Went to the range on Friday with some new loads built up. I’m shooting 6.5x47 Lapua and have been looking at alternatives to RE15 for 123 Scenar’s. I put together some loads with IMR 8208XBR and while the overall results look quite promising, I have some numbers with shot groups that are not what I expected. So here is the gun and load info, I’d be interested in some feedback and thoughts.
The gun is a Remington 700 chambered in 6.5x47 Lapua. Action is trued by GA Precision, trigger is Jewell, barrel is a 24” Rock Creek SS 5R with Badger Ordnance oversize recoil lug and FTE muzzle brake. Scope base and rings are Badger Ordnance and scope is a Schmidt & Bender PMII 4-16x50 with P4F reticle. Action is bedded in an AICS chassis with ViperSkins.
The load’s I worked up and reviewed in QuickLoad. I started with 35.0 grains of IMR 8208XBR and increase increments of .2 grains. Bullet is the 123 grain Lapua Scenar seated @ 2.164" measured with a comparator. All shots were through a CED M2 chronograph.
Velocities
35.0 gr - 2790 2810 2803 2798 2805
35.2 gr - 2888 2885 2888 2880 2891
35.4 gr - 2832 2820 2839 2840 2830
35.6 gr - 2832 2831 2828 2837 2840
35.8 gr - 2919 2910 2924 2920 2916
36.0 gr - 2869 2872 2870 2862 2875
36.2 gr - 2894 2884 2894 2886 2884
36.4 gr - 2894 2892 2932 2909 2903
All groups are 5 shots. All pics should be rotated 90 degrees but the damn smartphone is smarter than me. The reason I made this post is to get feedback about velocities and the unusual steps, i.e., 35.0 gr group to 35.2 group had a big jump and then slid back down. The same happened between 35.8 and 36.0. All shot groups were loaded separately so everything stayed in order. The brass did have about 8 shots. I have put portions of these loads together again with brass that has only 2 shots and will check it on the range this week. I would be interested in any all thoughts.
The gun is a Remington 700 chambered in 6.5x47 Lapua. Action is trued by GA Precision, trigger is Jewell, barrel is a 24” Rock Creek SS 5R with Badger Ordnance oversize recoil lug and FTE muzzle brake. Scope base and rings are Badger Ordnance and scope is a Schmidt & Bender PMII 4-16x50 with P4F reticle. Action is bedded in an AICS chassis with ViperSkins.
The load’s I worked up and reviewed in QuickLoad. I started with 35.0 grains of IMR 8208XBR and increase increments of .2 grains. Bullet is the 123 grain Lapua Scenar seated @ 2.164" measured with a comparator. All shots were through a CED M2 chronograph.
Velocities
35.0 gr - 2790 2810 2803 2798 2805
35.2 gr - 2888 2885 2888 2880 2891
35.4 gr - 2832 2820 2839 2840 2830
35.6 gr - 2832 2831 2828 2837 2840
35.8 gr - 2919 2910 2924 2920 2916
36.0 gr - 2869 2872 2870 2862 2875
36.2 gr - 2894 2884 2894 2886 2884
36.4 gr - 2894 2892 2932 2909 2903
All groups are 5 shots. All pics should be rotated 90 degrees but the damn smartphone is smarter than me. The reason I made this post is to get feedback about velocities and the unusual steps, i.e., 35.0 gr group to 35.2 group had a big jump and then slid back down. The same happened between 35.8 and 36.0. All shot groups were loaded separately so everything stayed in order. The brass did have about 8 shots. I have put portions of these loads together again with brass that has only 2 shots and will check it on the range this week. I would be interested in any all thoughts.
