6.5 Creedmoor and Hornady load data

Lead hammer

Lead hammer

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So while looking online. I noticed lots running more H4350 than what's suggested in the manual. I tried up to 42grains. Very very little signs of pressure. It also seems to shoot great, but would need higher loads to see if it's accurate at say 42.1 42.2grains. I'm not sure if I should load hotter though, since Hornady say no.
Rifle Savage BA Stealth
24" barrel.
H4350
143 ELDx
Loaded to factory ammo length.
42 grains was 2711 FPS
 
I did some load testing with 6.5cm this weekend. Got up to 43.2gr of h4350 with no signs of pressure. Shooting a coyote 24in barrel. Lot of guys loading up in the 43s. Im going to be going with 42.7 @ 2750fps.
 
I would personally worry less about velocity and more about finding your upper accuracy node. I'm barely getting those velocities running 129gr projectiles in my Modern Hunter but I will always pick accuracy over velocity since you can dial in more elevation but you can't dial in more accuracy when stretching out the distance and looking for small groups. I do chronograph loads but I don't chase velocity, it's more to look for consistency from round to round than looking at how fast it is. You will also notice a nice increase in brass life if you're not pushing up to just below where you see signs of over-pressure and at over $1 each I want my 6.5 brass to last as long as possible.
I've only loaded with Hybrid 100V and just switched to Varget looking for more consistent results. I haven't tried H4350 yet.
 
cr5 said:
I would personally worry less about velocity and more about finding your upper accuracy node. I'm barely getting those velocities running 129gr projectiles in my Modern Hunter but I will always pick accuracy over velocity since you can dial in more elevation but you can't dial in more accuracy when stretching out the distance and looking for small groups. I do chronograph loads but I don't chase velocity, it's more to look for consistency from round to round than looking at how fast it is. You will also notice a nice increase in brass life if you're not pushing up to just below where you see signs of over-pressure and at over $1 each I want my 6.5 brass to last as long as possible.
I've only loaded with Hybrid 100V and just switched to Varget looking for more consistent results. I haven't tried H4350 yet.
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I agree with you 100%.
I'm not chasing velocity, but my test group (only 3 shots) was 3/8" at 100 meters with 42 grains.( max tested ) I will be loading and testing first between 41.4-41.7, as it looks good. ( combined 3/4" group when overlapping 41.4 and 41.7 ) 39.9-40.2 had some horizontal, but no vertical stringing at all, and should do a chronograph and ladder.
 
Lead hammer said:
I agree with you 100%.
I'm not chasing velocity, but my test group (only 3 shots) was 3/8" at 100 meters with 42 grains.( max tested ) I will be loading and testing first between 41.4-41.7, as it looks good. ( combined 3/4" group when overlapping 41.4 and 41.7 ) 39.9-40.2 had some horizontal, but no vertical stringing at all, and should do a chronograph and ladder.
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If you are seeing slight signs of over pressure at 42gr I would stop there and work down in small increments till you find a load with the smallest velocity spread. If you are seeing signs even if you do find an accurate node up there your brass won't last long.
Going by what you see on a target is useful but there are too many variables that can make you pass by a good load if you or the environment causes a little inconsistency and it doesn't look good on paper which is why I chronograph all my load development these days looking for the smallest extreme spread.
 
cr5 said:
If you are seeing slight signs of over pressure at 42gr I would stop there and work down in small increments till you find a load with the smallest velocity spread. If you are seeing signs even if you do find an accurate node up there your brass won't last long.
Going by what you see on a target is useful but there are too many variables that can make you pass by a good load if you or the environment causes a little inconsistency and it doesn't look good on paper which is why I chronograph all my load development these days looking for the smallest extreme spread.
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thanks for the reply. What about if I test and chrono at 42gr, and the ES is 30 or under? Would that indicate not over pressure? Just getting all the info before my next outing. Thanks again.
 
Lead hammer said:
thanks for the reply. What about if I test and chrono at 42gr, and the ES is 30 or under? Would that indicate not over pressure? Just getting all the info before my next outing. Thanks again.
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What signs were you seeing at 42gr?
If you like how it shoots and you don't mind replacing your brass more often then go for it.
It's up to you to decide if it's safe and if the tradeoff for reduced brass life is worth it.
 
No signs at 42. Can't tell factory fired vs 42gr reload brass. But I agree on wanting some brass life. I will work on the lower nodes first.
 
Lead hammer said:
No signs at 42. Can't tell factory fired vs 42gr reload brass. But I agree on wanting some brass life. I will work on the lower nodes first.
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If no signs then keep going up till you either hit a node you like the looks of or till you see pressure signs then back to the last best load to fine tune.
 
How do you know if you're experiencing pressure signs if you're not chronographing as you develop your loads? Velocity is a direct result of pressure, if you're getting book velocities you're reaching reccomended pressure limits.
 
leveractionjunkie said:
How do you know if you're experiencing pressure signs if you're not chronographing as you develop your loads? Velocity is a direct result of pressure, if you're getting book velocities you're reaching reccomended pressure limits.
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I usually do, but the lighting was all wrong, and the bay I was at it was not possible to set up my bipod to 10ft anyway. ( have to set up in a different bay ) Someone let me run the 42gr load by his lab radar. 2711fps. If I can't get a great group at my next outing at the lower powder charges, I may try Superformance next as I have a pound of it kicking around someplace.
 
leveractionjunkie said:
How do you know if you're experiencing pressure signs if you're not chronographing as you develop your loads? Velocity is a direct result of pressure, if you're getting book velocities you're reaching reccomended pressure limits.
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I've never seen the velocities the book prints and I've loaded for a lot of cartridges in a lot of rifles, I have multiple rifles in the same caliber and they all need their own load development, every barrel and chamber is different and those numbers are just the velocities they got when they shot that load through their test barrel.
Your looking for the most consistent round in your barrel so I usually start around 40-50% of the book published minimum and maximum (I also reference at least two current reloading manuals and a couple internet sources) till I find the load that produces the smallest average velocity spread which should in turn be the most consistent on the target if you shoot in perfect conditions and from a lead sled so there is absolutely no human error. Pressure signs are physical changes in the brass or primer like loose primer pockets, or flattened primers.
To make things harder there is more than one velocity that will produce a barrel harmonic that will release the bullet in the same place during the barrel whip to send the bullet smoothly and consistently downrange. That's why you keep loading hotter even after you find one of those sweet spots (nodes) hoping to find the next one before you see pressure signs. It's also why you never start at maximum published loads, what was safe in their gun could be over pressure in your barrel and chamber.
 
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leveractionjunkie said:
How do you know if you're experiencing pressure signs if you're not chronographing as you develop your loads? Velocity is a direct result of pressure, if you're getting book velocities you're reaching reccomended pressure limits.
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Further to what cr5 was saying, how your rifle is throated and how deep you seat your projectile can also allow you to attain higher velocities without pushing the pressure.
 
Just to further exemplify what has been mentioned above, I shoot a 6.5 CR with a 28" Shilen HV barrel. With 140 grain ELD-M's over 38.0 grains of H4350 I attain velocities of 2455 fps as measured with a MyLab Radar. At 100yds I get groups that are consistently in the 2's (best being 0.214"). If I punch all that data into a ballistics calculator (I use Shooter), it tells me that the bullet will still be supersonic at 1000yds. Having said all this, what is really the proof is real life application. Unfortunately I have been unable to test this because our range is limited to 200yds and that section of the range has been closed due to a bear problem.
 
Maybe I got a fast barrel but factory 140gr eld is runnig 2810 to 2840 and I have tried 140gr elite hunter at 43 gr of h4350 at 2870 and 147gr eld with 42gr h4350 with a 215m primer and am seeing 2830 on my lab radar chronograph. I am working on trying to get my sd under 10 I bought a couple bricks of new style packaging br2 primer and was around 15sd so trying some different primers I had pressure signs at 43gr h4350 with 215m got up to 2900fps, br2 primers were 2870 and fine but to much of a sd.
 
Eynhallow said:
Just to further exemplify what has been mentioned above, I shoot a 6.5 CR with a 28" Shilen HV barrel. With 140 grain ELD-M's over 38.0 grains of H4350 I attain velocities of 2455 fps as measured with a MyLab Radar. At 100yds I get groups that are consistently in the 2's (best being 0.214"). If I punch all that data into a ballistics calculator (I use Shooter), it tells me that the bullet will still be supersonic at 1000yds. Having said all this, what is really the proof is real life application. Unfortunately I have been unable to test this because our range is limited to 200yds and that section of the range has been closed due to a bear problem.
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It looks like your barrel may be slow, as Hornady shows the same velocity with a 24" barrel at your charge weight, but it sure shoots good at 100!!! Bear problem at a shooting range, scratching my head over that one....
 
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