6.5x55 Grouping Choice

dave 67

Well-Known Member
New to reloading a bit of help would be appreciated
I have been to the range fired a few different loads off and have found
three loads that group well 45.5,46,46.5 grains
No pressure signs on any of the above which should i go for ??
I started of at 43 grains worked up to 47 grains in 0.5 grain increments
Using the following componants

Hornady 129 SST
Lapua brass
Remmington 9 1/2 primers
Hodgdon H4350

Depending which books you read one of these the 45.5 is ok in all,
the other two are not. Should i go to the lower one ie 45.5 or play
with the seating depth on all three???
Or am i about to fall in to the trap of trying
to get a smaller group than i need for hunting!!
All the above are sub 0.5 MOA at 100m
I am sure I know the answer but doing this on my own would like
other more experienced peoples thoughts
Thanks Dave
 
The velocity difference at the high end of a load is negligible though pressures won't be. I'm sure that if you ran all the loads over a chronograph there would be little to recommend one on the merits of speed and killing power. I would stick with the lighest ( safest, less brass beating) load and enjoy it. In two of my books that 45.5 grain load is max at 50,000 psi. You may even want to back that one of a tad....~Muir
 
You have 3 loads there, all are safe and all are accurate. :D

Go for the middle one, that way if there is any mistakes higher or lower with your powder loading then it should give you a .5 grain margin for error. You know that the bullet is still going to be accurate and the difference in projectile speed will be minimal. 8)

J
 
Dave67

Looks like you've a good accurate load there, but my only comment is that you are at,or exceeding,reccommended maximums.You need to watch as the temperature rises later in the summer.I say this because I have a "summer" load which chronographs at 2500fps in august,but this drops to 2400fps in the winter.Therefore if you "max" a load in the winter then use it in the summer you might get a shock!

Cheers
 
Thanks for the heads up on the pressure increase in summer was aware of this but sometimes a reminder is not a bad thing. The next best load after the three i stated is a 44 grain load this would still hit the mark no problem as it is about 0.7 MOA. So as this is not F class I think I will play with the seating depth see if it tightens up, also this is not going to be so hard on the barrel/throat. 0.7 MOA is still 1.4 inch at 200m dont think i will be taking shots at that range just yet, if ever.
Thanks for the input guys Dave
 
I load for a 6.5X55, and one of my loads is as follows,

129 gr Hornady Interlock,
Lapua brass,
CCI large Rifle primer
45 grains of H4350,

it knocks down Roe buck and Sika stags equally well. It may well be a 0.5 moa round I don't know, but I am not well not consistently. But it is a sub moa load and that is more than good enough for me for hunting purposes. Unless you have a real burning desire to improve your accuracy I would leave it alone and go hunt something.

With regard to temperature and Summer and Winter loads I would not bother too much. H4350 is one of Hodgon's extreme powders and as such has been designed to be particularly insensitive to temperature change.

John
 
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