Help with loads for 6.5x55

[SJB358]

I'd probably start around 48 to be honest E. The burn rate of 26 is off a couple of grains in QL. 50 was about max in mine with 130's if I remember right.

 

[35 Whelen]

I did Scotty........ went up to 50gr which as you know is getting pretty full !!! With these PPU cases any way looks like 54 would be running out on the bench. I never even thought about it while considering calibers, between the 260R, 6.5 Creedmoor, what a Huge advantage there is in a clip feed gun the Sweede has for seating long , this clip in the Tikka is same as my 270. As Gerry brought up there is miles of room infront of the bullet.This would not have been tbe case with a short action.........As I found out with the Patroit and Venture! And I am seated clear out to 3.145 and there must be close to .250 left in the clip. There is really not alot of these Bergers in the case, when seating for .015 off the lands........ soooooo glad I decided on the bigger case and longer neck to hang onto these looooonger high BC bullets. Long n lean every young mans dream....

 

[SJB358]

Looks pretty darned cool!

Gotta love the Swede. I dig mine a lot as well.

 

[35 Whelen]

Here its is.... First one out of the gate:
Just torched a few thru the hoops, the 50gr load of RL26
With these 140gr Bergers the 5 shot avg velocity, came out at 2820 fps from this Tikka. Cases show NO signs of high preasure, lift the bolt with one finger. Primers look perfect!
However its only about 45 degrees in that room I was shooting from ?
So 2900fps certainly looks very possible from this gun, still recoil is very very mild, I had completely forgotten how sweet the Sweede was to shoot, though its probably a different kettle of fish with the lightweight camo stock???........ Gosh I really like the ergonomics of this thumb hole stock,
I have a bad habit of canting the gun and this certainly
Seams to help with keeping things level.
Looks like it is pretty darn close to exactly what QL predicted. If you take into account my barrel is only 22"
And project the nominal velocity loss for the 4" of shorter barrel, then QLs 26" test barrel, it looks
like we are spot on , with these numbers!

 

[SJB358]

Here its is....
Just torched a few thru the hoops, the 50gr load
With these 140gr bullets avg velocity came out at
2820 fps from this Tikka.
So 2900 looks very possible........

Man, you can't ask for much more than that. Sounds like you are getting somewhere with that one!

 

[35 Whelen]

After testing the 140gr Berger VLDs on a deer carcass, placed at 300 yds, we decided this bullet is just NOT going to work for coyotes as it sails right thru the 150 lb deer every shot. :shock:
So we have decided to try some of the 120gr HPBT that came
In the PPU Match ammo we bought just to get the cases.
Here is the initial results using 53gr of RL 26.
The wind was pretty steady 12mph direct crosswind. Strelok said .75 Mil or
And 7.7" of correction. I did neather just held on the bullseye.
These are shooting 1.5" higher than it does the Bergers. The distance on the calipers says it all: 1.495" @ 300 yds. :grin: These 120gr HPs do ,NOT exit the deer. So I guess we are in with a chance. Avg vel was Just under 2900fps.
As you can see the wind moved the 120gr bullets the 7 plus inches Strelok
Predicted! Great Software. Here is what the chrono says today. With an air temp of 12 degrees F.

 

[SJB358]

Looks like you've got something there. What's the BC on those little suckers?

 

[35 Whelen]

Scotty, I cant find that info???? I entered .475 into Strelok,
But that was just a guess. I had pulled them and put them
Into a plastic bag to give away! Sure glad I still had them.
At any rate if I can ever get a coyote out here I will let ya know! Soposed to be -15 below Zero here again tonite!

 

[SJB358]

I'll be watching for the text..

 

[ElmerThud]

I REALLY wanna try that 160 Woodleigh out of my 264 though. I think that would be pretty wicked as well.

These 160 Woodleighs seem to be impossible to get hold of in UK & I'd really like to give them a whirl in my MSch 6.5x54.
I haven't got to where I'd like to be with loads for this rifle yet, but IMR4350 seems best at present.
Getting avg 3/4" MOA @ 100yds. Occasionally a little better, sometimes a flyer 2" right. No idea why!

 

[gerry]

After testing the 140gr Berger VLDs on a deer carcass, placed at 300 yds, we decided this bullet is just NOT going to work for coyotes as it sails right thru the 150 lb deer every shot. :shock:
So we have decided to try some of the 120gr HPBT that came
In the PPU Match ammo we bought just to get the cases.
Here is the initial results using 53gr of RL 26.
The wind was pretty steady 12mph direct crosswind. Strelok said .75 Mil or
And 7.7" of correction. I did neather just held on the bullseye.
These are shooting 1.5" higher than it does the Bergers. The distance on the calipers says it all: 1.495" @ 300 yds. :grin: These 120gr HPs do ,NOT exit the deer. So I guess we are in with a chance. Avg vel was Just under 2900fps.View attachment 1
As you can see the wind moved the 120gr bullets the 7 plus inches Strelok
Predicted! Great Software. Here is what the chrono says today. With an air temp of 12 degrees F.

You might want to consider the, Nosler ABLR's, Hornady ELD-X or ELD-M bullets those should open up nicely on smaller animals. For that matter the 140 gr Ballistic Tip works great too and has a pretty good b.c. as well, not as good as the VLD style bullets but pretty good anyway.

 

[35 Whelen]

Well we finally got our chance to try it last nite at 11:15. It has been 7 weeks to the day since I put out the bait. My reporter went off so I checked the wind 24kts at 90 degrees.
Sterlok says 16" of correction at 300yds.
Go upstairs and snap on the lazer and there he is smallish
Coyote on one of the deer he is standing quatering me head into the 25kt wind. So I just aimed into his brisket and fired, heard the whop of a bullet hitting something???? Yote is gone???? This morning -5 with 20kt winds went out on snowsled to see what happened. No coyote but blood trail
With alot of fat in it headen for woods 400 yds away. Looks like probably hit him way back in the guts........ Lite bleeding
All the way .......coyote is gone.
Yet another example of the wrong bullet for the intended game. The bullet went right threw him doing nothing....
The 25/06 is back in the leadsled. I know better than that.
To kill a 20lb coyote animal instantly you need an explosive
Bullet; not something designed for 200/400 pound animals.
I knew better but wanted to shoot one with that new gun.
Worked out EXACTLY like I figured it would. I will however get somekind of a bullet that is designed for varmits and come up with a load in the future that will smack them right
Down where they stand. But its tooo late this year so the 6.5 is in the gun cabinet till deer season where I have no doubt it will perform perfectly on 200lb animals.

 

[SJB358]

I'm sure he probably won't be messing with deer though. At least not healthy deer.

We will get you hooked up shortly.

I agree with Gerry. Get some of those 123 ELDs.... bet they will make a dent.

 

[35 Whelen]

Ok I am going to look into those, I would have already bought a box of those 107 Sierra MKs with a 420 BC but
I dont think there is a box for sale in the USA. I also noticed
Hornady has a brand new 100gr ELD for 6.5.
I see a bunch of reviews where folks are having great luck
With the 95gr Vmaxs but I sure didnt in the 6mm......
And the BC is getting pretty low to mess with these winds.
One of the biggest reasons I was able to even hit that little coyote the other nite was the 120gr bullets nearly 500BC.
Direct 25kt crosswinds are just a way of life here , and coyotes most certainly feel more comfortable coming out
The darker and stormier the nite and the more wind there
Is, the more apt they are to show up. I could almost count
On my hands the number of coyotes I have shot on beautiful calm moonlite nites when you dont even need a light to shoot. The shy ones just dont like it. Out of the now hundreds of coyotes I have shot at nite , a very high percentage came in on the worst weather conditions.

 

[35 Whelen]

Ok I am going to look into those, I would have already bought a box of those 108 Sierra MKs with a 420 BC but
I dont think there is a box for sale in the USA. I also noticed
Hornady has a brand new 100gr ELD for 6.5.
I see a bunch of reviews where folks are having great luck
With the 6.5/95gr Vmaxs but I sure didnt in the 6mm......

 

[SJB358]

Those might be decent as well. I mentioned the 123's as they will reach out pretty danged well, but the 100's should be better for that 300 yard explosive effect you are looking for.

I have looked around some and it is tough to get a bullet that is going to gazorp coyotes and still be decent at distance.

I should mess around a little with my 6.5 Swede and see what happens..

 

[35 Whelen]

Interesting you bring up the 123gr weight, as I guess this is designed for the Grendel at lesser velocitys. Which instantly Might make one ponder on weather the jacket might be thinner than it is on the 129gr bullets. I came upon a reviewer that posted he was getting "explosive" results shooting 123 SST bullets when pushed out of his .260 Rem At long distances on groundhogs !!!!!!! So I am certainly going to look into that bullet as well. Velocity out at 300yds is a big issue here in this equation as I keep forgetting the bullets have already decellerated down from 2900fps at the muzzle all The way back to 2300fps @ 300yds. So for this Perticular application I need to keep this all in perspective.
What bullet is going to expand rapidly enough at 2300fps to give explosive results on a 25lb medium? Sorta sounds completely different when you say it that way.
Plus we are now looking for the exact opposite of a tough bullet that works nicely on a 2/300 lb medium.
I am pretty sure if the velocitys out at 300yds were the same as it is at the muzzle then ALOT of bullets might work But since the distance is FIXED @ 300 yds, and the intended target is know @ 25/30 lbs and we know the avg velocitys are going to be 23/400 fps. The question really is Which bullet is more likely to give us explosive results without droping down into light enough weights that we are Down below 400 BC ???? Which even the new 100gr ELD falls into. The 107 SMK ,has the potential to arrive down there are 2400fps and its .425BC looks great but with no plastic tip at these reduced velocitys again will it just sail right thru because of its jacket design? Ditto on the 108 Scenars??? This story about getting explosive results on a 3/4 lb animal with those 123gr SSTs at the exact same velocitys we are dealing with, and because that perticular Bullet was specifically made for the reduced vel of the Grendel, are all making me curious????? :?

 

[SJB358]

Could be a good option. I have ran the 123 AMax at 2500 FPS using reduced loads in the Swede for the kids to shoot and have fun with. I put one of them into the water jugs and what was left made it to jug 3, but there wasn't much left which sorta gave me the idea it may work for you. They are about the only bullet that keeps some BC yet reduces weight to keep your speed up.

 

[35 Whelen]

Good point, I have no doubt we will get to the bottom of this mystery shortly! In the mean time the 25/06 is resting patiently for the next arrival! I am betting the whole farm we will have a picture of the outcome!

 

[gerry]

Almost any soft point bullet is going to open up better on coyote sized animals than the hollowpoint Berger and their delayed expansion.

http://www.hornady.com/store/searchammo ... =&x=32&y=4

Hornady has a whole bunch of tipped fast expanding bullets that I would think would work great along with the Nosler ABLR bullets I mentioned earlier.