoil anticipation which is the mild version of a flinch. With a bit of coaching I pretty much overcame it during the session but I have to make a conscious effort not to do it.

 

[Abndoc]

Quite an improvement.

Seeing that I am fairly new to reloading, how did you determine your distance from the lands?

 

[44 AMP]

Old rule of thumb...

Very seldom does a rifle give its best accuracy with max loads. Loads that shoot just a little bit "lighter" are more often more accurate. Not always, but most of the time. And the little bit of velocity difference is negligable to game, and often trajectory as well.

Seating close to the lands is also a "standard" trick for improving accuracy, but again, some rifles and loads will perform better at a different seating depth. Each gun/ammo combination is an individual, with individual quirks.

Nice group, by the way.

 

[Wildalaska]

Chrony it to check but leave it alone, nice group!@

Wildthatswhatyagetwiththe6.5Alaska

 

[Benonymous]

seating depth

Abndoc. I made up an empty case with a hacksaw cut in the neck. I deburred the cut on both sides and pressed a projectile into the case lightly.

Then I chambered the dummy round in the rifle.

The dummy should be extracted gently and checked for marking on the bullet. If you managed to engage the rifling you have a reference point to work off. Another trick is to coat the bullet with a marker pen to make the marks more visible.

Measure the assembly for a reference and then set your bullet die up so that it's just short of seating the bullet any more on full compression. You can remove the seating plug, put the round in the press, bring the piston up then screw in the seating plug until you just feel it touching the bullet.

All you have to do now is work the bullet seater down incrementally until you have seated the bullet down somewhere between .018 and .02 from the reference length. This was around 1/2 to 3/4 of a turn down on the seating plug on my Redding die.

 

[FirstFreedom]

Outstanding, Benon! I think you've gotten good advice above. Yes, interesting how much difference long seating will make. I'm in love with that rifle of yours. Never heard of ADR powder....

 

[rezmedic54]

Reloading

Not to high jack this but I'm new to reloading myself. There is a great article on finding the lenght of the bullet to the rifleing in Julys Guns & Ammo mag. I'm doing the same thing with my Savage 10FP in .223 just haven't been out to shoot it yet been way to hot here in AZ.

 

[Benonymous]

ADR powders

Hi FirstFreedom. Yeah the ADR powder is made here in Australia by a government company. They supply the military and package propellant for civilian sales also. I have no idea what the equivalent powders are in other brands. I only have the ADR reloading manual and the only equivalents they list are ADR products. If I get some more info I'll post it here.

Thanks to everyone for their encouraging comments. I sure hope I can replicate this group again with some purpose loaded ammo. Got to work through another 50 rounds of graduated loads yet

 

[123kiwi]

ADI Powders, Australian Defence Industries. They manufacture the whole range of powders and most of them are repackaged and sold overseas under a different name, ie. 2208 is also Hodgdons Varget, 2206h=4895extreme etcetc...
I also found when loading for my 6.5x55 that the most accurate groups were with charges about halfway between max and min.
Doesnt matter if you lose a few fps as long as it goes where you want it to...

 

[Ruger4570]

Out of all my rifles I have only 2 that do well right next to Max loadings. Most every gun I have does best at much less than max. I think this is pretty common. I also play with bullet seating lengths a lot as it does seem to influence accuracy. Happy loading..

 

[raktrak]

6.5 x 55 loads

Sometimes just for kicks try 42/43 grs of Reloader 22 and a federal match primer to push the 140 SMK. Very mild and shoots 1/10"or less groups out of my benchrest gun . I use Lapua cases most of the time. My best group is .021 inches. My hunting 6.5 shoots 5/8" at 300 yards with the same load. Due to its slow velocity,2400 fps ,its really a 250 yard load. Lotsa drop at 300 yards when zeroed 3" high at 100.

 

[Wildalaska]

What a wonderful load

WildniceAlaska

 

[Benonymous]

Cheers mate!

Thanks for amending my slip up on the ADI powder Kiwi I'm not surprised to see that it's marketed under other names either.

 

[Benonymous]

Further development

Hi all.

I have finally finished running he 6.5 out to max load. I'm shooting SMK 140Gn projectiles out of my Tikka Master Sporter with a 24" BBL using a Nightforce BR scope 8x36x56mm. I'm seating all my projectiles about 40 thou off the lands now rather than persist with SAAMI spec.



It's interesting to note that the loadings at 32.9 and 33.9 that looked really good in the previous session don't look so good now. I think some of the scatter is due to fouling late in the session. I should probably clean between each weight increment.

I must say I'm happier to have a nice group at 35.3 rather than a lower weight. Hopefully that'll keep the velocity up. I don't have a chrony so I cant give you any fps data.

Conditions at the range were close to ideal with only a light breeze blowing straight up the range.

I'm keen to load up some more rounds at 35.1 to 35.9 to see if I can narrow things down.

 

[Benonymous]

Here's the missing target

Here's the previous target

 

[texastweeter]

Benon, I use the sam basic process asyou, however, I dont cut the neck, I just barely bump it with my resizing die to where it just barely holds the pill in place. Then i use a woden match to smoke the bullet and show up any markings on it.

 

[Benonymous]

That's a good method. I used a permanent marker to show the lands engaging with the bullet. I would say that I'm erring on the side of caution with 40 thou but I'll start easing the projectile out when I've hit the right load for the barrel resonance. Due to the fact that I have two kids who need a substantial amount of my time I find its good to exercise some patience with the process Hopefully I'll :
A- Get some time to load the shells and
B- Get some time to shoot them!

Anyway, I feel like I'm zooming in on the right load and then the only problem I'll have is repeating the process for my Steyr Tactical Elite in .308!

These things are sent to try us....

 

[garryc]

Give R22 a try.