Fine tuning my 6.5-284

[Desert Fox]

Went to the range this afternoon to fine tune the load for my 6.5-284. I'm planning to take this rifle to Texas next month for our upcoming pig hunt and a possible whitetail hunt also. I had my original load maxed to 51 grain of IMR 4831 for the 140 grain Berger, and the velocity were right at the edge of 3000 fps. I can see tell-tale signs of pressure but not enough to be of concern. But in order to prolong the life of the Lapua brass, I decided to reduced the load by about half a grain. I figured, this will reduced the pressure slightly but not enough to impact the resultant velocity. I was right!

Here's the final load:

50.5 grain - IMR 4831
210 Federal Match primer
Lapua brass
140 grain Berger Hunting VLD

Chronograph reading for 5 shot string

Single digit SD and ES... yeah I'll take that.

 

[SJB358]

Nice, that is excellent DF! I need to work on my consistency after seeing this! That is great speed out of that 140. Good luck in the rest of your shooting for your hunt! Scotty

 

[nodak7mm]

Flipping Awesome for you DF!!! That sure instills the confidence in your load & loading abilities...

Rod

 

[DrMike]

Those are some consistent loads. What length of pipe do you have on that rifle? What sort of groups were these loads giving you? I will be looking forward to your assessment of the performance of this bullet on the hogs.

You are right that a reduction in charge weight does not impact velocity that much in mid-range powders, but it can dramatically reduce pressure. I often find that even a 0.1 grain reduction in charge weight is sufficient to bring pressure down to safe levels, and the velocity is altered by less than 5 fps. A review of the trace of chamber pressure for the varying charges demonstrates the validity of the observation.

 

[FOTIS]

Great job DF. You must be pleased.

 

[Desert Fox]

Those are some consistent loads. What length of pipe do you have on that rifle? What sort of groups were these loads giving you? I will be looking forward to your assessment of the performance of this bullet on the hogs.

You are right that a reduction in charge weight does not impact velocity that much in mid-range powders, but it can dramatically reduce pressure. I often find that even a 0.1 grain reduction in charge weight is sufficient to bring pressure down to safe levels, and the velocity is altered by less than 5 fps. A review of the trace of chamber pressure for the varying charges demonstrates the validity of the observation.

DrMike, The rifle has 26" Lothar Walther barrel. The group was pretty tight. I was adjusting the windage while recording the string, hence the horizontal stringing - to bring the impact to the center of the target. The circled three shot was my final group after the barrel was cleaned. The recorded 5 shot string was to the left of the circled group. The lone hole below was from the last remaining load I had using the 51 grain which I used to foul the barrel.

 

[DrMike]

Most impressive. I've loaded for a few 6.5 x 284 rifles, and all shot well. However, yours is a far more consistent load than I have seen. You are to be congratulated, sir.

 

[Powerstroke]

DF
Mighty fine results you've ended up with. That is always impressive to see where that sweet spot is
Now all I have to say is *here piggy piggy*
Good luck

 

[Desert Fox]

Nice, that is excellent DF! I need to work on my consistency after seeing this! That is great speed out of that 140. Good luck in the rest of your shooting for your hunt! Scotty

Pay attention to those little details and you'll get there. These batch of brass were reloaded about 4 times during load development, so I went ahead and full length sized them all while bumping the shoulder at the same time. I then trimmed the brass to a minimum length and annealed the neck and shoulder afterward. The run out of the loaded rounds were then measured using my Holland Concentricity gauge. Any round that measured over .003" are segregated and will be use as practiced load. The quality of the Lapua Brass and the Berger bullet is exemplary that the run out of most of the load I measured falls within .001" - 002" range. Yeah! it's a pain in the neck but,,, I love what I do! Besides, the range result is extremely satisfying.:wink:

 

[DrMike]

the range result is extremely satisfying.

+1

 

[SJB358]

That is great DF. I will start looking at those a little more in the future. Those are some great shooting loads, and a heckuva rifle to turn in groups like that. I almost feel like the "paper plate guy" shooting 1" groups compared to your stuff. Great loading, always neat to see some ultra accurate stuff. Scotty

 

[JD338]

DF

Nicely done! :grin:

JD338

 

[Guy Miner]

Somebody has been paying attention to detail while handloading... :grin:

Congrats DF - nice work!

 

[Desert Fox]

DF
Mighty fine results you've ended up with. That is always impressive to see where that sweet spot is
Now all I have to say is *here piggy piggy*
Good luck

Thanks Mark. This is supposed to be a cull hunt. The land owner that invited us want's us to shoot as many pig as we want. I'm running low on Berger 140's and I have 500 on back order from Midsouth. I can substitute the 142 SMK which is just accurate but not sure about the performance. I might try the 140 grain AccuBond. DF