Anyone tried Reloder 26 in the 6.5 Creedmoor with 130, 140 or 147 gr Bullets?

[Shane Roya]

Glad to see you were able to get out and shoot this weekend and having good results with load testing. 140 Nosler RDFs must be barely in the case with that long of a COAL.
Funny thing is I had 5 of the 140 RDF loaded with 43 gr H4350, BR2 Primers, Nosler Brass, COAL of 2.890", 5 shots averaged 2839 fps group measured .391" ctc at 100 yards. And that was with the muzzle brake and Magnetospeed installed.

 

[goneshootinginAZ]

I agree that sounds like a lot of bullet hanging out, but the that puts the end of the bullet at the end of the shoulder/case junction and plenty of bearing surface for the case to hold onto. The good news is the bearing surface is above the neck/shoulder junction so the dreaded doughnut shouldn't be an issue.

It will be interesting to see how your groups change without the MagnetoSpeed. Hope it doesn't change anything on your gun, but I know it does on mine and others. At any rate your data sure is helpful to me as it helps me know I'm likely in the right ballpark and potentially looking at some good ES/SD #s.

My 20" has a PVA brake on the end that really helps muzzle jump and recoil and is very nice to me as the shooter. My neighbors at the range have kindly let me know that they think the caliber is bigger than a medium size 6.5 because of the noise and muzzle blast they notice.

Thanks again!

 

[basshusker]

Glad to see some people had good results with 26. I tried it in a 24" Vanguard 2 hunting rifle and it smoked out the barrel with 143 eld'x. Seemed like way more pressure than quickload said. RL16 mixed results. Good velocity and low es on labradar but inconsistent grouping. Factory 140 ELDs and 140 bthp american Gunner ammo both shoot well.

 

[Shane Roya]

Glad to see some people had good results with 26. I tried it in a 24" Vanguard 2 hunting rifle and it smoked out the barrel with 143 eld'x. Seemed like way more pressure than quickload said. RL16 mixed results. Good velocity and low es on labradar but inconsistent grouping. Factory 140 ELDs and 140 bthp american Gunner ammo both shoot well.

What made you feel it was more pressure than QL said?

 

[goneshootinginAZ]

What made you feel it was more pressure than QL said?

Shane have you had a chance to get out a do anymore shooting to confirm your earlier tests? I'm still under doctor's orders not shoot inoder to let my cataract surgery heal so haven't had a chance. The restriction ends on Thursday so hopefully will get a chance Friday, otherwise it will have to wait until the middle of next week at least.

 

[Shane Roya]

Shane have you had a chance to get out a do anymore shooting to confirm your earlier tests? I'm still under doctor's orders not shoot inoder to let my cataract surgery heal so haven't had a chance. The restriction ends on Thursday so hopefully will get a chance Friday, otherwise it will have to wait until the middle of next week at least.

No I have't, but I loaded up some rounds to test the next time I have a few hours to spare.
They are 143ELD-x, RL26 15 rounds @ 48, 48.1, 48.2 and 48.3 they are loaded .005" off lands and I will bring my Lee hand Press with my Forster Comp. Seater Die and try 5 at a time with varying COAL.

 

[jwing]

So I shot my load finely at 500 was windy, less then 3/4 vertical at 500 yard, you boys are missing imr 4955..

 

[alphapygmy]

I don't have a Creedmoor but a 26" 260AI. Spent a week trying RL26 with 147's. My tried and true load of a 142 SMK gets me 2810 with an ES of around 15, SD of 4. Couldn't get the RL26 ES under 35 fps. Tried different primers, neck tensions, etc. I got good speeds, maxed out at about 3040 fps but looked like I was shooting a black powder rifle with all the smoke coming out the barrel. Sure would like to get it to work but looks like it's not to be in my rifle.

 

[wedgy]

I don't have a Creedmoor but a 26" 260AI. Spent a week trying RL26 with 147's. My tried and true load of a 142 SMK gets me 2810 with an ES of around 15, SD of 4. Couldn't get the RL26 ES under 35 fps. Tried different primers, neck tensions, etc. I got good speeds, maxed out at about 3040 fps but looked like I was shooting a black powder rifle with all the smoke coming out the barrel. Sure would like to get it to work but looks like it's not to be in my rifle.

Alphapygmy, my friend had the same situation as you and tried 215 mag primers which solved his ES issue

 

[Shane Roya]

I have wondered about trying Mag Primers because of the slow burn and case fill of the RL26.
I was eventually going to try them myself after I got through with testing with BR2 primers.
I see Federal has GM215M that are a match magnum primer, seems to be popular as they are sold out every where.

 

[alphapygmy]

Alphapygmy, my friend had the same situation as you and tried 215 mag primers which solved his ES issue

Thanks. If I can find some local I'll give them a try. RL23 has been doing okay with the 147's. I'm averaging 2825, ES around 15-18. Still toying with seating depths.

 

[Shane Roya]

Tried the GM215M primers in my 6.5 Creed using RL26 and HBN coated bullets.
The 130 ELD-M bullets seemed to like the Mag primers, ES dropped into the single digits.
The 143 ELD-X bullets ES opened up, strange they would shoot several almost ditto on velocity and then one would be 15 - 20 fps up or down. Worked up and down the loads that worked out for the BR2 primers, and tried seating shorter and longer by .010" still the same thing. groups were between .300" and .470" CTC at 100 yards. Velocities were checked with Magnetospeed Sporter.
My sweet spot with 143 ELD-X was 48 gr of RL26 @ 2990-3000 fps, with HBN coating had to come up .5 gr to match non coated, with mag primers it jumped back up so I reduced .5 gr back to 48 gr to match velocity. Tried from 47 - 48.5 gr at .5 gr jumps always same result with mag primers.
Still too early to make a solid conclusion with my set up but it appears the lighter bullet gets a gain from faster ignition were as the heavier does not need it.
The 130's shoot best at the 3000 fps mark as well and I will be testing the new JLK 130 VLDs with both the BR2s and GM215M primers.

 

[Buckwasp]

Tried the GM215M primers in my 6.5 Creed using RL26 and HBN coated bullets.
The 130 ELD-M bullets seemed to like the Mag primers, ES dropped into the single digits.
The 143 ELD-X bullets ES opened up, strange they would shoot several almost ditto on velocity and then one would be 15 - 20 fps up or down. Worked up and down the loads that worked out for the BR2 primers, and tried seating shorter and longer by .010" still the same thing. groups were between .300" and .470" CTC at 100 yards. Velocities were checked with Magnetospeed Sporter.
My sweet spot with 143 ELD-X was 48 gr of RL26 @ 2990-3000 fps, with HBN coating had to come up .5 gr to match non coated, with mag primers it jumped back up so I reduced .5 gr back to 48 gr to match velocity. Tried from 47 - 48.5 gr at .5 gr jumps always same result with mag primers.
Still too early to make a solid conclusion with my set up but it appears the lighter bullet gets a gain from faster ignition were as the heavier does not need it.
The 130's shoot best at the 3000 fps mark as well and I will be testing the new JLK 130 VLDs with both the BR2s and GM215M primers.

Shane...Any luck with the JLK's? Going to try the 135 jlk's soon with the rl26.

 

[goneshootinginAZ]

Here is my latest with RL26 in SRP Lapua brass, S&B primers and 147 ELDs. These are~0.020 off the lands. Looks pretty hopefully and going to try and narrow it down tomorrow. I think I could be happy with 45.9 if it's repeatable with low ES and SD in my 20" Tikka CTR. They won't be speedy, but likely easy on the barrel and plenty good enough for as far as I want to shoot.

 

[Shane Roya]

Shane...Any luck with the JLK's? Going to try the 135 jlk's soon with the rl26.

I tested out the 130 JLK bullets and my barrel doesn't seem to like them. Had a node at 48.5 - 49.4 grains that looked promising, SD went down to 4 fps at 49 gr. with 10 fps SD at each end of the node. The groups were not great .750" to 1" 5 shots at 100, the 49 gr being the smallest group, POI was the same from 48.5 - 49.4 gr. I was .020" off lands so I loaded 5 each at 49 and 48.8 gr at .010" and .030" and tried them to see if they would tighten up, would get 3 to 4 out of the group almost through same hole and then 1 or 2 scattered. 48.2 liked it closer and 49 liked it farther away. I will do one more test .040" from lands and Jamming the lands, we will see.
I also shot my 143 ELD-X bullets just to see if they were still good and 5 shots gave me one ragged hole, so I figure it must be It just doesn't like JLKs, I measured the diameter of the JLKs and the Hornadys, the JLKs were .2639" and the Hornadys are .2642" .
It could be I have an oversize bore and the larger diameter bullet shoots better, I questioned that when using H4350 because my loads were much slower than most everyone else that used H4350.
Not slamming JLK bullets they are very consistent in weight and length, but they do not work for what I want.

 

[Buckwasp]

I tested out the 130 JLK bullets and my barrel doesn't seem to like them. Had a node at 48.5 - 49.4 grains that looked promising, SD went down to 4 fps at 49 gr. with 10 fps SD at each end of the node. The groups were not great .750" to 1" 5 shots at 100, the 49 gr being the smallest group, POI was the same from 48.5 - 49.4 gr. I was .020" off lands so I loaded 5 each at 49 and 48.8 gr at .010" and .030" and tried them to see if they would tighten up, would get 3 to 4 out of the group almost through same hole and then 1 or 2 scattered. 48.2 liked it closer and 49 liked it farther away. I will do one more test .040" from lands and Jamming the lands, we will see.
I also shot my 143 ELD-X bullets just to see if they were still good and 5 shots gave me one ragged hole, so I figure it must be It just doesn't like JLKs, I measured the diameter of the JLKs and the Hornadys, the JLKs were .2639" and the Hornadys are .2642" .
It could be I have an oversize bore and the larger diameter bullet shoots better, I questioned that when using H4350 because my loads were much slower than most everyone else that used H4350.
Not slamming JLK bullets they are very consistent in weight and length, but they do not work for what I want.

Right on. Thx for sharing. I had a few 135 jlk's to try, but there was a limited amount so I shot a few different weights with h4350. (Only 3 shot groups versus the 5 shot groups I usually shoot). I did produce a 1.818" group at 500 yds with the 43.6 grain loads. It has me interested enough to try them again sometime. I've been pretty happy with the 147 eld's pushing them at 2800 fps. Had a few different groups in the 2" range at 500 yards with a stock ruger rpr. Probably can't ask that rifle to do much more than that. Please post any other data u come up with. You seem to be pretty thorough with your testing and info. Thx,
Buck

I tested out the 130 JLK bullets and my barrel doesn't seem to like them. Had a node at 48.5 - 49.4 grains that looked promising, SD went down to 4 fps at 49 gr. with 10 fps SD at each end of the node. The groups were not great .750" to 1" 5 shots at 100, the 49 gr being the smallest group, POI was the same from 48.5 - 49.4 gr. I was .020" off lands so I loaded 5 each at 49 and 48.8 gr at .010" and .030" and tried them to see if they would tighten up, would get 3 to 4 out of the group almost through same hole and then 1 or 2 scattered. 48.2 liked it closer and 49 liked it farther away. I will do one more test .040" from lands and Jamming the lands, we will see.
I also shot my 143 ELD-X bullets just to see if they were still good and 5 shots gave me one ragged hole, so I figure it must be It just doesn't like JLKs, I measured the diameter of the JLKs and the Hornadys, the JLKs were .2639" and the Hornadys are .2642" .
It could be I have an oversize bore and the larger diameter bullet shoots better, I questioned that when using H4350 because my loads were much slower than most everyone else that used H4350.
Not slamming JLK bullets they are very consistent in weight and length, but they do not work for what I want.

Right on