6.5 PRC bullet seating

[whitecoyote]

Measured the lands on my rifle with the Hornady OAL gauge and it maxes at 2.329 CBTO. If i were to come 0.010 (2.319) off the lands id already be under saami 2.955 COAL by 0.005. A factory 147 eldm measures 2.324. How far would you would seat your bullet deeper into the case, 0.020, 0.030? or closer to the lands? Im kind of torn because ive never had a barrel this shallow.

 

[Dark timber]

Rent a throating reamer or take it to a smith and take of that issue. That’s what I would do.

 

[whitecoyote]

Rent a throating reamer or take it to a smith and take of that issue. That’s what I would do.

Funny thing is, a gunsmith just made this new barrel for me

 

[Dark timber]

It will be a quick fix if he’s local.

 

[huntnful]

Sounds like it's pretty close SAAMI. Seat it .010 off and shoot it. Could be a bur or something on the lands also from the tooling. Shoot a handful at .010 and recheck it afterwards.

 

[whitecoyote]

Sounds like it's pretty close SAAMI. Seat it .010 off and shoot it. Could be a bur or something on the lands also from the tooling. Shoot a handful at .010 and recheck it afterwards.

Talked to my gunsmith and he did use a saami spec reamer. I’ve put 55 rounds through it so far .010 off the lands. Still the same

 

[huntnful]

Talked to my gunsmith and he did use a saami spec reamer. I’ve put 55 rounds through it so far .010 off the lands. Still the same

Nice. Yeah you’re fine for sure. If the bullet is too deep in the case for your liking, try some
140 Berger’s

 

[whitecoyote]

Nice. Yeah you’re fine for sure. If the bullet is too deep in the case for your liking, try some
140 Berger’s

That’s what I’m loading next. What powder do you suggest?

 

[Ganderzone]

4831sc, h1000, n565. All three very accurate powders, temp stable and known performers. 140 vld with 4831sc out of a 20" barrel I'm getting 2890.

 

[whitecoyote]

4831sc, h1000, n565. All three very accurate powders, temp stable and known performers. 140 vld with 4831sc out of a 20" barrel I'm getting 2890.

I loaded the 147 eldms with N565. 0.010 off the lands and 2.319 CBTO. My gun didnt like it. Best 5 shot groups I got were these. I have some H1000 and some bergers already at home. I might try that.

 

[huntnful]

4831sc, h1000, n565. All three very accurate powders, temp stable and known performers. 140 vld with 4831sc out of a 20" barrel I'm getting 2890.

Exactly what I was going to say haha. All 3 are great with the 140 class bullete

 

[Ganderzone]

I loaded the 147 eldms with N565. 0.010 off the lands and 2.319 CBTO. My gun didnt like it. Best 5 shot groups I got were these. I have some H1000 and some bergers already at home. I might try that.

I found better accuracy with ELDm/xs jumping 20 even up to mid 30s to the lands than I did closer. Now days I just put them at 25 off with the charge/velocity I'm looking for and they just seem to shoot in multiple rifles.

 

[whitecoyote]

I found better accuracy with ELDm/xs jumping 20 even up to mid 30s to the lands than I did closer. Now days I just put them at 25 off with the charge/velocity I'm looking for and they just seem to shoot in multiple rifles.

I honestly felt like I was crushing powder just .010 off the lands. I wanted to seat it further but I’d lose case capacity. How far do you seat your bergers off the lands and what charge weight are you running?

 

[Ganderzone]

I honestly felt like I was crushing powder just .010 off the lands. I wanted to seat it further but I’d lose case capacity. How far do you seat your bergers off the lands and what charge weight are you running?

Can't remember what the distance was to the lands on that load. The gun is a hunting rifle running a Hawkins hunter magazine, max coal is 2.980". For this gun I usually take .015" of the 2.980"( prevents the tips from catching) and start with a max coal of 2.965".

I'll load another 5-7 rnds seated .025" deeper and shoot them. One will generally group tighter and then I'll decrease off that another .010", pretty much tells you which direction to go. Typically by the time I've done this, say 15 rnds in I am where I want to be.

You can go down this rabbit hole as far as you want. Hunting rifle = light barrel, short barrel life, heats up fast. Once it's shooting say .6-.8 for a factory gun or half for a custom I'll leave the load tweaking to my range rigs.