N555 powder in the 6.5 CM

I always wanted to try it, but heard it was slower than H4350. 555 is popular for the competition folks, usually with higher capacity calibers than the 6.5cm.
 
I used it with 140gr ELDm in my 20" Tikka CTR 6.5cm, 43.9grs N555 did 2690 fps & 42.7grs did 2613 fps (2.87" OAL / .112 jump / Alpha brass / F210M)

To compare, I usually use H4350 41.1grs which gives 2560 fps
 
Sako S20, Peterson SRP, Lapua 139gr Scenar (GB458), 45.0gr N555, Federal Match Small Rifle Primer
About 0.003 jump, so loaded longer OAL than the book value, yields ~2800 fps muzzle velocity and shoots about 3/4 MOA (verified at 500m)

Both mag length and freebore allows for OAL noticeably longer than the book value, so that definitely helps
 
Just started working with N555, but I'm having some excellent preliminary results in my T3x (24" CTR stainless barrel) with Hornady 147gr ELD-Ms.
It's getting me an average of 2671 fps with 42.5gr of N555.
 
I tried some N555 with some Barnes 145 gr Match Burners on the weekend, as I was intrigued by their high BCs and had gotten some good results from N555 for 6.5 CMs in the past. Used new Lapua brass run through a Cortina .2625 expander mandrel and CCI No. 450 primers. I didn't have data for this load so had to interpolate a bit and therefore started on the lower end. As you can see from the photos (200 yds - or actually 188 yds at Silverdale), the groups were starting to group better as velocity approached 2,600, but I don't think I'll be trying N555 again with these bullets: they are very long and, while I expected that the loads would be compressed, they were really compressed and made seating the bullets a chore. I'm going to try H4350 for another ladder (and have some actual data from Barnes for those loads) and see if I can get some improvement. Bottom line: I would avoid N555 for the long Barnes bullets.
 

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  • BAT 6.5 CM - Barnes 145 gr Match Burners N555 - Silverdale (2026-03-29).jpg
    BAT 6.5 CM - Barnes 145 gr Match Burners N555 - Silverdale (2026-03-29).jpg
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  • BAT 6.5 CM Barnes 145 gr MB N555 (2026-03-29).jpg
    BAT 6.5 CM Barnes 145 gr MB N555 (2026-03-29).jpg
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