6.5 creed and 156gr Bergers

[Fartrell Cluggins]

Y'all are getting some impressive results out of the Creedmagic. Maybe I should try loading my PRC down.

 

[BigRutt]

I got 2750 on a full house load with H4350 and a 24" barrel. My guess would be a safe accurate load will be 2600 to 2650 from a 20" tube, probably closer to the 2600 mark

Just wondering what your thoughts were on a charge work up using h4350? Sounds like berger says 40.5 is max for h4350 from reading through this thread. I was thinking starting at 38 grains and working up to 40.5 grains.

Lapua lrp
fed 210m
h4350
156 eol

Running out of a tikka 6.5cm ctr 20"

 

[Jakeweb09]

Just wondering what your thoughts were on a charge work up using h4350? Sounds like berger says 40.5 is max for h4350 from reading through this thread. I was thinking starting at 38 grains and working up to 40.5 grains.

Lapua lrp
fed 210m
h4350
156 eol

Running out of a tikka 6.5cm ctr 20"

I’d personally start bit lower. Across a couple different rifles I’ve seen pressure with 140s right around the 40g mark. Idk ifyou have a sammi chamber but I’d imagine you’d be crunching powder much over that anyways. If it’s velocity you’re after rl26 might be your huckleberry.

 

[BigRutt]

I’d personally start bit lower. Across a couple different rifles I’ve seen pressure with 140s right around the 40g mark. Idk ifyou have a sammi chamber but I’d imagine you’d be crunching powder much over that anyways. If it’s velocity you’re after rl26 might be your huckleberry.

Yeah I have about 1lb of rl26 left and i might just have to load that up. I was running about 41.4gr of h4350 with the 143 eld-x and it was accurate. Running 46.9gr of rl26 with 143 eldx. I got about 100fps faster with the rl26 but the accuracy with the h4350 was just a little bit better. 1/4" groups compared to 1/3" groups. Had a bunch of H4350 so figured i'd go that route first since I haven't come across rl26 in a long time.

I was thinking starting lower so thank you for reinforcing that. Maybe i'll start at 36 grains and work up.

 

[woods89]

My rifle pressured out at a little less velocity than I wanted to see with H4350. RL 16 got me to 2680 or so before I saw pressure signs. I backed off to about 2650 which works really well.

This is loading at 2.875 COAL so just a bit more case capacity than SAAMI COAL.

 

[swavescatter]

Sub’d. got a few boxes of 156 EOL on the way and I’m new to reloading.

Was planning on running new Lapua small primer brass. Have a few flavors of small rifle primers (regular, BR and magnum)…

I have lots of once fired brass but I’m hoping to save my large primers for my 300WM.

 

[BigRutt]

My rifle pressured out at a little less velocity than I wanted to see with H4350. RL 16 got me to 2680 or so before I saw pressure signs. I backed off to about 2650 which works really well.

This is loading at 2.875 COAL so just a bit more case capacity than SAAMI COAL.

Thanks for that info I figured it was going to be slow. My gun is slow already but it's a fun little gun to shoot targets with. Im only getting 2630 (41.4gr) with h4350 and 143 eldx. Shot an antelope buck and muley buck this year with it and both animals didn't go more then 10-20 yards. A lot more meat left over then the 300wm lol

Sounds like rl-16 or rl-26 is the ticket. Just have to try and find some.

 

[BigRutt]

Just got this from berger hope it helps someone.

Please see the attachment for load data. The loads are all based on the COAL listed. Load data is conservative and was generated with QuickLoad. A general rule of thumb with the Berger Elite Hunter and Hybrid Target bullets is to start your bullet seating depth testing at .015" off the lands. Then you work back into the cartridge case in .015" increments (.015",.030", .045", .060"). When you find a bullet seating depth that shows promise, you can test .005" to either side of that CBTO if you wish to see if accuracy can be improved. All bullet seating depth testing is done using the starting powder charge!

 

[parshal]

I've not read through the entire thread but I'm running the 153.5/156's in my 22" Creed. Load data is interchangeable between them.

These are real close to max loads with SRP Lapua.

N565	44	EOL	2467
R23	41.2	153.5	2515
R16	40	EOL	2520

 

[Jakeweb09]

Just got this from berger hope it helps someone.

Please see the attachment for load data. The loads are all based on the COAL listed. Load data is conservative and was generated with QuickLoad. A general rule of thumb with the Berger Elite Hunter and Hybrid Target bullets is to start your bullet seating depth testing at .015" off the lands. Then you work back into the cartridge case in .015" increments (.015",.030", .045", .060"). When you find a bullet seating depth that shows promise, you can test .005" to either side of that CBTO if you wish to see if accuracy can be improved. All bullet seating depth testing is done using the starting powder charge!

I’d be shocked if you can get 46 grains of rl26 in the case with a 156 loaded to 2.8”. I could see n560 working pretty well.

 

[khuber84]

Just wondering what your thoughts were on a charge work up using h4350? Sounds like berger says 40.5 is max for h4350 from reading through this thread. I was thinking starting at 38 grains and working up to 40.5 grains.

Lapua lrp
fed 210m
h4350
156 eol

Running out of a tikka 6.5cm ctr 20"

The tikka has a LOT of freebore. If you switch out to a long bolt stop and run a Tikka 30-06 magazine you can run them out to 3" plus and get closer to lands and run more powder. In my Tikka 24" superlite I did just that, rl26 in lapua brass loaded 45k off lands, here's my velocity data. 46.7 gr was a nice flat spot, 90k off lands was 3/8 moa at 200y, running 2730 fps. Oh F me, you're running ctr, NEVERMIND!

 

[InkedElkSlayer]

I know you guys are talking Berger…. I was planning on going with the Berger 153.5 or 156. But I ended up with the Hornady 153gr A-Tip.
H4350, Lapua brass with small primers, 18in. Barrel with suppressor and it’s 2645fps.
Had it for the last week of the season. 2 bucks down and very happy with how the bullet performed on game. Obviously only 2 deer ain’t much, but definitely promising.

Not to throw some random BS in from left field, but the 153s shoot super accurate in my setup … and they’re easy to find

 

[savage _stag_bighorn]

I second the suggestion to give them a whirl. I've arrived at a very nice shooting load in my Tikka CTR 20".

I tried the 210m primers, but like all of my Creedmoor loads, CCI BR2s just seem to work better.

I'm burning RL26 at maximum length for the CTR magazine.

I'm all settled in with shorter range load work, just need an opportunity to try them out at longer range.

I read through this whole thread and tried searching your posts too. Maybe I still missed it but @mt100gr.
did you say what velocity you got up to with RL26 in your 20” 6.5 Creedmoor?
Also, how did they work out for you at longer range??

I’m looking to load up the Berger 153.5 LRHT’s with RL16/RL23 or ideally RL26 (hopefully, if I can get it). With SRP Lapua or Alpha brass & Rem. 7-1/2 primers.

Rifle will be an Origin action + 27” barrel (haven’t ordered yet), thinking 1:7 twist. I could get 1:7.5 but I’d rather have plenty of twist than not enough. From reading this thread though seems like no one has had any issues with 1:8/1:7.5. I won’t be shooting anything less than 147 ELD-M (maybe 144 Berger LRHT) and the extra twist shouldn’t significantly impact my velocities from what I’ve read.

 

[khuber84]

@savage _stag_bighorn 7tw is a bit overkill, my custom 65cm is 7.5tw, and had no issues with a factory T3x stabilizing 156s at 2700fps without observable bc loss to 700y, however that's was around 3k elevation.

 

[savage _stag_bighorn]

Factory rifles from at least 1 manufacturer are currently being made with a 1:7 twist rate.

All of Browning’s current X-bolt 6.5 Creedmoor rifles are 1:7 and I believe they started transitioning to this in 2022. Also I’ve seen 6.5 CM prefits available in 1:7. Maybe only necessary for mono’s but from other articles and threads I’ve not seen any drawbacks.

This article excerpt shows a test Bryan Litz did with .308 and 1:12-1:8 and only negative impact was 5 fps reduction in velocity which could just be naturally occurring variance between even same manufacturer barrels with same twist rates.

How Muzzle Velocity Changes with Different Barrel Twist Rates « Daily Bulletin

Many barrel-makers mark the twist rate and bore dimensions on their barrel blanks. Does muzzle velocity change with faster or slower barrel twist rates? Absolutely, but much less than you might think. Faster twist rates do slow down bullets somewhat, but the speed loss is NOT that significant.

bulletin.accurateshooter.com

 

[parshal]

I'm running a 7.5 twist down to below sea level DA with the 153.5's (with R23) at 2550 in my NRL Hunter rifle. My teammate is running an 8 twist and ran it over AB's radar in Indiana and his was 1.47 stability. That day was near sea level for DA. He won the match with that. No need for a 7 twist.

 

[savage _stag_bighorn]

I wouldn’t be able to/planning to shoot at any higher elevation than 500' in the near future.

 

[savage _stag_bighorn]

Also, Sierra states their 150 gr HPBT “bullet requires a barrel twist rate of 1×7.5” or faster.”

While this isn’t a bullet I was planning to try out right away I may consider it down the line.

But a 1:7.5” would still be sufficient. I appreciate the input on 1:7 being too fast. I also don’t want a barrel that is harder to do load development for/find a good load for either. I saw that posted a couple times with over twist or too fast of twist barrels.

Please enlighten me, I am here to learn. I have been reloading for 6 years now for bolt action rifles and started with 6.5 creedmoor.

 

[khuber84]

Also, Sierra states their 150 gr HPBT “bullet requires a barrel twist rate of 1×7.5” or faster.”

While this isn’t a bullet I was planning to try out right away I may consider it down the line.

But a 1:7.5” would still be sufficient. I appreciate the input on 1:7 being too fast. I also don’t want a barrel that is harder to do load development for/find a good load for either. I saw that posted a couple times with over twist or too fast of twist barrels.

Please enlighten me, I am here to learn. I have been reloading for 6 years now for bolt action rifles and started with 6.5 creedmoor.

Ran 150smk from 8tw prc and saums no issue. I could understand at grendel speeds. They also say a 6.5tw is needed for their 22 cal 95smk and 6mm 110smk, however 7.5tw barrels have stabilized them just fine. Sierra usually states worst case scenario of low mizzle velocity and 0da 0 degrees.

 

[mt100gr.]

I read through this whole thread and tried searching your posts too. Maybe I still missed it but @mt100gr.
did you say what velocity you got up to with RL26 in your 20” 6.5 Creedmoor?
Also, how did they work out for you at longer range??

I’m looking to load up the Berger 153.5 LRHT’s with RL16/RL23 or ideally RL26 (hopefully, if I can get it). With SRP Lapua or Alpha brass & Rem. 7-1/2 primers.

Rifle will be an Origin action + 27” barrel (haven’t ordered yet), thinking 1:7 twist. I could get 1:7.5 but I’d rather have plenty of twist than not enough. From reading this thread though seems like no one has had any issues with 1:8/1:7.5. I won’t be shooting anything less than 147 ELD-M (maybe 144 Berger LRHT) and the extra twist shouldn’t significantly impact my velocities from what I’ve read.

Thru the 20" CTR factory barrel, my 156gr Berger load is 2670 FPS using RL26. (A little bit lighter charge weight than a 24" Superlight T3x pushing the 147 ELDM right at 2800 FPS.)