Reloading data for 6.5 Creedmoor

Tikka t3x.

Lapua SR brass. SR magnum primers. RS60 powder. Hornady 143gr eldx. 43.4 gr powder. Seated to book COL.

20” barrel, gets 2745 fps.

I did load development with 0.2gr increments between 43 and 44.4gr. All shot into a single group of under 1”, so I just picked one. I don’t think it would have mattered which.
 
Hi,

For target you would be looking around about the 140gr ELD-M hornady bulllets. I run 44gr N555 in mine but can be a little less anywhere from 42gr to 44gr should work.
 
Tikka t3x.

Lapua SR brass. SR magnum primers. RS60 powder. Hornady 143gr eldx. 43.4 gr powder. Seated to book COL.

20” barrel, gets 2745 fps.

I did load development with 0.2gr increments between 43 and 44.4gr. All shot into a single group of under 1”, so I just picked one. I don’t think it would have mattered which.
May I ask why you’ve gone for magnum primers instead of normals?
 
And? Did you find it works better than normal ones in “any” way? Or did you not use normal ones?
Are you on small or large primers?
SR primers.

Never tried anything else. What I have works so well I’ve never seen the need to change anything. Bought a pile of primers at the time and still working through them. At some point they’ll run out, and I’ll need to find an alternative.

Give. How insensitive this gun seems to variation in the powder charge, I doubt the primer I use will affect much.
 
The advice to use SR magnums in the small-primer version of this cartridge is correct. It has nothing to do with SRM primer 'strength' (brisance), rather cup strength from thicker metal. Standard SR primers (CCI-400; Rem 6 1/2; PMC/Murom KVB-223; Winchester WSR) are VERY prone to 'crater', worse 'blank' (fail in the firing pin indentation allowing gas escape) in many factory rifles. Tikkas appear to be very well made and this may or may not be an issue with them.

This is an evergreen topic on this and other forums, and there is one currently (barely) live one on SD:

Remington 700pps 308 Match Ammo Recommendations

I use Large rifle primers in mine and never found a need to swap to Mangnum. Mine are very consistent, SD of 4 so it will do.


Unlike SR standards vs magnums, LR Magnum primers are often very different from their standard counterparts with much more aggressive charges that raise pressures. Unlike their SR brethren, there is no cup inherent strength difference, all makes and models specified at 27 thou' thick brass. In cartridges such as 308 Win, 7mm-08, 6.5 Creedmoor, LRs can sometimes give as good or better results even in range use, and the LR version should be used for cold-weather stalking and with some hard to ignite powders. The SR primed big plus for many long-range competitors is that with less metal removed for the primer pocket from the case-head, cases are MUCH stronger allowing continuous use of heavy loads. 308 Win Lapua 'Palma' SR primed brass sees indefinite use of heavy competition loads that would stretch case-heads/ produce slack primer pockets in four or five firings with LR brass from the same maker.
 
I have not loaded any round yet, but I have been told by mates to start with N555.

N555 is an excellent powder for 130gn and heavier bullets in this application. Unlike other Viht N500 series grades which are very 'hot' (ie very high-energy), Viht quotes a specific energy level that is on a par with equivalent 'cooler-burning' N100 grades, in fact lower than some. It should therefore wear barrels less than some alternatives.
 
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