any luck shooting the new heavy 6.5mm bullets 153.5 gr Berger Bullets? and what twist rate were you using? Thanks, Mike
any luck shooting the new heavy 6.5mm bullets 153.5 gr Berger Bullets?
- Thread starter Performance Shooting
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RL16 shot many 4" groups at 1000 yards with a heavily compressed charge. RL17 shot several 3-4" groups and didn't require a slow pour down an 8" drop tube.
I like the 153.5 a lot. I don't know the muzzle velocity, but it was taking me 24 MOA to reach 1000 so they were really moving. Backing it out that's maybe 2840fps! They stay centered up in the wind very well indeed compared to my experience with 95 SMK in a 22BR going 3050fps.
RL16 shot many 4" groups at 1000 yards with a heavily compressed charge. RL17 shot several 3-4" groups and didn't require a slow pour down an 8" drop tube.
I like the 153.5 a lot. I don't know the muzzle velocity, but it was taking me 24 MOA to reach 1000 so they were really moving. Backing it out that's maybe 2840fps! They stay centered up in the wind very well indeed compared to my experience with 95 SMK in a 22BR going 3050fps.
Bought some loaded 153.5 in 6.5CM for my Sig Cross. Shot very well for factory ammo. 2548 fps, 18” 1/8 barrel. SD 7 on magnetospeed. Bergers stability calculator says marginally stable with that twist and speed.
I finally got around to testing some loads for these Berger 153.5's for the first time, now that I've got the barrel broken in. I didn't get around to any chrono numbers yet, but that will come soon as the next time out I'll do some fine tuning a little further out.
I loaded up 5 rounds for charges of 52.9 to 54.4 grs of RL-23. My procedure for load development is to shoot 3 shot groups. If the first two shots do not group well, I move on (unless I've just pulled a bad shot for some reason) as I see no point in shooting further. But like on the first test load I shot (left target on picture below) the first two shots were touching, an on the 3rd shot I really pulled it left, so to took another shot of that load (that's why I always load more than 3 rounds) to see if it'll group or if it really was me pulling it. The 4th shot was a good one touching and that satisfied me. I didn't shoot the loads for 54.1 or 54.5 grs as the 53.8 gr group opening up and I was getting a little bit of stiff bolt lift along with a little ejector swipe. Next time, I'll get some velocities as see how it compares to my QuickLoad calculation, which is 2851 fsp for the 53.5 grs of RL-23.
I loaded up 5 rounds for charges of 52.9 to 54.4 grs of RL-23. My procedure for load development is to shoot 3 shot groups. If the first two shots do not group well, I move on (unless I've just pulled a bad shot for some reason) as I see no point in shooting further. But like on the first test load I shot (left target on picture below) the first two shots were touching, an on the 3rd shot I really pulled it left, so to took another shot of that load (that's why I always load more than 3 rounds) to see if it'll group or if it really was me pulling it. The 4th shot was a good one touching and that satisfied me. I didn't shoot the loads for 54.1 or 54.5 grs as the 53.8 gr group opening up and I was getting a little bit of stiff bolt lift along with a little ejector swipe. Next time, I'll get some velocities as see how it compares to my QuickLoad calculation, which is 2851 fsp for the 53.5 grs of RL-23.
SBS
Gold $$ Contributor
What powder are you using?
What fb was used?
3.190-3.220 Sierra 150 and Berger 156 20 thousand off the lands, I wish I had more Freebore,as I was right at the neck, though throat erosion fixed it out of the base of the neck. PTG reamer for laupa brass. I have the reamer, Put the barrel back together in a month or two messing around with a 33xc right now. 156 is very good hunting bullet and Long-range. Haven't tried the 153 though a have many as I couldn't find 156 at the time.
Joseph Jones ctsr
Gold $$ Contributor
I just switched my 6.5-284 over to the 153.5. My previous load was a 142gr SMK@ 2970fps using H4831sc. I throated the chamber out to .195fb to give me the seating depth I was looking for. The new load came in at a nice node with the 153.5 at 3005fps using H1000 powder(I saw pressure at 3080fps). This is out of a 24" 1-8 twist Krieger running suppressed. I took 20rds to the range and was very impressed with around a 5" 5shot group at 1k yes and good hits on the 18" 1 mile gong. I will be using this load this season for sure. Joe
Today I fired the 53.2 grs of RL-23 that pushed them to 2,892 fps. with Fed 210 primers and a COAL of 3.056. I was tuning with a tuner and when the group opened up on the 3rd group (only 2 shots as I saw no point in a 3rd shot) and set to tuner back to where it was for the 2nd group, which produced a real nice 3 shot group in that 4th group. Looks like that 53.2 gr worked nicely today, but well see what I might need to do as the Arizona heat rises and how it'll do at distance.
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