6.5 Creedmoor and RL16. Holy Crap!

The speeds might be decent, but the groups weren’t anything special.

Not a surprise.. But he's pushing pretty hard there. Notice his accuracy went to crap too.. I'm running 42.5gr of RL16 with 140ELDs and getting 2958fps from a 30" barrel. Not a hot load at all, and shoots 1/2" or better. By contrast, same 140 with 42.5gr H4350 I get around 2918fps.

from what i've seen, RL26 seems to be the speed queen. might wanna look for some data on here or elsewhere
i've seen some 147s pushed from 2850 to 3050 (most settled around 2900-2950)
since you're looking at the 142 and 150 in this article they probably have the weight to benefit form the slower powder (R26), though i've seen a few fast results with the 140s

No experience with RL16 but my understanding is that it's temp stable RL17. I shot a good bit of RL17 in 6.5 creedmoor with great results, and yes it does give substantially higher velocity than H4350 (80-100fps was my findings). My experiences regarding accuracy was very positive, everything shot great. It was temp sensitive but consistent (1.4fps/degree).

It's a double based powder so it's going to torch a barrel quicker than a single based.

Those are ridiculous velocities. My guess is their groups would have been better 2800 or less.

I am running it in a 23.5" Bartlien with Peterson brass, CCI 450s, and 143 ELDX, 140 RDF, and 140 ELDM. I ran the 143 ELDX with 41.6 when the barrel was new, switched to the RDF at 200-250 rounds and had to reduce my load to 41.4. I am getting 2810 and sd of 6 so far. I ran some 140 ELDM saturday and got 2841 and a sd of 4 with 41.4 seated .020 off the lands. They shot good at 100, but the mirage was really bad. Not sure what barrel life will be, but I am just under 600 so far. I am 1/2 moa or better with all 3 bullets when I do my part.

I have similar findings to the above post by 260284. I'm running H4350 w/ a 142gr Sierra Matchking.

*Note: I was getting higher velocities in the Starline brass as opposed to the Hornady Brass.
A more detailed comparison of Starline Small Rifle Primer Brass vs. Hornady Brass can be found here.
I'm running a 24" Ruger Precision Rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor.
Bullet: 142gr Sierra Matchking
Brass: Starline Small Rifle Primer
Primer: CCI 450
Velocities: 2667fps @ 41.5gr H4350
Location: Houston, TX
Altitude: 177ft
Avg Density Alt: 400-1400

lennyo3034 said:

So my goal is simply to hit 2800 with my 22" barrel. Do you think that's possible without burning out the throat quicker than normal? This barrel prefers the hotter loads of H4350 so I'm hoping it maintains accuracy. I'm only able to get about 2740 with H4350 before I start seeing ejector marks though.

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If you are seeing ejector marks you need to back off your load! If you use a 0.0001" micrometer comparing a factory load in your chamber to your handload fired in your chamber, when your handload achieves the same expansion as your factory loads then you have found your maximum load in your chamber with your components.
Unless your eye can see 0.0001" expansion then you need to rely on a micrometer.
You brass will last longer, your chamber throat may last longer.
As a Gunsmith I get rifles in that have been ruined by people and handloads and not understanding how to judge pressures.
Assuming is an issue.

I quit using RL16 because the buildup in my can was ridiculous with that powder. I found it to be extremely dirty.

I got lucky and my hand loads for my bergara with a 26” Wilson barrel shoot exactly the same speed with the same Es and SD as my ruger Hawkeye.
Star line SP brass
42.8gr 4350
Cci450
Berger 140 hybrid
2805 FPS with no pressure

Both rifles will shoot that load at 3/4” at 200 yards with Es of 4 or 5 and as of 6-7

I’d love to run 2900+ but doubt I can do with it 4350... I want to try 130 bergers but these 140’s shoot so good I don’t want to mess with it

24" Proof Research. PRIME brass, 130 Golden Target. FED 210M primers. Reloder 16 @42.9gr +/- .1 in either direction, .020" jump. 2920 FPS withsingle digit SD's, and sub-MOA all day long regardless if "I do my part" LOL.

20” proof, 143eldx .050 jump, Peterson srp Brass,42 grains of rl16, cci450,velocity was 2705, shoots bugholes, pressure signs showed up at 42.3 grains

300 grainpill said:

20” proof, 143eldx .050 jump, Peterson srp Brass,42 grains of rl16, cci450,velocity was 2705, shoots bugholes, pressure signs showed up at 42.3 grains

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How many firings on the peterson brass? I was going to get them but got my starline on sale at brownells for $47 a bag... bought 2 and its been really good so far. Some has 4-5 firings and still like new. Its small primer as well.

Jmccracken1214 said:

How many firings on the peterson brass? I was going to get them but got my starline on sale at brownells for $47 a bag... bought 2 and its been really good so far. Some has 4-5 firings and still like new. Its small primer as well.

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Still on first firing just got my rifle put together a few weeks ago

Depending on bullet weight, you might try RL-26 in 6.5 CM. I'm getting great accuracy with 1467 gr. ELD-M's and others are getting the same with increased velocity without the pressure signs.


Tried RL-16 and it's good....just not as good as RL-26.

VooDoo

Jmccracken1214 said:

How many firings on the peterson brass?

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I’m on my 15th load. 41.2 H4350. Haven’t tossed a piece yet & they’ve still got life left.

43.1 gr RL16 with 135 Atip @2820 and 24" barrel. 75 degrees. SD @ 5 for 5 shots. Groups as good as I can shoot. No pressure signs, went faster up to 43.4, then SDs and groups went to shit.

43.6 gr RL16 under 142 gr SMK for 2865 fps in a RPR. Sierra supplement lists 43.5 gr as max.

captainmorgan460 said:

43.1 gr RL16 with 135 Atip @2820 and 24" barrel. 75 degrees. SD @ 5 for 5 shots. Groups as good as I can shoot. No pressure signs, went faster up to 43.4, then SDs and groups went to shit.

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What brass are you using?

260284 said:

What brass are you using?

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Hornandy, Fed 210 primers.

captainmorgan460 said:

Hornandy, Fed 210 primers.

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I started seeing signs of pressure at 41.6 with my first batch of Peterson brass. They sent me 500 more to replace the first because of too shallow of primer pockets. The new batch is about 30 fps slower with the same 41.4 grain load. I was at 2830 and am at 2800 with a SD of 7 on new brass. I am running a 23.5" Bartlein, thinking about chopping it down to 16-18" so it will be handier suppressed for hunting.

Tag for reference

43.5 RL16, CCI magnum srp, in Starline brass gets me 2920 with single digit sd. SRS A1, 26" factory tube and Sico Omega.

Factory barrel RPR, 24" 6.5 CM
130gr Berger AR Hybrids
Starline brass
Federal 210M LR primers
2.800" OAL (.050" jump)
42.5gr RL-16
2860fps
Single digit SDs

0.4 MOA in heavy mirage at 100 yards. I tried up to 43.6gr hoping to close in on 2900fps, but SDs opened up. 42.7gr, 43.0gr, and 43.3gr charges all had single digit SDs and similar group sizes. No pressure signs anywhere. I just decided to stay conservative at 43.0gr and just enjoy the brass and barrel life.

***EDIT*** After 250 rounds down the barrel - This factory barrel has sped up with more rounds down the pipe. I had to drop my charge from 43.0gr down to 42.5gr to stay around the 2850-2860 fps node.

Thanks to this thread I am now trying RL16.

I went out this morning and went through 10 each at 41-43 in .5 increments loaded to 2.880 with cci LRP in once fired Hornady that had been full length resized.

42.5 has an 11 ss and 43 had 9.9. The rest were meh. Both of those charges were in the 2800 range with a 22” bbl with only 100 rounds of factory anmo down the pipe.

Came back and weighed and sorted some brand new Hornady, picked out 50 that weighed between 144.3 and 144.8gr. Sized them for uniformity and loaded them up from 42.7, .9, 43.1, .3 and .5. I’ll run them in the morning and see what i can come up with. Take the best and load up another 50 in fire formed brass neck sized only and take them to the 1k range and see how it does.

My first 6.5 so I had no history to go off of like I do with my 308’s so I kinda just read this thread and ordered some stuff and went with it. We will see how it does hahaha.

Some one on here is pushing 153 grain A tips over 2800 with rl26...

stello1001 said:

Some one on here is pushing 153 grain A tips over 2800 with rl26...

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guys have pushed the 147 to 2950ish on LRH

b6graham said:

guys have pushed the 147 to 2950ish on LRH

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I should have mentioned, I was referring specifically to 6.5CM and not PRC or any other cartridge.

Which one are you talking about?

stello1001 said:

I should have mentioned, I was referring specifically to 6.5CM and not PRC or any other cartridge.

Which one are you talking about?

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6.5 Creed

b6graham said:

6.5 Creed

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Hell yeah!!!

stello1001 said:

Some one on here is pushing 153 grain A tips over 2800 with rl26...

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I got the 153's to 2830 in a 28" barrel 6.5 creed using VV 560, but it was on the edge of pressure and I can push the 135-140 pills to 2900+ without hitting pressure so the juice was not worth the squeeze. I run in the low to mid 42s with RL 16 and get great results.

Well I’m a believer, it took a little longer than norma to get this load working as I literally have zero 6.5 experience to call on and I was just trying jumps and charges is a semi meticulous manner. Finally settled on this guy. 42.9 under a 140 ELDM in full length sized brass on its second firing. Cci 200 primers, COAL 2.860 (I’ll get CBTO numbers Monday when that comparitor gets here, like I said, zero 6.5 stuff) but for my first time around using rudimentary tools since I have no 6.5 specific stuff, a round that’s consistently 1/2 MOA from 100-300 works for me. I’ll take it out Monday and stretch it to 500 on paper and 1k on steel and see how it does.

The gun is just a cheap Ruger American Predator, lightened the trigger pull, magpul Hunter stock, Harris Br bipod and rear bag, Nikon Black FX1000 6-24 in Steiner rings on a Warne 20MOA Mount.

th

Went and shot to 800 this morning. First round hits on 5, 6, and 800 using ballistic AE with the data I fed it. Wind at 90 1/2 value left to right about 400 yards and on. I held off between 0 and 3 MOA depending how the flags looked at the time. CBTO numbers came in 2.236-2.238. Lands on my gun are 2.238 so basically I’m kissing them. I’ve shot RL 16 from 40 degrees to 78 degrees, humidity from 40-77%, and it’s held right at 1/2 MOA from a cheap ass gun off a bipod from 100-600 yards without cherry picking groups. This was the only group shot today and it came out to .59 MOA at 600 yards.

I’ll be ordering more of this for absolute certainty.

Im at around 2785 using 44.2grs of Rl16 and 140gr ELD. no obvious signs of pressure. Rem700 22" barrel

My buddy has been using RL 16 for about a year. He is shooting a savage with factory 26" barrel. He was shooting 147 gr eld m at 2850ish out of Hornady brass. Worked great in the winter but had pierced primers as the temperature increased. He ended up lowering back down the load to keep it safe.

wade2big said:

My buddy has been using RL 16 for about a year. He is shooting a savage with factory 26" barrel. He was shooting 147 gr eld m at 2850ish out of Hornady brass. Worked great in the winter but had pierced primers as the temperature increased. He ended up lowering back down the load to keep it safe.

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That’s stout!

my 260 in very roomy brass and long freebore chamber is at 2800.
I found pressure at 2890ish

Steel head said:

That’s stout!

my 260 in very roomy brass and long freebore chamber is at 2800.
I found pressure at 2890ish

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Apparently it was. The blown primers screwed up the little plastic piece inside the Savage bolt and renders it useless. Cheap and easy fix though. He learned his lesson. I don't know his powder charge he was using or what he is using now but he has a nice safe load going.

With the Hornady 140 gr American Gunner at 70 cents a round shipped and picking up ammo from individuals at the same price, it makes me hold off longer and longer. Same goes for .308 ammo. I keep buying individuals stashes out cheap. Several thousand rounds of 175FGMM and 168GR AMAX for less than 70 cents a round. If that stops maybe I will reconsider.

Jack Crab said:

43.6 gr RL16 under 142 gr SMK for 2865 fps in a RPR. Sierra supplement lists 43.5 gr as max.

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That's really fast for a 142. I'd personally back off to about 2700 or so for brass life. I send my 147 ELDMs at about 2700.

clcustom1911 said:

That's really fast for a 142. I'd personally back off to about 2700 or so for brass life. I send my 147 ELDMs at about 2700.

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Not really. I've been running 142 SMKs under the roughly the same charge/speed with Hornady brass and getting well over a dozen reloads. No pressure signs. Low ED/SD. It's been a reliable, accurate and consistent load.