Reloading copper 6.5x55

[chrisstorey79]

Decided to try reloading copper & chose Barnes ttsx 120 in 6.5x55
After doing the usual working up from min to max (at 50 thou off lands) i found my best grouping was between 43gr & 43.5gr of Viht N160 so settled on 43.2gr.
Then I played with seating depth going up in 10 thou increments from 50 - 100 thou off lands.
At 90 thou i thought I’d hit jackpot when all 3 shots were touching !

So i went home & knocked a batch of 5 up to see if i could repeat the grouping but couldn’t get it nowhere near (almost 2”)
I can’t seem to get any consistency with these.

The only variation i can think I’ve got is how many times the brass has been reloaded as it all got mixed up !!

Rifle is a sako 85 in 6.5x55 - 20” barrel 8” twist
Viht N160 powder
Federal primers
PPU brass

Any advise ? or do i sack the Barnes off - it’s getting expensive

 

[Davee]

If you mixed up your brass, the best thing you can do is anneal the lot. I put a tick mark on the case - with a cokie pen- after firing it to keep track of what is what. Like you I battled with TTSX and gave up! I believe others have had the same problem, however some have found them to work well, it seems to be very barrel dependent. I also battled with Sonic 120's and 124 VLR4's. The best I have found to date are Yew tree 112's and Fox 123's, 118 VLR4's are getting there. My rifle prefers a jump of between 100 and 112 thou. The most consistent I have found are the Yew Trees, sub MOA with the best to date of 14mm, plus it's made in the UK. However I have yet to be try them on the real thing.

 

[Brave Echo Niner]

I haven't reloaded for 6.5x55 with 120 TTSX personally, however I have managed to get other Barnes bullets to shoot sub half MOA or better in .308 Win (130 TTSX), .300 WSM (130 TTSX, 150 TTSX and 150 TSX) and 6.5x47 Lapua (100 TTSX) with good velocities for all.
I always start with the recommended COAL and as yet haven't had to play with seating depth to get good results, I just do a ladder test in 0.3 grain increments starting at 95% case fill of an appropriate powder (from QL) up to MAX of 105% fill or 12 rounds whichever comes sooner. I then run these over the Chronograph and plot the results as a graph:


From there I can see where my nodes lie as the flat spots in velocity, I then shoot a group at each node and see what happens with ES, SD and grouping.
In all of my rifles I have then had an ES of less than 20 and an SD of less than 10 with sub 1/2 MOA grouping. If I wanted to try tighten up grouping for any reason from there I could go to seating depth.

I find this method works reliably for me with the Barnes bullets regardless of rifle or calibre and is less shooter error affected so long as I remember to turn the chrono on!
They also seem to prefer a clean barrel which suit my habits as I clean every 25 rounds or after a longer session!

Hope that helps,

Ben

 

[chrisstorey79]

If you mixed up your brass, the best thing you can do is anneal the lot. I put a tick mark on the case - with a cokie pen- after firing it to keep track of what is what. Like you I battled with TTSX and gave up! I believe others have had the same problem, however some have found them to work well, it seems to be very barrel dependent. I also battled with Sonic 120's and 124 VLR4's. The best I have found to date are Yew tree 112's and Fox 123's, 118 VLR4's are getting there. My rifle prefers a jump of between 100 and 112 thou. The most consistent I have found are the Yew Trees, sub MOA with the best to date of 14mm, plus it's made in the UK. However I have yet to be try them on the real thing.

Cheers for that, I think I’ll go Yew Tree next & see how i get on with them

 

[chrisstorey79]

I haven't reloaded for 6.5x55 with 120 TTSX personally, however I have managed to get other Barnes bullets to shoot sub half MOA or better in .308 Win (130 TTSX), .300 WSM (130 TTSX, 150 TTSX and 150 TSX) and 6.5x47 Lapua (100 TTSX) with good velocities for all.
I always start with the recommended COAL and as yet haven't had to play with seating depth to get good results, I just do a ladder test in 0.3 grain increments starting at 95% case fill of an appropriate powder (from QL) up to MAX of 105% fill or 12 rounds whichever comes sooner. I then run these over the Chronograph and plot the results as a graph:

View attachment 211456
From there I can see where my nodes lie as the flat spots in velocity, I then shoot a group at each node and see what happens with ES, SD and grouping.
In all of my rifles I have then had an ES of less than 20 and an SD of less than 10 with sub 1/2 MOA grouping. If I wanted to try tighten up grouping for any reason from there I could go to seating depth.

I find this method works reliably for me with the Barnes bullets regardless of rifle or calibre and is less shooter error affected so long as I remember to turn the chrono on!
They also seem to prefer a clean barrel which suit my habits as I clean every 25 rounds or after a longer session!

Hope that helps,

Ben

Cheers for reply
I’ve tried the recommended coal also but still no consistency, I don’t have a chronograph so can’t work to the method you use. I’m also a regular cleaner of the barrel so it’s not that either !!
Just can’t work out why i shot a perfect 3 shot group then failed to repeat it doing everything exactly the same

 

[charlieboy-shooter]

The only variation i can think I’ve got is how many times the brass has been reloaded as it all got mixed up !!

Hi,
Talking to others with far greater knowledge than me. It was explained that with some of the monolithic’s ( possible standard jacket and core as well ) that neck tension or differences will cause flyers. So mixing your cases could well indeed be your problem. You may have found a load which suits. It’s just the mixed cases with different neck tension which has opened your group up.

 

[chrisstorey79]

Hi,
Talking to others with far greater knowledge than me. It was explained that with some of the monolithic’s ( possible standard jacket and core as well ) that neck tension or differences will cause flyers. So mixing your cases could well indeed be your problem. You may have found a load which suits. It’s just the mixed cases with different neck tension which has opened your group up.

Thanks, quite possibly this !
Maybe new brass time