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6mm BRA

About to finish off this lot of H4895 and jump to a new jug, will do a before/after speed comparison here soon.

I haven't seen much temp sensitivity with H4895, at least not enough to force me to change anything in my ballistics. Been shooting the same load from 90-95 degree matches down to the 30's at the last couple matches. The one time I did an informal temp sensitivity test I held ammo in front of the heater in a car and then left some outside in freezing temps and shot them back to back, saw around 20fps difference.
 
About to finish off this lot of H4895 and jump to a new jug, will do a before/after speed comparison here soon.
I will be interested in seeing your info. I have not had pressure signs or spikes with H4895 in my older lots. Some of the guys using newer lots on really hot days have had to back off a couple tenths to stay in their node.

A guy I shoot with in NZ says the ADI equivalent (AR2206H) that he uses has stayed really consistent over the last 10 years. :unsure:
 
How much H4350 can you pack into your cases, because I'm sitting on a ton of it as my 8208 supply dwindles...
Running 34gr of H4350 with 105 bergers at 2900fps in my current Dasher.

Running about 31gr H4350 with 107's fire forming. Here's two individual 100-shot groups at 100yds during fire forming. Group on right was off a bench, group on left was prone. I don't really have a problem running that same 31gr load in 6BR.
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A few dot drills with the final 34gr load. (wind was blowing 20-35mph)
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Here's something to blow your mind:
What’s super funny is last month I bought 2 8lb jugs of this locally for 280each after tax and put them up here to “help” folks that were looking, I showed them the receipt and people thought I was crazy. I even got low ball offers. I wasn’t trying to make money on them at all. So I guess lesson learned.
 
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Worth quoting, (1/30/21) 6BRA ...

“With a custom action (BAT) you usually find accuracy with 103-105 class at 2920-2970 range. I have found a load with one barrel recently at 2880fps. And I have had a couple barrels came in on the high end of 3010fps and will not shoot good at a lower velosity. I dont try to shoot for that high of velosity, but those barrels shoot there. It take a lot of work and experimenting with your particular barrel to see what it likes. Good luck and Be safe!”

S. Hall
 
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Definitely worth quoting, he's one of the benchrest greats.

Only piece of info for context is that he's going to have much higher standards than most of us. His definition of "not shooting good" might be 3-4" groups at 1000 yards since he's looking for those 1-2" group sizes to be competitive. He is also not going to have to drag his benchrest rifle through dust, rain and mud and need it to keep shooting without pressure issues for 250 consecutive rounds. :)
 
Definitely worth quoting, he's one of the benchrest greats.

Only piece of info for context is that he's going to have much higher standards than most of us. His definition of "not shooting good" might be 3-4" groups at 1000 yards since he's looking for those 1-2" group sizes to be competitive. He is also not going to have to drag his benchrest rifle through dust, rain and mud and need it to keep shooting without pressure issues for 250 consecutive rounds. :)
May also be running a longer tube.
 
Worth quoting, (1/30/21) 6BRA ...

“With a custom action (BAT) you usually find accuracy with 103-105 class at 2920-2970 range. I have found a load with one barrel recently at 2880fps. And I have had a couple barrels came in on the high end of 3010fps and will not shoot good at a lower velosity. I dont try to shoot for that high of velosity, but those barrels shoot there. It take a lot of work and experimenting with your particular barrel to see what it likes. Good luck and Be safe!”

S. Hall
Saw that yesterday.
 
About to finish off this lot of H4895 and jump to a new jug, will do a before/after speed comparison here soon.

Tested the new lot of H4895, a fair bit faster burning than the old lot. Old one was giving me 2863 fps with 30.3gr behind a 105 hybrid, new lot was 2906 fps, 28" barrel. About a half grain charge weight difference to get equal velocity (29.8 gr is pretty close to matching). New lot seems to shoot a bit smaller groups. The best groups and SD's seem to be in the range of 29.8 to 30.1, between 2865 and 2885 fps.

Also dusted off my old original 6BRA 26" barrel which has 2700 rounds on it. My 14 year old daughter is learning to shoot and I had her do the testing since she's going to shoot a match with me. That barrel performed best in the same range as well, everything from 2840 to 2880 fps was in the 0.3's with her shooting. Settled on 30.1gr at 2865fps to mirror my other barrel, so I only have to keep track of one set of dope during the match. :)
 
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Well. I’m going backwards in velocity and ditching the 6CM train for a 6BRA barrel. Gonna be running lapua brass, varget because I have 20+ lbs of it, and CCI 450’s for the time being with a 109 hybrid on top. I’ll post data once I have it for others future reference since I haven’t seen much with lapua brass, varget, and 109 hybrids
 
Well. I’m going backwards in velocity and ditching the 6CM train for a 6BRA barrel. Gonna be running lapua brass, varget because I have 20+ lbs of it, and CCI 450’s for the time being with a 109 hybrid on top. I’ll post data once I have it for others future reference since I haven’t seen much with lapua brass, varget, and 109 hybrids
Welcome to the fold. :)
 
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  • 6mm BRA Brass, Alpha Munitions
  • CCI450 Primers
  • Berger 109gr LRHT's jumped around 0.020"
  • 31.2 gns of Varget
Right in the sweet spot of 2880 fps and shoots great. There is another node at 30.3gns of Varget (2780) and the recoil feels significantly softer but I'm having great success at 2880 so I'll stick with it for now.
 
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When running 4895, I had really good results mapping out the powder/ambient temp and running the load based on what temp forecast said. Mine liked 2940fps with 105 hyb. If I kept it at that speed it would absolutely hammer

That's exactly where mine likes it. Last weekend I went out and it was warm (upper 80s). It jumped up to 2980s, and my SDs went up from the typical mid-4s to just under 6.
 
That's exactly where mine likes it. Last weekend I went out and it was warm (upper 80s). It jumped up to 2980s, and my SDs went up from the typical mid-4s to just under 6.
I had it mapped out ...
30.6 in 40-50°
30.5 in 55-60°
30.4 in 70-80°
As long as I kept at 2940 it was scary accurate
I ran a 56 rnd match with magnetospeed attached. Sd of 4.3 ....was pretty happy with that and I won the match. It was a prone match. I was in the same splash out to 800yds
 
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For those who prefer a non-bushing sizing die, Forster has some available. These are not catalogued, but I was able to order with neck honing and they shipped it in less than a week.
 
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So I'm in the process of building a 6mm BR-A right now. It's going to be a Lone Peak Fuzion with a 26" Rock Creek from PVA, and a Foundation Centurion. I picked up Whidden dies, neck expander, Alpha brass, Varget, H4895, and SW Precision to work with. Problem is that I can't find much for bullet selection in stock.

Looks like 112gr Match Burners are available and 105gr Hornady BTHPs. Anyone have a recommendation on which one would be a better starting point?
 
So I'm in the process of building a 6mm BR-A right now. It's going to be a Lone Peak Fuzion with a 26" Rock Creek from PVA, and a Foundation Centurion. I picked up Whidden dies, neck expander, Alpha brass, Varget, H4895, and SW Precision to work with. Problem is that I can't find much for bullet selection in stock.

Looks like 112gr Match Burners are available and 105gr Hornady BTHPs. Anyone have a recommendation on which one would be a better starting point?
The 112's will do the job. I have seen them shoot very good for several people. I don't expect them to be as consistent as Berger Hybrids, but in these times you have to shoot what you can get.
 
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So I'm in the process of building a 6mm BR-A right now. It's going to be a Lone Peak Fuzion with a 26" Rock Creek from PVA, and a Foundation Centurion. I picked up Whidden dies, neck expander, Alpha brass, Varget, H4895, and SW Precision to work with. Problem is that I can't find much for bullet selection in stock.

Looks like 112gr Match Burners are available and 105gr Hornady BTHPs. Anyone have a recommendation on which one would be a better starting point?
id use the 4895 and 112s to get my barrel up to speed then run the varget or SWP and 105 hornadys for final loads...i tried 4895 in my first BRA and i did not care for it at all. varget has shot best in 5 barrels now and SWP is a very close second...ive not shot the 112s but personally i think their a bit heavy for the BRA...im not saying they wont shoot good but ill take the extra velocity i get with 105s over the slower/heavier 112s.
 
I tried the 112MBs in a 24" BRA... Couldn't get enough RL16 or 4350 in the case to get past 2650, or 2700 using 8208xbr.

I ran a few with 8208 at around 2650, because I needed to save the 105s I had left for a match. They shot very well at 100 and held up decent to 600. I think they are easier to tune than the 105MB.
 
Well I got out today to test my new 6bra. I did 2 ladder tests going up in charge then coming back down looking for poi and velocity similarities. I started getting pressure around 31/31.2 gr’s of n-140 and around 2950ish fps. I got it to 3000 fps but that’s with heavy bolt lift and flat primers and dare not to go past!
I loaded up the last 8 pieces of 30.4 after loading up my ladders (remaining prepped brass) and it provided avg 2905fps with an sd 4.4.

it seems I may have a node around 30.4-30.6 fps as they landed within 3/4” at 300 yards and 15fps es over the 4 rounds and another possible place too look at 31.2-31.4 as they landed in 1/2” at 300 yards with 3 in about 1/4” at 300 yards but the bolt lift is just entering into heavy, but primers don’t look bad. 31.2/31.4 is producing 2905 range and 31.2/31.4 is producing 2960fps range
 
Well. I ended up running 2930 with 109's in my 26" bartlein. Just ordered a 29" 7.5twist mod400 blank from SPR. Gonna run 105's and probably alpha brass so I don't have to fireform. SAC FL bushing die and their seating die. I don't know what freebore yet...
 
I had my first go at a 6BRA yesterday, and now I know why people love shooting it. Got a barrel 2nd hand from the PX, 25” 7.5 Hawkhill with 500-something on it. I loaded 107smks with Varget, BR4 primers (thats all I had), virgin alpha bra brass. Loaded 31.4,31.6,31.8,32 & 32.2. All shot 5 shot groups at 0.5moa or less, including “fliers” if you can call them that. 4 shot groups across everything would have been in the 0.3’s or less.
Here’s the 31.4 warm up groups. Smallest 3 shot group I’ve ever shot.(it was 0.081” not 0.81”)
 

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Finally made my first range trip with the BRA. Barrel came in Thursday so I spun it on and loaded up 50 rounds to do some break in.

Ended up finding some 107 Matchkings so I loaded those in Alpha brass, 30gr H4895, and 205M primers. Velocity was 2,913 fps and accuracy was amazing. The 3 - shot group below were literally shots #4,5,6 through the barrel. I did see some ejector marks on the brass, so considering it was 20 degrees out I think I'm going to work up a low node for summer.

Kinda feels like going to the dark side since this is both my first custom rifle and my first 6mm hot rod cartridge. Blew my mind how easy this was. I'm definitely hopping on the band wagon 🍻🍻
 

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Finally made my first range trip with the BRA. Barrel came in Thursday so I spun it on and loaded up 50 rounds to do some break in.

Ended up finding some 107 Matchkings so I loaded those in Alpha brass, 30gr H4895, and 205M primers. Velocity was 2,913 fps and accuracy was amazing. The 3 - shot group below were literally shots #4,5,6 through the barrel. I did see some ejector marks on the brass, so considering it was 20 degrees out I think I'm going to work up a low node for summer.

Kinda feels like going to the dark side since this is both my first custom rifle and my first 6mm hot rod cartridge. Blew my mind how easy this was. I'm definitely hopping on the band wagon 🍻🍻

Welcome to BRAdom!

When you say it "blew my mind how easy this was" - this is actually one of my key issues with the cartridge. There's not much of a challenge to it! :)

On your load, you might want to try Varget.
 
Finally made my first range trip with the BRA. Barrel came in Thursday so I spun it on and loaded up 50 rounds to do some break in.

Ended up finding some 107 Matchkings so I loaded those in Alpha brass, 30gr H4895, and 205M primers. Velocity was 2,913 fps and accuracy was amazing. The 3 - shot group below were literally shots #4,5,6 through the barrel. I did see some ejector marks on the brass, so considering it was 20 degrees out I think I'm going to work up a low node for summer.

Kinda feels like going to the dark side since this is both my first custom rifle and my first 6mm hot rod cartridge. Blew my mind how easy this was. I'm definitely hopping on the band wagon 🍻🍻
Gotta love the BRA!

I would back your load off to 29.5 grains of H4895. Perhaps even 29.0. 30.0 grains is pretty hot for fireforming.
 
Finally made my first range trip with the BRA. Barrel came in Thursday so I spun it on and loaded up 50 rounds to do some break in.

Ended up finding some 107 Matchkings so I loaded those in Alpha brass, 30gr H4895, and 205M primers. Velocity was 2,913 fps and accuracy was amazing. The 3 - shot group below were literally shots #4,5,6 through the barrel. I did see some ejector marks on the brass, so considering it was 20 degrees out I think I'm going to work up a low node for summer.

Kinda feels like going to the dark side since this is both my first custom rifle and my first 6mm hot rod cartridge. Blew my mind how easy this was. I'm definitely hopping on the band wagon 🍻🍻
This is promising! I’d be interested in build sheet. I too just finished my first build this weekend. Hoping to do some fireforming within the next week or so.

LP Fuzion
PVA 26’’ Comp Contour
TT Diamond 2-Stage
Manners TCS

CEFB4BEE-858F-40A3-B77D-7CC912226075.jpeg
 

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This is promising! I’d be interested in build sheet. I too just finished my first build this weekend. Hoping to do some fireforming within the next week or so.

LP Fuzion
PVA 26’’ Comp Contour
TT Diamond 2-Stage
Manners TCS

View attachment 7755565Hahaha I basically have the same damn rifle. Only difference is I’m running a Foundation Centurion stock.
Hahaha we basically have the same rifle
LP Fuzion
Centurion
26” PVA prefit m24
APA Little bastard
Arc rings
TT 2-stage
Gen 2 Razor
 

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