Currently waiting on my 6.5-284 Norma barrel to arrive. Trying to get all my reloading gear in order for this project. Right now im eying the Hornady 143 ELD X bullet. And H4831/H1000. Any tips on charge/seating depth/jump/bullet/powder? This is going to be a single shot, so OAL is of no concern. 8 twist tube.
6.5-284 Norma load advice?
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I'm on my 13th or 14th barrel. I cannot give you H1000 advise and the few of us TN guys who tried it, dismissed it rather quickly.
Below assumes: 7.5-8.5 twist 30" with freebore cut to seat a 140 class bearing surface above the neck junction (PTG Norma Match Reamer) , 140 class bullet. FL sized Lapua brass with .001 to .003 NT jumped. 015-.030". these are probably over max starting loads so use common sense and work up from a safe point.
H4350 in the 47.5-49gr range (depending on throat) with a 142SMK or 140 BH 210M primer will net you 2950-3000 FPS and will be sub half MOA or something is probably wrong with your shit. This is my Go-To load. Worked in all but one tight bore 26". I don't even load test anymore. The last 11 barrels shot 48.6-48.8 sub half MOA from jump and I'm NEVER killing half my barrel life testing again.
If you find H4350 too hot, or non-existant H4831SC in the 51-53gr range. 2950-3000fps. 9 1/2M primer. 2nd favorite. Super load.
RL26. Not gonna publish the charge. 140s can be pushed as fast as 3250fps. This powder, when pushed hard, gets very peaky and temp sensitive. it can go over pressure quickly if you're running hot and it warms up above 90°. This shit shoots half MOA at ludicrous speed. It's hard to walk away from but don't try to hit that high node if you can help yourself.
N160/N165. I don't recall the charge but it was close to H4350. This is one of the coolest flame temp powders sold (right with H1000) . AMU used this in their team rifles back in the early 2000s. Once you get it tuned it's very accurate and will hold a throat longer than all of the above mentioned powders. This stuff shot pretty good for me in my first rifle but H4831sc was a little faster and had slightly better numbers and was cheaper.
I get between 850-1100 rounds per barrel shooting 1k highpower. A barrel I pull would most likely still be considered good for PRS and is still a great 600y barrel. These rifles eat throats so fast it'll be hard to keep up. When I rebarrel, I buy 200 cases, an 8# jug and 1k primers. When the powder and primers are gone the barrel gets pulled and goes into the scrap pile.
I have never shot 130 class or 150 class bullets. No real need since 142s are fantastic bullets and are cheaper than almost all other options.
edit. I will advise you to get some JB bore paste now. Your throat, by 300 rounds, will be allegatored probably 10-14". If you don't stay on top of the carbon in the throat you're gonna go out one day and half way through a match your shit is gonna start shooting all over, followed possibly by blown up bullets. JB bore paste takes the carbon out pretty well and helps smooth the flaking. Don't get wrapped up on ruining the lapping on a $400 barrel. You get a carbon ring and you'll waste that much in ammo trying to figure out WTF is wrong with the rifle. I JB after the first 300 rounds, then every 150-200 rounds after until the barrel goes off call at 1k. If you have access to a borescope you can adjust this as you see fit.
Below assumes: 7.5-8.5 twist 30" with freebore cut to seat a 140 class bearing surface above the neck junction (PTG Norma Match Reamer) , 140 class bullet. FL sized Lapua brass with .001 to .003 NT jumped. 015-.030". these are probably over max starting loads so use common sense and work up from a safe point.
H4350 in the 47.5-49gr range (depending on throat) with a 142SMK or 140 BH 210M primer will net you 2950-3000 FPS and will be sub half MOA or something is probably wrong with your shit. This is my Go-To load. Worked in all but one tight bore 26". I don't even load test anymore. The last 11 barrels shot 48.6-48.8 sub half MOA from jump and I'm NEVER killing half my barrel life testing again.
If you find H4350 too hot, or non-existant H4831SC in the 51-53gr range. 2950-3000fps. 9 1/2M primer. 2nd favorite. Super load.
RL26. Not gonna publish the charge. 140s can be pushed as fast as 3250fps. This powder, when pushed hard, gets very peaky and temp sensitive. it can go over pressure quickly if you're running hot and it warms up above 90°. This shit shoots half MOA at ludicrous speed. It's hard to walk away from but don't try to hit that high node if you can help yourself.
N160/N165. I don't recall the charge but it was close to H4350. This is one of the coolest flame temp powders sold (right with H1000) . AMU used this in their team rifles back in the early 2000s. Once you get it tuned it's very accurate and will hold a throat longer than all of the above mentioned powders. This stuff shot pretty good for me in my first rifle but H4831sc was a little faster and had slightly better numbers and was cheaper.
I get between 850-1100 rounds per barrel shooting 1k highpower. A barrel I pull would most likely still be considered good for PRS and is still a great 600y barrel. These rifles eat throats so fast it'll be hard to keep up. When I rebarrel, I buy 200 cases, an 8# jug and 1k primers. When the powder and primers are gone the barrel gets pulled and goes into the scrap pile.
I have never shot 130 class or 150 class bullets. No real need since 142s are fantastic bullets and are cheaper than almost all other options.
edit. I will advise you to get some JB bore paste now. Your throat, by 300 rounds, will be allegatored probably 10-14". If you don't stay on top of the carbon in the throat you're gonna go out one day and half way through a match your shit is gonna start shooting all over, followed possibly by blown up bullets. JB bore paste takes the carbon out pretty well and helps smooth the flaking. Don't get wrapped up on ruining the lapping on a $400 barrel. You get a carbon ring and you'll waste that much in ammo trying to figure out WTF is wrong with the rifle. I JB after the first 300 rounds, then every 150-200 rounds after until the barrel goes off call at 1k. If you have access to a borescope you can adjust this as you see fit.
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Do you think this round would be good for hunting?
Which powder would be good for 26" and fps to expect.
Ty
it's will make an awesome round for hunting, but I'm not sure it has a huge advantage over a 6.5CM or 6.5x47 at 26". I plan on building a 24" FagMag for hunting, but only because I have hundreds of old cases laying around. My start point will be H4350
It's pretty damn temp stable. H4831Sc in the 51.3 range ran 2850fps in a 26". It was loaded to keep the brass alive.
It's pretty damn temp stable. H4831Sc in the 51.3 range ran 2850fps in a 26". It was loaded to keep the brass alive.
R16 and 140 berger hunters has done 3170 at 53.8 grs. No pressure. 54.2 produced 3228 with ejector swipe. Accuracy is unknown as this is in preliminary development.
Just coyotes for the most part. But I had a long action laying around and wanted to try out this caliber.
Fatboy, just out of curiosity, are your barrels stainless or chromoly?
I've only had this one (Shilen chromoly barrel)
To me it's been an excellent rifle but my standards are different than most.
Only run 140 vld-h and retumbo, 3000fps.
My go-to rifle for hunting.
I've only had this one (Shilen chromoly barrel)
To me it's been an excellent rifle but my standards are different than most.
Only run 140 vld-h and retumbo, 3000fps.
My go-to rifle for hunting.
all stainless and all but one 30". Most Kriegers and Borders, but a Broughton and a Rock Creek from when Mike was there.
edit: I want to add I use these rifles exclusively to shoot 1k NRA Highpower. They get 25-30 shots down the pipe in around 15 minutes (scoped) or 22-23 minutes (irons) 3 times per day without cleaning. They see some serious heat and take some abuse. For a hunting rig, or even a PRS rifle where a 2moa miss at 1k is easy to dismiss, most will see a longer barrel life. For a pure hunting rifle, it might last a lifetime.
edit: I want to add I use these rifles exclusively to shoot 1k NRA Highpower. They get 25-30 shots down the pipe in around 15 minutes (scoped) or 22-23 minutes (irons) 3 times per day without cleaning. They see some serious heat and take some abuse. For a hunting rig, or even a PRS rifle where a 2moa miss at 1k is easy to dismiss, most will see a longer barrel life. For a pure hunting rifle, it might last a lifetime.
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