6SLR questions

[XTR]

I'm kicking the idea of a 6SLR around and have a couple of questions...

• On paper it seems that of the 6mm bullets out there the Berger 105 is about the best thing going and gets better numbers, again on paper, than the 115s at similar velocities. Does the real world seem to match up with the paper?
  
• What twist rate do you need for the 105s? I've read that the 115s really do need a 1:7. Are the 105s happy in a 1:8? My experience with trying to get 90VLDs to shoot has made me wary of long skinny bullets and proper twist rates.
  
• I've read the theory that the long neck may result in longer barrel life, any truth to it?
  
• What brass works best? I've never played with a 243, but my experience with W-W and Lapua in a 308 I'd think that it would be easier to form the W-W as it's about .001 thinner in the neck than the others.
  
• Has anyone tried R-P Brass? Does it hold up any better here than in a 308 (I am guessing not)
  
• Lastly, how does this feed though AICS type mags? I would think it would be fine. The shoulder is a little steeper than the parent but it's not that different from a 6.5CM case and I know they feed.

 

[Preacher]

A 8 twist will work great with the 105's and the 108's, no problem..
The longer neck and the new neck angle will help with brass life over the straight .243..
Winchester is the best brass to use....
Thats all I can help with....

 

[jdfletch]

The 105 Hybrids have a great BC and can be run faster than the 115s. At Camp Perry my come up was 20.5 MOA at 1000 yards (JBM Ballistics says 22.0) running at 3150 fps. 8 twist will work fine for the 105's. Use Winchester brass to prevent donuts (Lapua is bad for donuts)! I throated my chamber to avoid the donut with the 105's. R-P brass is soft. Feeds great out of AICS mags. I can only hope at this point that the longer neck will increase barrel life... time will tell. Others like Preacher have more experience that I'm counting on. The shoulder angle definitely decreases neck stretching compared to a straight .243.

 

[Nomad47]

Preacher chambered both my 6SLRs. Both shoot the 105 Hybrid in the mid 3100s for speed. The 28" barrel shoots IMR7828ssc and the 30" barrel shoots H1000.

 

[Steve Blair]

Preacher chambered both my 6SLRs. Both shoot the 105 Hybrid in the mid 3100s for speed. The 28" barrel shoots IMR7828ssc and the 30" barrel shoots H1000.

[br]
Also good are H4831 SC, N160 & N165.

 

[XTR]

When you do your initial sizing and push the shoulder back, is it better to use a FL die with or without a bushing? or does it matter?

 

[Nomad47]

I would say it doesn't matter. I actually use a plain ol' 6XC F/L die screwed out .122". Run the .243 brass thru the die, load it, and shoot it. After the second loading I also use a .243 AI body die so I get the base of the brass sized.
My chambers are both no neck turn chambers but I turn a little off the necks so the expander button has to do very little expansion. I also anneal after every firing.

 

[1shot]

I've been playing with this cartridge since it first came out. To give a +1 to several posters. Yes W-W brass is the best as Lapua will give you doughnuts. That said, if you have a bunch of Lapua, after you FF your brass, just inside neck ream them and you will be good to go. In regards to powders I used N-160 with 105 gr. bullets, either Lapua, Berger or JLK. All were shot from a button rifled Broughton. I shot my 115's out of a 7.75" twist Brux with either H-1000 or N-165 depending on the bullet. Longer bearing surface bullet bullets seemed to prefer H-1000, while the "long and skinny" VLD's liked the N-165. Finally, I don't know about other posters but I find that sharper shoulder angle cases, 30*or more like the 6.5x284 and the Ackley's don't stretch nearly as much as cases with long sloping shoulders.
I hope this helps,
Lloyd

 

[leadburner]

I just had one built with a 7.5 twist 22" Krieger barrel with the intent to shoot the 115 class bullets. Tried all powder & primer combos I saw here & could not get the DTACs or the Bergers to shoot. I had group after group 2 touching & 1 about 1/2" high & left at a 100yards. As soon as I dropped to the 105s it started shooting bugholes with the VLDs & the hybrids. Settled on the hybrid. Not sure if the short barrel had an effect on the 115s or not, but it all worked out. Love the gun & the round. Good luck.

 

[tonysnoo]

I have 2 and compete against another. He shoots dtacs exceptionally well. I like em but after running 105s just like the hybrids better. We run 7.5 twists so all work well. My go to is 4831 running 105s about 3030fps ran my barrel out to 2500 round count before we decided to set it back....still was shooting great.

This year playing with 7828 at around 3130. Shoots great....gotta play with it more.

As mentioed above th win brass is hard to beat. I have over a dozen firings on some. I do anneal every 3rd time. Ive trimmed once...the stuff doesnt grow. RP works fine..softer, i have lost some of those but have lots with many firings too.

I bought the comp die set from 6mmar.com and its just too easy, buy brass...form it ...compete...repeat.

I have no prob loading in my mag, but mostly shoot single shot in our games.

Lots of great choices out there, and the SLR is one of the really good ones.

 

[XTR]

I've heard in the past that 4831sc works well in 243s so I'd assume it will work well in the SLR. What kind of charge weights are you loading in mag length loads with the 105/107 class bullets?

 

[Preacher]

43.5 grains of H-4831 SC and the 105-108 grain bullet is a really good go to load for any 6 SLR...

 

[Raptor]

What Preacher said. With that being said I still do use the H1000 but mine is deadly accurate with H4831 SC. My H1000 does work well though too, shot at .74 five shot group last night at 300yds when I was out load testing my sons new 284.

 

[XTR]

I'm looking at a barrel/caliber for a tactical/UKD match rifle and this caliber makes sense to me because in many matches/stages you don't get the opportunity to police brass, and some form or another of 243 brass is usually available. The idea of using WW or RP for throwaways is far more appealing than Lapua or something that has been fire formed.

The other thing about many of these type matched is that they impose a speed limit around 3100FPS or so to prevent damage to the targets so it just needs to get a 105 to 3100 and it's golden, don't need the extra space for powder.

 

[XTR]

What kind of barrel length/velocity are you guys able to get with the 105s? My goal is to build a rifle for tactical type shoots so I don't want it longer than it has to be. I'm looking for about 3100 or so MV (and in a node). Can I get there with 105s out of a 26" or 27" barrel w/o driving them on the ragged edge?

 

[xdeano]

I'm running a 24" barrel and if i mess around with it, it's easy to get to that 3100fps.

I messed around with Retumbo instead of H1000 last spring (28 degrees F).

47.9grn Retumbo
Berger 105grn Hunting VLD
Fed 210M
Win brass
0.020" off lands
Av - 3042fps

49.9grn Retumbo
Berger 105grn Hunting VLD
Fed 210M
Win brass
0.020" off lands
Av - 3159fps.

So yeah it's doable. Another thing that i noticed is the recoil impulse was a lot slower and seemed less. This is all relative because the 6SLR doesn't recoil much at all anyhow.

xdeano

 

[XTR]

With the general idea of keeping all my SLR questions in one place, I have another.


If one is planning to shoot mag length loads with 105/107 class bullets what throat do you want? How jump tolerant are the 105 Hybrids?

Do you want to be able to reach the lands, or maybe 10 thou in at max mag length so you can chase the lands as the barrel wears?

While I'm thinking about it, does anyone have any data on throat wear with this round? I'm sure it's less than the what is it, about .001/30 rounds or so from a 6.5-284, but I wouldn't imagine it's insignificant.

Remember, I'm talking about a rifle that will be fed from an AICS or like design magazine so I won't have the options we usually have single feeding.

 

[LR coyote]

Preacher you told us the go to load for the SLR,what do most of them like in the length from the lands?

 

[Preacher]

Preacher you told us the go to load for the SLR,what do most of them like in the length from the lands?

I always start off with the base of the bullet at the base of the neck, no matter what..
Then go from there to fine tune...

 

[xdeano]

Both the Berger hunting vld and the hybrid shot well with a 0.020" off the lands. I do the same as preacher.

That was with the 6mm slr/s reamer. (It is the short throat). It works well with the 105 class bullet.

If you're thinking of the 115 bullet go with the standard reamer. They also make a super short throat for the ar platform.

Xdeano