Today I called a bullet company I never heard of before. The webpage is http://www.alcobullets.com/ The guy has 6.5 bullets from 80 grains to 160 grains. He claims a BC of .829for the 160. I figured if they are even close I will love them. He charged less than $50 for fifty bullets including shipping and handling. He said they will open up clear down to 2,500 feet per second. I think that will get me to 700 yards!

I'm still waiting for the trigger for my big 6.5 so it will be awhile before I give a report on them.

What chambering will you be using?

Very Interesting - Thanks for posting!

David

slm9s,



I necked down a .300 RUM and pushed the shoulder back about .100" to create a longer neck. It holds 109 grains of powder to the top of the neck. It holds 101 grains with a Barnes LRX 127 grainer. It will push a Nosler AB 140 to at least 3,400 feet per second. I have not pushed it to see where pressure signs start. Ben at Hornady named it 6.5RUMLN.

After the .26 Nosler came out I discovered mine is only 6% larger. But they use a short neck, so I would not use that cartridge.

That 160 VLD will probably take a 1-7 twist!

I'm hoping to make it work with an 8" twist. We will find out with they get here.

They will open down to 2500fps? or 1500?

David

Color me skeptical on that BC claim

That's what struck me too. I went on the website, there's nothing in writing on BCs, just "Call for details."

I was skeptical on Noslers ABLR BC claims and it turned out to be rightly so!

This looks like either a bullet that is so long that it will be hard to stabilize or voodoo BC- maybe it has little vanes that pop out after it leaves the muzzle??

On the bright side, it appears safariman has found work.

^^^^ what he said, Expanding down to 2500fps is not a good choice for a LRH bullet IMHO.

Canazes9,



He said 2,500 because that is the number I asked about. With a starting velocity of 3,250 feet per second it arrives at 700 yards with slightly more than that. Right now 700 yards is a very long range to me. He didn't volunteer much. I had to ask about anything I wanted to know.

Except he did start talking about drag racing in the old days. Something I did about fifty years ago.

I went to rifle barrel twist site and discovered it theoretically will stabilize in an 8" twist.

How long is it? A 160gr 6.5 is going to be pretty damn chubby if it wants to fit in just about any mag, isn't it?

cast10K,



I didn't get the third digit, but I did hear him say 1.5?" When I checked for twist, I used 1.55". It about a 1/16" longer than the ELD-X 143.

Long or chubby, you can't have both.

That's what she said....

6.5mm 160GR RBT-AT $81.00 100Ct BC=0.829 OAL 1.519 1:7.5" twist

This is the Info i got from him when i was talking to him about the 160gr VLD aluminum tipped bullets. For referance the 140gr hybrid berger is only 1.407" long.

So my question is why do you need a 160gr VLD with a (static) BC (not tested)BC of 0.829, when you can use a 140gr berger vld at 1/2 the cost per bullet? Your only shooting to 700yards that isnt going to make much difference. If you were trying to shoot say 1500yards yes i could see the need for this.

If your shooting for Extreme Long range Hunting you need a bullet that will open and expand at lower FPS, still have enough engery to kill and have a high BC to carry you that far.

The BC of this boutique bullet will not be significantly higher than Bergers BC because the mass is the same. Maybe not be as good. Been through this scnerio before.

jwp475,
You tried these? What velocity did you get?

I would try Marshalls Matrix 150gr VLD before these things. But that is just me.

Not tried these but I have tried boutique bullets with abnormally high BC claims. "The old saying "if it sounds too good to be true" comes to mind.

I think you're correct.

Good point Danny.

Jwp, are you saying the mass of the Berger 140 is the same as this 160?

I will go out on the proverbial limb and say that this bullet can't have a G1 BC of .829, That is higher than ANYTHING Berger makes in ANY caliber including the 230 grain 30 cal and 300 grain 338 cal.

In order to see a BC of .8+ one needs to go to lathe turned, heavy .338s and .375 from vendors such as Cutting Edge.

I don't know where they came up with the fairy dust to boost the BC by .229 over any of the very best VLD bullets out there!

Keep us posted.

dennisinaz,

I hoped on the LRAB and was disappointed. I was hoping on the ELD-X and discovered they are not recommended for impacts higher than 2,500 feet per second. If these are even in the .700 range, they are going to be better than the others.....I hope.

No, I worded my post incorrectly, as assumed Berger made a 160 and they do not.

LRAB are a perfect example of Nosler not actually testing the BC of thier bullets, Here is brian Litz tests for them. Can you say Nosler inflated that BC, yes but they probably on came up with a static BC.



With your 2500fps impact velocity at 700yards why not use a cutting edge mono vld? I think barnes recommends something like 2000FPS minium impact velocity to get good expansion. Super fast cartridges like the RUM's & WBY do well with barnes inside the reasonable shooting of 500yards becuase the bullet is going fast enough to expand reliably!

SO like i said if your only going to shoot to 700yards with a big A$$ case like a RUM then you dont need a super high BC bullet becuase your limiting yourself to 700yards.

also the BC for the 143gr ELD-X is G1.625 G7.315 Thats proven with the new equipment they used to test with.
http://www.hornady.com/store/6.5mm-.264-143-gr-ELD-X
Looks like they sure can survive 2500fps impact. look at the bullet in the link 2660FPS looks pretty good to me. But thats just me.

Danny1788,

The tech at Hornady told me the 6.5 143 will not survive an impact velocity above 2,500 feet per second. The problem I have with the monometal bullets is the amount of wind drift at my longer ranges. Lack of wind drift has been my criteria for wanting a high BC bullet.

Last year I used the Barnes LRX 127 at 3,250 feet per second. It was spectacular on a 420 pronghorn. It was so devastating on a small Western Oregon buck the near side shoulder came off with the skin. The entrance hole in the chest was 3" across! But the BC is less than .500. What's the BC of the "cutting edge mono vld"?

The Cutting edge VLDs are similar to Bergers in 6.5. In the .600 somewhere.

Aha! The eternal search for the magical bullet!

6.5 Ultra Mag? you should get just enough rounds to find a load, then barrel is toast. Much better choices out there, but have fun....

Well there's that - as well as needing 100+ grains of powder and .800+ bc bullet to reach waaaayyy out to 700 yards.

tonyb,

That is the beauty of the threads on the action and barrel. I think I will get a few more rounds down range than the typical developer of loads. I fire only one round and wait for the barrel to cool back to ambient. Afterall I am only interested in the first round from a cold barrel in a hunting situation.

cast10K,



Actually I will most likely be using somewhere between 85 and 90 grains of powder to get the velocity I expect. And yes 700 yards is "waaaayy out" there for this beginner. Everyone starts where they are and hopefully get better. Less wind drift will certainly help.

Here is a good bc 160gr bullet http://matrixballistics.com/.264-Caliber-rifle-bullets.html
also if want a good hunting bullet the 160gr Woodleigh PPSN is a good performer and I have pushed it to 3261fps with my 264WM with 73gr of H570 with a 30 inch Shilen barrel with
1 in 8 twist. It does show signs of pressure.
http://www.woodleighbullets.com.au/bullet-lists/traditional/264q-333q

264wm,

Thanks for the links. I bet I'm not the only one to check them out.

Reading wind might be a challenge but passing wind comes rather natural.

$50 for 50? Ouch.