6.5 Creedmoor Powder

686 Shooter

686 Shooter

Regular
Rating - 100%
5   0   0
Greetings fellow Nutz.

I recently became the proud owner of a Ruger Precision Rifle chambered for 6.5 Creedmoor. I want to start reloading and from the info I found, H4350 is the go to powder for this cartridge. However right now H4350 is about as easy to find as common sense in the House of Commons.

The internet is full of info on other powders but I want to ask the folks this site if anyone has had any good experience with other powders in the 6.5 CM? I've got some Varget and some H380 in the gun room so if anyone has had any luck with either of these let me know. I'm heading to Calgary this weekend and hope to pick up some reloading supplies.

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.
 
Don't know how much this will help.

I have 6.5 that I set up for hunting so only needed "bambi accurate" out to 200 yards max for my style of hunting.

Since I also shoot 7.08 and 243 and have a good bit of varget on hand I loaded 120 grain A-Frames with 35 to 37 grains and found 36.2 grains to be what worked for me.

The Varget does give you less velocity, I was getting just shy of 2800 at my 36.2 grain load, but I don't load hot and never load for pure speed.
 
With 140 class bullets : Alliant RL16, Ramshot Hunter, Win760, H414, Alliant RL19, Hodgdon H100V, IMR 4350, IMR 4955 should all be able to provide top notch accuracy.
 
686 Shooter said:
Greetings fellow Nutz.

I recently became the proud owner of a Ruger Precision Rifle chambered for 6.5 Creedmoor. I want to start reloading and from the info I found, H4350 is the go to powder for this cartridge. However right now H4350 is about as easy to find as common sense in the House of Commons.

The internet is full of info on other powders but I want to ask the folks this site if anyone has had any good experience with other powders in the 6.5 CM? I've got some Varget and some H380 in the gun room so if anyone has had any luck with either of these let me know. I'm heading to Calgary this weekend and hope to pick up some reloading supplies.

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

Any of H4895, H380, and Varget will work. Pick one and work up a decent load. I have tried both H4895 and Varget with 130 and 140gr BTHP and poly tipped bullets. While both work, H4350 seems to work the best so that is what I use. I have settled on Varget for the .308 and the H4895 mainly for my .223 although it tends to find its way into all sorts of brass. Very versatile powder. I have never used H380 so I can't personally comment other than to say Hodgdon lists it as a possible powder for the 6.5CM on their web page.
 
I'm using Varget with 129gr SST's in my Modern Hunter and getting around 1 moa fairly consistently. I've also used Hybrid 100V with good results but switched away from it since Varget is more temp stable and ended up producing slightly better groups.
Cabela's had IMR4350 in stock the other day but no Hodgdon :(
 
During the powder shortage my buddy ran out of 4350 so we tried some imr 4166 in his 6.5 CM. Accuracy was consistently sub moa with both of us shooting groups.

Seems to be a decent powder from the testing we did even though I was stinking it would be a tad too fast but it worked VERY well.
 
I would not load either H380 or 4895 in a 6.5 unless I was loading 120 gr or lighter. Even for a 120, they are a bit fast. As listed in the other posts, for 140 gr type bullets, powders in the 4350 to 4831 range are what you want.
 
Ganderite said:
I would not load either H380 or 4895 in a 6.5 unless I was loading 120 gr or lighter. Even for a 120, they are a bit fast. As listed in the other posts, for 140 gr type bullets, powders in the 4350 to 4831 range are what you want.
Click to expand...

I have used H4895 with 130gr Hornady ELD-M and SMK. Works fine from the results and speeds I was getting. I have used Varget with 130,140, 142gr SMK, and 130,140 Berger, and 130, 140 Hornady ELD-M. Works fine for me. I have used H4350 with all the preceding and it generally works best for my 6.5CM rifle. I have never tried H4831sc but it might be worth a try with the 140 BTHP's or 142SMK. Personally I'll stick with H4350 as long as I have it available. I expect H4350 to be hitting the shelves within a few weeks to a month north of the 49th. Some of the U.S. sites are saying it is just starting to show up again now, and others say over the next few weeks. I guess it all depends on the retailer and their supplier.
 
Ganderite said:
I would not load either H380 or 4895 in a 6.5 unless I was loading 120 gr or lighter. Even for a 120, they are a bit fast. As listed in the other posts, for 140 gr type bullets, powders in the 4350 to 4831 range are what you want.
Click to expand...

Not that I have ever used it, but wondering why H380 wouldn't be useful either? From what I have been reading, it is between Varget and H4350 in burn rate. Maybe you were thinking H335?
 
rick357 said:
Not that I have ever used it, but wondering why H380 wouldn't be useful either? From what I have been reading, it is between Varget and H4350 in burn rate. Maybe you were thinking H335?
Click to expand...

I did not say it would not be useful.

H380 is at the fast end of the spectrum for a 6.5 powder. If it was all I had, it would get used. Better than Varget, speed wise. If you like ball powders, 760 would be a good choice.

I have a lot of experience with a 6.5-08 Ackley, which is similar to the Creedmoor, and performance for 140s starts with 4350. 4350 gets me the best accuracy.
 
Last edited:
Ganderite said:
I did not say it would not be useful.

H380 is at the fast end of the spectrum for a 6.5 powder. If it was all I had, it would get used. Better than Varget, speed wise. If you like ball powders, 760 would be a good choice.

I have a lot of experience with a 6.5-08 Ackley, which is similar to the Creedmoor, and performance for 140s starts with 4350. 4350 gets me the best accuracy.
Click to expand...

Ahh, ok. Just thought I was missing something there. Thanks for clearing that up for me.
 
Using superformance with 120gr AMAX with great results
Reloder19 with 140gr Berger VLD hunting
And H4350 with 143gr ELD X

All shot thru 2 different RPRs
 
Is anyone else loading 6.5CM for a semi? Just wondering what others are using and if they treat it any different than loading for a bolt action.
I've been staying in the 130gr zone thinking it would be nicer on the action of my Modern Hunter but a buddy has shot factory 140gr through his and the results on paper were excellent. Am I wrong to stay away from the heavy projectiles in an auto loader? Another buddy is loading 6.5CM for his custom bolt action and he's seeing close to 1/4 moa with H4350 and 140gr projectiles.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom