6.5 CM lower pressure/practice loads? Brass live?
- Thread starter Joel
- Start date
Brass life is probably mostly related to sizing. Neck sizing only would give the longest brass life but it is possible to set up FL dies to minimally size the cases. Annealing will mostly eliminate neck cracking. I think Ultimate Reloader managed 70+ firings on a single case.
Outside of hot +P loads, I doubt that reduced loads would make much difference to brass life.
Reduced loads would certainly lengthen barrel life but I bet your barrel has a longer life than you have components to shoot through it. A barrel will certainly cost a lot less then the components needed to burn out the throat.
Thanks! I appreciate the answer!
If I can be patient enough to keep the rifle from getting too hot, at 300-400 rounds per year, sounds like a 6.5 CM will be good for about 7- 8 years, depending on accuracy requirements.
I have very limited experience with shooting out brass.
I do play around with reduced loads in many calibres for fun and to conserve a bit of powder. I can always crank them back up to their recipes at need.
One think I have noticed is much reduced brass "growth" between firings in my 308 and 243.
I use FL dies only and am not set up to anneal yet. I remove the expander ball and neck size with mandrels.
Using this method and 70% loads in my 308, I see virtually no brass growth after 10 firings and cant foresee a need to trim brass for a long time yet.
Haven't done this with my 6.5CDM as my main purpose for that platform is to get good at long range.
I do play around with reduced loads in many calibres for fun and to conserve a bit of powder. I can always crank them back up to their recipes at need.
One think I have noticed is much reduced brass "growth" between firings in my 308 and 243.
I use FL dies only and am not set up to anneal yet. I remove the expander ball and neck size with mandrels.
Using this method and 70% loads in my 308, I see virtually no brass growth after 10 firings and cant foresee a need to trim brass for a long time yet.
Haven't done this with my 6.5CDM as my main purpose for that platform is to get good at long range.
where can these so called nodes be found? They seem mysterious!
I personally use 36.4gr of Varget on 140gr Nosler bullet (Hornady reloading manual recipe) and 38gr of Varget with 140gr Nosler (random internet forum recipe). I found it either it shoots through the same hole or spreads a bit due to weather or shooter error. Now as for the main poster's question of extending barrel life. Let the barrel cool (don't get too hot) and something that could be debated is not to clean the barrel too often as the dirtiness protects the rifling (this is all theory so I can't prove this one). Definitely lower charges on the loads would help for barrel life. For brass I believe someone up top mentioned annealing and using the low end of the charge scale (-10% of maximum load/avoid the red section) on a reloading manual is good for brass.
What exactly are the accuracy parameters of the barrel in question?
MDT did a test where they heated up an IBI barrel hot enough to cook bacon on it , IIRC it was something like 1,000 rounds non stop!
It was taken off, scrubbed to the point where it was clean again, reinstalled, and was still shooting just about 1 MOA.
That barrel will outlive most average shooters .
For a hunting rifle at distances out to 500 meters It will kill a deer every time
Cat
MDT did a test where they heated up an IBI barrel hot enough to cook bacon on it , IIRC it was something like 1,000 rounds non stop!
It was taken off, scrubbed to the point where it was clean again, reinstalled, and was still shooting just about 1 MOA.
That barrel will outlive most average shooters .
For a hunting rifle at distances out to 500 meters It will kill a deer every time
Cat
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I developed a 6.5CM load for a friends young daughter using 4895 and 100gr bullets. The goal was to produce less recoil for her, and a 100gr bullet at 2600fps did accomplish that, while maintaining moa accuracy. Using a FL neck bushing die to minimize working of the brass, some cases have had well over a dozen firings, with no annealing, and so far, they are holding up fine.
Thats cool!
Using the starting load data from Hornady and Nosler for 100gr bullets and I think it was TAC and 748, I was hit in the face by gas from two different Tikkas. Perhaps the cases didn't expand enough to fill the chamber?
My friends rifle is also a T-3 zero issues with 4895
I normally start my loads via OCW at 100, you can see the average bullet impact similarities and differences. Then I do OSD, then fine tune both at 300. You don’t have to call it a node if you don’t want to.
back40sniper
CGN Regular
- Location
- South east Sask.
Hogdon recommends H4895 for reduced loads so maybe it pressures up quicker and therefore seals chamber better?
Have you ever tested the best OCW and best seating depth against the worst OCW / seating depth?
No, as the idea behind an OCW/OSD you are not looking for the best group per se, at least early on in testing. You look for an area that the bullets impact in the same location as their neighbors, or if you are expecting an increase in temp in the afternoon, you would be able to get away with a greater temp change. If I picked a bad OCW, that had a bad neighbor, it obviously won’t be consistent enough to shoot well.
748 would be a great powder to play around with when using the lighter bullets. It has quite a low flame temperature compared to most powders. Very good at extending barrel life, especially if running a lower than max charge weight. Also it's usually quite affordable. Temp sensative, but great for general purpose.
