Lighter bullets for less recoil in 6.5CM

[112Savage]

I shoot the 110 hammer hunters with varget going 3100 from my 20” barrel tikka with Rokstok. I notice a huge decrease in recoil versus my 143gr load with superformance or RL16 going 2740.

For what it’s worth in my 22” ruger American with a Boyds walnut prairie hunter stock the recoil difference is more substantial possibly because of stock design and wider velocity difference between the two loads because the varget 110 load only gains about 40fps and the 143 superformance load gains almost 100fps.

I have shot several whitetails with the 110’s and all that I can remember dropped within 20yds. The wound isn’t as gruesome as say the 130HPBT Gameking but you can’t argue with results. My last buck was killed quartering away and got full penetration on a buck that likely weighed 220# live weight.

 

[Robobiss]

I'm in a similar scenario; just got a 6.5CM knowing that I'll likely want to get a 6mm barrel in the next 1-3 years. But for now, I'm curious about the potential terminal performance of a lighter factory option like 120gr ELD-M (my case is elk <400 yds out of an 18" suppressed barrel).

Given the potential penetration concerns I've gathered here re: lighter-for-caliber bullets, I would probably only consider this route if I notice a significant difference in recoil / impact-spotting between the 120gr vs. 140-147gr ELD variants. Will be testing that latter aspect that this weekend.

Think about this, the 130 class .277 bullets out of the .270 win were thors hammer for anything and everything in NA for a long time and I have hardly heard about penetration issues. I’ve never had any myself with random 130 grain bullets out of a 270 win. In fact, a lot of pass throughs with fairly soft bullets and high impact velocities.

A 120 grain .264 bullet has a higher sectional density than a 130 grain .277 bullet does. All else being equal (construction, impact velocity) the 120 grain .264 bullet should penetrate *more* (barely) than a 130 grain .277 bullet.

Send it

 

[patagonialuke]

I'm in a similar scenario; just got a 6.5CM knowing that I'll likely want to get a 6mm barrel in the next 1-3 years. But for now, I'm curious about the potential terminal performance of a lighter factory option like 120gr ELD-M (my case is elk <400 yds out of an 18" suppressed barrel).

Given the potential penetration concerns I've gathered here re: lighter-for-caliber bullets, I would probably only consider this route if I notice a significant difference in recoil / impact-spotting between the 120gr vs. 140-147gr ELD variants. Will be testing that latter aspect that this weekend.

Update on the shooting experience side:

The big caveat here is that I'm a very new shooter; I imagine more experienced folks would notice a bigger difference, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt. But maybe they'll be useful to some.

But for me, adjustments to my form / technique made a much more significant difference than bullet weight when it came to my ability to spot impacts. (Biggest improvement I noticed came from spending more time settling my natural point of aim.)

I could notice the difference in felt recoil between the 120gr and 147gr ELD-M (both are very pleasant to shoot), but I haven't yet noticed a significant difference between the different bullets re: my sight picture after pulling the trigger. I just ordered a bunch of 120, 130, and 140gr ammo for practice throughout the summer; we'll see if I notice a bigger difference as I (hopefully) improve my technique.

(Setup is a Sig Cross 6.5, 18" factory barrel, Nomad Ti XC can. Total rifle weight should be about 10-11 lbs.)

 

[4th_point]

Update on the shooting experience side:

The big caveat here is that I'm a very new shooter; I imagine more experienced folks would notice a bigger difference, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt. But maybe they'll be useful to some.

But for me, adjustments to my form / technique made a much more significant difference than bullet weight when it came to my ability to spot impacts. (Biggest improvement I noticed came from spending more time settling my natural point of aim.)

I could notice the difference in felt recoil between the 120gr and 147gr ELD-M (both are very pleasant to shoot), but I haven't yet noticed a significant difference between the different bullets re: my sight picture after pulling the trigger. I just ordered a bunch of 120, 130, and 140gr ammo for practice throughout the summer; we'll see if I notice a bigger difference as I (hopefully) improve my technique.

(Setup is a Sig Cross 6.5, 18" factory barrel, Nomad Ti XC can. Total rifle weight should be about 10-11 lbs.)

Congrats. And thanks for posting a follow up.

Have you tried making adjustments to the stock?

 

[patagonialuke]

Congrats. And thanks for posting a follow up.

Have you tried making adjustments to the stock?

Ironically, the LOP and comb height I'm currently liking is roughly the baseline setup I started with (after trying several different settings this weekend). Turns out, I was initially rotating my head sideways onto the comb, rather than tilting my head forward / chin down. Was shooting much better after ~70 rounds this weekend. That + seeing elk from my house this week has me very excited for lots more practice in the future. Grateful for all the helpful info provided by members throughout this forum.

Will report back if I notice anything significant re: the original thread topic.

 

[4th_point]

Ironically, the LOP and comb height I'm currently liking is roughly the baseline setup I started with (after trying several different settings this weekend). Turns out, I was initially rotating my head sideways onto the comb, rather than tilting my head forward / chin down. Was shooting much better after ~70 rounds this weekend. That + seeing elk from my house this week has me very excited for lots more practice in the future. Grateful for all the helpful info provided by members throughout this forum.

Will report back if I notice anything significant re: the original thread topic.

Good job!

Have you tried translating (up/down) and rotating (cant) the buttpad?

One of those, and sometimes both, can further improve rifle motion which makes spotting impacts thru the scope easier.

Just make sure that whatever final position and orientation of the buttpad you choose, that it works across your expected shooting positions.

Shoot me a PM if don't want to clutter up the OP's thread. I've got some other model specific comments regarding your rifle too.

 

[4th_point]

Luke,

See pic...

 

[4th_point]

ztc,

Does your Rokstock have similar adjustment, as shown in the pic above?

 

[Castle Rock]

Interesting situation the other day
Shooting 147 and 130s side by side with the same load- 42.5 gn 4350 the lighter bullet seemed to recoil more.
Maybe it was coming back quicker?

 

[PaPete90]

Shooting my first 6.5 Creedmoor recently. I settled on 44.0gr H4350 and a 130 TMK at 2901fps. Very suprised how soft shooting that load is. I am used to larger cartridges.

Stock Tikka Superlight.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ztc92]

Finally found some time and loaded a few up for pressure testing. Here they are next to the 130 ELDM.

Hopefully shoot a few tomorrow to check for pressure and get a feel for recoil difference, if any.

Edit - This is the 107 TMK for anyone wondering.

 

[hereinaz]

Finally found some time and loaded a few up for pressure testing. Here they are next to the 130 ELDM.

Hopefully shoot a few tomorrow to check for pressure and get a feel for recoil difference, if any.

Edit - This is the 107 TMK for anyone wondering.

Geez, not much seated in the neck!!!

 

[Kcollins01]

I’d definitely try some hammers in it

 

[Brontosaurus]

Finally found some time and loaded a few up for pressure testing. Here they are next to the 130 ELDM.

Hopefully shoot a few tomorrow to check for pressure and get a feel for recoil difference, if any.

Edit - This is the 107 TMK for anyone wondering.

Very interested in your results!!

 

[AZ_Hunter]

Finally found some time and loaded a few up for pressure testing. Here they are next to the 130 ELDM.

Hopefully shoot a few tomorrow to check for pressure and get a feel for recoil difference, if any.

Edit - This is the 107 TMK for anyone wondering.

I would seat it a little deeper. But that’s just me. Post how it goes.

 

[ztc92]

Geez, not much seated in the neck!!!

I would seat it a little deeper. But that’s just me. Post how it goes.

Thank you both. I had that thought as well. Initially just seated them with the die set up for the 130’s and tbe OAL was just under mag length at 2.865” so I figured that should do.

I’m newer to reloading and realizing now after a bit of reading that the rule of thumb is a caliber width for seating depth, which I likely don’t have with the 107’s as they’re currently loaded. I’ll plan to seat them a bit deeper before shooting.

 

[hereinaz]

You’ll get better consistency with bullet release and I think better ES.

 

[ztc92]

Loaded them a bit shorter to 2.80 OAL and had a chance to shoot a few for pressure today. No issues with 43.5g of H4350.

Myself and a friend both shot them back to back compared to the 130 ELDM and both felt there was a slight but noticeable reduction in recoil.

I think this could be a great bullet for deer and may just try it this fall.

Next step is to find some more appropriate powder and see how the accuracy is with them.

 

[ztc92]

Did a lot of searching and found some reports of using ~40g of lever in a creedmore with lightweight bullets. Burn rate is similar to other powders listed in the loading manual for the 107 grain bullets. I have a few pounds of lever so decided to try it.

Loaded up a pressure ladder from 38-40g of lever with the 107 TMK’s. If there’s no pressure I’ll shoot some groups with 40g to see how they do.

 

[fishdart]

I’d definitely try some hammers in it

85gr Hammer Hunter should launch around 3400-3500fps in the 6.5CM.