My dad just recieved his surgeon 260. Ive been shooting my surgeon 6.5 creedmoor. Took a while to find a good load. Im not the best handloader so was looking for anyone who has had a surgeon and doesnt mind sharing a good 260 load. I have H4350. Varget. 140 amax and berger vld 130s. Thanks for any suggestions
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Unless his chamber is custom, there are no real secrets.
All of my 260's used from just under 41grs to just over 42grs of H4350 with 140's. About a grain and a half more for the 130's. The hodgdon manual says 41.5-44.5 grains with the 142smk at an OAL of 2.780. Keep in mind if youre using lapua .260 brass, its thicker in the neck, which could cause an issue if your chamber neck is set up for standard brass.
All of my 260's used from just under 41grs to just over 42grs of H4350 with 140's. About a grain and a half more for the 130's. The hodgdon manual says 41.5-44.5 grains with the 142smk at an OAL of 2.780. Keep in mind if youre using lapua .260 brass, its thicker in the neck, which could cause an issue if your chamber neck is set up for standard brass.
Thank you I appreciate it!
I use 42.3 grains of H4350, Lapua brass, Federal 210 primers, and 136g Scenar bullets with excellent results.
Surgeon or not makes no difference, the 260 likes the H4350, start with that and any 6.5 bullets between 120 and 142 gr and it'll shoot just fine.
Congrats.
Congrats.
All of us use 43.5 H4350 with a 142 SMK.
Ok guys 43 gr of h4350 with 140 amax on the lands shot good on my ladder test. My problem is 1 out of the 8 rounds had an ejector mark and heavier bolt lift. All powder was carefully measured. So what to do?
43.0gr seems to be a popular charge weight with 139-142s...OCW perhaps?
Ocw? And I know back off powder but isthere a rule of thumb when only one has pressure? Like back off a half grain or .2 grains?
I use 139 gr lapua scenars, 2.798 OAL with 41.5 gr H4350. I haven't gone above this and I have only gone in .5 grain increments. Gun is a Surgeon built 260 with a 26" barrel, #14 palma. Surgeon recommended to me using the 139 grain scenar and using the 2.798 OAL. I think that this is based on their reamer
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OCW is a different test than a ladder. It stands for optimal charge weight. Do a search for it if you are not familiar with it, or do a search for Dan Newberry, he pioneered/discovered. If you are showing pressure signs back off. I suggest reading the reloading stickies if you haven't already. As long as you follow directions carefully and pay attention combined with Newberry's ladder test you should find something that works well for you. Don't forget every rifle is a little different so you need to tailor your load to your rifle, others recipes may not perform exactly the same even if they have the same gun. Something to think about, in this case somebody else will hopefully chime in, but: If you are developing your load now, in the winter, on hot summer days your charge may too hot as rate of gas expansion increases with temperature. A sticky bolt at fifty degrees could be bad at 95 degrees. Pretty sure 4350 is a pretty temp stable powder, but it is worth taking into consideration.
I'm assuming you are in Texas, where the winters (at least where I lived) don't get to cold. If I am wrong and your temps are lower than the fifty degrees, the summer day situation could be even worse.
Good advice here. I noticed here in AZ even being out shooting with out a shade canopy, my rounds would start to get hot after it starts to warm up when the gun is sitting out in the sun. I started at 37 and went up to 41.5. I noticed at 42 grains the temperature outside would start affecting the load, i.e, signs of pressure.
What kind of velocity are you getting? Thanks
Thanks for the advice guys. My temperature was 60 degrees when I got one show pressure at 43 grains.
2880 fps
Dang that seems WAY HIGH!!!
No its not that high. Most guys push 2900 pretty regularly
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I run 46.0 H4831sc with 142 SMK about 0.050" off the lands. Lights out. I can hold 2" at 600 yards with my Surgeon 591 - APA build (light wind conditions).
Even with 41.5 grains of H4350? The reason that seems high because a my friends creedmoor with factory hornady 140amax only made 2725 out of my buddies surgeon.
I have a 26" surgeon 260.
The reamer they generally use has a 295 neck and a .060 freebore. That means two things.
1.Lapua brass needs to be neck turned or you will only have about .001 or less clearance.
2. The short freebore means a bullet shape that has a short ogive closer to the front of the bullet (such as 136 scenar) will hit the lands at about 2.7ish oal. Their reamer is really set up for bergers and 142 smks to be on the lands while fitting in a aics type mag.
Mine shoots the 142s into one hole with 42.0 4350.
The reamer they generally use has a 295 neck and a .060 freebore. That means two things.
1.Lapua brass needs to be neck turned or you will only have about .001 or less clearance.
2. The short freebore means a bullet shape that has a short ogive closer to the front of the bullet (such as 136 scenar) will hit the lands at about 2.7ish oal. Their reamer is really set up for bergers and 142 smks to be on the lands while fitting in a aics type mag.
Mine shoots the 142s into one hole with 42.0 4350.
I have a 26" surgeon 260.
The reamer they generally use has a 295 neck and a .060 freebore. That means two things.
1.Lapua brass needs to be neck turned or you will only have about .001 or less clearance.
2. The short freebore means a bullet shape that has a short ogive closer to the front of the bullet (such as 136 scenar) will hit the lands at about 2.7ish oal. Their reamer is really set up for bergers and 142 smks to be on the lands while fitting in a aics type mag.
Mine shoots the 142s into one hole with 42.0 4350.
Thank you for your post. Im using lapua brass. I neckturn my Creedmoor. When you say it needs to be done on lapua brass, are you more or less saying for accuracy? Or pressure? It makes sense if you say pressure because I get pressure past 41.5 which seemed low. My gun actually shoots 140 Amax Really well at 42.5 but I get pressure signs. Anything lower and my accuracy doesn't seem as good... 3/4 ish. I may try some matchkings. So far just tried 130 bergers and 140 amax.
What he's saying is the lapua a brass is too thick in the neck for his chamber. Your average match .260 reamer uses a .295 neck. If you measure your loaded rounds, they will be very near that. If you don't know your neck diameter, you can call Surgeon, or do a comparison between your loaded rounds an some fired cases.
