6.5 CM in a Pistol

[Nimrodmar10]

I just bought a Remington 700 CP (chassis pistol) in 6.5 CM. The pistol has a 12.5" barrel. The version I bought has the arm support stock attached. The reason I bought it was because I wanted a short barreled gun for the truck that I could use with a 9" Gemtech Dagger suppressor that would be short enough to maneuver in close quarters.

Here's my question. I own three long CM rifles that I reload for that have 24"-26" barrels. I use the Hornady 140 gr. ELD-M bullet and H4350 powder, as I'm sure a lot of you do too. But with a 12.5" barrel, I'm thinking I need a faster burning powder. Just off the top of my head, I'm thinking maybe Varget or Reloder 15. If any of you are loading a pistol length 6.5 Creedmoor, I'd appreciate your input.

 

[Ernie]

I would start with H-4350, and see what you get.

 

[JMW67]

I just bought a Remington 700 CP (chassis pistol) in 6.5 CM. The pistol has a 12.5" barrel. The version I bought has the arm support stock attached. The reason I bought it was because I wanted a short barreled gun for the truck that I could use with a 9" Gemtech Dagger suppressor that would be short enough to maneuver in close quarters.

Here's my question. I own three long CM rifles that I reload for that have 24"-26" barrels. I use the Hornady 140 gr. ELD-M bullet and H4350 powder, as I'm sure a lot of you do too. But with a 12.5" barrel, I'm thinking I need a faster burning powder. Just off the top of my head, I'm thinking maybe Varget or Reloder 15. If any of you are loading a pistol length 6.5 Creedmoor, I'd appreciate your input.

Iam loading for the same gun using 110 hammer hunters and H-4895 its showing great promise I went with this bullet to keep velocity up and still have a good killing bullet this will not be a long range gun so the b.c. meant nothing to me I will be trying the 6.5 staball next

 

[Nimrodmar10]

I would start with H-4350, and see what you get.

That's my go to powder for long barrels, but it's pretty slow burning. I'm afraid a lot of the powder would be wasted as a fireball. Have you tried any faster burning powders

 

[JMW67]

That's my go to powder for long barrels, but it's pretty slow burning. I'm afraid a lot of the powder would be wasted as a fireball. Have you tried any faster burning powders
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[yorke-1]

That's my go to powder for long barrels, but it's pretty slow burning. I'm afraid a lot of the powder would be wasted as a fireball. Have you tried any faster burning powders

Try the H4350 and see how it shoots. This is a 338/375 Ruger with an 18" barrel shooting 76.5gr of H4350. It's a longer barrel than what you're working with, but it's also 40% more powder than you'd be burning.

 

[Nimrodmar10]

Try the H4350 and see how it shoots. This is a 338/375 Ruger with an 18" barrel shooting 76.5gr of H4350. It's a longer barrel than what you're working with, but it's also 40% more powder than you'd be burning.

What type of brake are you shooting your rig? I was expecting to see a fireball. But didn't

 

[Nimrodmar10]

My first trip to the range was enlightening. I had plenty of rounds loaded for my rifles, so I used them for break in and sighting in the scope. I put a Nikon Prostaff 5, 2.5-10x40mm scope on the pistol to use for group testing.
The load was the Hornady 140 gr. ELD-M loaded with 41.3 gr. H4350 and a Federal 210M Primer in Hornady Brass with an overall length of 2.813" . From my Savage rifle with a 26 inch barrel, this load chronographed an average of 2752 fps. It wasn't a maximum load, but was a very accurate load, normally shooting under 1/2 inch.
Fired from the 12.5" barrel on the Remington 700 CP, it averaged 2273 fps. That is 479 fps slower than the 26" rifle. With a difference of 15.5", that would be a loss of 30.9 fps per inch of barrel length. This was about what I expected.
After firing 30 rounds for barrel break in, I removed the two screws holding on the M-Lok friend so that I could attach my Magnetospeed chronograph. With it attached to the barrel, the groups averaged just over an inch at 100 yards.
I purchased some Hornady 95 gr. V-Max and Nosler 120 gr. Ballistic Tip bullets to try next, with some faster burning powder.

 

[yorke-1]

I think that's pretty good for a 12.5" barrel! I think the 120-130gr bullets would be a good balance between velocity and BC, depending on what you're planning to do with the gun.

 

[Nimrodmar10]

I loaded the Nosler 120 gr. Ballistic Tip and Hornady 95 gr. V-Max bullets with Reloder 15 and Varget. Both bullets and powders did a decent job in the pistol. The best load with the Nosler 120 gr. BT was 37.6 gr. Varget with a Federal 210M Primer in Hornady Brass seated to 2.710" COAL. The load produced an average velocity of 2323 fps. The SD wasn't that great at 20.5 fps, but it grouped less than 1 inch at 100 yards. 37.8 gr. of Reloder 15 produced 2263 fps and grouped almost as good.
The best load for the Hornady 95 gr. V-Max was 40.3 gr. of Varget with a Federal 210M Primer with a COAL of 2.615". The SD on this load was great at 5.9 fps and an extreme spread of 15 fps. Accuracy was less than one inch. The Reloder 15 loads were about the same velocity but ES and SD was quite a bit worse.
None of the test loads were max, but not far from it. The Varget loads produced quite a big fire ball. Reloder 15 loads showed some fire but manageable. The barrel only had a thread protector. I couldn't use the suppressor with the Magnetospeed. The short barrel was inside the window of my shooting house and the three port muzzle brake I had was waaaaay too loud to use. I'll shoot the next loads outside with the suppressor and LabRadar with the microphone. That should be a better test of the accuracy of the loads.
Stand by for more results

 

[Nimrodmar10]

This is a photo of the pistol without the wrist brace.

 

[Left Hand Dave]

In a 6.5 CM XP-100 with a 16" barrel I use 120gr Nosler BT and Superformance. Works well for hunting.

 

[Nimrodmar10]

In a 6.5 CM XP-100 with a 16" barrel I use 120gr Nosler BT and Superformance. Works well for hunting.

What kind of velocity are you getting with the 16 inch barrel

 

[Left Hand Dave]

What kind of velocity are you getting with the 16 inch barrel

I am at about 2740 FPS. That was with a hair over max listed in the Hornsby 8th edition manual. When you look at velocities for 15-16" pistols you can unslung subtract about 250-300 FPS from the rifle velocities and it will give you an idea what the velocity will be. My pistol has a 1-8.5 twist.