6.5 06 ai

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profesional 111

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ok so i finaly got my dies for the 6.5 -06 AI
58.5 gr Reloader 26 was the sweet spot. no pressure signs.
3045 fps shooting .3MOA @100 yds.
135 gr classic hunter bergers.
26 inch benchmark barrel on a remington Action.

I tried to go higher with the powder charge in .5 gr increments and the groups started to open up.

would be nice to keep this thread going and Ad info to it if there was any to share.
Merry X mass.
 
profesional 111 said:
ok so i finaly got my dies for the 6.5 -06 AI
58.5 gr Reloader 26 was the sweet spot. no pressure signs.
3045 fps shooting .3MOA @100 yds.
135 gr classic hunter bergers.
26 inch benchmark barrel on a remington Action.

I tried to go higher with the powder charge in .5 gr increments and the groups started to open up.

would be nice to keep this thread going and Ad info to it if there was any to share.
Merry X mass.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you have found your perfect load already šŸ‘šŸ˜ŠRJ
 
How are you forming your brass? Necking up/down .25-06 or .30-06 brass and fire forming them or necking down .280AI brass?
 
bcsteve said:
How are you forming your brass? Necking up/down .25-06 or .30-06 brass and fire forming them or necking down .280AI brass?
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i used 15 gr of H110 pistol powder and 25-06 brass. stuffed rolled up paper towel in the necks and did it in my shop . worked great. I did notice that there was a few that were not quite 100% formed at the shoulder. but after once through the sizing die they shot great and all of them after the first shot were perfect.
 
I ended up buying 2 more # of RL25 after I tried it. I had tried RL25 in 264WM, where it was failure. On three shot group , the velocity increased dramatically with each shot . This is the opposite of most loads, where they decrease as the rifle warms up and loosens. But in the 6.5-06 it behaved itself, and gave accuracy worthy of stocking it. Those three # will last me forever.
 
profesional 111 said:
ok so i finaly got my dies for the 6.5 -06 AI
58.5 gr Reloader 26 was the sweet spot. no pressure signs.
3045 fps shooting .3MOA @100 yds.
135 gr classic hunter bergers.

I tried to go higher with the powder charge in .5 gr increments and the groups started to open up.
Click to expand...

Seems like low velocity for a 135 in a case like that, especially for being an AI. I would keep climbing if you haven't hit pressure. You said your groups opened up, but I bet there is another node higher up and they will shrink again. Or else I would try H1000. In my rifles that I have tried RL26 (300 win mag and 6.5 PRC) i've been less than impressed with the velocity, accuracy and ES/SD. I switched to H1000 and saw huge gains instantly. My 300 win mag shot a mild load of H1000 with a 208 Berger at 3050 fps (200fps higher then RL26) with a ES of 12 and SD of 8 and it shot a "ragged hole" 5 shot group at 200 yards fairly consistent, and held sub moa out to 900 yards if I did my part, I never tried it any further than that.

My 6.5 PRC had the same results. I shoot a 147 ELD-M at 2950 out of a 24" barrel with H1000. Again single digit ES/SD and slight pressure. With RL26, I hit my max pressure at 2800fps and couldn't get less than 0.75 MOA at 100 yards no matter what I tried. Tried playing with seating depth, tried different primers (CCI 200, Fed210, Fed 210 Gold Medal and then the Federal 215 Gold Medal Magnum) and my ES/SD was stupid high. I didn't even write it down I was so disappointed. So I cannot remember exact, but it was well over 30 FPS on both.

This is the beauty of rollin your own, you can experiment all you want. Play with it a bit, if you don't find better results or aren't happy with it, you can mess around till you are. If you don't find anything else that shoots as good as your load above, you have your original load to use and enjoy!!

Good luck and Merry Christmas!!
 
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Looks like you've already found "The Load" for that bullet, so there's little more to be said. Very accurate and very close to top MV at sane pressures. As for me, I'd probably still play around a bit to see what else might work well.

I don't have a 6.5-06 AI, just a 6.5-06 and I find that I run out of space with Reloder 26 before pressure (and velocity) maxes out. How close to full is 57.5 grs? If you just must have more MV, you could go to a full case of Reloder 26 or look at something a little faster Like IMR7828 ir IMR7977. I'd even try CFE223 (which is a fair bit faster than Reloder 26) as I've had excellent results with it in the 6.5-06 with medium weight bullets.

A tip - 6.5-06 AI loads approximate 270 Win loads for all bullet weights. You can generally use a 270 Win load that's 1/3 of the way between Min and Max as a Max 6.5-06 AI Load. There are many more 270 Win loads than there are 6.5-06 AI, so that can be a help.
 
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Andy said:
Looks like you've already found "The Load" for that bullet, so there's little more to be said. Very accurate and very close to top MV at sane pressures. As for me, I'd probably still play around a bit to see what else might work well.

I don't have a 6.5-06 AI, just a 6.5-06 and I find that I run out of space with Reloder 26 before pressure (and velocity) maxes out. How close to full is 57.5 grs? If you just must have more MV, you could go to a full case of Reloder 26 or look at something a little faster Like IMR7828 ir IMR7977. I'd even try CFE223 (which is a fair bit faster than Reloder 26) as I've had excellent results with it in the 6.5-06 with medium weight bullets.

A tip - 6.5-06 AI loads approximate 270 Win loads for all bullet weights. You can generally use a 270 Win load that's 1/3 of the way between Min and Max as a Max 6.5-06 AI Load. There are many more 270 Win loads than there are 6.5-06 AI, so that can be a help.
Click to expand...
Ok thats great info.
Thanks.
happy holidays.
 
hunter-4-life said:
Seems like low velocity for a 135 in a case like that, especially for being an AI. I would keep climbing if you haven't hit pressure. You said your groups opened up, but I bet there is another node higher up and they will shrink again. Or else I would try H1000. In my rifles that I have tried RL26 (300 win mag and 6.5 PRC) i've been less than impressed with the velocity, accuracy and ES/SD. I switched to H1000 and saw huge gains instantly. My 300 win mag shot a mild load of H1000 with a 208 Berger at 3050 fps (200fps higher then RL26) with a ES of 12 and SD of 8 and it shot a "ragged hole" 5 shot group at 200 yards fairly consistent, and held sub moa out to 900 yards if I did my part, I never tried it any further than that.

My 6.5 PRC had the same results. I shoot a 147 ELD-M at 2950 out of a 24" barrel with H1000. Again single digit ES/SD and slight pressure. With RL26, I hit my max pressure at 2800fps and couldn't get less than 0.75 MOA at 100 yards no matter what I tried. Tried playing with seating depth, tried different primers (CCI 200, Fed210, Fed 210 Gold Medal and then the Federal 215 Gold Medal Magnum) and my ES/SD was stupid high. I didn't even write it down I was so disappointed. So I cannot remember exact, but it was well over 30 FPS on both.

This is the beauty of rollin your own, you can experiment all you want. Play with it a bit, if you don't find better results or aren't happy with it, you can mess around till you are. If you don't find anything else that shoots as good as your load above, you have your original load to use and enjoy!!

Good luck and Merry Christmas!!
Click to expand...

Ok good to know. I do have some h1000 so maybe i will give that a go .
thanks for the input.
and happy holidays .
 
profesional 111 said:
Some range results .
57 gr reloader 26 .
federal match primers 215 m.
156 gr berger EOL.
2996 fps . No rel signs of pressure.
.3 moa.


same loads except 58gr .2moa. showing some pressure but very accurate.
will load up the 57 and call er good.
Click to expand...

I have experience with the 155 gr lapua bullet in my 6.5-06: https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/for...5907-Seven-155-gr-Bullet-Loads-for-the-6-5-06

By my reckoning, regardless of the apparent lack of "pressure signs", you're at least a bit over SAAMI pressure. The 6.5-06 AI gains only a few grs of powder capacity and hence perhaps 50 fps over the 6.5-06 with a 155 gr bullet. Add perhaps 100 fps for your longer barrel.

Reloder 33 is about the perfect powder with that bullet IMO.
 
just an update for you all . I have been playing with this 6.5 /06 AI here for a year now. Not sure if i have ever owned a caliber that i like so much. I started using the federal 210 match primers and have my es to within 12 fps. Using 57 grains of reloader 26 2950fps. Using the 156 berger EOL.
I shot two groups back to back with it at 400 yards the other day. one measured .4 of an inch. the other was .5 of an inch. Not MOA actually that was group size at 400. the farthest i reached out to was 650 yards . where i was able to shoot two groups under 2.5 inches.
I need 11.75 MOA to hit bullseye at 650 for anyone thats interested in some data.
Mitch Kendal put this rifle together for me and he did a very good job.
its got a leupold vx 5 3to 15 x44 firedot.duplex. 26 inch #3 benchmark fluted barrel ss.Remington 700 action with a Vartac Hunter wildcat stock on it. For a hunting rifle this thing is deadly.
I have fine tuned the fireforming process to using 25/06 brass. size up to 6.5/06 . 48 gr of imr4350 120 gr sieara spitzers just so i dont waste my better bullets. load em to the lands half a turn in on the die and go plink . way funner than using cornmeal and pistol powder and way less mess as well they are 100% fireformed when you do it this way first try.
Once this is done it easy just run em through the ackley full length die just like any other caliber.
Hope you wildcatters found this interesting or helpful.

Note. I would say i am at the top end of my pressure range. no sticky bolts but some signs of pressure showing on the primers . i have used it in the summer and the winter from plus 20 to 0 celcius ...
 
back to back 0.1moa groups!

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