Thread: 6.5 creedmoor reloading

Hi all
I have built a tikka t3 bush rifle, it has a 16inch barrel with suppressor.
Shoots a great 1/2 inch group with factory sako ammo. Just had a too much bullet drop from slower speeds.

Trying to create a cartridge load that makes up for lost velocity caused by short barrel.
Have tried a few different things. But nothing that gets a good grouping

So far have 2850fps, but a pretty average group, like 2-3 inches at 100m

Compared to the factory sako ammo that shoots dead on but only 2550fps.

Trying to get velocity up to shoot flatter so there isn’t so much bullet drop out to 300m

Latest load is 100gr barnes projectiles with win748 ball powder. Speed was great but grouping it so good.
Any advice or does anyone have a better load?

Thanks

2209 is the single best power for accuracy, it's temp stable and consistent. But not fast.

Reloader 26 is usually best for speed but has been near impossible to buy in recent years. Hodgdon Superperformance and Winchester 6.5 StaBall are both known to give good velocity but both aren't temp stable and StaBall in particular can be difficult to find a load for.

What grain bullet you using?
I would drop down in bullet weight and just accept the fact short barrels are slower than longer ones. Or ream is out to 6.5-284.

Yup, what Beetroot said.
I run a tikka 6.5CM for silhouette shooting & several of us have come to same conclusion for powder.
Just use 2209.

Greetings,
More data will help. 2,850 fps is too hot for any projectile over 120 grain and plenty hot for those in a 16 inch barrel. Expect a velocity loss of around 150 fps for your barrel. 2,550 fps from the Sako factory sounds reasonable for all except the lighter projectiles. Rather than overloading the rifle you could consider zeroing at a longer range say 150 metres.
GPM.

Find a Projectile in the 123gr - 130gr range that has the characteristics that you want .
Load it with an appropriate powder and find the powder charge that achieves the best accuracy.
Then either use a ballistic calculator or actually shoot at targets in increments out to 300yrds , to know your holds or dial settings.
A 200 yrd zero is a good place to start .
Velocity isn’t everything , but I admit it helps

PS - I use a 129gr Hornady SST with 2209 powder in my Creedmore , but it has a 20 inch barrel.

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings,
More data will help. 2,850 fps is too hot for any projectile over 120 grain and plenty hot for those in a 16 inch barrel. Expect a velocity loss of around 150 fps for your barrel. 2,550 fps from the Sako factory sounds reasonable for all except the lighter projectiles. Rather than overloading the rifle you could consider zeroing at a longer range say 150 metres.
GPM.

Correction, that should be 200 fps loss for the 16 inch barrel.
GPM.

Reloader 16 works good in short barrels cheers


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Originally Posted by Moose.

Hi all
I have built a tikka t3 bush rifle, it has a 16inch barrel with suppressor.
Shoots a great 1/2 inch group with factory sako ammo. Just had a too much bullet drop from slower speeds.

Trying to create a cartridge load that makes up for lost velocity caused by short barrel.
Have tried a few different things. But nothing that gets a good grouping

So far have 2850fps, but a pretty average group, like 2-3 inches at 100m

Compared to the factory sako ammo that shoots dead on but only 2550fps.

Trying to get velocity up to shoot flatter so there isn’t so much bullet drop out to 300m

Latest load is 100gr barnes projectiles with win748 ball powder. Speed was great but grouping it so good.
Any advice or does anyone have a better load?

Thanks

You said it was a bush rifle. What sort of bush is open to 300m?

My creedmore is a 18" shooting 143 eldx easily under 1" at 100m doing 2770fps.
Hodgdon Superperformance is a great powder for a lot of calibers.

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yes i have found in the 6.5 caliber every inch makes a big difference compared to a 30 cal.

just trying to get it to shoot a little bit faster and flatter so its accurate in every situation

ive found these barnes 100gr, which is about as light has it gets in the 6.5 creedmoor for hunting.
it definitly made it faster but not a good group. no point going faster if i miss ha.

its going to be just finding the right powder / projectile combo.

yes 2550 is reasonable, it just creates over a 6 inch drop from 100m to 200m which is quite substantial.
would like to get it shooting flatter, closer to 4 inch,
depending on the situation it can be the difference between a hit or miss on a smaller deer.

just trying to see what can be achieved with the right combo.

Originally Posted by 25/08 IMP

My creedmore is a 18" shooting 143 eldx easily under 1" at 100m doing 2770fps.
Hodgdon Superperformance is a great powder for a lot of calibers.

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oh really? i used the eldx and it did ok, not great. when i got up to around 2750fps the group got too big.
does ok for a large red deer shoulder shot but taking a gamble when trying to headshot with accuracy.

The only way your going to get any noticeable speed back is to run some strong brass, lapua or peterson, a slow burning magnum powder like superformance or reloader 26, and stuff it full of as much of said powder as you can fit in the case (for rl26 anyway) loading it to what will certainly be above book max/saami rated max pressure.

Dont take this the wrong way, but theres no free lunch. The idea that you can cut off a large portion of a barrel and make up for it with handloading staying within the confines of what saami deem as safe pressures is a dream, especially on smaller bore cartridges. Yes you may be able to get a little back but the only way your making a significant enough increase to put yourself back in the realm of where you were, is to use tough brass, exotic hard to find magnum powders, and load it hot.

Your only alternative is to go to a much lighter bullet like you have which sacrifices energy and bc doing so, and as you have found still may not give you the speed you want without the appropriate faster powder.


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so far since i havent been able to beat the grouping of the factory ammo,
i am considering two things
1. either my rifle just really likes the sako 120g powerhead blade projectiles better than any other projectile
2. or this caliber just doesnt like to be run any hotter than a similar factory charge

i am wondering if i should try to pair the same win 748 ball powder with the sako blade projectiles.

hard to keep trial and error when its not cheap to keep shooting away to no improvement its an expensive hobby