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Bullet Choice for .284 and 6.5 CM F-Class with 30" bbls

The 142 Sierra shoot very good. If you’re on a range with little wind they’re great. If it’s windy, then you have to be on your game for wind calls. They don’t have as high bc as newer design Bergers.
 
Fast14riot said:
RDF = Random Damn Flier
Click to expand...
The 140 RDF was my top shooting bullet and easy to tune with
Reloder 16 when I was playing with the 6.5 Needsmore. In the
.284 and my shorter wildcats, the 183gr Sierra shot with the Bergers,
in my barrels. I stayed with with Sierra for two reasons. Cost effective,
and trying to find the Bergers was getting problematic.

6.5's used an 8 twist, and the 183's, an 8.5 twist Brux
 
183 SMK through a Bartlein Carbon Wrapped 5R
Liked it so much I immediately bought a 500 pack after testing
 
This is my experience from various 6.5 and 7mm's from myself and building a few state championship winning F Open rifles for friends over the years.

For the 7mm the 180 Berger Hybrid is by far the most popular bullet for good reason. The 184 Berger Hybrid is also a good bullet. The 190 Berger has been described as a "kite" for having strange flyers by everyone I know that's tried it.

In the 6.5 the 140 Berger Hybrid is by far the most popular bullet. The 153.5 has had mixed results. Some outstanding. I have a friend that won 2 mid range state championships with it and now won't use them at all. They might have lot issues. I don't know. I had some luck with the 142SMK. They shoot well but the 140 Hybrid seems to always work just a little better.
 
Fuj said:
The 140 RDF was my top shooting bullet and easy to tune with
Reloder 16 when I was playing with the 6.5 Needsmore. In the
.284 and my shorter wildcats, the 183gr Sierra shot with the Bergers,
in my barrels. I stayed with with Sierra for two reasons. Cost effective,
and trying to find the Bergers was getting problematic.

6.5's used an 8 twist, and the 183's, an 8.5 twist Brux
Click to expand...

I went through about 600 140RDF bullets trying to make them shoot. Sorted, weighed, measured, couldn't figure out what or why there would be an upwind 7 or 6 at 1000y. They were great at short range, shot some incredibly small groups at 100y with them but they just would ruin your day with 1 or 2 Random Damn Fliers in every match. The ones I have left might get used for fire forming 260AI, but since I usually do that at a match I doubt it. Maybe to zero a new gun.

As Shawn says above, the 140 Hybrid is just about the most consistent and well balanced 6.5 bullet out there. It is the easy button for small to mid capacity 6.5 cases. I shoot the 153.5 LRHT and have had some differences from lot to lot, but I know them well and how to compensate. It's benefits outweigh the downside for me, so far.

The 142smk is a super consistent bullet that's easy to shoot, but its a football compared to others in the category. Another consistent bullet that may be worth a look is the Berger 140VLDT. BC isn't as great as the hybrid, however They always seem to be in stock. I shot the 140VLDT for a couple seasons and liked them.
 
Fast14riot said:
I went through about 600 140RDF bullets trying to make them shoot. Sorted, weighed, measured, couldn't figure out what or why there would be an upwind 7 or 6 at 1000y. They were great at short range, shot some incredibly small groups at 100y with them but they just would ruin your day with 1 or 2 Random Damn Fliers in every match. The ones I have left might get used for fire forming 260AI, but since I usually do that at a match I doubt it. Maybe to zero a new gun.
Click to expand...

I always did an anal sort on my match bullets . The early RDF's I had were
not known for a good base to ogive check. I ran em' thru my Hollands
then shot those by group sort. I also never shot them beyond 500 yards
preferring the .284's beyond that yardage. I know the 184gr RDF's in my
.284's had a mind of their own.
 
swd said:
This is my experience from various 6.5 and 7mm's from myself and building a few state championship winning F Open rifles for friends over the years.

For the 7mm the 180 Berger Hybrid is by far the most popular bullet for good reason. The 184 Berger Hybrid is also a good bullet. The 190 Berger has been described as a "kite" for having strange flyers by everyone I know that's tried it.

In the 6.5 the 140 Berger Hybrid is by far the most popular bullet. The 153.5 has had mixed results. Some outstanding. I have a friend that won 2 mid range state championships with it and now won't use them at all. They might have lot issues. I don't know. I had some luck with the 142SMK. They shoot well but the 140 Hybrid seems to always work just a little better.
Click to expand...
Spot on and I would only try the other bullet options above if my barrel hated one of these, and it probably wouldn’t turn out well.
 
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As an observation about F/class (Open and TR) in recent years, its becoming closer to what service rifle has been for years. You can pick a barrel contour, length and chamber, buy the brass, powder and bullets the same as the leaders and completely expect the same base line performance. The differences at the top of the sport are now in knowing your shooting system and conditions plus your overall skill. A top performing combination is a known list of components. A top performance is a skill learned with time on target. Fwiw, I've been shooting F/class from the ground up for the past 8-9 years. Started with a varmint gun on Harris bipod and just now building a fully custom F/open rifle. But, I dont shoot a 284, so what do I know, lol! Guess I still haven't learned.
 
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