6.5 Creedmoor Powders for 140gr bullets

Bentnail63

Bentnail63

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All,

I am working on precision shooting with my Creedmoor, so looking for powder suggestions for 140gr bullets. I am set for Hornady BTHP Match bullets and will bring in Sierra's eventually.

So on hand I have Accurate 2700, Accurate 2230, Accurate 1680, Hogdob BL-C(2), and CFE223. I looking towards Accurate 2700 for this load build, But also seeing H4350 as a powder for this, but that one is hard to find or at least locally for me. Varget is out of the question as to all 6 businesses I frequent can not get any. IMR is also scarce too. I can get Hogdon SuperPreformance as well as WIN 760 locally. Any other recommends for powder that I already have or others I should look for?

I am seeing a powder call for the Acc 2700 of 37.5gr to MAX41.9gr. Any recommends with this powder??

Thank you as always....
 
RL17 and RL16 seem to be popular. 6.5 staball , 760, hybrid 100v, superformance, shooters world long rifle, and ramshot hunter should work just fine as well. My 6.5 CM loves a 140 with RL16.
 
Varget would not be ideal especially with those bullet weights.

If you can find H4350 that is THE powder you want. The introduction of 6.5CM is the reason it's hard to find. Everybody wants it. If you can't find it something in a similar burn rate. There are a couple of 4350 powders that should work. IMR 4350 is often easier to find.
 
jmr40 said:
Varget would not be ideal especially with those bullet weights.

If you can find H4350 that is THE powder you want. The introduction of 6.5CM is the reason it's hard to find. Everybody wants it. If you can't find it something in a similar burn rate. There are a couple of 4350 powders that should work. IMR 4350 is often easier to find.
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Where can I find burn rates? I know HOgdon has a chart of fastest to slowest but I cant or not asking the correct words to find burn rates and other information?

I use Gordons for reference and it does not have Accurate 2700 so I started down the process or road to find the information concerning that powder.
 
N140

About the same as varget and easier on the pocketbook (for the time being anyway). Use the powder manufacturers load data. It used to be 1.5x higher than Varget now Varget, IMR, and similar are 1.5x higher than it is.

N135 was developed for 7.62 NATO with 147-150 grain bullets.

N140 for 7.62x53R - pushed/pushes 180 grain bullet at 2800 FPS.
 
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I’ve had excellent results with AA2700 and 140 grain bullets. I checked my log book. I used 42 grains of AA2700 with 140 Barnes Bullets. I had good luck using what I had. H4350 is hard to find locally and I have too much powder to begin with. Sometimes you use what you got.

I loaded five rounds just to test out my new Savage LRP. I picked AA2700 because I had it. I picked the bullets because I had them already. I picked the load, just an average from high to low. It worked better than one could expect. its my pure luck load.
 
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AJC1 said:
I'd be looking at n150
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That would be my suggestion. I would think N140 might be a bit too fast for the ~140's.

Walkalong said:
H-4350 is the easy button, but I am sure other similar burn rate powders will work well.
Click to expand...

I've used some other powders... IMR4451 and H4831SC come to mind... but none of them have given the results H4350 have.

dh1633pm said:
I’ve had excellent results with AA2700 and 140 grain bullets.
Click to expand...

It looks like AA2700 should work well enough, in the absence of the other likely candidates...
 
Well when I made the move to a halfway serious 6.5 caliber I went with the standard ol 260. I know it isn't flashy or anything like one of the new kids, but for all practical purposes they are one in the same.

As mentioned above the smith that built my rifle said using somewhere in the neighborhood of 42gr of H4350 and a 140gr bullet and your done. For mine I as most found the H4350 to simply be a pain to track down, I managed to try several other and most of the powders mentioned above before I finally just settled for AA-4350. It has been easier to find in most cases, cheaper when I did, and it is about 15fps on average behind H4350 with the same load, and shoots a Hornady 140gr Interlock into a nice enough group for hunting whitetail. I have shot some really nice groups using it, couldn't say they were benchrest class but certainly well under MOA. With Hodgdon holding the brand names they do, I figure it will only be a matter of time before the similar powders all start to be the same. Either way I have enough of either one to run me for years with the amount I shoot my 260.
 
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Bentnail63 said:
I went to a local gun show and found the H4350 so i am set to load now.....Thank you for the info.
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That's the easy button. I found that I need to push the 140's over 2700 fps to get my best groups. Anything below that is > than 1 moa. When ~2725 I get <1/2 moa if I do my part at 300 yrds. This is out of a AR10 with a 24" match barrel, single feed (bob sled). If I mag feed it throws the groups up and to the right about 2".
 
My manual (lyman) shows 2585 fps at 61kpsi in a 24" barrel with IMR-4350 at max load with 140 AMax bullets (2.80 OAL). This is also shown to be the suggested most accurate load for that bullet. H4350 is about the same powder and will only be a couple FPS +/- at the same pressure. REF: 6.5/CM

Even if you have a longer barrel you are likely over pressure. A 26" tube would likely only give you an additional 50 FPS with that same load.

The slowest burn rate powder in the same data table is Superformance and it tops out at 2680 fps at 59.5kpsi in the same 24" 1:8 twist barrel.

I would suggest to start at the 10% under max load and work your way up until your groups tighten up and not exceed viable load data. If you don't damage your action or barrel you are surly wasting brass - pierced primers cause inaccuracy and also ruin firing pins and bolt faces. Generally you will find two pressure points (nodes) at which groups tighten - the first within pressure and the second at or above max. The lower is usually more stable for long range shooting and effected less by climate condition swings.

You would need to go to a 6.5-284 Norma case or larger if you want to push a 140 grn .264 bullet to 2700 or more FPS.
 
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Bentnail63 said:
Where can I find burn rates
Click to expand...
https://www.adiworldclass.com.au/powder-equivalents/

Accurate 2700 is worth trying. Trying different brands of bullet may make the most difference.
Nosler 140 gr bullet data shows IMR4350 being the most accurate.

I have tested IRM4350 with 140 Barnes Match Burners & Nosler bullets. The Savage Axis has a 1 1/4" @100 yards, barrel.

The light weight sporter barrel did better with this reduced load.

index.php
 
My first choice is RL-16, but it looks like once I run out of that I won't be able to get any more. My second choice is H4350 and Bass Pro Shop has it regularly. Have it delivered to your local store and there's no HAZMAT fee. I've also used Winchester 760, Superperformance, and IMR 4350 with varying results, none as good as RL-16 or H4350.

Bass Pro has H4350 right now.

H4350
 
H4350 is currently available from Graph & Sons, Powder Valley, Natchez and Midsouth. While everyone's situation is different, if i had to depend on what local shops (180 miles rt) carried, i wouldn't be reloading.
 
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