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Help with powder and primers

Painjob38

Sergeant of the Hide
Full Member
Minuteman
Apr 11, 2019
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I have never hand loaded before. Having said that. My friend has all the stuff to help me work a load for my 6.5 creedmoor. I would like any suggestions on what powder I should try and what primers I should use. For some reference it am going to be using the 143 eld x and attempting to work a load for my Q Fix and my surgeon with proof carbon barrel. Thank you for all your help.
 
All I have used so far is H4350 and CCI 450 primers since I'm using small primer brass.
I have played with H1000 and the 147eldm and it is a very accurate combo but slower velocities.
If using large primer brass get some Fed 210M primers as allready suggested.
 
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The 6.5CM was literally designed using H4350. Assuming you can find it (you should be able to), I would start there; it is very likely to shoot well (probably right around the 40.6-41.2gr area). You'd want to grab either CCI or Fed primers in whatever primer size your brass calls for.

RL16 is another good powder; will usually give you ~20-50FPS more than H4350.....but it's not like that's a game changing difference.

If you don't already have brass, using premium brass (such as Lapua, Alpha, Peterson ADG, etc.) will generally get you more reloads, and more consistent performance. That's not to say other brass won't work, or will be inaccurate.

I'm partial to the 140 Berger Hybrid, but the 143 or 147 will work for sure.
 
^^^^ This. You don't say what, if any, particular brass or bullet you already have in hand. Hornady brass is cheap and easy to find. It works ok. Hornady brass and Hornady 147gr ELD-M were fine for the first few months I went back to handloading bottleneck rifle after a nearly 30-year hiatus.

But I have found that Peterson SRP (small rife primer) brass, CCI 450 primers, and Berger 140gr hybrids with 41.2gr H4350 give me about 2775fps and sub-1/2MOA groups at 300 yards. The Hornady brass/bullet combo is not as consistent but is less expensive. Play with seating depth as well as charge weight - look for info on "Optimal Charge Weight" directions here and via your favorite search engine. There is a wealth of information on SH about handloading in general and for the 6.5CM in particular.

Finally, if you read much here, you'll come away believing that everybody wants to wring the last bit of velocity possible out of the load short of danger. Try not to fall into that trap. The 40,6-41.3 area is USUALLY a safe, moderate, and highly accurate load. It's up to you to work up your loads safely.
 
i would venture to add this consideration....what other calibers do you shoot. perhaps there is a powder that would accommodate several of your other calibers as well. might save you a little money by not having to purchase and store too many different types.
 
If you can find H4350 then start there. Otherwise RL16 is another good option.
If you’re using small primer rifle brass then CCI 450. For large primer Federal 210.
That should get you what you need.