Little range time 6.5 x 284 / 143 ELD-X

[TackDriver284]

Had a chat with a friend and he advised me that he spoke to another friend of his who has a MLD ranch who wants to thin the whitetail doe herd, mentioned that it could be next week to harvest a couple of does. I figured that I get the 6.5 x 284 out of the safe this morning and check for sight in with 143 ELD-X, used H4831sc on my load development back in 2024 year. Set up the Xero, a few shots @100 to sight in. Set out the steel at 600 yards in 5-7 mph wind blowing from 315 degrees. Adjusted elevation on the ATACR, settled the crosshairs dead center, and lined up vertically with the left chain bolt, squeezed one round off, a few seconds later,,,,ding center hit, little low, squeezed off another and hit under the first one. I did not adjust for the headwind, figured I was about 2 clicks short for the headwind. Oh well, its seems ready to go. Hopefully hear back from that guy soon on when to meet. Hopefully squeeze some fine dining in the freezer along with that nilgai. Got a rack and a half more space.

 

[RL338]

Target says you need more room in the freezer

 

[Slimfinn]

How fast are you pushing those eldx in the 65 284?

 

[Blkram]

With your sharp shooting, you better sharpen your knives!

 

[SJB358]

Great shooting and good luck in the freezer filling department!

 

[TackDriver284]

How fast are you pushing those eldx in the 65 284?

H4831sc is a slow powder, I'm 3.2 grains over Nosler book max to get 2890 fps. When I was using max charge in the Nosler manual, I was barely pushing 2700 fps and that was slow. My 6.5 Creed does 2800 fps with H4350 . The slow node with the 6.5 x 284 which made one hole groups was with 48.3 grains and it was at 2650 fps. The faster node is at 52.2 grains, and shoots .25 MOA or better @ 100 with the ELD-X. I ran it up to over 2920 fps, but accuracy was not there at that time, but I could spend extra time with seating depths to find it, but did not want to waste too much time with it when its a .25 MOA hunting rifle. I could do better with Bergers, but prefer the ELD-X over Bergers for hunting, but hey, I still have 10 boxes of 140 Ballistic Tips to try in the future and some Accubonds.

 

[JD338]

Nice shooting. The deer are in deep dark trouble.
Best of luck on your upcoming hunt.

JD338

 

[Guy Miner]

Good shooting! Enjoy your hunt.

Guy

 

[longrangehunter]

Funny thing is just about everyone says the same thing about H4831 in numerous different cartridges, slow to average velocity! But it usually produces excellent accuracy, and no temperature swings. I’ve developed a lot of different loads with different bullets in more than a few different cases with H4831sc.

 

[TackDriver284]

Funny thing is just about everyone says the same thing about H4831 in numerous different cartridges, slow to average velocity! But it usually produces excellent accuracy, and no temperature swings. I’ve developed a lot of different loads with different bullets in more than a few different cases with H4831sc.

Temp stability is what I like, I have a large stash of Varget, H4350 and H4831sc, and some H1000 along with other powders. On the previous nilgai hunt with the 300 Win Mag and RL22, I tested it at 85 degrees at a certain speed and it was shooting itty bitty groups with 180 Accubonds, and when the hunt came up, it was cold out. I sighted it in that time, and difference in speed was about 60 ish fps, its what I don't like. Huge temp swings. I still do like RL22

 

[JD338]

RL22 is THEE powder for the 300 Win Mag and a 180 gr bullet.

JD338

 

[TackDriver284]

RL22 is THEE powder for the 300 Win Mag and a 180 gr bullet.

JD338

It does push it fast. RL 26 as well.

 

[JD338]

It does push it fast. RL 26 as well.

The only problem with RL26 is that it's unavailable. If it ever becomes available again, I'm going to buy 4-5 jugs.

JD338

 

[longrangehunter]

RL22 is THEE powder for the 300 Win Mag and a 180 gr bullet.

JD338

Worked really well in a lot of different 30/06 rifles, and if memory serves me well I my 280 AI with a 160 TSX FB bullet.

 

[longrangehunter]

It does push it fast. RL 26 as well.

A friend of mine gave me a single canister of RL 26 I was going to test in my most recent 280 AI FMR. But H4831sc did the trick with both the Ballistic Tip and the Partition in 160 grain and I was done tuning it any further.

57.0 H4831sc and either 160 gr Nosler gave me super tight groups @ 2,800 fps from a 26” bbl. Which was what the Hodgdon manual listed for the top velocity.

Speaking of which, they didn’t even include the 280AI in this year’s 2025 manual!! WTH

 

[JD338]

Worked really well in a lot of different 30/06 rifles, and if memory serves me well I my 280 AI with a 160 TSX FB bullet.

RL22 is my go to powder for my 280AI as well as my wife's 280AI.

JD338

 

[TackDriver284]

A friend of mine gave me a single canister of RL 26 I was going to test in my most recent 280 AI FMR. But H4831sc did the trick with both the Ballistic Tip and the Partition in 160 grain and I was done tuning it any further.

57.0 H4831sc and either 160 gr Nosler gave me super tight groups @ 2,800 fps from a 26” bbl. Which was what the Hodgdon manual listed for the top velocity.

Speaking of which, they didn’t even include the 280AI in this year’s 2025 manual!! WTH

I could remember i tried a ladder with RL 26, 300 Win Mag and 180 Accubonds, I was pushing 3300 fps. I settled on RL 22 because I barely have a pound left in RL 26, hopefully there are some soon and i'll get a jug strictly for hunting big critters which will last me a long time.

In the 6.5 x 284 and H4831sc, I had to go 3 grains over max to get the speed I wanted. Zero pressure. I'm happy with the accuracy and performance.

 

[longrangehunter]

That’s FAST!

 

[jimbires]

everything I've tried RL26 in was fast , and accurate . it's powdered horsepower .

 

[grry10]

If only you could find Alliant powder these days. My stock of Reloader 7, 15, 17, 22, and 26 are either getting very low or are out. For now, I'm not doing any new load development with Alliant, to try to support loads that have already been worked up.