T/C Compass - 6.5 Creedmoor

[lazyMlazyK]

Picked up a T/C Compass 6.5 Creedmoor a couple months back. Brand new, budget rifle in a chambering I’ve been curious about for awhile. $275 out the door. Threw on a cheap Simmons 3-12x scope I had collecting dust at home and hit the range with various factory ammo. At 100 yards, almost everything shot under 1”. Started rolling my own with H4350 and 143gr. ELD-X bullets. Decided to take the 40.5, 41, and 41.5gr. loads and load up five more of each to test. What do you think, will I see more interesting results if I shoot these groups at 200-300 yards instead of 100? The bottom left group measures 0.48" center-to-center. I picked up a Caldwell Lead Sled DFT last year, but for anything larger than a .22-250, I like to take the butt of the rifle off of the rear part of the sled so I can actually shoulder it and use a squeeze bag. I also get a better cheek weld and is much more comfortable this way. I have been putting the front 6" or so of the factory (mostly garbage, but actually fairly rigid) stock on the front rest of the sled. Looking to use this rifle mostly for coyotes and deer at medium range (possibly out to 500 yards if I can learn to shoot that well), but would like to upgrade to a different scope one day to dial-in or use mil-dots for holdover. The junky Simmons I'm using now just has a standard, fairly fine duplex reticle without any subtensions or dots, so I just estimate holdover out to 300. The squares on the target are just under 1" - homemade target on CAD, and I just figured out how to print to actual scale

 

[Bc'z]

Personally I've never run any h4350 in my 6.5.
I know alot of guys shoot 41-41.5gr of it though with 140 class bullets.
When shooting your OCW test try shooting rt to left with your charge weight progression.
Makes it easier to read looking at elevation of poi.
All that said I'd start at the 40.5 load and adjust seating depth in .003 increments and find your sweet spot, then re address your charge weight in .001 increments.
I use this method for all my load work and it will get you where you want to be.

Currently I'm working on a load with123gr scenars and RL17. I picked a charge window from reloading manuals and online data a started 1.3gr back of max using Sierra's data.
Loaded in .2gr increments I shot my OCW test.I'm going to do my seating test @ 42.7gr and shoot 3 shot groups to find my sweet spot @300.
Hopefully this helps you get to where you want to be.

 

[shoot4fun]

Personally I've never run any h4350 in my 6.5.
I know alot of guys shoot 41-41.5gr of it though with 140 class bullets.
When shooting your OCW test try shooting rt to left with your charge weight progression.
Makes it easier to read looking at elevation of poi.
All that said I'd start at the 40.5 load and adjust seating depth in .003 increments and find your sweet spot, then re address your charge weight in .001 increments.
I use this method for all my load work and it will get you where you want to be.

Currently I'm working on a load with123gr scenars and RL17. I picked a charge window from reloading manuals and online data a started 1.3gr back of max using Sierra's data.
Loaded in .2gr increments I shot my OCW test.View attachment 1164004I'm going to do my seating test @ 42.7gr and shoot 3 shot groups to find my sweet spot @300.
Hopefully this helps you get to where you want to be.

FYI, I have been shooting 42.7 grains RL17 with both the 142SMK and the 140 Hybrid for about ten years now. I have used it in several different rifles and always had very good results (most cases excellent results).

 

[jonbearman]

Looks like that compass is very promising for less than a cost of a barrel blank.