Is Hornady 6.5 Creedmoor brass that bad?

[memilanuk]

I've been reading through several threads here on the forum regarding making 6.5CM brass from 6XC or .22-250 cases in order to get harder, more consistent brass. I know some people really love Hornady stuff, but I have heard/seen some of their brass to be kind of on the soft side. My question is... is it really that bad that forming from some other casing produced by Wincehster or Lapua like the .22-250 is necessary?

TIA,

Monte

 

[15Tango]

For everyday target shooting with published loads, no - it's fine. For pounding it harder than it's supposed to be, yes.

I really didn't find forming it from 22-250 to be hard. Neck up, seat bullet jammed, fire form, trim and turn necks. Done.

I've formed it from 7mm-08 and .243 as well and that's almost easier. Using the right amount of lube it forms about 95% just from running it through a FLS die. You have to turn and trim the necks still but big deal, I turned and trimmed the necks on the Hornady stuff too.

Besides, the Lapua's better once you're done, will last longer and it's cheaper to boot.

Wayne

 

[offgrid]

I'm shooting a 6.5CM and agree with 15Tango, if sticking to the factory load of 41.5 of 4350 @ 2710fps would probably get several loads out of the brass.

I'm running 139 Scenars @ 2870fps with the clear understanding I'm shortening the life of the brass pounding on it that hard.

 

[memilanuk]

if sticking to the factory load of 41.5 of 4350 @ 2710fps would probably get several loads out of the brass.

Interesting... I thought they were saying 2820 with the 140 and a fuzz over 3k with the 120s for the factory ammo. These velocities (2710, 2910 respectively) sound a bit more credible.

Sticking with factory loads I'd sure hope to get more than a 'few' loads out of a case!

 

[15Tango]

I thought they were saying 2820 with the 140 and a fuzz over 3k with the 120s for the factory ammo.

That's what the original specification was and it's almost exactly what I got with it out of a 28" barrel.

There are a few of us that have pushed the thing hard just to see what it'll do. I managed to get 3100 with a 140 before I started getting scared, I never tried pushing a 120 that hard. I ended up settling on 2920 FPS with a 140 (H4350) and I was shooting 123 Scenars at 3200 (R17).

Wayne

 

[memilanuk]

I really didn't find forming it from 22-250 to be hard. Neck up, seat bullet jammed, fire form, trim and turn necks. Done.

How much thinning of the neck do you get going from .224 to .265? IIRC, the Lapua .22-250 brass was supposed to have kind of thick neck walls - 0.015" or so. What does it end up after necking up and fire-forming?

Did the Lapua .22-250 brass end up with a small primer pocket or not?

Those velocities are, pardon my saying, just stupid fast. My experience with a 6.5-08 was I could get into the low 2900s with H4350 and a S142MK or L139, but that was 6.5-284 range and probably 70-100fps faster than most people were running at the time. I thought I should be able to push a L123 @ 3200, at least in theory but ended up just ruining a bunch of cases in short order trying (and failing) to do so. Then again, I've seen some outrageous velocities claimed from RE-17... If I can get 2750-2800 from a B140VLD or 2900 from a B130VLD I'll be awfully happy. Won't stop me from trying to get more, but I'll be happy

Monte

 

[15Tango]

How much thinning of the neck do you get going from .224 to .265? IIRC, the Lapua .22-250 brass was supposed to have kind of thick neck walls - 0.015" or so. What does it end up after necking up and fire-forming?

I never measured before or after, I just turned them to .013" and it took off a healthy amount so .015" starting out is about right then.

Did the Lapua .22-250 brass end up with a small primer pocket or not?

Negative. Only way to get that in a Creedmoor or 260 (that I know of) is to use .308 Palma brass.

The velocities that were ridiculous were more of an experiment and I never ran them that hard in any large amount as I didn't want to beat on the brass or rifle that much and recoil was starting to get annoying as you can imagine. It seems the accuracy range for the 140s is between 2800-2950, at least from my playing around. It seems most people running the Creedmoor are running in that neighborhood with the 140s. It's pretty easy to do with that cartridge and with the Lapua brass the pockets stay tight. Remember the 260 and Creedmoor have nearly identical case capacities when loaded because of bullet intrusion in the case.

Wayne

 

[skeetlee]

It isnt Lapua but it is just fine.

 

[boltman13]

So far I have no complaints with mine as far as quality is concerned. I am not pushing mine to the limit as my 29" barrel and Colorado's higher altitude gives me all the velocity I need. What was an issue for a while was scarcety. That is better now. I would like to see at least one other brand of brass become available, preferably Lapua or Nosler but only time will tell. When I rebarrel I will probably stay with 6.5 Creedmore as by then I should have figured it out .