Help Fine Tuning 6BR

[jrg]

Absolute a prize possession for a PRS rifle. You can't beat, may match, but can't beat your components. I am very impressed! Can't see why you can't get to <0.25"easilly with that set up. Just few tweaks and you will be knocking them in the X every time. I would go back and start at 30.2 gr Varget and set at 0.10 off the lands. See where you are at by then. If good group and SD go to 31.5 and see how that goes. You have the best of the best for the rifle so it is up to the shooter now. Unless there is something incorrect with any or all of the highly precession components, Good Luck I am rooting for you! GREAT RIG!!!
Jill and I are currently almost building the same rig!
to bad your in TX we have a PRS range down the road from us.

We are running basically the same set-up as you, Defiance Elite Action & Bartlein 5R MTU, 26", 1:7.5, chambered by Wade Studeville. I shoot 107gr. SMK's with 30gr. Varget & CCI 450 primers in my gun at .014 off the lands. .250-.300 groups at 200 yds.
My Son has the same set-up except he uses a Defiance Tactical action but everything else is the same as mine. he shoots 107gr. SMK's 30gr, Varget Federal 205M Primers .005 off the lands in one barrel & .020 off the Lands in another. Both will shoot ,250 at 200 yds.
You have a great set-up maybe try the Federal 205 M primers & adjust seating depth!

 

[neilbfree]

Pardon for a slight hijack of your thread, but I am building a similar setup only using a Bighorn TL3 with a 26" PVA/Rock Creek barrel - still waiting for the action to be built. My question is - do you have any issues with feeding the rounds? MDT has a special 6BR AICS pattern magazine that claims to improve feeding.

 

[Bret GRAVELINE Graveline]

Pardon for a slight hijack of your thread, but I am building a similar setup only using a Bighorn TL3 with a 26" PVA/Rock Creek barrel - still waiting for the action to be built. My question is - do you have any issues with feeding the rounds? MDT has a special 6BR AICS pattern magazine that claims to improve feeding.

I've never worked with a bighorn action, but I have put together a number of BR's on the Remington model 7 action, most smiths place a spacer or filler block at the rear of the mag box, I placed a block of milled aluminum that was radiused and chamfured or ramped in the front of the mag box and never had a problem with feeding after that.

 

[30BR]

Just finished a depth test with a buddy running a no-turn 6mmBR. .006" off the lands with 108 Bergers and I think 31 gr of VV powder (can't recall which one) produced 5 shots in one hole, which we mike'd to be less than 0.190". All other groups were further from the lands, and none were anywhere near that tight. So go close to lands, but stay off them. (100 yards with 450 primers.)

 

[jraulsten]

Pardon for a slight hijack of your thread, but I am building a similar setup only using a Bighorn TL3 with a 26" PVA/Rock Creek barrel - still waiting for the action to be built. My question is - do you have any issues with feeding the rounds? MDT has a special 6BR AICS pattern magazine that claims to improve feeding.

I have heard of people having issues with the MDTs but mine have worked flawlessly. I have tried the others with the spacer that were supposedly "tuned" mags and had issues where every few rounds would nose dive. Finally had to tweak the spring and feed lips to get better performance but still not perfect. I could have saved a lot of money by getting the MDTs in the first place. I suppose they all need tweaked at one point or another.......

 

[jraulsten]

We are running basically the same set-up as you, Defiance Elite Action & Bartlein 5R MTU, 26", 1:7.5, chambered by Wade Studeville. I shoot 107gr. SMK's with 30gr. Varget & CCI 450 primers in my gun at .014 off the lands. .250-.300 groups at 200 yds.
My Son has the same set-up except he uses a Defiance Tactical action but everything else is the same as mine. he shoots 107gr. SMK's 30gr, Varget Federal 205M Primers .005 off the lands in one barrel & .020 off the Lands in another. Both will shoot ,250 at 200 yds.
You have a great set-up maybe try the Federal 205 M primers & adjust seating depth!

What velocities are you getting? I get 2800-2810 with 30 grains of Varget in both my BRs with identical barrels. I am always either buying slow barrels or there are a lot of people on the internet exaggerating on velocities

 

[jrg]

What velocities are you getting? I get 2800-2810 with 30 grains of Varget in both my BRs with identical barrels. I am always either buying slow barrels or there are a lot of people on the internet exaggerating on velocities

My Sons barrel is a little faster than mine 2800-2820, But mine is 2780-2800

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

My Sons barrel is a little faster than mine 2800-2820, But mine is 2780-2800

That's because he is younger than you. You get slower as you get older. ask me I know.

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

That's because he is younger than you. You get slower as you get older. ask me I know.

Yea the old man fell into that one!

 

[JC in Calif]

I decided to go beyond my typical 30 grains of Varget in the 6BR today. 5 shot groups at 100 yards. The .592" group is terrible but do you think seating depth will close it up? I ask because SD was very low, ES was low and velocity was averaging 2865. I would love to make this load shoot! If so, which way should I go and in what increments? These were shot with .020 jump. Pic is rotated 90 degrees to right.....

View attachment 277518

Varget shoots well in my 6BR also. For my best groups, VV135 is top shooter in my gun.

 

[Jeremy Henderson]

I don't think it will hurt. I would try it then like others suggested try a different primer. I started jammed then went in .050 increments to settle on this load. Didn't get to finish it when Rona hit. This was my son shooting last Saturday 30.6 grains of Varget, 450 CCI , 105 Berger VLD Match .030 off at 600 yards. Running around 2880fps. I'll have to look at E.S. I was thinking around 25. Keep us posted and good luck.

 

[del2les]

Don't be afraid to try a different primer, I used to dabble in a occasional bench rest shoot and have been a hardcore harasser of prairie dogs and rock chucks for over 40 Years, having owned a fair share of one holers from 222 thru 6.5-284 I've found that a simple primer change could cut that group in half, bench rest primers don't always produce the tightest groups, have you tried shooting groups at 2 or 3 hundred yards? 1 of my 6.5-284s with a 1-7 twist would only produce 5 to 6 tenths groups at 100 yrs, this rifle weighed over 20 lbs and was fitted with a 42# nightforce scope, I tried every Sierra match king and Berger bullet I could get my hands on from 107 to 155 gr, it was only after I found that my groups fired on the 300 yard range were the same size as those i was getting at 100 yards did I learn to like that rifle, I have great results with benchmark and find 133 and 135 although this was with lighter bullets than you are shooting, good luck,

Agreed. We've seen this on several occasions with long VLD type bullets, for sometimes, they do not "go to sleep" or settle until beyond the 100yd or further mark. When load testing for long range, typically, I will shoot no shorter than 200yds and usually 300yd/m.

Similar with your experiences with primers. In one 222 load a few years back and on a whim, I exchanged my usual Remington 7-1/2 BR primers with a Wolf, and low and behold, it held more consistent tight groups. Now that experiment didn't do as well in other rifles/loads, but in that one, it did.

Experimenting with seating depths is a given in search for that sweet spot, and usually and depending on bullet style and its reported history of likes and dislikes, I may jam, touch and then back off by .005" per group. Enjoy the search. YMMV

 

[orkan]

Give some H4350 a try. Best powder I've used in these little guys to date.

 

[jraulsten]

Give some H4350 a try. Best powder I've used in these little guys to date.

Never would have thought of using H4350 but I will sure give it a try! Naturally, I got rid of all my H4350 when I got away from the 6.5 CM