Was reading my Oct. '22 Handloader mag and really liked JB's article, "The 6.5 Creedmoor Again". I know that subject has been beat to death, but JB does a great job, as usual.
A couple of his loads caught my eye. The 140 VLD Hunting over 46 gr. RL-26 at 2,835 fps, posting .54" at a hundred. Now, that one has promise, gonna load some of those. Another was the 127 LRX over 44 gr. StaBALL, shot a .99" group. He was shooting a Vanguard First Lite, which seemed to perform very well. There were a number of great loads, those two tweaked my interest.
Thanks John, for your attention to detail and excellent articles.
DF
Thanks, glad you liked the article!
That's actually the third article I published in Handloader on the 6.5 Creedmoor. The first appeared in 2010, the second several years later, after a number of new powders and 6.5mm bullets had appeared. After that time the editor of HL said he wasn't going to run any more articles on it, because he was tired of looking at 'em--but had to change his mind after a bunch of subscribers kept demanding more info. Which is why he assigned me this latest one. As I pointed out, even a few powders have been introduced with the 6.5 Creedmoor in mind. But I don't plan on doing yet another "update" down the road.
I also found it interesting that some Campfire members still have to comment on any 6.5 Creedmoor article by stating their 6.5x55 or .260 will do the "same things," even do 'em better. I have owned several 6.5x55s and .260s, and have one of each now, a custom 6.5x55 on an FN Mauser commercial action rebarreled with a 1-8 Lilja by Charlie Sisk, and a Tikka T3 .260 with a 1-8 twist, part of a special run ordered by Whittaker Guns. They both shoot very well, in fact about as well as the average 6.5 Creedmoor factory rifle--though I had to lengthen the magazine on the Tikka to match typical Creedmoor accuracy. And neither the 6.5x55 or .260 will do so with factory ammo--IF you can find any.
John
