6BR Norma at 200 yards

H

HTDUCK

Handloader
Apr 18, 2009
955
0
Bought the rifle from a buddy who told me he thought the barrel was shot out.
I'm evidently the fourth owner and the round count is at least 1800.
Read an interesting article on another forum the other day about jamming bullets into the lands in the chase for benchrest accuracy. Gave it a whirl on Sunday.

Target was at 200 yards.
Load was 29.5 grs Varget
New primed RP brass
107 SMK jammed .010 into lands.

The last round was all me.
Called it as soon as I heard the rifle fire
(it's got a 10 oz trigger in it which I'm not used to yet)
I may be onto something.
Don't think the barrel is shot out either :mrgreen:



Oh and it's an absolute hoot to shoot too !
 
If that barrel is shot out I would love to see what it would do with a new barrel :mrgreen: Great shooting.
 
HTD - good looking group, even with the flyer. No, I don't think the barrel is shot out either. I've heard those 6BR barrels are good to 3,000+ rounds under normal use.

You're on 6mmBR.com? If not, it's a WEALTH of info for that cartridge and others.

Keep it up, you're doing well.

Guy
 
Guy Miner":1w7g4spq said:
HTD - good looking group, even with the flyer. No, I don't think the barrel is shot out either. I've heard those 6BR barrels are good to 3,000+ rounds under normal use.

You're on 6mmBR.com? If not, it's a WEALTH of info for that cartridge and others.

Keep it up, you're doing well.

Guy
Click to expand...


Guy, yes I'm there lurking and reading.
I'd never even heard of the 6BR until a year or so ago.

The next step is new glass.
Right now it's wearing a 4x20x50 Minox that I was going to put on my 7STW.
I need a more target friendly scope w higher magnification for this kind of work.
And more trigger time !!!!
 
HTDUCK":2wkduy5z said:
Right now it's wearing a 4x20x50 Minox that I was going to put on my 7STW.
Click to expand...

Speaking of that Howard, if you would like, it would be cool for you to do a review of the 4-20 Minox's you have. I know I get people that ask me questions about Minox's, but I can't really say anything honestly about the higher powered ones, as I have the 3x9's and 2-10's. Be good to get an honest review from you about the bigger ones..
 
SJB358":1tap0juh said:
HTDUCK":1tap0juh said:
Right now it's wearing a 4x20x50 Minox that I was going to put on my 7STW.
Click to expand...

Speaking of that Howard, if you would like, it would be cool for you to do a review of the 4-20 Minox's you have. I know I get people that ask me questions about Minox's, but I can't really say anything honestly about the higher powered ones, as I have the 3x9's and 2-10's. Be good to get an honest review from you about the bigger ones..
Click to expand...

Will do Scotty.
I have three of them now :shock:
 
Howard -
The 6BR is the most fun caliber I have worked with when it comes to benchrest accuracy. You will find the SMK's normally shoot better with a little jump because of the tangent ogive, but jamming works sometimes as well. When I shot the 107's, a 12/1000ths jump seemed to work the best. Every barrel and action will tell it's preference. The Norma version with Lapua brass will usually take at least a half to a full grain more powder than the Remington version of the caliber. If this was the first firing of the Remington brass you used, recheck the volume of the case. You may find that it has changed due to being fire-formed in the Norma chamber now. My 6BR Norma rifles use between 30.4 and 30.7 grains of Varget with the 105 Lapua Scenars.

The barrel should be good for at least 3000 rounds. The two rifles I have chambered in this caliber both have over 1000 rounds each without any signs of throat erosion yet. These are both cut-rifles barrels in heavy varmint or straight contours.

The caliber is capable of producing some incredible groups once you figure out what your rifle likes. Here is a 5 shot group from load work on the newest one I have.

 
Joel, this was a box of primed brass I happened into at the LGS.
100 rounds for $29.00.
I weight sorted and loaded 50 of them to fire form the cases.
The only other prep was chamfer and deburr the case mouth.
I've only fired ten so far.

My buddy and I were shooting ladder tests Sunday AM at 500 yards with various rifles
and by the time I got to the 6BR and fire forming it was 11 AM and nearly 100 degrees.
I'll get the other 40 fired next weekend and then check the capacity.

I've also got some Nosler 107CCs to try.
Luckily I was able to get 8lbs of Varget recently too....
 
Those things are amazing.. What a little cartridge.. We need some more pictures!
 
HTDUCK":3fgvr9p9 said:
I've also got some Nosler 107CCs to try.
Luckily I was able to get 8lbs of Varget recently too....
Click to expand...

The Nosler CC's may surprise you. I bought a couple boxes from SPS last winter and was using them for initial fire forming of some brass, only to find they shot very well. Nosler isn't in the benchrest game per se, but they make a pretty consistent bullet. That being said, I have found some other brands work better in my rifles. The rest of mine will be used for fire forming brass for the 6BRX I am building.
Is your 6BR set up as a hunting rifle or more of a target rifle? Action, barrel, trigger, stock, etc...? We need to see pictures! Good find on the 8 of Varget...still hard to find in most markets. R15 is a decent substitute if you run out, although I would worry about 100* temps.
 
It's a 700 ADL SA
Barrel is 30 inches.
1/8 twist.Maker? Unknown.
Reportedly a Broughton?
Stock it's in now? I think it's a McMillan?
Not marked.
I didn't ask.
The original stock was an HS Precision A2 style.
My buddy didn't like the way it rode the bags as it is rounded on the bottom of the fore end and has two sling swivel studs in it. Obviously made to carry/shoot off of a bipod.
(I got it as part of the package)

This rifle was supposedly built by S&S Precision here in N Tx as spec'd by some fella on the east coast. Action trued. Bolt face and lugs lapped etc.....
Recoil lug is .250 thick. Maker? You got me.
Original owner reportedly shot 800 rounds through it trying to find a load and gave up.
Sold it back to S&S.
They shot a few rounds through it, gave it their seal of approval and my buddy bought it.
I met Stick, owner and operator of S&S couple weeks ago at a poker chip match.
78 years old and he ran a perfect 40/40.
Asked him about the rifle but didn't have it w me.

My buddy shot over 1000 rounds through it and it never made the grade for him either.
It shot .5 MOA at 200 yards all week long but not in the .200 range.
He sold me the rifle, both stocks, brass for $1200.
It's got a Rifle Basics trigger in it, w a safety.

I figured a squared action, 2 stocks brass, even if the barrel is shot out, I ain't gonna get hurt. Another buddy has two 1.25 straight Brux 1/8 6mm barrels in the white in his safe that he offered at $600 for the pair.

I figured WTH?
It's only money.
You can always get more.
Time to get in with both feet and see if I really can shoot.
Looked at it from the standpoint that with both stocks I can shoot benchrest matches and F open.
Why not?

One thing I did discover real quick?
My buddy told me he was using Redding S dies w a .265 bushing.
At .265 it has ZERO neck tension.
First cases I sized I could push the bullets all the way into the bottom of the case an pull them back out with my fingers.
At least with the brass he gave me.
The RP brass measures .267 loaded so maybe a .265 bushing will work?
Dunno.
.261-.264 are sitting on the bench already.
Along with a notebook......





Damn RADD anyway. :lol:
 
Handsome rascal. If RADD brought that home for most of us, we'd be smiling even as SWMBO chewed our backside and made us sleep in the doghouse.
 
As far as you bushing dies go, if you are using a .265 bushing and can still push a bullet in with your thumb, the necks have been turned. I use a .268 bushing for both rifles on Lapua brass and have good neck tension. The .265 bushing should be perfect for your case if it measures .267 loaded. Measure one of the loaded cases of the other brass you have and see what it reads. As long as your chamber isn't tight, you shouldn't have to worry about turning necks. Some do turn even on a no-turn chamber just to have the bullet square to the bore.

Your stock looks like the McMillian MBR. There are a few guys that use it for both f-class and bench. For $1200 you got a great deal!
 
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