6.5 creedmoore 147 eldm h4350 fps/pressure?

[ndthwacker]

Hey all I have been loading for a Christensen arms 6.5 mesa LR. I have a good load of 42.5gr of H4350 .020 off the lands using the hornady 147 Eld-M, and Fed match 210s out of the 26in barrel. I'm getting 2830 FPS average with a S.D. and E.S. in the single digits running them over a magneto speed v.3.. I'm on my first round of reloads on this batch of hornady brass, and I have flattened primers and cratering starting at about 40 grs of 4350 pushing them 2620 FPS, I will take some pictures of the brass for you guys to evaluate when I get a chance. My questions are,
1. Is anyone getting similar velocity's within safe pressure ranges with this combo?
- if so how many reloads are you getting? or have got so far?
2. Do most people stop at the sign of primers cratering? (I do not see any other signs of pressure)
Note: ( I am gunna try cci 450 due to the harder cup)
3. I'm considering trying Reloader 16 or 26 to gain some speed with less pressure to hit the same node BUT How temp sensitive are these compared to H4350? as I shoot from 0-90 degree weather here in North Dakota.
I really do not want to change anything up if it is not necessary as this load is shooting 5 rounds .312moa out 600 if you take out the cold bore shot.
So if anyone can give me some peace of mind that I am not pushing this round to hard, and pretending my Creedmoor is a 6.5-284 based on YOUR personal experiences please do so..

 

[Farmerboy78]

have you tried magnum primers yet? they have a thicker cup

 

[ndthwacker]

I have not yet, I do have Lapua brass and cci450s on the way though..

 

[ndthwacker]

Another question that I have that would help me out instead is. when you did your load work up how many FPS did you gain In correlation to powder increase, until max charge was met and velocity increases dropped off.
IF I remember correct I was gaining around 30-45fps per .5gr increase up to 42gr. from 42 to 42.5 gr I gained 15fps. Adding to the assumption I am at max charge or slightly under or over.

 

[Capt RB]

I ran peterson brass rl26 215m and the 147 with a coal from 2.820-2.855. 2.845 produce both the speed and es of 6 over 10 shots. In the peterson brass virgin would show no pressure at 47.3 with coated bullets. In once fired brass I would hit pressure signs above 46.8 with coated bullets. Now with uncoated bullets you will run into trouble much above 45.5 in peterson once/twice fired brass. But your running mid 2800's. I was running 2855 @46.3 grains in a 24" factory savage. I backed it off to 46.0 for 2830 in the winter. In the spring when it was above 45 I ran 45.7 at 2804. This did increase my es to 11fps in a 10 shot string. I sold it in April and it looks like I'll be loading for him at the 46.0 after he was out recently.
In a 26"barrel the creed benefits from the RL 26 and 4955 with more speed than the 4350 can deliver. I hit pressure with the 142smk with 4955 @ 2970 in that 24" barrel. It would have most likely shot the Rl26 at 2940 My ladder showed no pressure in once fired brass using RL 26 @2930. I never shot above about 53 degrees and that was not in the sun. Most of my shooting/load development was from 0-23 degrees. THat was why I was trending down from the original 46.3 with coated bullets.
RL 16 shot faster testing but never would shoot faster with good sd, es and accuracy much above 2730 for me.

 

[ndthwacker]

Well i was impatent at work when asking this question but i got home and i answered my own question..i looked at my brass but not well enough clearly.. this was the worst one i could find.. bit u can see the marks around edm on creedmoor. I guess back to square 1. I have lapua brass on the way so thats alright.

 

[ndthwacker]

I ran peterson brass rl26 215m and the 147 with a coal from 2.820-2.855. 2.845 produce both the speed and es of 6 over 10 shots. In the peterson brass virgin would show no pressure at 47.3 with coated bullets. In once fired brass I would hit pressure signs above 46.8 with coated bullets. Now with uncoated bullets you will run into trouble much above 45.5 in peterson once/twice fired brass. But your running mid 2800's. I was running 2855 @46.3 grains in a 24" factory savage. I backed it off to 46.0 for 2830 in the winter. In the spring when it was above 45 I ran 45.7 at 2804. This did increase my es to 11fps in a 10 shot string. I sold it in April and it looks like I'll be loading for him at the 46.0 after he was out recently.
In a 26"barrel the creed benefits from the RL 26 and 4955 with more speed than the 4350 can deliver. I hit pressure with the 142smk with 4955 @ 2970 in that 24" barrel. It would have most likely shot the Rl26 at 2940 My ladder showed no pressure in once fired brass using RL 26 @2930. I never shot above about 53 degrees and that was not in the sun. Most of my shooting/load development was from 0-23 degrees. THat was why I was trending down from the original 46.3 with coated bullets.
RL 16 shot faster testing but never would shoot faster with good sd, es and accuracy much above 2730 for me.

If u dont mind me asking what do u pay for the peterson brass? Is it small primer or large? And how many reloads are you getting out of them? The reason behind all of this is, this rifle is more or less my wifes hunting rifle, and my backyard range gun and a gun for people to shoot when they come out for fun.. i have a range out to 2000 yards out my back door. I shoot from laying inside my house in the cold days.. So i want to push this round to its max for hunting. Plus have a cheap round for people to come out and plink on. I run a few 338lapuas but when we have holidays out at the ranch and everyone wants a sit behind the rifle u start flinching on every teigger pull after 50 rounds of paper punching and ur only a quarter of the way threw people..

 

[ndthwacker]

If u dont mind me asking what do u pay for the peterson brass? Is it small primer or large? And how many reloads are you getting out of them? The reason behind all of this is, this rifle is more or less my wifes hunting rifle, and my backyard range gun and a gun for people to shoot when they come out for fun.. i have a range out to 2000 yards out my back door. I shoot from laying inside my house in the cold days.. So i want to push this round to its max for hunting. Plus have a cheap round for people to come out and plink on. I run a few 338lapuas but when we have holidays out at the ranch and everyone wants a sit behind the rifle u start flinching on every teigger pull after 50 rounds of paper punching and ur only a quarter of the way threw people..

Also have u ran any reloader 16 i have some of that on hand but not 26 at the moment

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

With 41.5 of rl-17 I settled on 2820. I haven't further tested that bullet since I started playing with the 150 smk. That was in hornady brass and have since switched to adg and Peterson brass. I lost some velocity due to less capacity but my groups have been better. Right now my accuracy load is 40 grains of rl-17 with a 140 eld at 2773fps in peterson brass. With rl-26 you should achieve 2850. I just got a pound of rl-16 to try.

 

[Capt RB]

If u dont mind me asking what do u pay for the peterson brass? Is it small primer or large? And how many reloads are you getting out of them? The reason behind all of this is, this rifle is more or less my wifes hunting rifle, and my backyard range gun and a gun for people to shoot when they come out for fun.. i have a range out to 2000 yards out my back door. I shoot from laying inside my house in the cold days.. So i want to push this round to its max for hunting. Plus have a cheap round for people to come out and plink on. I run a few 338lapuas but when we have holidays out at the ranch and everyone wants a sit behind the rifle u start flinching on every teigger pull after 50 rounds of paper punching and ur only a quarter of the way threw people..

I ran the 215m primer which is large rifle. I tried the lapua brass with 26 and I had issues with sd. ADG small primer brass hass the .080 flash hole which has not shown the loss of speed or in the case of RL26 loss of sd. With the faster powders it isn't an issue though. RL 16 I tried in a shop build which was a 22.5" Kreiger barrel that was quite fast @22.5" It would shoot the 140 match at 2720 with an sd of 22. With RL 16 we got the most speed with hornady brass but we could not get the accuracy much faster than the 4350 load with the 147 2710 and 2730 for the 2 powders. H4350 was cleaner and Rl16 held better es. The 142smk's would run a bit faster in that gun but not in mine. Not enough to make up for the advantages the 147 has in the wind.
Peterson brass was $36/50 with the nice ammo box included. You can lso get the fat necks if like to turn brass.
I was doing load mapping for the shop. Although we had a baseline accuracy load with H4350/142smk. I never ran it in my rifle. We wanted to be able to sell good powder alternatives if we had the shortages again. H4350 is tough to beat in a 24" and under barrel. However the slower powders can give you more velocity if you have enough length to burn it. The 3 best powders I tried Rl26, IMR 4955 and H100V. I ran Rl26 in my gun for club shoots and the 2 prs events I did. I didn't run Rl17 so I would have to defer to others there.
H100V with the lighter bullets was best for me. My 120smk load was 2990 and shot the same cold bore and zero as my 147/Rl26 load. If I were to try the hammers I'd start there. The rifle just didn't move off the bipod. For timid shooters that 120 load was awesome. I believe I was using norma brass for that. I gave my book away with the gun so I'd have to wait till the new owner comes back after the holidays to confirm that load.

 

[brentc]

The mark doesn't look bad. There is no shine or swipe. I'd use that brass with your best load until the pockets won't hold a primer any more.

 

[MNbogboy]

The mark doesn't look bad. There is no shine or swipe. I'd use that brass with your best load until the pockets won't hold a primer any more.

I see a smiley over the "edm" in creedmoor. Normally meaning way over pressure. Although false signs show up with oil/water contamination of case or chamber. Other possibility for ejector marks is a burr around the ejector hole.
When marks like this are accompanied by stiff bolt lift, flattened primers and possibly primer catering it is time to stop, regroup and find the problem. Danger looms!

 

[brentc]

When marks like this are accompanied by stiff bolt lift, flattened primers and possibly primer catering it is time to stop, regroup and find the problem. Danger looms!

You're right, but if it's making marks at 40 grains of H4350 in a creedmoor, I'm betting that rifle will leave marks at all pressure levels. That smiley is not an indicator of pressure in this instance. It's an indicator of soft brass, or as you stated, it is caused by a sharp edge or burr around the ejector.

To the OP, cratered primers don't necessarily indicate excessive pressure. It just means there is space between your firing pin and the firing pin hole. Again it's something you'll most likely see to some extent at all pressure levels. I'd say if your primers come out looking like a chef's hat, you've got yourself a pressure sign.

 

[MNbogboy]

You're right, but if it's making marks at 40 grains of H4350 in a creedmoor, I'm betting that rifle will leave marks at all pressure levels. That smiley is not an indicator of pressure in this instance. It's an indicator of soft brass, or as you stated, it is caused by a sharp edge or burr around the ejector.

To the OP, cratered primers don't necessarily indicate excessive pressure. It just means there is space between your firing pin and the firing pin hole. Again it's something you'll most likely see to some extent at all pressure levels. I'd say if your primers come out looking like a chef's hat, you've got yourself a pressure sign.

I'm in total agreement except I did not see where he had smileys at 40 only the primer cratering. Two of my creeds love his 42.5 with 143s, the other is done at 41.8. His load with that brass sounds reasonable but may be pushing it. That's the point I was trying to make.