6.5 CM Load Development

Well I ain't got much better to do when the weather won't cooperate and we're all stuck at home, so I worked up a load for my 6.5 Creedmoor.

I utilized Scott Satterlee's 10 Round Load Development test method (which is available all over the internet).  I found 2 nodes for the specific bullet weight I was using (120 grain).  I went with the higher powder grain weight in hopes of filling the case and therefore maintaining better consistency (so I thought).

From there, I started playing with bullet seating depth and shot 5 rounds each of bullets seated at -10, -20, and -30 thousandths off the lands of the barrel (do the math, that's 15 rounds total).  I found that I was not able to get adequate accuracy from this bullet and gave up on it.  Oh, I will add here that I am shooting all bullets with my SureFire suppressor on the firearm. 

I then switched to two heavier bullets and performed the same tests as outlined above.  The heaviest bullet, a 147 grain Hornady, punched the paper well enough to consider it my choice for hunting.

What struck me as odd was that RePhil was able to shoot the lighter bullets very well from his gun - and they are the exact same make & model - Browning X-Bolts from their custom shop.  So the gun is capable.  Maybe it's the user?

So, having plenty of time on my hands, I went back to the Satterlee test and picked a node that was about 1 grain lighter than before for the 120 grain bullets.  I loaded up 5 rounds each, seated at different depths, and returned to the range.

What I was able to accomplish with this load shocked me.  Using the -10 thousandths loads, I put all 5 rounds into one ragged hole from 100 yards.  The group measured 0.53" (13.4mm) across.  I was seated at a bench, the front of the gun was supported by a rubber block, the rear of the gun was on my shoulder with my elbow resting on the bench.  No Caldwell rest.  Just me and the gun.

I am not sure that my poor eye-sight can produce anything better with the set-up as it is.  I consider it magical and I was quite happy with those results.  Needless to say, I came back to the bench and loaded up the remaining bullets I had - and then I ordered 200 more!

I am not sure if this bullet becomes a hunting round or not, but for sure I can take it out to 1,000 yards and play with it.  Should I miss, I cannot blame the components, only the nut at the end of the butt plate.

 
Happy with this?  Proud?  Damn Straight!
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cleaning Winchester SX3 / SX4 Shotguns

Image
The Winchester SX4 is my Go To shotgun for everything - clays, doves, ducks, geese, pheasants, whatever.  It is an awesome firearm.  The drawback?  There are multiple moving parts and a few of them like to collect carbon.  And this carbon sticks as if it were put on those parts with super glue! Specifically, the magazine tube and the gas piston are the main carbon collectors.  Those parts come out more black than silver & gold. The inner components of an SX3 / SX4 with highlights where carbon will form So what is my trick for cleaning those bits?  I drop the gas piston into my Hornady sonic cleaner.  Inside the cleaner I put in about a cup of Hornady's One Shot Sonic Clean Solution for gun parts, add some DI water, a couple squirts of Dawn liquid dish soap, and then top it off with a dash or two of the citrus version of Dr. Bronner's pure castile liquid soap.  I have found that the citrus Dr. Bronner's is awesome at removing grease and oil.  All of that bakes in the son
Read more

Winchester SX4 Trigger Assembly Update

Image
First, you need to read the post immediately before this one to understand why I had to take my Winchester SX4 shotgun apart - all the way apart - specifically the trigger assembly. Second, my bad.  I had neglected to clean the gun after returning from last October's pheasant trip.  I had about one bale of grass seed inside that gun, which in the end, may have kept the #8 pellet from getting out on its own.  Shame. Finally, I did not give up.  I watched four different YouTube videos on how to disassemble and reassemble the trigger group.  Sadly, no one did the SX4, only the previous version, the SX3.  Close enough.  Why did it take 4 videos?  Because no one explained HOW the damn sear goes back in.  Everyone either ASSUMED we all know how OR in two cases, the reassembly process was out of the camera frame.  Aggravating! The key, and this is more for me to remember, was on the fourth video, the author said, "The sear kinda slides down into a channel in the housing."  Bam. 
Read more

Determine Sex of Deer from Tracks

Image
It IS possible to determine from a set of tracks whether the deer you are tracking is a doe (female) or a buck (male).  And, it's actually pretty simple if you know a few facts about deer. First, you have to know what a deer track looks like.  Deer leave a track that looks like the outline of a heart. Next, you have to know the direction of travel.  Deer are moving toward the "pointy" end of the heart.  So in the above example, the deer is traveling toward the top of this post, or up. Here is an actual photo of deer tracks in the wild so you can get a better idea.  Again, this deer is traveling up, or towards the top of this page.  (It is also clear that this deer was STANDING, not walking - well clear enough to me.  Read on to find out why I know that). Sometimes if the ground is soft or if the deer is traveling really fast (jumping), the track left will show the deer's dew claws at the rear of the direction traveling, like so: The two little "
Read more