Berger 140VLD in 6.5x47 w/ Varget

[derrelw]

Hey guys I've just finished building my first 6.5x47 w/ 22" Bartlein 5R 8 twist and have lots of Berger hunting vld 140's and Varget.
It seems that most of you all are shooting the 120-130's in their 6.5x47.
Anybody using the 140's and have any wisdom to share?

 

[jbailey]

You might have slightly better luck w/ the 140gr's and H4350. At least for me, Varget (and RL-15) outperformed (slightly) H4350 in the 130gr class, while H4350 had a (slight) edge at 140gr class. With that said, w/ OAL of 2.80-ish, start Varget and 140gr at 36.0gr and work up... that should be 56k-ish of Pmax pressure. At 62k Pmax - a charge of 37.5-ish, you are looking at around 2700fps from your 22". I wouldn't go much pass.

 

[derrelw]

Thanks for the reply. I'm going to give it a try Sunday.
I do have quite a bit of IMR 4350 and Win 760 on hand from my .260 Rem so I'll give them a shot as well.
I plan on using the 47 for hunting deer and elk this fall so I want to work up a good hunting load but I do have quite a few 120gr - 142gr SMK's on hand and will want to try them as well for target shooting.

 

[derrelw]

I loaded up some loads w/ Varget and the 140 VLD's and found a few good loads but 37.4gr at 2700fps was a standout, one hole 4 shot group at 100 yds. A good friend who's opinion I really value says that he thinks this load is way too hot but I saw no sign of pressure issues at all. Anybody want to offer some insight?

 

[oinco]

140 hybrids for me, 37.0gr Varget, CCI 450's, 24" barrel- shot to the same POI as 39.7gr of H4350 behind the hybrids. Graduated to this load from 37.5gr Varget/450's/130 VLD's when I finally got a few hybrids in hand. I am tracking about 2780fps+/- in JBM with the 140's.

37.3gr of Varget/140 hybrids w .050" jump started to show pressure in my rifle.

I had better groups at distance (495yds) with Varget than H4350-most likely due to shorter barrel-but it was a very slim margin of vertical spread. ES/SD well within single digits.

 

[myownman]

Tag. Waiting on my rifle to come home. I will be trying the 130-140 Bergers, and varget/H4350.

 

[Sniper260]

My benchrest buddy shoots a 6.5x47 with berger 140vld and H4350. 41gr to be exact. Like stated above with 140s you probably need 4350 powder.

 

[derrelw]

I'm going to give the IMR 4350 a try this weekend.

 

[FN in MT]

H 4350 is what you need....NOT IMR-4350. Two DIFFERENT powders.

 

[CharlieNC]

With 123gr bullets I switched to Power Pro 2000MR. Like the 308 reports, I get much higher velocity and the load sensitivity based on OCW / ladder tests is much less than RL15. Pushing these at 3050 with no problems. I plan on trying the 140 Hunting VLD with this too for Western trip this Fall.

 

[derrelw]

H 4350 is what you need....NOT IMR-4350. Two DIFFERENT powders.

Well thanks, I do understand that they are different powders but H4350 is no where to be found around here and I have 8 lbs. of IMR 4350 in my possession so that's what I'll be using.

OR if I don't get the results that I'm looking for I have 4 lbs. of Winchester 760 on hand I would try next.

 

[mrbig]

Well thanks, I do understand that they are different powders but H4350 is no where to be found around here and I have 8 lbs. of IMR 4350 in my possession so that's what I'll be using.

OR if I don't get the results that I'm looking for I have 4 lbs. of Winchester 760 on hand I would try next.

thats where I will be in a couple weeks,,IMR 4350 is slower than Varget so I dont see why it wouldnt be better to use than going all the way from H4350 to Varget,,there are several powders between Varget and H4350 to try,,

 

[mrbig]

Well thanks, I do understand that they are different powders but H4350 is no where to be found around here and I have 8 lbs. of IMR 4350 in my possession so that's what I'll be using.

OR if I don't get the results that I'm looking for I have 4 lbs. of Winchester 760 on hand I would try next.

thats where I will be in a couple weeks,,IMR 4350 is slower than Varget so I dont see why it wouldnt be better to use than going all the way from H4350 to Varget,,there are several powders between Varget and H4350 to try,,

my barrel will be 28" long also though

 

[shooter.dm]

I run a 26 pac nor barrel and the 140btlr Berger cci 450 primers 36.5 gr varget gives me 2650fps and about 3in group at 600 yards

 

[derrelw]

I run a 26 pac nor barrel and the 140btlr Berger cci 450 primers 36.5 gr varget gives me 2650fps and about 3in group at 600 yards

No pressure signs with the 36.5 for you?

1/2 MOA at 600 sounds good to me but I want to try to get a minimum of 2700fps with no pressure if I can.

 

[Jim the Plumber]

With 123gr bullets I switched to Power Pro 2000MR. Like the 308 reports, I get much higher velocity and the load sensitivity based on OCW / ladder tests is much less than RL15. Pushing these at 3050 with no problems. I plan on trying the 140 Hunting VLD with this too for Western trip this Fall.

What is your PP2000MR load with the 123's?
Thanks
Jim

 

[CharlieNC]

What is your PP2000MR load with the 123's?
Thanks
Jim

I found a node at 41.5 gr; ran higher doing OCW/ladder without pressure problems. At 200 yards the vertical poi shifted 30mm per grain of RL15, and only 13mm per grain of 2000MR across the load ladder. Great powder!

 

[shooter.dm]

No pressure signs with the 36.5 for you?

1/2 MOA at 600 sounds good to me but I want to try to get a minimum of 2700fps with no pressure if I can.

No pressure signs I worked up to this load its no hot rod but it gets me to 1250 yards and can out shoot me single digit es/sd 2700 fps not going to make it much better at all

 

[derrelw]

So I loaded up some IMR 4350 loads and finally got time to try them out yesterday.

I started out at 35.5gr and went up to 39.5gr. The 39.5gr looks to be the ticket and it averaged 2692fps for 4 rounds.

No pressure signs at all and softer to shoot than the Varget loads. I'll work on COAL now.

 

[captcoop]

Tag


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[derrelw]

I know this is an old thread but I've lost all of my load history and I'm wondering what H-4350 loads work well with the 140 VLD hunting?

 

[derrelw]

Thank god, I found my log book.