How do the 140 and 145 Barnes Match Burners shoot in 6.5 CM?

[cp255]

I have been shooting 140 ELDMs in my 6.5 CM rifle. With 41gr of H4350 I have been averaging 0.6 MOA groups at 300 yards. Would like to get that a little smaller. Was thinking of moving to Sierra bullets which cost a bit more. However, someone recommended the Barnes Match Burners. I didn't really conciser these at first since I figured they were cheap bullets, but this guy shoots bench-rest with them in 6mm. Anyone have any results in 6.5 CM?

 

[bks22345]

I shot them for a few years. They shot extremely well for a while. I used the 140s in my Creed and the 120s in my Grendel. If you do a search there’s actually an article on the main site I think where a guy did some comparisons for his shooting team versus their standard load, whatever that was. Then one day my groups opened. I cleaned the barrel, I tried load ladders again, I played with seating depth, I switched powders. Nothing worked until I switched to a 142 SMK. I don’t know for certain, but I don’t think the QC is there for Barnes. I bought some of the 145 and the weight and ogive variation were huge. I sorted them by weight and ogive, ran ladders and never could get them to group within 1.5” at 100. For the 140s, if you get a good box then they are great bullets especially for $0.28 or so each. But with powder and primer prices where they are I choose to pay a little more for the SMKs.

 

[Mike Casselton]

I tried them, so did a buddy.
1.5" would have been a great group. Most were over 2".

Got rid of them.
So did he.

 

[Intell]

The 145s shot good for me using H4831SC, I can’t remember the load without looking but the case was full and they were single feed only, this powder gave me higher velocity than I expected but it shot well there, 27” Bartline barrel.
The next time I get it out I’m going to work up a lower ladder test to look for a slower tune.

 

[Infrequent Shooter]

I shot them for a few years. They shot extremely well for a while. I used the 140s in my Creed and the 120s in my Grendel. If you do a search there’s actually an article on the main site I think where a guy did some comparisons for his shooting team versus their standard load, whatever that was. Then one day my groups opened. I cleaned the barrel, I tried load ladders again, I played with seating depth, I switched powders. Nothing worked until I switched to a 142 SMK. I don’t know for certain, but I don’t think the QC is there for Barnes. I bought some of the 145 and the weight and ogive variation were huge. I sorted them by weight and ogive, ran ladders and never could get them to group within 1.5” at 100. For the 140s, if you get a good box then they are great bullets especially for $0.28 or so each. But with powder and primer prices where they are I choose to pay a little more for the SMKs.

BKS, approx velocity of smk loads? was case large enough to get the bullet moving?

 

[bks22345]

BKS, approx velocity of smk loads? was case large enough to get the bullet moving?

In a 6.5CM? Yes, but I guess that’s relative. 2720 or so and I shoot at about 200’ MSL. You can push them faster but this gave me a 5 shot group in the .3s. The faster groups were not much larger. That’s with H4350.

 

[Imperfect Liberty]

I have shot the 140's and 145's for a couple years in Creedmoor, 6.5x47L, and 120's in the 6.5 Grendel and had phenomenal luck with them. I've also shot some of the best groups of my life with the 155's and 175's in 308 Win. I've heard of people getting bad batches or lots but I've never had anything but good to say about them. I've shot between 2500 and 3000 of them over the last 5 or 6 years. YMMV.