Howa 6mm Creedmoor

[goodi]

I picked up my new Howa 6mm Creedmoor a few days ago, and now having given it a clean (to remove factory oil from chamber, bore and internals), formed and loaded 6.5 mm Creedmoor Hornady brass to 6mm, I am ready to shoot it for the 1st time this weekend.

However prior to loading, when determining seating depth I was somewhat concerned to find that it is quite long throated.

When seated to just touch the lands, the bearing surface on 105 berger vld's are only in the neck by approx. 1.5-2mm.

similarly,the bearing surface on 110 grain sierras are in the neck approximately 2.0-2.5mm.

has anyone else noticed this long throating/seating length situation with Howa 6mm Creedmoors, or other varieties of factory 6mm Creedmoors?

cheers
goodi

 

[DLH_]

I have no experience with the rifle however, I would be surprised if the factory twist is fast enough to stabilise the 110 SMK. Just a consideration.

Josh

 

[reubenski]

Yes, it sounds like you have the saami spec chamber which is .183 freebore. Here is seating depth data for a .120 freebore for comparison. You freebore is probably .063" farther out in the neck than what's pictured below. Not much you can do other than find a long jump that those bullets like.

105 Hybrid at the lands

110 SMK

 

[JaoeyP]

I have no experience with the rifle however, I would be surprised if the factory twist is fast enough to stabilise the 110 SMK. Just a consideration.

Josh

The Howas have a 7.5" twist on their 6mm Creedmoor. Should be enough to make them accurate but they may give up some of their BC.

 

[DLH_]

The Howas have a 7.5" twist on their 6mm Creedmoor. Should be enough to make them accurate but they may give up some of their BC.

Thank you, that’s very interesting.

 

[Henryrifle]

Dave and others:

I am curious what you've learned about the Howa 6mm Creedmoor and hand loads. I purchased a barreled action last week and loaded some break-in rounds and a few other 5-shot groups to determine speed and see if I could get lucky. The throat is very long on mine too--exactly like the OP's.

I wanted to try some Hodgdon 100V under Berger 105 hybrid targets. I started at a reasonably conservative 41 grains.

Here is a quick chart from my barrel with 70 shots through it:

41 - 2905 fps - break-in rounds 2905 FPS SD=20
41.3 - 2956 fps SD=11 .86 MOA
41.6 - 2982 fps SD=25 1.46 MOA
41.9 - 3011 fps SD=22 1.98 MOA
42.1 - 3018 fps SD=13 1.53 MOA
42.3 - 3032 fps SD=14 1.99 MOA
42.5 - 3055 fps SD-19.7 .98 MOA

The ESs were pretty terrible, none less than 11. This was all in virgin Hornady brass with 210M primers. I didn't weight sort brass or projectiles. Most groups were in the 1.5 MOA range at 100 yards with a few in the .8 to .9 MOA range. The 105s were loaded to magazine length at 2.81" which puts them .090" off the lands!

I did have a box for factory Hornady 108 gr. ELD Match. I screwed my suppressor on the rifle and shot 4 5-shot groups at 100. The speed was 2890 FPS with an SDs of 8.8, 12 and 21. The groups were .446 and .373 MOA. That was a good way to end the day.

Never having used H100V before, I am not sure what to expect or if I am even going to continue with that powder. Initial testing does not indicate any advantage to me. I don't think there are any real conclusions to draw from the above at this point. I a just sharing my experience so far.

Possible issues. I used the stock trigger which would be fine for hunting but not so good for longer range target shooting. I had shot all day in a local F-Class match making the stock trigger seem even worse. The action is in a GRS Berserk stock and is not glass needed. The stock does have some hard glass reinforced "pillars" but, I am likely going to drill them out and install aluminum pillars followed by a bedding of the front of the receiver.

All of the above were shot from prone off a Harris bi-pod and a rear squeeze bag. Scope is a Nightforce SHV 5-20.

Curious if y'all have ay further experience with this action and factor barrel.

Henryrifle

 

[JaoeyP]

I don't have experience with their 6mm Creedmoor chamber or barrel, but I own five Howa barreled actions. I can say four of them are absolute great shooters. Can't say on the fifth- I've only put 10 rounds through it and don't really care to shoot it again until I can get a break or suppressor on it (300 win mag).

In my experience, the barrels shoot much better after about 200 rounds than they do brand new. Two of my rifles have the HACT trigger- one would only go down to 4.5 lbs, the other 2.5 lbs. I put a spring kit in the heavier one and it breaks under 2lbs now.

I used H100V in a 7" twist Rem 700 I used to have. Pros- it metered EXTREMELY consistently; I had waaayyyy low ES and SD (single digits on both) for a given group chronod, rounds were consistently sub MOA out to 600 yards; cons- I chronod about 100 fps velocity difference at 90 degrees vs 35 degrees. I believe my load was- 243 Win, 115 DTacs, Starline virgin brass, 40.0g H100V, CCI 200 primers.

 

[Enosiophobia]

Better long than short....

 

[snoopy001]

The Howas have a 7.5" twist on their 6mm Creedmoor. Should be enough to make them accurate but they may give up some of their BC.

Sorry,you mean lower BC due the lower velocity caused by the fast twist ,it is correct ??

 

[JaoeyP]

Sorry,you mean lower BC due the lower velocity caused by the fast twist ,it is correct ??

Sierra's 110gr SMK requires a 7" twist to FULLY stabilize. You may get it to shoot accurately from a slightly slower twist, but if it's not fully stabilized, it will not achieve its published BC value.

If you pull up Bergers website, you can play with their bullet assortment and you can plug in different velocities and twist rates. When your speed/twist marginally stabilize the bullet their calculator will kick out a realistic BC for their bullet and your input. If you use Strelok pro as your ballistic calculator it will do the same when you input your data.

 

[snoopy001]

Sierra's 110gr SMK requires a 7" twist to FULLY stabilize. You may get it to shoot accurately from a slightly slower twist, but if it's not fully stabilized, it will not achieve its published BC value.

Now it's clear my doubt was the direct relation between the perfect fully stabilized bullet and accuracy.


If you pull up Bergers website, you can play with their bullet assortment and you can plug in different velocities and twist rates.
yea,the Berger trscalculator is a great tool to check
bullet /twist compatibility in various atmospheric situations

When your speed/twist marginally stabilize the bullet their calculator will kick out a realistic BC for their bullet and your input. If you use Strelok pro as your ballistic calculator it will do the same when you input your data.

 

[Henryrifle]

Wanted to post an update on the Howa 6mm Creedmoor barreled action and my experience with it to date.

After a little over 200 105 Berger Hybrid Targets using H100V and then H4350 I concluded that I could not make them work in my barrel. I had several false positives that would just not repeat from session to session.

Out of desperation, I tried some of the 108 ELD-Match projectiles and since I had gotten the best results using H4350, I stopped experimenting with other powders. I have been able to achieve some acceptable and repeatable results using Hornday brass, Federal GM210M primers, 42.4 grs. H4350 and the 108 ELD-Ms loaded to magazine length, 2.80” COAL. This combination shoots a consistent .5 to.6 MOA at 200 yards at a respectable speed of 3130 fps as measured by Labradar. Now that I have a load that works I will experiment with seating depth.

The idea for this rifle was to have a simple rig requiring no support equipment other than the attached Harris bipod and a squeeze bag and be able to shoot out to 1000 and beyond. I haven’t shot past 200 with it yet, so, the jury is still out. Will give a final update when I have one.

Henryrifle

 

[Capt. Oblivious]

Wanted to post an update on the Howa 6mm Creedmoor barreled action and my experience with it to date.

After a little over 200 105 Berger Hybrid Targets using H100V and then H4350 I concluded that I could not make them work in my barrel. I had several false positives that would just not repeat from session to session.

Out of desperation, I tried some of the 108 ELD-Match projectiles and since I had gotten the best results using H4350, I stopped experimenting with other powders. I have been able to achieve some acceptable and repeatable results using Hornday brass, Federal GM210M primers, 42.4 grs. H4350 and the 108 ELD-Ms loaded to magazine length, 2.80” COAL. This combination shoots a consistent .5 to.6 MOA at 200 yards at a respectable speed of 3130 fps as measured by Labradar. Now that I have a load that works I will experiment with seating depth.

The idea for this rifle was to have a simple rig requiring no support equipment other than the attached Harris bipod and a squeeze bag and be able to shoot out to 1000 and beyond. I haven’t shot past 200 with it yet, so, the jury is still out. Will give a final update when I have one.

Henryrifle

108gr @ 3130fps out of a 24" barrel, that is smoking

 

[Henryrifle]

Brownells sells both a 24" 'heavy' barreled action and a 26" version. I have the 26" version. Probably still smokin' but no significant pressure signs.

Henryrifle

 

[TX_Punisher]

Can we get an update on this? Thinking about this barreled action but the freebore worries me.

 

[gman47564]

I wouldn't worry about the long free bore...seat the bullet where the boat tail and bearing surface junction is just above the neck and shoulder junction and test for powder charges... the 105 berger hybrids don't mind a jump.. been shooting the 6 creedmoor for a year or so now … reloader 16 is a great powder for the 105 bergers.. I shoot a savage stealth evolution with a shilen 24 inch pipe... 3070 mv is where it wants to be... run the factory pipe around 3140 but it roasted the pipe after about 700 rounds...

 

[TX_Punisher]

Thanks Gman. Will be running 108eld, 110, and 115 dtacs to start with. Alpha lp brass.

 

[gman47564]

I haven't tried the 110"s or 115's . The 108 eldm is quiet a bit longer to the ogive than the 105 bergers.. dont remember the numbers right off the top of my head but know their longer

 

[TX_Punisher]

So I picked up a howa barreled 26” action as well. Going to wait for Black Friday for any chassis deals like another MDT Lss. Got 110 smile and 108 eldm with Alpha brass already on the bench. Looking forward to playing with this caliber.

 

[Henryrifle]

I have shot my 6mm Creedmoor Howa barreled action out to 1300 yards here in Georgia at 1200' elevation with the 108 ELD-M's with excellent results on steel. Speed is still in the 3117-3130 range depending on temperature and groups in the .5-.6 MOA-range at 100 and 200 yards. I did install aluminum pillars in the stock and glass bedded (is that a word?) the front of the action and integral recoil lug using the Miles Gilbert bedrock kit. I talked to the OP and don't believe he got the results he was looking for. Also, Gavin, from Ultimatereloader.com was unable to get his to group consistently. I don't know if I was just lucky or if persistence paid off. I will say that the rifle shot factory 147 ELD-Match ammo very well from the very beginning. That is what gave me the hope that the barrel would shoot. If it means anything, I would buy another one as I really like the action and you can purchase a Remage or, I guess, Howage barrel for the action and keep the party going pretty easily.

Good luck with yours!

Hank