6.5 creedmoor powder
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phaedra
Well-Known Member
I've used N140 with 100 & 108gr, N150 with 139 & 140gr.
I'm using small primer brass so loads are above the Viht maximum, no problem with accuracy but I do get some sooty case heads (yes, heads not necks) with the N150.
I was looking at the RS option, trying to get hold of the distributor and 2 weeks of promised return calls that never came plus the price going up yet again (was selling for around £90/Kg at the Northern Shooting Show) means I'm sticking with Viht.
It does the job and is a lot cheaper, around £67/Kg buying it in 3.5Kg tubs.
I'm using small primer brass so loads are above the Viht maximum, no problem with accuracy but I do get some sooty case heads (yes, heads not necks) with the N150.
I was looking at the RS option, trying to get hold of the distributor and 2 weeks of promised return calls that never came plus the price going up yet again (was selling for around £90/Kg at the Northern Shooting Show) means I'm sticking with Viht.
It does the job and is a lot cheaper, around £67/Kg buying it in 3.5Kg tubs.
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nun_hunter
Well-Known Member
Ramshot Hunter is working well for me. Very temperature insensitive and meters very well as it's a ball powder.
ChesterP
Well-Known Member
I use RS62 which is superb with the 6.5 heavies but on comparisons using 123gr, performance was marginal by comparison (SR brass, 24 inch barrel, 2800fps/123gr/45gr charge V's 2700fps/139gr/44gr). In this instance, for my 1000yd shooting distances (not hunting) the 139 ballistically remained the better choice. There was scope for increasing the 123gr charge by another 0.5gr before reaching 100% case capacity but by then, pressures were looking a little too hot. If you don't shoot at 1000yds but do want a 600 yd capable load then RS62 is definitely a good choice. Unlike Vhit powders (which I have tried) it doesn't stack a lot of velocity gain into the last 25% of the charge ladder...with a tendency to spike in hotter weather if you load near the top. It has a remarkably linear charge/velocity gain which is far less temperature sensitive. RS60 double base would get you even higher velocities loaded up a little but possibly at the expense of barrel life.
Having said all that, I do know plenty of people who favour N150 with lighter 6.5CM bullets and then jump to RS62 for the heavier ones.
It's a shame that IMR 4451 Enduron is not yet available here as that looks like it shows great potential compared with its H4350 stablemate.
Having said all that, I do know plenty of people who favour N150 with lighter 6.5CM bullets and then jump to RS62 for the heavier ones.
It's a shame that IMR 4451 Enduron is not yet available here as that looks like it shows great potential compared with its H4350 stablemate.
waterford103
Well-Known Member
Me too and economical too 39.4 gr behind a 140gr bullet.
nun_hunter
Well-Known Member
Use the online form on the RS website and they will run it through Quickload for you to give you the max load for your set up.
I'm in the early stages of load developing my 6.5cm. Consistently shooting sub 1" with 42.5gr of ramshot hunter, yet to adjust the lands.
I made the decision to go ramshot as it seems fairly easy to get, seems more appropriate for 6.5cm than vhit. And I can buy a 1lb tub for between 35 and 40 quid.
cheers
KS
I made the decision to go ramshot as it seems fairly easy to get, seems more appropriate for 6.5cm than vhit. And I can buy a 1lb tub for between 35 and 40 quid.
cheers
KS
ChesterP
Well-Known Member
I've now developed 3 loads using RS62 (123gr, 139gr & 140gr)...happy to share it if you decide to go the RS route....PM me if you do.
lambic
Well-Known Member
Hi Chester P
Are you finding you need to seat well past bullet diameter for your initial seating depth (prior to ogive measurement refinement)...would like a quick sanity check on my rough calcs:
[Just doing some calcs for Lapua Small Primer brass, Nosler 120BT and RS62 for OCW development]
Max COAL = 2.825 = Case length 1.913 + Bullet Length 1.224 - Seating Depth ; therefore inital seating depth = 0.312 >> 0.256
Seem about right?
Cheers!
Are you finding you need to seat well past bullet diameter for your initial seating depth (prior to ogive measurement refinement)...would like a quick sanity check on my rough calcs:
[Just doing some calcs for Lapua Small Primer brass, Nosler 120BT and RS62 for OCW development]
Max COAL = 2.825 = Case length 1.913 + Bullet Length 1.224 - Seating Depth ; therefore inital seating depth = 0.312 >> 0.256
Seem about right?
Cheers!
I can't comment on current availability in gunshops, but Edgar Brothers has been importing IMR-4451 for over two years now. I tried it in the 6.5 Creedmoor in a side by side test against H4350 in a Savage 12 LRP in March 2016 using Norma brass, CCI-BR2s and the 140gn Nosler Custom Comp HPBT (which the rifle liked a lot).
In this cartridge, 4451 seems to be a little slower burning than H4350 - at 40gn for instance, it produced 45 fps lower MV with the 140gn Hornady AMax. Having looked at Hodgdon's online data for various cartridges, maximum charges at near SAAMI maximum pressures are close to those for H4350 but vary according the cartridge and calibre - in some applications it appears to be marginally faster burning; in others a little slower.
It is an excellent propellant, very clean burning, and has an anti-copper additive in its formulation. As with all the new IMR 'Endurons', it is mildly double-based, something under 10% of the recipe by weight being nitroglycerin. This is apparently a trend these days as ADI/Hodgdon aside most recent introductions are of this form.
I'm awaiting the next slowest burning Enduron grade being cleared for Reach and imported, the more recently introduced IMR-4955 that is the Reach compliant equivalent to IMR and Hodgdon 4831. We now have a gap for such a grade with the loss of the IMR/H versions. On paper (burning rate charts) Viht N160 is there - but it's not in practice being a considerably quicker powder and prone to pressure spiking as full pressures are achieved. The rather high nitroglycerin content N560 is in the right ballpark being considerably slower despite Vihtavuori showing 160/560 as having the same burning speeds, and Reload Swiss RS70 is a contender, but I suspect it may be hard on barrels if loaded up to full pressures as per its quicker RS60 stablemate. Nitrochemie is allegedly investigating a single-based product to fill this gap - ie a slower burning version of RS62 and samples for review were promised for early this year - but no sign of them to date.
FWIW (not a lot, every rifle / barrel being a little different), the best results I got with the Savage were with RS62 at a modest MV (2,710 fps) with the Nosler 140 in Norma brass - it shot well enough to get me a second place in 'factory class' in a UK BR Association 1,000 benchrest match with the smallest of the four 5-round groups being 7.087". This was despite the LRP being very poorly suited to single loading rounds (mandatory in BR competition) each one having to have the bullet tip wiggled into the chamber before closing the bolt and hence giving very slow shooting. (The norm in long-range benchrest is to choose a wind and/or mirage condition that might last then get the shots off very fast - 20 seconds or less for competitors with specialist actions - hoping that there isn't a wind change during the string.)
ChesterP
Well-Known Member
Thanks for sharing Laurie. That's all very interesting indeed. I can't find the enduron grades close to me but happy to stick with RS62 for now. I've also found that using RS62, the exact same MV (ok, 2707fps, so 3fps less as an average!)using 139 Scenar provides excellent results. The problem being in SR primer at least, this equates for me to a charge of 44gr. I haven't tested it competitively yet but my best so far was close on moa @ 600 yd (10 round group)with five "V" bulls, the rest being three 10's and a couple of 9's, so very happy with that, although I suspect that I wouldn't readily be able to replicate that, the load probably would!
@ lambic...the rifle I use is throated quite long so I'm seating 139 scenars at 2.843" for a 30 thou jump meaning that they're fully seated into the neck with only the boat tail dropping below that. Your calculated seating and COAL seems in the right ballpark but obviously it would need you to check ogive to lands for the jump (and back off a little...I don't see the need with the right bullet choice, ie tangent ogive, to get too close to the lands).
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waterford103
Well-Known Member
ditto , and in my 260 also.
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