Choosing bullets for new 6br

[Cory porter]

Getting a new 8 twist barrel from billy Stevens within the next month or so. I’m planning on testing 105 hybrids and 108g Berger bt.

In the past I’ve just went with the bullets I’ve had handy and never really tested different ones.

What is the best way starting from the very beginning to determine what you’ll use.

Get both, generic starting point 30g varget, expand new brass, and load both into the lands 15thou and move back by 5 until 20 off and shoot 3-5 shot groups at 100? Then work on a powder node, or is there a better or more efficient way to determine.

 

[JFrank]

Just speaking for myself, I run abbreviated ladders from 29.2 -30.2 at .2 increments with bullets a couple thousand off a hard jam. Find a powder node then start a seating test in .005 increments, the Bullets I’ve tested all shot well some smaller than others, just all didn’t measure consistently BBTO

 

[Texas10]

I prefer to start with a fixed seating, usually .020 off and work the charge. Once I've got a charge node identified, I go to a seating study. Why do it this way, you might ask?

Charge weight will move velocity in big steps, and therefore barrel time, whereas seating distance will change barrel time in small steps by moving the distance to the muzzle in increments of thousandths of an inch.

Pretty much the same as SPJ wrote, I just prefer a jump unless the chosen bullet has a reputation of preferring to be loaded into the lands.

I just switched to 107 SMK on my new 6br Shilen 8 twist, it didn't like the old bullet, and I used this method at 200 yds. Worked great.

 

[ihmsakiwi]

+1 for 107 SMK's.

 

[Liven The Dream]

103 Vapor Trail Bullets or 105 HB . 107 are not Bad .

 

[HTSmith]

A few observations from my experience fwiw--
--Berger advises to work on seating depth first and then powder charge, but what Texas10 says above makes sense also
--Just yesterday an acquaintance at our range (with a new 6BR) said he started out with 30 Gr of Varget and a 105 jammed. On the first shot he locked his bolt up. So starting lower would probably be good.
--One of my 6BR's shoots Sierra 107's better than any of the Bergers. They are certainly worth trying.

Best to you with your new barrel!

 

[Cory porter]

A few observations from my experience fwiw--
--Berger advises to work on seating depth first and then powder charge, but what Texas10 says above makes sense also
--Just yesterday an acquaintance at our range (with a new 6BR) said he started out with 30 Gr of Varget and a 105 jammed. On the first shot he locked his bolt up. So starting lower would probably be good.
--One of my 6BR's shoots Sierra 107's better than any of the Bergers. They are certainly worth trying.

Best to you with your new barrel!

I did hear from a few guys at a match the new lots of varget are causing that. Said they had to go down 1-2g I believe from normal loads

 

[JFrank]

The Bullets I’ve had that shot the best were
105 Lapua Senars - very good with limited testing
107 SMK - smallest groups but not as consistent
108 Berger - most consistent measuring BBTO, consistent flat shooting out to 1000 yards
YRMV

 

[swadiver]

108 Bergers, N140 or Varget. i prefer N140. the Bergers work great 10 to 20 thou off the lands. start at 29 grs of either powder and work up

 

[ShootDots]

I have shot the 108 Berger's in 1 / 6mmBR and in 2 / 6mm Dashers. In all but 1 rifle, the 108s preferred to be right at 7 thousandths INTO the lands. The one barrel liked them, believe it or not, 17 thousandths OFF the lands. Other shooters I know use the 108s 7 thousandths into the lands. I found that RL-15 to be a top notch powder for the 6mmBR. However, any powder in that burn rate range will work>>>some better than others..

 

[Nick_Mansfield]

@urbanrifleman does both at same time...you have to search for it in the forums but pretty simple and saves time,consumables and barrel life.