6.5 prc with 156 bergers

[Nealm66]

That seems like a lot of freebore. What’s it like for the 143’s?

 

[JB10]

The 143 and the 147 i can seat to lands and still fit in mag. The 156 are just that much longer

 

[Nealm66]

Hmm, most of the eol’s dont seem to differ that much from the eldm’s. I have all 3 and will try to measure ogive to tip and see, if I can figure out how

 

[Nealm66]

They also seem not to mind a lot of jump from my experience

 

[Nealm66]

It looks like about.1 difference ( 147’s) but that’s a rough guesstimate. Tough to measure

 

[JB10]

I have a very good load for the 147 with R26 that a friend worked up. My concern was that he took 2 cow elk and one mule deer with them. All took 2 shots to kill. Now i know this is all shot placement but he is a very good marksman and has hunter more years than ive been alive. He was concerned also about performance, this is why i wanna try the 156 out.

 

[JB10]

When i get home ill take a side by side picture. I still have 2 of the 147 loaded but they are not seated long. They are seated at hornadys spec and they shot well.

 

[Nealm66]

Ya, I wouldn’t count on a target bullet for hunting

 

[6.5 forever]

I have a Christensen arms mesa. Im wanting to get the 165 eol bergers to group at least a 3/4 inch group at 100 yards. I have been trying N565 so far. My charges have been 54.5, 55.0, 55.5, 56.0, 56.5, 56.8, 57.1, 57.4, 57.7 and nothing has stood out group wise. I am seating them just long enough th fit in the box mag. Its a long jump to lands. .143 thou. I measure off ogive but the loaded oal is 2.958. Bergers data is 2.955 so im close to theirs. Im using new lapua cases still on first fire. Best group i can get is just over 1 inch. I hear people are having good luck with this combo but so far i have not. A friend suggested to place target at 200 yards to see if the bullet stables out better at distance. His same rifle shoots same group at 100 yards as it does at 300 yards. He is using different bullets and powder. Anyone have any hands on luck with this combo?

My experience has shown that bullets don't stabilize and shoot better at long range.

 

[Ironworker]

Yep, saw the same thing, with Christensen arms rifles, not accurate...guys shooting them angry at the big group sizes, and wasting expensive ammo and spending so much for the rifle that doesn't shoot. Some I saw were embarrassing inaccurate. Like, "have you ever shot a rifle before?"
Box em up and send them back...I have a friend who bought a 300 PRC, it didn't shoot, don't say much about it anymore. Then bought another, in 308, thinking the 308 would surely be accurate...it didn't shoot either...cause he liked the looks and style, ...but both are crappy shooters.

What is the reason it's such a poor shooter, bad barrel?

 

[Ironworker]

My Bergara Premier Ridgeback surpassed factory MOA Guarantee the first time up at bat with both hand loads and factory ammo.

 

[JB10]

What is the reason it's such a poor shooter, bad barrel?

Im starting to hear some feedback from owners of these rifles. Many of them are taking lots of rounds to get them to shoot. If i would hve know this i would have bought a different brand. I know for next time.

 

[Ray123]

My experience has shown that bullets don't stabilize and shoot better at long range.

My experience back when I was shooting alot...17,000 match rounds down range suggests the opposite....test at 100 yards the barrel shoots very well, also shoots well at 1000 yds. But bullets slightly too long for the rifling twist shot well at 100 yards, would not make it to 1000yds...by 800 yards they were all over the landscape. In barrels that shoot well from 6 dasher, to 300 RUM shoot well at 100 with bullets matched to the twist rate also shot well at long range. The barrel is where the majority of the accuracy is at. Why waste time and ammo... replace the barrel with a quality barrel from a renound barrel maker, with a twist rate that fits your game. The great Tony Boyer was known to have 10 match barrels made up at one time for his benchrest action, and didn't waste time on barrels that weren't very competitive, or "hummers". Thats too extreme for the average guy but I found out long time ago want a good shooter learn to build rifles, from action truing work, to barrel chambering...3 shot MOA will be an inaccurate rifle. But 3 shot 2 MOA is plenty good for hunting big game at any reasonable range, with your expensive or affordable hunting rifle, that you love,...along with your favorite big game bullet. You're good to go for a lifetime of sucessful big game hunting.

 

[JB10]

It looks like about.1 difference ( 147’s) but that’s a rough guesstimate. Tough to measure

When you look at the coal does not look like much difference but measuring off ojive its way different. The ojive is farther back on the berger vs the hornady.

 

[Nealm66]

Well it looks like you’re groups are ok for hunting purposes. I’ve heard from some friends the bergers work as advertised. Might be careful if possible on shot placement to avoid excessive meat damage. I’ve found the eol’s ( 156,245) seem to track very close to what my kestrel tells me to 1000 and looks like you’re about inside the inch square. I’d definitely shoot some distance and confirm. I did end up rebedding my ca lr because when I let the action screw come loose it crumbled some around the recoil lug( 300 prc with 245’s) and it actually seemed to help. I also found I somehow got some thread locker pooled around one of the base screws that came loose a couple times despite my efforts. If it’s a skinny barrel you can try putting a limbsaver on it to tighten groups at distance ( I’ve had very good results) but that will also tell you if more tuning with loads will help

 

[JB10]

My plan is to walk it to 800 yards and find my true scope settings for the distances but dont plan on a shot over 500 yards. This rifle will be for hunting only and yeah group size is good for me for just that.