What did you do in the reloading room today?

[Darren_8167]

Last night, I loaded up ten 6 mm ARC cartridges with 75g Tipped Hammer Hunter bullets for an upcoming hunt.

I am interested in your results. My next build will be a 6mm. The ARC is on the short list. I will more than likely be shooting Hammers out of it here in California.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Finally got out to shoot the 6.5 WSM tonight. I had 20 loaded up, and shot 3 (middle), adjusted zero, shot 9 (bottom), adjusted zero, and shot last 8 at the top target. I was shooting prone behind the house and didn't have a rear bag, so for the last 8 I tucked my green shell holder under the stock with my hand. I pulled one shot something awful, but the remaining 7 covered up the 1" dot pretty good. Damn can mirage was awful even in 50 degree weather. One of these days I'll get a cover. Anyway, no MV tonight as I was just shooting for groups, but I'll load up another 20 and report back with MV when I can. To try to keep the barrel cool, I fired 3 shot strings and gave it a few minutes between mags.

This is the 3rd Tikka I've loaded for that has worked out on the first load. Thanks to @Formidilosus for all the tips! The following threads have been invaluable.

- Painless load dev
- Bonding a picatinny rail
- Scope mounting to maintain zero

Got out for MV test this morning. I removed the can to prevent errors, and the bayonet required moving about 2" back towards the muzzle after every shot, re-tighten, etc..., so I'm not sure how confident I am in the numbers. Fired 10, and of course the Magneto errored on 2, but I got the following data on the 8 rounds captured. However, should be good enought to true at distance.

147 ELDM
66 grains of N565
Hornaday brass and primer
24.3" Tikka OEM barrel

8 shot results:
3,094 Avg MV
3,121 Hi
3,070 Lo
22 SD
51 ES

I took a backpack stuffed with a coat with me for a rear bag, and other than a couple shots I pulled, the 10 shot group was respectable. The POI without the can shifted higher, but the windage was still good. According to Berger calc, this load retains more than 1,800fps beyond 1,000 yards. There is probably a little MV left on the table, and the barrel may speed up some (round count <50). However, assuming it trues up at range, I don't see a lot of value in messing with the recipe and using up barrel life and components.

 

[minas stiris]

Too hot to be outside much this week; good time to work up some loads for deer hunting season. This morning it's Hornady's 225 gr FTX with
20 grs H-110 for the .44 Mag.