Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 6.5 creedmoor

What powder would you start with for reloading 130 to 140 grain bullet weights. I have 2 lbs of h4350. But want other possible options since h4350 is getting hard to find.

What brass and bullets would you recommend for varmint. Not worried about hide damage. Im planning on using the 143 eld x for all around hunting bullet or a 130 grain accubond?

While I still use H4350 for the 6.5 Creed, I've also worked with Re17 and IMR4451 quite a bit. Both have been very promising and seem to be getting a lot of attention among Creed shooters with the pixie dust status of H4350.


As far as bullets for varmints and clanking steel, 136 and 139 Lapua Scenars have been great as well as the 140 AMAX or ELDM. That's a pretty small sampling of what is available right now in 6.5...lots of options.

RL16 and RL17. So far 16 is much faster, and 17 is 'slightly' more accurate. We're talking .2 better maybe. But I still need to work with 16 more. Both are fantastic. I actually prefer them to H4350.

As for bullets, I've only shot a handful, but the 140 ELD-M is simply amazingly accurate in my rifle with RL17.

How much faster?

Loads?

DF

Haven't even seen 16 or 4451 on the shelves yet? May have to make a trip or order online.

Is the Hornady brass good?

Which dies are you guys using for the 6.5 CM?

Yes, very good.

DF

+1 on the hornady brass....also run Nosler brass and have no problems after 6-8 reloads and still going.

For dies, I have the hornady full size and seater, the lee set with the collet neck sizer, and the Redding body die. My typical flow is collet neck size and hornady seater. If the shoulder needs a bump then the body die gets the call.

What kind of runout are you getting from the Hornady seater?

MM,

Using the sinclair runout tool and measured about a bullet diameter from the case mouth on the shank, I'm seeing 2-3 mils typically. Sometimes a 5 mil will show up. This is with the VLD stem in the seater and the vast majority of reloads being 139 Scenars.

That's better than I've regularly gotten from several Hornady seaters.

My 140 ELD-M accuracy load with RL17 (41.5 I think) is 2630 and with RL16 its ~2725 (43gn). Both can be pushed more. H4350 was slower than RL17.

Alternatives to H-4350 for the 130 - 140 class bullets:

Reloder-17,
Ramshot Hunter,
IMR-4451,
Norma URP,
Accurate 4350 (will be compressed, so may not work for you),
H-414/Win-760/Accurate 2700 show well in Hornady's manual. It's the only one of the list I have not used.

For varmints, Speer's 90-grain TNT lives up to its name. I have had good success with Accurate 4064 under that bullet. IMR-4895 also worked. The above list for the 140s may be a touch too slow for the 90-grain.

Thanks guys for the responses. I have a prairie dog town that will need some attention!

Than get this thing ready for next deer season!

Hornady's 6.5 Creedmoor data shows 44.7 gr. Superperformance at 2,800 fps with 143 gr. ELD-X, their fastest load.

Anyone using Superperformance in the Creedmoor?

DF

Now if I can locate a lb of Superformance to try out?

Boy-howdy!
Have burned over 16# of it in the Creedmoor, and have Pressure Trace data for it. Very stable across temps, and is very progressive in burning. What I found is that you can back off pressure by 10,000+ psi, and will only lose @50 fps because of the changing burning curve.

My first few lots were FAR slower than Hornady data (12%), the newest jug is spot on.

As to where to get it, it's all over the place.
Grafs, Midsouth, Bruno Shooters, etc.

That sounds like an excellent powder.

Thanks for that info. I already have a supply of SPF to work with.

I've heard that some of the new, high performance powders, like H100V, SPF, etc., tend to be more temp sensitive than some. And, I've read that temp sensitivity can be application specific, that is, all rounds don't necessarily handle a powder exactly the same way.

So, that's good to know. I'm gonna work up SPF Creed loads with 140's. I already have a tight shooting load, Varget with 120 NBT's. SPF may be a tad slow for the lighter bullets. Your thoughts on that.

DF

Correction on the 120 NBT 6.5 Creedmoor load, it was a 123 Scenar with Varget.

I'm loading my new 7-08 with 120 NBT's, must have had a senior moment...

DF

Nice shooting!