New to 6mm Br what to expect

[500sks]

I have a new 6mm Br in a savage. We have tried a couple of loads and found the 75 gr V-Max to be our best accuracy smallest group .2" range. We what to use the gun for Prairie Dogs at longer ranges and feel that the 75 isn't really where we want to be. We tried the 105 A-Max with a group size for 5 shots in the .5" to .75" range. What level of accuracy do we need to be able to get to reliably make hits at 600-800 yards. I have tried the Varget powder and H4895 with varget being the best so far.
We are using norma brass, Redding dies and CCI br primers.
Any info would be appreciated.
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[Killshot]

Welcome to the Forum. I'd recommend reading back about ten pages of so of threads in the 6BR & Improved Wildcats subforum and sponge it up. Much good knowledge.

As to your questions: What is your barrel's twist rate? What is your personal shooting ability? handloading ability?

I would imagine anything half-moa would work for you. How big do your P'dogs get?

One thing I would say is that a LOT of people swear by the CCI450s for 6BRs, I noticed you're using BRs in your loads. Could see if a simple switch tighens things up.

 

[sbrabec]

Have you adjusted seating depths on the 105s? Try jamming them, if no luck there try smk 107. They shot excellent in my factory barrel. Varget or reloader 15 seem to be the go to powder. Wolf srm or cci 450 for primers.

Good luck
Scott

 

[Shynloco]

Welcome aboard. What is your barrel twist? Sounds like you may have a mismatch for bullet weight vs barrel twist. I shoot the Savage Model 12 Benchrest that has the 1:8 twist. That allows me to shoot 68gr Bart's Bullets being pushed by 31 gr of VVN133 or Sierra 107 gr HPBT being pushed by 28 - 28.1 Gr of RL15 that is very close to Varget performance wise. You didn't mention your powder weight. According to the Hornady Loading Manual for 75 gr V Max for a 6mm Remington the range of weight load for Varget is 34.5 Gr with a Hi load of 40.5 gr. H4895 shows low-33.6, Hi-40.5. Those loads were used in their test rifle that was a Rem 700 with a 22" barrel having a 1:9 twist. Check and see if your twist is something higher that could be causing your issue. Good luck and hollar if you need more. BTW, you are fine as far as the casing, primers and dies.

 

[DennisH]

Mine loves the 107's! I need to experiment with mne a little more!

 

[walker2713]

I have the Savage F Class in 1-8 twist, and have been working with it for a couple of months now. In the lighter bullet category, I've been very happy with the Nosler 70gr BT and IMR8208. In the heavier bullets, I'm currently using Berger's 105gr VLD's, but have recently picked up a couple of boxes of their Hybrids to try....seem to have a lot of positive feedback on the forum here about them. in terms of powder, H4895 has been excellent, along with BLC2....and will be trying some RL15 in the next couple of days.

Welcome to the wonderful world of the 6BR! I'll be shooting it Saturday in our range's monthly 600 yard competition, and it'll be with me next month in SD, reaching out to touch some PDs! Accurate, versatile....what's not to like!

George

 

[jerrschmitt]

For Prairie dog shooting the 105 AMAX is king. The other bullets I've tried just poke a little hole in them and it's often hard to tell if they were hit. The 87 VMAX is another wonderful bullet to try.

If you can maintain an honest .5 group on the range, you'll do well in the dog towns. We've shot them for years with rifles that wouldn't do that well. The hard part is going to be ranging and wind.

 

[500sks]

Wow thanks for all of the replies. The rifle is Savage Benchrest with a 1:8 twist. The 105 A-max that I have shot and have a 0.555" (measured today) group is with H-4895 I don't have the powder weight in front of me but I think it was near 30 grains. I got the info from this site. As to my abilities, that is still to be determined but I have shot a bunch of good guns to half and inch or better. What I was trying to find out was is half and inch group going to be good enough for long range prairie dog shooting. What kind of accuracy are you guys getting should I be happy or should I be looking for something in the 0.2". What is reasonable?
Thanks
Phil

 

[dansig]

with a 6mm BR you should get .2-.3" groups if it's a match barrel, it it's a cheap factory barrel then .5" is about as good as it gets...

average groups shouldn't be larger than .350, with a good rest and a good load .250