6.5 156 EOL

Greyfox said:

I have seen similar effects switching to the hotter 450's, particularly when temperatures are running lower. The thicker cup is also less prone to cratering at the higher pressures. Apologies if it was mentioned in a previous post, but what twist rate are you running?
I will be very anxious to hear of your results on game. Have you noted any differences in POI(BC) at the longer ranges when drilling the tips?

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Greyfox said:

Just did some testing of the 156 EOL's using Reloader 26 with my 6.5x284Norma, 26" barrel,1:8 , with a .188" free-bore. My testing was performed with the bullet seated .020" off the lands which placed the base of the bullet at the juncture of where the shoulder taper meets the case body, enabling me to use near full capacity of the case....pleasant surprise. I used 2-3x fired Lapua bras, FL sized with a .291" bushing, Fed 210M primers, COAL was 3.210", an easy fit in my magazines. I ran a charge weight ladder at 100 yards starting at 53gr and ending at 55.5, in .5gr increments. See attached. It was quite windy, otherwise the entire group would likely have been contained in a .5MOA cluster. I also loaded 5 rounds each at 53.5gr/2960FPS/ES 5, and 54.5gr/3011FPS/ES13. Groups were .5MOA for both. . I expect the groups would have been better without the wind, otherwise I might do some seating depth tests, and or fine tuning of the charge weights. I will like likely settle on the 54.5gr charge at 3011FPS. While bolt lift was OK at my max charge of 55.5gr,/3050FPS, I did have slight ejector marks, and some cratering of the primer. Overall, the 156 seems to be an easy bullet to work with. I will be anxious to see how these bullets perform on game.
View attachment 141997

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Greyfox said:

Much like the 6.5PRC, the 6.5x284 can achieve velocity of the 156gr EOL in the +3000FPS range with a free-bore of .180"-.190". This free-bore will place the base of the 140 and 156 Berger's very close to the case capacity where the shoulder meets the case body, nicely taking near full use of the case volume. I have not yet tried Retumbo, believing R26 a better choice wth the heavier bullet. Using R26, I have been able to achieve velocity of 3075FPS with the Berger 140 HVLD(54.4gr),compared to 3000-3025FPS using 57gr of a Retumbo. To achieve 3000FPS with the 156 EOL I use 54.2gr of R26. Both bullets are seated .020-.025" off the lands of my 6.5x284's with .188" free-bore. .5MOA or better groups, and SD's less then 10 is achievable at these velocities with both the 140 and 156 loads. While both Retumbo and R26 are considered slow burners, R26 has a higher density then Retumbo developing comparable velocity at lower pressure with lower charge weights. I will likely try Retumbo with the 156EOL but I suspect I'll either run out of powder space or hit pressure at 2900-2950. If I could get my hands on some N-565 I'd give this powder a try. It also looks like it could be a promising powder for the 156EOL in the 6.5x284.

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Sniper97 said:

Would you say the RL26 is the best powder for the 156?

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Greyfox said:

While I really like Retumbo for the 140 class bullets, R26, IMO is a better powder to use with the heavy-longer bullets. R26 generates comparable velocity to Retumbo with 2-3gr less powder at lower pressure in the Lapua 6.5x284 case in my rifle. Given the added weight and length of the 156gr Berger I was able to get at least 100 FPS greater velocity with R26 compared to Retumbo. To answer your question on seating depth. I tested seating depths from .010-.035" and settled .025" off the lands. This bullet appeared insensitive to seating depth differences over this range generating groups from .25-.5MOA range at velocities in the 2975-3025FPS range with no pressure signs at 65-80F. Overall, the Berger 156EOL was easy to work with!
I have a .188" throat, 8tw, 26", Light Palma Criterion barrel
Hope this helps!

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Creedmoor shooter said:

Thinking about giving these a try in my creed. I should be able to exceed 2800 fps with rl-26. It would make for some bad deer medicine.

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jsthntn247 said:

Exactly what I'm thinking if I could only find some Rl-26

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Creedmoor shooter said:

Luckily I've got 7 lbs of it

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Greyfox said:

While I really like Retumbo for the 140 class bullets, R26, IMO is a better powder to use with the heavy-longer bullets. R26 generates comparable velocity to Retumbo with 2-3gr less powder at lower pressure in the Lapua 6.5x284 case in my rifle. Given the added weight and length of the 156gr Berger I was able to get at least 100 FPS greater velocity with R26 compared to Retumbo. To answer your question on seating depth. I tested seating depths from .010-.035" and settled .025" off the lands. This bullet appeared insensitive to seating depth differences over this range generating groups from .25-.5MOA range at velocities in the 2975-3025FPS range with no pressure signs at 65-80F. Overall, the Berger 156EOL was easy to work with!
I have a .188" throat, 8tw, 26", Light Palma Criterion barrel
Hope this helps!

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Sniper97 said:

Dang, that'll last a while!

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