N565 6.5 prc

[mlevimadden]

I don't have a comparator. Protruding primers ended up being my issue.

I saw pressure with N565 at 58.5gr with my 18" barrel at 2687fps so I'm loading 57.5gr too, which flies around 2664fps.

Sorry if you aren’t new to reloading and already know this, feel free to disregard. I think you might be based on the questions though.

Have you measured to the lands in your rifle? You really need to do this from a safety standpoint if you aren’t going to load to SAAMI length.

If you start seating bullets into the lands, you can get pressure spikes that will be dangerous with a hot load. If you don’t have a bullet comparator to measure to ogive this is even more reason to stay a little further from the lands, since your COAL measurement will have some variation.

I think the Hornady set is only like $30. Well worth it in my opinion for measuring loads and keeping from blowing yourself up. Happy and safe reloading!

 

[Kimber7man]

Tried some loads this weekend in my 20" PRC
156 EOL, Lapua brass, F210M, VV N565
58.5 grains got me 2,825 and great accuracy, ES under 20 and SD of 7.
58.0 = 2,800
57.5 = 2,770
57.0 = 2,760

My rifle now has 90 rounds down it so the barrel may start speeding up a little. Will try it again this coming weekend with 58.5 and 210M and 215M primers, see if the primer changes things any. If it keeps shooting well I may take it to Wyoming for cow elk next month.

 

[swavescatter]

I don't have a comparator. Protruding primers ended up being my issue.

I saw pressure with N565 at 58.5gr with my 18" barrel at 2687fps so I'm loading 57.5gr too, which flies around 2664fps.

Doesn’t seem right?

My 18” Tikka 6.5 Creedmoor is slinging 147’s at 2650 with 43g H4350. 2.9” COAL.

 

[Nine Banger]

Doesn’t seem right?

My 18” Tikka 6.5 Creedmoor is slinging 147’s at 2650 with 43g H4350. 2.9” COAL.

I'm at sea level. My 18" 6.5 CM with factory 147 ELD loads are usually in the 2400's to low 2500's.

So I wasn't surprised when the 6.5 PRC throws my handloads in the 2600's.

It is disappointing tho that with 14 more grains of powder and a lot more recoil all I get is 150-200fps.

 

[Backcast88]

Finally got back out to the range. Found 59g of n565 and 140 TGK is a slick setup in my Seekins.

Used CCI 200 primers and BTO length of 2.340” (COAL is 2.940”)





I played with StaBall HD and still get crap results compared to n565. Accuracy isn’t great, SD and ES are no good, and velocity isn’t that close to n565.

Luckily n565 isn’t hard to get locally and is cheaper than StaBall HD. For now, looks like n565 is all I’ll run in the Seekins.

 

[Kimber7man]

Results
5 shots F210M was 2,840 with ES 17 and SD 6
5 shots F215M was 2,855 with ES 21 and SD 6

The 210M grouped best. First shot fouler then 5 in one group.

 

[Remington92]

Sorry if this is a stupid question but Im going to start reloading reloading for my tikka 6.5prc chopped to 22". I've got 143eldx, 147eldm 210m and n565 to work with. I plan to load at factory mag length as thats my limit for the time being. I see most of yall are having success in the upper 50s gr for powder charge but the book max for the 147eldm is 48.9 with 215 primers. Do just load in 2gr increments or so and work up to pressure then start looking for accuracy from there where it seems the book is so conservative? I've been out of reloading for a few yrs but never had much success and was going to try forms method but he mentions going with book max or near book max and that appears to leave a lot on the table in this case.

 

[Shortschaf]

Do just load in 2gr increments or so and work up to pressure then start looking for accuracy from there where it seems the book is so conservative?

I would recommend 1gr increments.
I use book as a reference, but generally Im above or at max book values in my barrels. YMMV

 

[Harvey_NW]

Do just load in 2gr increments or so and work up to pressure then start looking for accuracy from there where it seems the book is so conservative? I've been out of reloading for a few yrs but never had much success and was going to try forms method but he mentions going with book max or near book max and that appears to leave a lot on the table in this case.

I agree with the recommendation above. After consulting with some experienced reloaders, it seems VV book data is extremely conservative. I ran a ladder in 1gr increments up to 59gr in hot weather and never got pressure signs, but velocity indicated I was up there. I loaded 10 at 58 and it produced a .6" group, done. It's worth noting I'm using ADG brass and had my chamber touched up with the AW2 reamer, so you may experience different results. Also, if you run it up there and stand on it, you'll likely deal with clickers after a couple firings depending on your chamber specs and brass.

 

[mlevimadden]

Sorry if this is a stupid question but Im going to start reloading reloading for my tikka 6.5prc chopped to 22". I've got 143eldx, 147eldm 210m and n565 to work with. I plan to load at factory mag length as thats my limit for the time being. I see most of yall are having success in the upper 50s gr for powder charge but the book max for the 147eldm is 48.9 with 215 primers. Do just load in 2gr increments or so and work up to pressure then start looking for accuracy from there where it seems the book is so conservative? I've been out of reloading for a few yrs but never had much success and was going to try forms method but he mentions going with book max or near book max and that appears to leave a lot on the table in this case.

I agree with Shortschaf and Harvey above. 2 gr is a big jump in powder for the 6.5 PRC case. I did 0.5 gr increments for my ladder. You can do 2 gr jumps at the bottom if you start at 50 gr, but I wouldn't make those size jumps once you're into the upper 50 gr range.

The VV load book is extremely conservative on loads. For my ladder, I did 54-60 gr of N565 in 0.5 gr increments. I started getting mild pressure signs at 58.5 gr in hot weather and had heavy bolt lift and deep ejector swipes at 59.5, so I'm loading at 57.5 gr for my rifle. If you're using a low capacity brass (ADG) you may hit pressure earlier. You will also probably run out of case room at factory length before you can fit 60 gr of N565.

My load info:
Tikka T3 w/ 20" PVA 6.5 PRC Prefit
147 ELDM seated 0.020" off the lands
Norma brass
Fed 210M primer
57.5 gr N565

My setup is only running 2760 fps out of the 20" barrel but 10 round groups are consistently at 1 MOA.

*Disclaimer: This setup is for my rifle and reloading setup. You need to do your own work-up to determine where pressure occurs.*