6.5X284 Load Data

[duecedriver]

@JLT @Bart B.

all good info gents..

well looks like my WAG was spot on.. a oversize bore and running arguably the most under bore spec bullet I have ever seen. bullets undersized by 2 tens ..

this is why smk shoots soo well in most barrels.. it is 5 tens over bore spec so its a good, precision fit in all but the most shot out/loose barrels.

so hopefully the mfg will also sees that the barrel groups like a 410 and agrees with me that a new match barrel should not start at shot-out loose dimensions...

otherwise I am probably going to have to switch to either R23 a slightly faster powder and/or probably eld's as they are not as expensive as berger, but have a BC as good as the rdf.. shame as I have almost 2k RDF and 8lb of R26.. and no other gun in the caliber to make use of it... urrrghh....


thanks again JLT for breaking out the mic and bifocals..!! hehe

 

[Bart B.]

so hopefully the mfg will also sees that the barrel groups like a 410 and agrees with me that a new match barrel should not start at shot-out loose dimensions...

If that barrel's maker says its within their specs and proves it, you may be up the creek.

 

[JLT]

@JLT @Bart B.

all good info gents..

well looks like my WAG was spot on.. a oversize bore and running arguably the most under bore spec bullet I have ever seen. bullets undersized by 2 tens ..

this is why smk shoots soo well in most barrels.. it is 5 tens over bore spec so its a good, precision fit in all but the most shot out/loose barrels.

so hopefully the mfg will also sees that the barrel groups like a 410 and agrees with me that a new match barrel should not start at shot-out loose dimensions...

otherwise I am probably going to have to switch to either R23 a slightly faster powder and/or probably eld's as they are not as expensive as berger, but have a BC as good as the rdf.. shame as I have almost 2k RDF and 8lb of R26.. and no other gun in the caliber to make use of it... urrrghh....


thanks again JLT for breaking out the mic and bifocals..!! hehe

Hope the information helped.

If you end up going to RL-23, I don't think that will handicap you too much. You may lose a few fps but you'll gain in temp stability. I haven't seen much to suggest that RL-23 cares to any significant degree what the ambient temperature may be and it has delivered stellar accuracy in my .260 AI with a variety of 140 gr. class bullets. It has easily produced over 3,000 fps at the muzzle with no pressure signs whatsoever out of my 28" barrel. 47.3 gr. of RL-23 behind a 140 gr. Berger Hybrid gets me 3,043 fps, for example, and my rifle stacks 'em.

The ELD-Ms may work out well for you - their comparatively long bearing surface should be helpful with the slightly oversize bore.

 

[duecedriver]

@Bart B.

if 4 tens over-lapped is 'within spec' they can keep it and refund me.. I will find a barrel maker that takes bore dimensions for a match barrel more seriously .. but I doubt that will be the case.

@JLT

if I have no choice but to take the barrel back I have a decision to make.. keep the 8lb jug of R26 unopened (I load developed with 1lb cans with the same lot numbers), and try R23.. I agree.. the temp stability if I can get velocities comfortably into the 3000 range (otherwise might as well be shooting creed moor) would not be a hinderance .. or keep the RDFs in the closet and try the R26 with the 147 heavier, larger diameter, larger bearing surface eld-m projo. might be just enough addl. pressure to get the powder to perform.

hopefully I will hear something by tomorrow on whether it shot well out of the test fixture. but if its the same scatter gun for them too.. likely they will spin up another..

like I said.. they have been GREAT about this.. the first barrel had a really off-center reaming job.. lands on one side clear back to the neck on one side and not the other.. they took it back, saw it, and spun this one up.. didn't even mount it...

 

[Bart B.]

What barrel makers are having these over size groove diameters?

 

[duecedriver]

@Bart B.

I will withhold comment until I see how its dealt with. Right now customer service has been very good so if they follow through and make it right.. I don't feel like throwing shade.

 

[duecedriver]

@JLT @Bart B.

well.. they took it out in their test action and the barrel performed odd for them as well.. initial cold/clean group of 5 was under .5 but then began to open up rapidly ...

so the CS guy offered his sincerest personal apology, saying that he had promised that if the barrel didn't shoot I would get his personal apology and that with the measurements they had on hand and and the inspections that were done.. they really can't explain why the barrel is performing the way it is. and that more test will be done on it to see where things went wrong but will be calling me today to discuss spinning up another or giving me a full refund.

I find their personal service and their standing behind their work to be impressive and loyalty go both ways so I will be having them spin another. again this is a top tier operation and records are being set with their barrels.. so I guess I am Charlie Brown on this one.. bad luck cloud following me..

Things happen, raw materials can be bad.. their 3rd party contractor for meloniting could have dicked it ... whatever.. things happen... how a company and its people treat their customers is far more important and in this instance I could ask for no better treatment if I were family... the owner of the company is even involved and kept in the loop on this case. very impressed.. and bummed at the same time.. but at least it takes the monkey jerkin the trigger (me) and my loads out of it... which is a relief..

 

[Bart B.]

Things happen, raw materials can be bad.

At the Nationals some years ago, the guy shooting offhand two points to my left yelled as his 3rd shot blew the barrel apart at the chamber. He was not seriously injured.

The problem was a few of Boots Obermeyer's barrels in one lot had not been heat treated and stress relieved properly. Boots contacted everyone who had a barrel in the effected serial number range for a free exchange paid for by the steel mill that made the blanks. This guy decided to keep his.

I am not aware of any law stating all barrels installed in actions be proof tested with SAAMI spec certified proof loads and so recorded.

 

[JLT]

@JLT @Bart B.

well.. they took it out in their test action and the barrel performed odd for them as well.. initial cold/clean group of 5 was under .5 but then began to open up rapidly ...

so the CS guy offered his sincerest personal apology, saying that he had promised that if the barrel didn't shoot I would get his personal apology and that with the measurements they had on hand and and the inspections that were done.. they really can't explain why the barrel is performing the way it is. and that more test will be done on it to see where things went wrong but will be calling me today to discuss spinning up another or giving me a full refund.

I find their personal service and their standing behind their work to be impressive and loyalty go both ways so I will be having them spin another. again this is a top tier operation and records are being set with their barrels.. so I guess I am Charlie Brown on this one.. bad luck cloud following me..

Things happen, raw materials can be bad.. their 3rd party contractor for meloniting could have dicked it ... whatever.. things happen... how a company and its people treat their customers is far more important and in this instance I could ask for no better treatment if I were family... the owner of the company is even involved and kept in the loop on this case. very impressed.. and bummed at the same time.. but at least it takes the monkey jerkin the trigger (me) and my loads out of it... which is a relief..

Well done and well said, Deuce. It would be a fitting end if your replacement barrel exceeds your expectations.

 

[duecedriver]

@JLT thanks.. probably could not hurt to throw some voodoo chicken bones and stones around for the 3rd time around is the charm barrel .. hehe.. thanks for your inputs and sanity checking my posts..

@Bart B. it has to be some kind of stress in the barrel or again.. perhaps the combination of being an oversized bore combined with the bore heating opening it up another 10 thou combined with the slickness of melonite is just a combination of circumstances that form the perfect storm of inaccuracy.. who knows.. I am sure they will tell me if and when they figure it out.. if they even can. he did mention the were going to pull the heat codes for the barrel whatever that is.. must be its record of heat treating perhaps..