6.5 CM Ammo

[0V3RC10CK3D]

Got a new MPA BA PMR PRO II in 6.5 Creedmoor with a 26" barrel coming in a couple days and I'm looking for some ammo to start with.

Thoughts?
Hornady 140G ELD-M $1.70 a round
Federal Gold Metal Berger 140G $1.67 a round
Federal Gold Metal SMK 140G $1.55 a round

I'd prefer just buy a bunch of ammo to save on shipping and call it a day is there a consensus on what would be best?

Thanks!

 

[stello1001]

Buy all three and add some berger ammo too

 

[Turkeytider]

If you’re interested in a lower priced range ( not hunting) factory load , give Hornady’s American Gunner 140 grain BTHP and AAC 140 grain SMK a try. About $1.10 a round . AAC has another 6.5 load for 1.00 a round loaded with the same Hornady 140 grain BTHP that they use in the American Gunner.

 

[1911hombre]

Second on the 140 Gr. American Gunner.

 

[ruger35]

Both the ELDM and Berger 140 in FGMM shoot well for me. I chose to shoot more FGMM with the Berger for more BC consistency. Recent tests on my 24” barrel showed factory 147 ELDM were faster than the 140 ELDM.

 

[Rob01]

Whatever you do don’t get that 140 SMK ammo. That bullet is a huge turd for BC. .308 bullets have a better BC.

The Hornady 140 ELD works great in my rifles over the years. It’s a pretty known performer. If you were looking to keep cost down the 140 BTHP American Gunner is a good choice also.

 

[Turkeytider]

Whatever you do don’t get that 140 SMK ammo. That bullet is a huge turd for BC. .308 bullets have a better BC.

The Hornady 140 ELD works great in my rifles over the years. It’s a pretty known performer. If you were looking to keep cost down the 140 BTHP American Gunner is a good choice also.

Haven’t tried it out beyond 500, but the AAC 6.5 CM load with the 140 grain SMK bullet has been VERY accurate into 3 and 4” gongs at 500 out of my Tikka SV. Just one guy and gun’s experience. Agree wholeheartedly on the American Gunner.

 

[mark5pt56]

I would say pick up 100 rounds each, maybe add a 130 grain. Shoot multiple days, see what performs the best, then buy a bunch if not reloading. Within reason if you can find a "budget" round for short/med range positional training, that's a plus. Limit the choice to 2-3 types on the long range stuff otherwise you are beating your head against the wall for nothing.

 

[Rob01]

Haven’t tried it out beyond 500, but the AAC 6.5 CM load with the 140 grain SMK bullet has been VERY accurate into 3 and 4” gongs at 500 out of my Tikka SV. Just one guy and gun’s experience. Agree wholeheartedly on the American Gunner.

I didn’t say anything about accuracy as they can be accurate but their BC sucks. They have a G1 BC of .535. The 140 ELD is .646. That’s a huge difference. When the wind starts blowing you will want that help with the BC.

 

[Turkeytider]

I didn’t say anything about accuracy as they can be accurate but their BC sucks. They have a G1 BC of .535. The 140 ELD is .646. That’s a huge difference. When the wind starts blowing you will want that help with the BC.

Got it. AAC also has a 140 BTHP load that’s loaded with the same Hornady bullet as the American Gunner. Also cheaper at $ 1.00/ round than the SMK and American Gunner at $1.10. Probably need to give them a more serious look.

 

[spife7980]

Those old low bc bullets are also usually forgiving and pretty easy to make shoot good though. And it takes awhile for more bc to make up for less accuracy.

Get what your rifle shoots best.

 

[Rob01]

Those old low bc bullets are also usually forgiving and pretty easy to make shoot good though. And it takes awhile for more bc to make up for less accuracy.

Get what your rifle shoots best.

You’re assuming the higher BC are less accurate. They aren’t when loading but he is buying factory ammo so his accuracy will depend on if his rifle likes the load but why start behind the 8 ball with a super low BC bullet? Even the 140 BTHP is at .580. That 140 SMK has been a turd bullet for years and why most shot the 142 SMK if they shot Sierra.

 

[spife7980]

Im shooting the nosler 140 custom comps right now and they have a .529 g1 vs the 140 smk with its .535
And they shoot awesome out to 800 which is the furthest Ive personally got land to test them with. Its a 5mph vs a 6mph difference on the gun, its not going to be that big of an effect for sub 1k shooting. I certainly dont find them lacking. Best part, I paid 20 cents a bullet for them.

 

[Rob01]

Hey you and he can shoot whatever you guys want. I just wanted him to know going in before he bought a bunch of ammo. Hell might as well shoot a .308 though and get triple the barrel life. Same velocity and higher BC. lol

 

[Secant]

I agree that you should buy a few different boxes to try out. Also, think about what your average shot distance, target size, target geometry, etc. when you start checking out ammo.

In my experience, factory Hornady used to be the easy button, and I've previously bought 1,000+ rounds of factory Hornady ammo even before receiving a barrel because I knew it would just work. But post covid, my experience with Hornady white box factory ammo is that precision is sub-par and SDs are pretty big (20-30 fps) for 6 and 6.5 CM. Hornady Black and Hunter has been better for me more recently. Federal Gold loaded Bergers and SMK tend to be more precise and have about half as large of SDs (10-15 fps). Berger loaded ammo has been a mixed bag for me. Sierra competition has been good in 6CM but VERY slow in 6.5CM. Norma hasn't been good in any of my 6 or 6.5 CM barrels, but it's cheap. Nosler, Black Hills, Sig, and HSM has been bad too. Lapua loaded 136 scenars have been good out of multiple barrels.

If I had a new 6.5CM barrel today and wanted to use factory ammo, I'd buy whatever ammo to get 100- 200 rounds down the barrel, then I'd try out:
Federal 130 Berger OTM
Federal 140 Berger Hybrid
Federal 140 SMK
Hornady 143 ELDX
Berger 140 Hybrid

Note: I'd only buy the above ammo from a seller that had at least 800 rounds of same lot, so that I could turn around and bulk order 800 - 1,500 rounds once I determined what I wanted to use.

 

[Rob01]

Never got any 20-30 SDs with Hornady 140 ELD ammo even during and after covid. The worse I got is in the 12-15fps over 20 shots.

 

[Baron23]

Never got any 20-30 SDs with Hornady 140 ELD ammo even during and after covid. The worse I got is in the 12-15fps over 20 shots.

Yeah, I'm averaging 15 over a quite large data set collected over the last 3-4 years.

 

[stello1001]

Never got any 20-30 SDs with Hornady 140 ELD ammo even during and after covid. The worse I got is in the 12-15fps over 20 shots.

Yeah, I'm averaging 15 over a quite large data set collected over the last 3-4 years.

Wow, you guys have unicorn dust it seems like. With numbers like that, I wouldn't mind just outright using factory ammo and stop reloading altogether.

I may have to try a box just to see but I can almost guarantee it's gonna have crazy numbers.

 

[Rob01]

Not unicorn dust for me. It’s the norm in the rifles I have used and the lots of ammo over the years.

 

[Secant]

Last 2 boxes of white box Hornady that I've tried in 6.5CM.

Compared to
Berger in Barrel #1

Berger in barrel #2

Lapua in Barrel #1

Lapua in barrel #2

Obviously lot variations, variations in barrels, blah blah blah. I've also had single digit 20-shot SDs from Hornady black and ELDX. SDs are only one thing to consider, as is BC, as is avg MV, and avg precision, and temp sensitivity (spoiler, berger ammo is pretty temp sensitive IME), etc. OP should try out a few to see what works best for him.

 

[SmartDonkey]

I don't think the OP mentioned the distance he wants to shoot- and then it turns into a BC issue at 500 yards....?

At that distance it cant be much more than 2 or 3" difference in wind and drop from a .535 to a .646 bullet. I'd take a 140 SMK over a Hornady bullet any day at 500 yards.

The last white box Hornady I tested had over a 80fps ES and that was out of only 5 shots. Hornady = decent brass, decent bullets, good people that work there, and a lousy company at the top.

 

[ma smith]

136-L is an under- rated bullet. Not great BC but shoots well, and when its on sale is great mid-range $ bullet.

130AR Hybrid is another under-rated bullet with good shootability but lower BC.

140 hybrids were finicky for me, jumping like 200 or something out of the box ammo loaded at 2.8-ish coal.

140 ELDM and HPBT are were both decent bullets in factory loadings, but my production lots were "pre-post-pandemic".

I would vote for those $1-ish a 140 hornady HPBT loads for 100m positional practice, just test them first.