6.5 Creedmoor 28 Inch Barrel Powder Choice?

[mountaincarver]

I have a Browning Eclipse Target 6.5 creedmoor with a 28 inch barrel and have load tested to find that when shooting 140 grain ELD's or 143 ELDX's it likes about 42.6 grains of H4350 or 41.5 grains of RL17. these loads run the bullet at 2840 fps pretty consistently. After surfing the internet and seeing what some others are shooting, it seems many are finding their load to be very similar. it seems people are getting the same velocity with much shorter barrels, which makes me wonder if the extra barrel length is a waist of time and just extra weight with no benefit. I have to wonder if something like 4831 would shine in this instance. Not sure. Has anyone played with some slower powder and found better results in speed and accuracy with long barreled creedmoors? Thoughts?

 

[bigdaddyWSM]

I started using Hybrid H100V in my 6.5 with 24'' barrel, I actually had tighter groups & 3-400 fps faster MV.

 

[mountaincarver]

Thanks for the reply. sounds like its worth a visit!

 

[Kansaswoodguy]

I've got a 26" barrel on mine, my three best powders are H4350, RL 17, and Superformance. I tried H4831ss it was very accurate but I couldn't get the velocity I wanted with the 140's. I'm running a semi auto so that has its oun set of issues I deal with.

 

[JLB-MT]

I shoot primarily 130 grain bullets in mine. I use Varget, H4350, IMR 4451 and RL 15. My best group to date is with 130 Berger and RL 15. My rifle seems to love this load.

 

[mountaincarver]

So I ran a load test today. I shot 140 berger hybrid targets. With IMR 4831, the node came it with 43 grains at about 2830 FPS. With H 4831, the node came in at 45 grains at 2820 FPS. The H4831 was the most accurate. So far, here is what I have found... H4350, RL17, 4831, H4831 have all came in to the accuracy node at about 2830 FPS. H4831 is definitely very accurate but I have to just start crunching it to get the node. one nice thing about it though is it will stay accurate for about a whole grain or more. H4350 works **** good. Hard to purchase. RL17 is picky but produces good groups, will take off more than expected when I load past 42 grains. IMR 4831 is very very similar to H4350 and loaded to very close to the same powder charge. I think ill tinker a while with H4831 in some temperature swings. Just thought id share my experiences and would love to hear from others. thanks.

 

[Kansaswoodguy]

I've been reading on H 100V giving 100-150 Fps faster results without pressure. Its a ball powder extruded into short sticks or something weird like that. I'll pick up a pound to play with one of these days. I've also read that IMR 4451 is also a very good sub for H4350 but I haven't had any issues getting H4350 lately so there it's a lot of incentive for me to try other powders.

 

[bubba300]

I shoot a vanguard in 6.5 cm, I used H4350 with 129gr LRAB and was really happy with it.I traded for some 130gr Accubonds and I tried some H380 and It is just about making 1 hole with 38grs.Not sure of the speeds but very happy with it out to 500 yards its staying .5 MOA.
My brother has the target eclipse and I really like it,he has let me use it a bit but haven't cronied any loads yet.