mferrell
Member
I purchased a Seekins PH2 in 6.5PRC for my wife's new hunting rig and have started the process of load development and accuracy testing. I wanted to start a thread for those that would like to know how well it performs in the 6.5 platform as well as get any advice, tips, and tricks throughout my endeavor of developing a load for it. To note I am by no means a "professional" I just enjoy trying to get the best out of my rifles.
To start off the rifle has the follow:
24" 1:8 twist barrel W/SiCo ASR brake
Vortex PST Gen2 FFP 5x25 W/ SWFA medium height rings
Timney trigger (stock)
SiCo Omega 300 suppressor
Reloading components:
Redding type "S" dies (.292 bushing)
RCBS charge master
Gunwerks brass
R-26 powder
CCI 200 primers
140gr berger elite hunters and 156EOL
Since I received the components way ahead of the rifle (took 3 months to get it) I went ahead and prepped all my cases. I ran them through the sizing die to remove any dents in the case mouths, trimmed, chamfered, deburred, and uniformed the primer flash holes.
First off I was very impressed with the Gunwerks brass. They shipped 104 pieces, which I assume is to make up for any defective pieces. My batch had zero blemishes. I usually weight out cases but in this first round firing I didn't weigh them. However, I did check the neck runout. All but 5 had less than 1 thou of runout; 4 had 1.5 and 1 had 2.
The powder I am starting out with is R26, which seems to be what a lot of guys are running For this round. I plan to test H1000 as well depending on how the R26 performs.
I'm a fan of the berger bullets because they have performed well in my 300WM so I decided to start off with them. I am unsure if I can get enough velocity with the 156 gr berger EOLs and a 24" barrel but I figured I would give them a try. I have read a couple threads on here that people are getting over 2900fps so hopefully I can get there.
Now, the rifle. I received the rifle a couple weeks ago, got the scope all mounted up, and thankfully was able to score 1 box of the hornady precision hunters. The rifle itself is stunning. My only complaint is that they could have cleaned the barrel threads better after they machined it. It looked like they cut them, threw a protector on it and ran it out the door without cleaning them up.
The rifle came with a timney elite hunter trigger, which isn't bad, but I had to lighten the pull. I believe it suppose to come preset at 2.5lbs but this one felt more like 4lbs. It was simple to adjust however and only took a few minutes.
Now comes the fun part, actually shooting it.The rifle was one of the easiest I've had to break the barrel in. I gave it a good scrubbing before I shot, then did the old shot one clean (x2), shot three clean, shoot 5 clean, then I was done. I scrubbed it with copper solvent each time and by the 10th round I was getting just a slight hint of blue, so I called it good.
With the factory ammo is was shooting under an inch which was promising. Once I had fired case I sized it, pushing the should back .002" but leaving the neck untouched and created a modified case for my hornady OAL gauge. I didn't have a lathe so I used the poor mans method, a drill and hand tap. It's crude but it works.
Once I got my base to ogive length I started my reloading process. I started with 54gr of R26 behind the 140gr bullet. I stepped up in .5 grain up to 55.5 grain; setting them .035" off the lands. The unfired case shoulder length was 10 thou shorter than the fired case so by my calculation I set my seater die to load them .045" base to ogive. I repeated this process for the 156 gr pills, starting out at 55grs and 55.5 grains.
Needless to say I'm pretty happy with the first round of testing. Velocities were measured with a lab radar and all groups are at 100 yards.
Velocity: 2802 SD: 11.4 ES: 30 Size: .75
Since the velocity was well below where I wantedI had zero pressure signs, I jumped to the 55.5gr load.
velocity: 2881 SD: 5.3 ES: 10 size: .45"
156 gr EOL:
I was unimpressed by the grouping and numbers I got but this is only the start
velocity: 2811 SD: 10.1 ES: 22 Size: .97"
156 EOL 55.5gr grouping is below. I had issues getting the chrono to read so I didn't get any numbers. Also this got a little congested, so my apologies. The group at the very top by my pointer finger is 54.5 gr with the 140s. The 156gr group is just above the "1" And measure .65" (minus the shot just above the group, different load)
All in all I'm fairly happy with how the rifle is performing with this first round of testing. I am not seeing the numbers that others are seeing yet but I have some room to up the charge. The 140s a very promising and depending on how the next round goes I might drop the 156s from the line up.
For a baseline I did shoot one of the factory hornady 143 elds over the chrono for comparison. It was 2841 FPS.
Next round of testing I plan on bumping the 140 gr charge up to 57grs in .5 increments and see where that gets me.
Does anyone else have any experience with this rifle with various loads and results? I'm curious as to how my numbers stack up. So far I have 47 rounds down the tube.
Also what are yalls thoughts on annealing? Should I anneal after the first firing or give it 2 or 3 go arounds with this cartridge?
To start off the rifle has the follow:
24" 1:8 twist barrel W/SiCo ASR brake
Vortex PST Gen2 FFP 5x25 W/ SWFA medium height rings
Timney trigger (stock)
SiCo Omega 300 suppressor
Reloading components:
Redding type "S" dies (.292 bushing)
RCBS charge master
Gunwerks brass
R-26 powder
CCI 200 primers
140gr berger elite hunters and 156EOL
Since I received the components way ahead of the rifle (took 3 months to get it) I went ahead and prepped all my cases. I ran them through the sizing die to remove any dents in the case mouths, trimmed, chamfered, deburred, and uniformed the primer flash holes.
First off I was very impressed with the Gunwerks brass. They shipped 104 pieces, which I assume is to make up for any defective pieces. My batch had zero blemishes. I usually weight out cases but in this first round firing I didn't weigh them. However, I did check the neck runout. All but 5 had less than 1 thou of runout; 4 had 1.5 and 1 had 2.
The powder I am starting out with is R26, which seems to be what a lot of guys are running For this round. I plan to test H1000 as well depending on how the R26 performs.
I'm a fan of the berger bullets because they have performed well in my 300WM so I decided to start off with them. I am unsure if I can get enough velocity with the 156 gr berger EOLs and a 24" barrel but I figured I would give them a try. I have read a couple threads on here that people are getting over 2900fps so hopefully I can get there.
Now, the rifle. I received the rifle a couple weeks ago, got the scope all mounted up, and thankfully was able to score 1 box of the hornady precision hunters. The rifle itself is stunning. My only complaint is that they could have cleaned the barrel threads better after they machined it. It looked like they cut them, threw a protector on it and ran it out the door without cleaning them up.
The rifle came with a timney elite hunter trigger, which isn't bad, but I had to lighten the pull. I believe it suppose to come preset at 2.5lbs but this one felt more like 4lbs. It was simple to adjust however and only took a few minutes.
Now comes the fun part, actually shooting it.The rifle was one of the easiest I've had to break the barrel in. I gave it a good scrubbing before I shot, then did the old shot one clean (x2), shot three clean, shoot 5 clean, then I was done. I scrubbed it with copper solvent each time and by the 10th round I was getting just a slight hint of blue, so I called it good.
With the factory ammo is was shooting under an inch which was promising. Once I had fired case I sized it, pushing the should back .002" but leaving the neck untouched and created a modified case for my hornady OAL gauge. I didn't have a lathe so I used the poor mans method, a drill and hand tap. It's crude but it works.
Once I got my base to ogive length I started my reloading process. I started with 54gr of R26 behind the 140gr bullet. I stepped up in .5 grain up to 55.5 grain; setting them .035" off the lands. The unfired case shoulder length was 10 thou shorter than the fired case so by my calculation I set my seater die to load them .045" base to ogive. I repeated this process for the 156 gr pills, starting out at 55grs and 55.5 grains.
Needless to say I'm pretty happy with the first round of testing. Velocities were measured with a lab radar and all groups are at 100 yards.
Velocity: 2802 SD: 11.4 ES: 30 Size: .75
Since the velocity was well below where I wantedI had zero pressure signs, I jumped to the 55.5gr load.
velocity: 2881 SD: 5.3 ES: 10 size: .45"
156 gr EOL:
I was unimpressed by the grouping and numbers I got but this is only the start
velocity: 2811 SD: 10.1 ES: 22 Size: .97"
156 EOL 55.5gr grouping is below. I had issues getting the chrono to read so I didn't get any numbers. Also this got a little congested, so my apologies. The group at the very top by my pointer finger is 54.5 gr with the 140s. The 156gr group is just above the "1" And measure .65" (minus the shot just above the group, different load)
All in all I'm fairly happy with how the rifle is performing with this first round of testing. I am not seeing the numbers that others are seeing yet but I have some room to up the charge. The 140s a very promising and depending on how the next round goes I might drop the 156s from the line up.
For a baseline I did shoot one of the factory hornady 143 elds over the chrono for comparison. It was 2841 FPS.
Next round of testing I plan on bumping the 140 gr charge up to 57grs in .5 increments and see where that gets me.
Does anyone else have any experience with this rifle with various loads and results? I'm curious as to how my numbers stack up. So far I have 47 rounds down the tube.
Also what are yalls thoughts on annealing? Should I anneal after the first firing or give it 2 or 3 go arounds with this cartridge?
At a glance I would say you have a great node at 56-57 grains of R26 behind the 156gr bullet. Terminal performance appears devastating. Further testing is pretty much a question of what you are after 
