Brand new to 6mm PPC

[mtj21]

Hello everyone, I was looking for some information and advice. Have been hunting prairie dogs for years; went on a tour of Dakota Arms factory this year. Well, I thought I would try something different when I ordered a 6mm PPC. Now to be honest, I know crap about this cartridge other than the accuracy and other basics.
I do reload, but never the high detailed precision stuff before. I would like to see a very accurate gun that I could take along on the dog hunts also. There are so many thoughts and ideas that it boggles you when searching for the info. The questions are:
1. What would be the best brass to buy? It sounds like the 220 Lapua, but what is the best way to have it actually ready to shoot, the forming process?
2. Where is the best source of info for measurements I need from the gun to form the brass, and all the variety of dimensions I have seen for the necks and so forth?
3. If the dimensions, twist, and other needed variables are known; is there any vendor who can form or do the brass? Is the 6 PPC brass from Norma good enough if I don't plan on shooting in competition like many of you may or should it be the Lapua?
4. Basically, a best place to get started or what needs to be done? The gun should arrive later this week.
Your help would be greatly appreciated on what are the best and most reliable sources of information to get started.

 

[Chuckhunter]

mtj21, The 6PPC and 22PPC are both outstanding prairie dog rifles and can kill dogs to 600yds with no problem and 800 is doable when the wind conditions are good. A good place to get a lot of info is right here on the home page, in the side bar on the left hand side of the page. Lapua brass is the way to go. You really should know your neck dimensions and barrel twist in order to select the proper bullet weight. As far as measurements go, getting your own from your rifle is really best, that might mean an investment in a stony point tool to determine correct seating depth and possibly a neck turner depending on neck dimensions. Mine is a custom barrel and has a .262 nk which requires turning. Because yours is a factory rifle, I would assume that you may not have to turn but with that being said, this is a critical piece of information to know before firing that first shot. This is probably still the most inherently accurate cartridge ever developed and you should get a whole bunch of enjoyment out of this rifle. Once you know your twist and neck diameter, I may be able to help you out further. As far as powders, the two most popular are H-322 and N-133. Enjoy the new piece.

 

[mtj21]

Thanks Chuckhunter! I will get back with you once I get the specs you mentioned. I will be open to any suggestions and appreciate the help. T

 

[BoydAllen]

The newest Norma Brass is excellent. Just make sure that it is the latest manufacture. They have made the cases heads harder, like Lapua. It may be a bit difficult to find for a while. See if you can get a reamer print from Dakota. You need a way to measure shoulder bump, and a way to measure OAL off of the ogive. Sinclair sells both kinds of caliper attachments.

 

[Frankr]

O you 6ppc guys. mtj21 you ordered the wrong rifle,you should have ordered a 6BR. O well i guess you will have to try and make it work. lol

 

[Frankr]

Sorry mtj21,sorry boyd, im in the middle of moving and i will not have internet service at my new place for a month or two and could not resist rib-n- the ppc a bit.I have owned 3 22ppc(dont feel its a good varmit cartridge). i have owned two 6ppc and i just never been satified with their shooting but im not a idiot and i shot the barrel clean out of one of 22ppc. i will say if you get one shooting(really humming)nothing will shoot with them at 100yds.mtj21 the problem you are going to have is you must know your neck diameter and max overal chamber length. now the lapua 220rus case is going to be the best. after you know the neck diameter,use a tube/neck mic to mic the brass/case neck wall thickness. you need bullet diameter +neck thickness 2times. .243+.010+.010=.263. you need about .002 -.003 clearance in the neck(chamber) and you may experment with neck clearance to what you or your rifle likes.I think you will have to turn the necks with the lapua cases. i have shot alot of the norma and sako cases a long time ago i think i bought every 22ppc usa case sako made. the norma cases had thin necks and were very hard never cared for them(not familer with the newer norma cases boyd talked about). but i think the problem with them will be necks are too thin to start with,unless you have a .262nk diameter. so once the neck diameter is known, necks are turned to proper thickness. one barrel rifle,i like to neck size neck(so i have tight bullet grip) you want a good load(i like to fill the case to bottom of neck with H322,cant rember how many grains that is,you want the bullet jamed hard into rifling(lands) close the bolt and fireform.That will give you a good case. i have the wilson dies but reccomend the redding competition neck die, and seater die.(they are so much easyer to adj if switching between bullets and trying differant things(you can control how much of the neck you neck(like 1/4 or 1/2).I think once you are shooting it and it shoots well you may want to send in some fired cases and have a custom bushing bump or FL die made. beware of factory FL or body die because they may size your case too much. I think if you had went with the 6BR in a .272 no turn neck,1-14 twist barrel you would have a better/much easyer to load for varmit rifle. And any day you PPC (benchrest shooters) want to meet at the range for a 6BR lesson bring you hankey.

I know boyd you saw some bad targets
I know put the money where my mouth is and show up at the match
When my new rifle is done i may just do it to prove the BR can win and it will
My rifle now has about 1,000 round on it and i do belive as most top bench shooters do
the guilt edge accuracy is gone. O i can still shoot sub .250 every time the rifle is fired but at one time(new) it would try to shoot in the zero's every time it was fired.
But operater error and wind conditions keep me from the zeros but shot many groups in the low ones and the rifle would shoot like that every time it was shot when it was new and had under 500 rounds on it.
so i will keep the 14 twist 6BR flag flying.

 

[walker]

I have been shooting 6PPC in mid-range prone competitions for several years. I have an elderly (matching the owner) single shot Sako Vixen, Master Class stock, with Krieger 1/8" twist, 30" barrel. Loaded 107SMK over 24.0gr of H322, now changed to 95 Berger or 90 Lapua Scenar over 24.7 H322. Consistently in the Expert (94.5%+)classification, with occasional Master (97.0%+) scores. The rifle/cartridge are certainly capable to shoot better than this operator can deliver. No recoil! I am so happy with the setup that I found another Sako action and put on it another Krieger barrel. Using both, Sako USA and Norma brass, lightly turned necks, would work also without turning. The new Norma brass looks good, last time I looked Graf and Sons still had some.
6BR is a great cartridge, with more capacity it works well up to 1,000 yards, which is beyond the reach of 6PPC.

 

[dave7mm]

http://www.benchrest.com/hoehn/html/ammo___brass.html

At practical distances that you would be hunting.The only BR that could shoot accuracy wise with a PPC is the Talldog developed by Dan Dowling.
For what your doing, I wouldn't bother.
You need to know the neck diameter.
Hoehn can set you up with just about anything you need.
I've run 55g ballistic tips for years on chucks and have no complaints.




dave