6.5x55 140gn Amax and H4350

[naagren]

Can anyone tell me what powder charge they are using with this combo? The action is a Stiller Predator with a 24" Lilja 1:8 twist barrel. I was getting decent groups (1.5" for 5 shots at 300 yds) with Scenar 139 gn and 45.4 H4350 however with the same load the Amax 140gn grouped 5 shots for 3". I'm figuring I need to go higher to stabilize the Amax 140gn which I want to use for hunting, the Scenar not being a proposition for hunting application. I'm not experiencing any pressure signs at the current load and think I will work up in .3 gn increments for 2-3 more grains more.

 

[rkj1313]

Does not answer your direct question, but there have been discussions about certain lots of 140 Amax having accuracy problems( snipers hide). I only bring it up because I have experienced accuracy and pressure concerns with 140 Amax in 6.5x47L.

 

[swed6.5]

as a hunting load you sound ok, depending on your rifle and rest you are using it dont sound good for any target type shooting, when i was using the amax's and 4350 liked appx 44grains, that case out of a 26" barrel i had. I have had great luck with slower powders in the 6.5x55 like RL22. and also a great lite load using the 140 gr hybrid was with vvn150, but be careful with pressure. in a 24" barrel 4350 should shoot great.

 

[2506]

Have you played with seating depth? If not you should. 4350s have worked great for my 6.5X55s. I use 45 grs AA4350 with 140 Sierra SP or Hornady SP for a touch over 2800 fps in my sported Mauser 96 with the original 29" barrel and it will shoot in the 2" range at 300 yards. I use 46 grs AA4350 with 120 ballistic tips or Sierra SP for 3000 fps from same rifle with about the same accuracy. I deer hunt with these loads but where I hunt I don't have shots much over 350 yards and these bullets work fine. The 120 BT kills awesomely. Another thing to take into account is that some rifles just don't like some bullets.

 

[naagren]

Thanks for your input.

I went back to the range and started with 44.5gn H4350 and had the Amax 140gn jumping .01". This gave a .4" 5 shot group at 140 yds off the bench and 2" 5 shot group at 300yds prone off a bipod. The load is running at 2750 fps. This is much better and I'm pleased it likes to shoot the Amax 140gn. I improved the groups by aiming on the target with little holding pressure then firmed up my hold from there. The rifle bucks around a bit so I'm going to put a muzzle brake on it which I hope will help reduce group sizes further.

 

[KAIFS]

I had to drop to 129gr SST Hornady, 48gr RL-19 (right around 2800fps) from AMAX 140gr for better accuracy out of R700 Classic in 6.5x55. With that said, 140gr Nosler performs better (vs. Hornady) out of M96 sporter at the same 300m target. It will be up to the rifle vs. anything generic.

 

[bsumoba]

this is in a 6.5 creedmoor and is fairly indicative of my results in my rifle in particular, which is a custom spartan built rifle for tactical. i am using the hybrids for my competition load as they are performing well at 600+ yards. anything under 600, I am going to use the a-max's.

the bottom middle target had a pulled shot which i called once i broke the shot off. the bottom right target is a 5-shot group with 140gr hybrids. the top two middle and top right were nice 3-shot groups with a-maxs.

Im using H4350 for both loads. 41.5gr for the amax running 2780fps and 43.5gr for the hybrids running 2895fps out of a 26" barrel.