6.5x55 & 95gr Vmax

ciphery said:
I understand that shopping around may get me a better deal on nosler products. Thank you for the advice on them, however the object of the game here is trying to squeeze every ounce of accuracy I can out of the 95gr Vmax.
I'll post my targets once I figure out how from the mobile site....
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That brings up a good point, when to give up on a particular powder/bullet combo ? The jump is likely long no matter what you do so seating depth is likely not an issue unless you are getting a lot of runout or you dont' have consistent neck tension in that specific lot of brass. If you still think you had found the perfect node in your ladder and nothing tightens up as the fouling increases I would say it would be time to change something in the equation. I definitly think you have the right burn rate in mind as far as powder goes, you may just have to go with something bulkier.....and there is the whole fun in finding what works and what doesnt', good luck and have fun.
 
ciphery said:
I'm doing MOA with 42.3gr BL-C(2) and 129SST's.
I just wanted an accurate varmint round...perhaps I'm asking to much?
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Shooting the 6.5x55 is very very fun. But I think the 129sst would be the perfect deer/yote round. I would just stick with this load.
 
Measure the ball expander on your sizing die, you dont' want to expand too much, some guys control this with bushing dies (like redding), I personally cant be bothered since I dont' shoot competitvely and im just looking to let light inside a big animal's carcass .

Before that you can check by hand if your even able to move the bullet. If so perhaps try seating the bullet with a least .264 of the shank into the neck of the case. Are you neck or FL sizing ?
 
Will not try Nosler anything. I'm not into paying $49 for a box of 50.[/QUOTE]

ime paying £19.50 a box [50] for Nosler 120gr 6.5mm ballistic tips in the UK
 
My expander is .261".
No, iam not able to move the bullet, point of fact I just broke my kinetic hammer trying to get my dummy round appart! They're in there good.
And I'm using a Herters FL Die, which I have adjusted to neck size and adjust 3/4 of the shoulder.
 
A recent update;
I have seated the little 95 vmax out as far as I can, I have also started using cases that are the max allowable length, wich have been resized, trimed to evan them all up and then anealed.
My BL-C(2) is still sitting at 41gr and I am now shooting 1 to 1 1/2 MOA. It seems marginally better now but that long throat in my M70 just wasn't designed for 95's.
Meh guess this is as good as it gets.
 
If you are after a varmint round, i have tried the 85 grain Sierra hollow point in a couple swedes, one had a 18'' barrel, pretty sure i used Varget, if you are interested shoot me a pm and i'll get you the load info, was shooting under an inch at 100 yards off bags.
Dean.
 
Well I think I've done it.

PMC case. 95grV-max 41gr BL-C(2) 2737FPS
Trim: 2.162" O.A.L: 2.943"
¤ -.5" 3/4MOA @ 100yds

Seems using cases with .478" bases instead of .473" (Fed,Rem,Win) and also cases that required a slight trim rather than being too short (fed,rem,win)helped a lot! I was able to align the bullet better with these cases and the added length meant I was able to get the short 95gr Vmax's just a bit closer to the rifling.
Played around with the OAL to strike a balance between length and seating stability, The lee factory crimp helped a lot with this too as it helped stabilize the barely seated bullets.
 
I don't bother with light bullets in 6.5X55 - 139gr scenars, a load that groups under 1/2" at 100m. If you are not familiar with them, scenars are a target bullet and as far as I know are totally inappropriate for big game, but what expands quickly on big game is very desirable on varmints. V-Max of course is made for varmints (and the 50gr bullets in 222 are superb, but consistently dead either way is still dead.(not wounded a groundhog with either - it's always a clean miss or utter destruction) The fast twist of the rifling typical with this caliber is for stabilizing the larger projectiles.
 
I use the 95 vmax out of my Tikka varmint. I have played around with CFE223 and have had excellent success with it. .5-.75 at 100 yards 5 shot groups.

I also use the 85, 100 grain sierra HP and have been able to shoot very well with CFE223.

With lighter bullets that powder works well in my gun.
 
Good tip rpcw, I'll try some when my BLC2 runs low.
New camper, I know what you mean, I love the 140(longer than normal) bear claws my gun came with. I also mollyed my barrel up, that helped a lot, seems an old coat was wearing off and was starting to effect accuracy.

Too bad I can't get my hands on 140 6.5mm bear claws, Federal discontinued the 6.5 bearclaw
 
Stop cleaning your rifle so often. I have rifles that wont stabilize until I shoot a dozen rounds through it. Some barrels like it dirty.
 
6.5 isn't really a small bore, shoot 30 rounds and see how it does. I was fireforming some 25-06 brass yesterday with 20 already down the pipe from a previous range session shot another 21 yesterday and my best group right at 1/2 an inch came with the last 3 I fired. This was in a sako L61R. I just grabbed some Win. 760 powder because I have some extra, looked like 44gr would be a nice fireforming load with some real old Nosler solid base bullets 100gr. Surprised the heck out of me. FS
 
Nosler bullets are the most accurate varmint/hunting bullets I've used and worth the added $.

To add an answer, light-for-twist bullets tend to like slower powder and less velocity. Alternately, heavy-for-twist bullets need more velocity to stabilize. If you have varget, give it a shot. H4831 may also work.
 
Well the best groups I've yet shot are with 140 bear claws....which sadly are no longer made for the 6.5x55.
The long for weight copper base core/heavy jacket bear claw seems to really like the M70 I have.
129's are printing decent and I would love to try some 140 SST's or even 140barnes but the 140sst's are unobtainium and the barnes are waaayy to expensive for the 6.5
I'll be doing some more testing at christmas time. I'll make a further range report after that.
 
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