Bigeclipse
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2012
- Messages
- 1,967
All,
I decided during this whole lockdown issue to update my reloading bench with new equipment and new process of development and it worked, at least for this rifle. The target below is a 5 shot group with my 6.5prc at 115 yards (backyard target) and has been repeatable so I am totally happy. I wanted to share what new equipment I have settled on and the process I used to develop this load. This rifle has shot about .75MOA with factory Hornady 6.5prc ELDx bullets so the rifle already showed a bit of promise using factory loads.
New equipment is as follows: Frankford Arsenal stainless media Tumbler, Frankford media separator, Frankford universal trimmer, MEC Marksmen Single Stage press, Redding Master Hunter Die set, Sinclair expanding mandrel with carbide mandrel, RCBS Chargemaster lite (used with my gempro250 to confirm charges), and last but not least a Magnetospeed 3 with Wiser Precision Mounting system.
Process for reloading is as follows: Decap and size brass without sizer button. Use Sinclair mandrel expander to expand the necks. Clean brass in tumbler and separate out media. Trim brass to consistent lengths and chamfer/debur. Since I got all new equipment I also decided I would try a new process of load development called the 10 Round Velocity testing but instead I did 15 rounds using .2grain intervals and seated the bullets .030 off the lands using the Redding competition micrometer seating die. Supposedly you will see a slight flattening of velocities (plateaus) and then sudden sharper increases in velocities. The plateaus in theory are suppose to be a stability node and often time is an accuracy node as well. I Shot my 15 rounds with the magneto speed while looking for pressure signs. I had no signs of pressure which was great. I graphed my results and the results showed two flattenings/plateaus, one on the lower charge weight side and one on the upper end. I decided to load 5 rounds in the middle of the higher node/plateau and voila...amazing group! I loaded 10 more to confirm and again, bug hole groups.
Do I expect these results with every rifle I own....no but I am very hopeful that between my new equipment and new loading process, I should be able to work up decent loads with any rifle (assuming the rifle is not a lemon), relatively easy. My goal is only sub 1MOA, but hey...the tighter the groups the better right.
I decided during this whole lockdown issue to update my reloading bench with new equipment and new process of development and it worked, at least for this rifle. The target below is a 5 shot group with my 6.5prc at 115 yards (backyard target) and has been repeatable so I am totally happy. I wanted to share what new equipment I have settled on and the process I used to develop this load. This rifle has shot about .75MOA with factory Hornady 6.5prc ELDx bullets so the rifle already showed a bit of promise using factory loads.
New equipment is as follows: Frankford Arsenal stainless media Tumbler, Frankford media separator, Frankford universal trimmer, MEC Marksmen Single Stage press, Redding Master Hunter Die set, Sinclair expanding mandrel with carbide mandrel, RCBS Chargemaster lite (used with my gempro250 to confirm charges), and last but not least a Magnetospeed 3 with Wiser Precision Mounting system.
Process for reloading is as follows: Decap and size brass without sizer button. Use Sinclair mandrel expander to expand the necks. Clean brass in tumbler and separate out media. Trim brass to consistent lengths and chamfer/debur. Since I got all new equipment I also decided I would try a new process of load development called the 10 Round Velocity testing but instead I did 15 rounds using .2grain intervals and seated the bullets .030 off the lands using the Redding competition micrometer seating die. Supposedly you will see a slight flattening of velocities (plateaus) and then sudden sharper increases in velocities. The plateaus in theory are suppose to be a stability node and often time is an accuracy node as well. I Shot my 15 rounds with the magneto speed while looking for pressure signs. I had no signs of pressure which was great. I graphed my results and the results showed two flattenings/plateaus, one on the lower charge weight side and one on the upper end. I decided to load 5 rounds in the middle of the higher node/plateau and voila...amazing group! I loaded 10 more to confirm and again, bug hole groups.
Do I expect these results with every rifle I own....no but I am very hopeful that between my new equipment and new loading process, I should be able to work up decent loads with any rifle (assuming the rifle is not a lemon), relatively easy. My goal is only sub 1MOA, but hey...the tighter the groups the better right.
Attachments
Last edited:
