eshell 6.5x300

[Budman]

Ed I seen your comment under the sooty neck thread about US869. I finally have my 6.5 STW up and running. I am using 142 Seirra with H50BMG, I want to say at 84 grains but need to double check that. I was loading 338-378 last night so I don't trust my memory. Back to the 6.5 I ran it up to the point I was getting a full case and the speed just wasn't there, again I will get the charge for you with US869 and the speed it was running. With the H50bmg I am at 3360 and have room to go up but it shoots very well and es is single digit so I quit. I did manage to stretch it out this summer for the first time and at 1000 to 1400 is was impressive. With just over 100 rounds thru her she will be left alone till the throat starts to go, buy the way I am .001 from the lands. Thanks for your help some time ago when I started with this gun. Dave

 

[eshell]

Hi Dave,

Thank you! I appreciate the info.

Yeah man, it's hard to beat a screaming 6.5 bullet for low recoil "flat" . . . my 6.5-300 Wby is using 19 moa to get to 1k from my 100 yard zero. I'm shooting a Lapua 123 at about 3,400 with it right now.

I was shooting 83 grains of H-870 and I'd definitely be interested in seeing what you're doing with the US 869, be nice to get my speed back up with 140s.

Best regards,
Ed

 

[Budman]

Ed I checked my notes and with the H50BMG I am at 84 grains. With the US869 I quit at 87 grains and the velocity was only 3100. I didn't think I could get to 3300 before I was compressing the load so I switched to 50BMG. I don't have much of a problem with sooty necks either. The US869 may work but you know the barrel life better then I do but I will take your word so I never went any farther. The 6.5 put a deeper indent in my steal then the 338-378 did with 300's at 750 which really shocked me. Hopefully in a couple weeks we will see how it preforms on a Bull. Dave

 

[hank shaper]

Other powder choices for the 6.5x300

Hoping you two could help me. I have been playing around with my 6.5x300 wby and would like some input about powders. Retumbo is my choice for 130gr & and 140's. H1000 has been great in several other applications. AA8700 shows good velocity. H5010,7828,RL25 and VV165 seem to fit the profile. I have been thinking about shooting 120gr TSX or 130 Scirrocos. Please give me any ideas about these powders that you have, based on your experiences. Thanks for your time, I know that is a lot of powders to discuss.

Hank

 

[eshell]

Hi Hank,

Retumbo is a little on the fast side, and while I am getting 3,400 easily with Lapua 123s, I couldn't get decent speeds with the 140s and gave them up for the time being. FWIW, zeroed at 100 yards, I need 19 moa to be back on at 1k with the 123s.

IMR 7828 was WAY too fast for me, and I hit high pressures quickly with any useful bullet weight. I did shoot a couple Sierra 87 grain varmint bullets with it, which blew up in the bore or at the muzzle - guess they're not rated at 4k+ . . . ;-)

Seems like H-1000 would be a little fast for it too, but I haven't tried it.

I am advised AA8700 is VERY close to H-870 in rate, but cleaner.

Were it not for the horrific fouling and then lack of availability, I would still be using H-870. With a 30" barrel, I was able to exceed 3,550 with Nosler 120 BTs with H-870, and got 3,400 with 140s pretty easily using 83.0 grains. Both loads were 1/4 to 3/8 moa loads.

I had tried H-5010, and, while it was rated slower, the lot I had was about equal in burning rate to H-870. At the time, I had a bunch of H-870 and there was no motivation to work up another load with such a close approximation. Now, with H-870 about gone, and a PIA anyway, I would reconsider H-5010, and would hope for less mess.

Before fully understanding my problem(s) with this cartridge vs H-870 vs hard carbon, I had asked for help over at Accurate Reloading. I was offered a great deal of advice, both on substitute powders and on dealing with the excessive fouling. You might find that thread interesting:
Replacing H-870 in a 6.5-300Wby ?? - Topic Powered by eve community

My info/experience with this rifle has stagnated since then. At 750 rounds, I had it set back and re-crowned. Had to go 2" up the bore to get a decent indicator reading and the throat was SO ugly to that point, I decided to just grab the first *decent* load and quit making it sore just playing with it. With about 74 grains of Retumbo and the 123s, I got good velocity and excellent accuracy and have tried to slow down the round count a little by focusing mainly on hunting with it.

 

[hank shaper]

Thanks for the info, there isn't much out there. I really appreciate your time!

Hank

 

[Budman]

Ed thanks for the link, I really enjoyed reading it. I ran into the same problem with the carbon ring on a 8mm Rum where once safe loads would back out primers and lock the bolt up. Now I follow Bounty Hunters cleaning system with wipe out then I will use JB on a bronze brush for 50 strokes and follow up with wipe out, problem solved but it sure drove me nuts trying to figure out what was going on at first. Dave