Max load for 6br?

[Josh11]

I was lucky enough to go shoot last week and ended up shooting some 28 rounds. For my testing I loaded up some from 29.8 through 30.8 in 2 grain icrements of RL 15. The best group was at 30.2 grs. It was in the .2s. Keep in mind this is a factory Savage, so its not bad. So heres the question. Is it weird that I was getting a very hard bolt lift at 30.8? No other pressure signs. Ive heard of guys getting 31.something out of thiers. Im running 107 smks cci 450 out of lapua cases. I am thinking of swiching to moly bullets and need to know if I can go up in charge without getting that hard bolt lift.
Thanks, Josh

 

[fdshuster]

josh11: It may be nothing more serious than requiring that your case shoulders be set-back a couple of thousandths. You did not say how many loadings were on the brass, and that could be a factor also. If you've not already done so, take some headspace measurements comparing as sized vs. as fired. If I start to get hard bolt lift, without any "bad" primer indications, the slight ( .002"/.003") set-back will cure the problem. Your bullet seating depth will also have an effect: jammed or a hard touch= higher pressures. If the shoulder set-back does not help, set the bullets back .010", then try .020". Further than that should not matter.

 

[TonyR]

Josh
I also had difficulty getting to the velocities others got with their 6mmBRs without pressure signs. If you continue to have problems with RL-15, you might want to try VV N540 with the CCI450 primers. That solved my velocity and pressure problem and gave outstanding ES, SD and vertical to 1000 yards.

 

[varminater]

My best load for my 6br using R-15 was at 31.5 gr. just barely touching the lands. I'm using CCI 450's with new unsized lapua brass, and Hornady 105 A-Max bullets. At 40-45F I get about 2920 fps, at 60F about 2940-50, low es, cloverleaf groups at 100 yards, and no issues with bolt lift. I want to do more fine tuning, but I know I'm close to where I should be.