Another 6.5 CM victim

[Newtosavage]

Came across a Savage Axis 6.5 CM barrel and I couldn't lay off. The curiosity finally got to me.

Bought some dies, powder, 140 grain SST bullets, and this just happened.

Seems like a darn handy whitetail round to me. I got nothing bad to say about it.

 

[horsemen61]

It’s a great round probably my favorite it does what I want and then some

 

[someguy2800]

It really is a little peach of a round. It’s pretty hard to not to like.

 

[LoonWulf]

I did the same a while back, got about the same accuracy results a with rl17 and superformance.

 

[Mosin Bubba]

You know that a 270 does the same th- I'm just teasing. Great shooting.

 

[TN Outlaw]

I agree with the others, it's a fine round.

It punches above it's weight and recoil. Very enjoyable to shoot too.

 

[Newtosavage]

You know that a 270 does the same th- I'm just teasing. Great shooting.

 

[Newtosavage]

I agree with the others, it's a fine round.

It punches above it's weight and recoil. Very enjoyable to shoot too.

On the "enjoyable to shoot" -

Those full loads of H4350 with 140 SST's have a good kick to them in my 7 lb. Savage. I can't tell much difference between those and my 7mm-08 with 139 SST's that are doing 2850. There is a difference though, but it is slight.

However, I loaded some 140 SST's over IMR 8208 XBR (because I have an 8 lb. jug of it) and at 2400 fps that thing is a pussycat. Kinda like a grown up 6.5 Grendel. That will be the load I use for kids and people who just don't want to deal with recoil but still want to hunt. Great little load to have in the bag.

For some time now I've thought that a 140 grain 7mm bullet going 2400 fps at the muzzle would be an ideal low recoil whitetail and hog round. The only thing this one is missing is 0.5mm.

 

[Newtosavage]

I did the same a while back, got about the same accuracy results a with rl17 and superformance.

If I am ever tempted to pursue critters bigger than whitetails, I'll definitely be trying some Superformance powder. A 140 grain 6.5mm SST at 2800 fps. seems like it would be quite the efficient killer.

 

[LoonWulf]

They do aight.....



Well those we're actually Amax.... Er... Eldms

 

[bikemutt]

Nice job!

My 28" X-bolt pipe likes 140 gr Hornady BTHP bullets over 41.7 gr H4350. I get a bit more speed but that's to be expected with the barrel length.

If on your picture 2.85" is COAL, that's pushing past the SAMMI maximum of 2.825", which is fine for bolt-action rifles, assuming the magazine/box will accept the cartridge.

I haven't played with the SST yet but I don't think it's considered to be one of the newer high BC bullets like the ELD-X, how much bearing surface are you getting at that COAL?

 

[Newtosavage]

Nice job!

My 28" X-bolt pipe likes 140 gr Hornady BTHP bullets over 41.7 gr H4350. I get a bit more speed but that's to be expected with the barrel length.

If on your picture 2.85" is COAL, that's pushing past the SAMMI maximum of 2.825", which is fine for bolt-action rifles, assuming the magazine/box will accept the cartridge.

I haven't played with the SST yet but I don't think it's considered to be one of the newer high BC bullets like the ELD-X, how much bearing surface are you getting at that COAL?

Not sure I know how to measure it correctly, but I got about 0.680"

Savage short action mags are all 3.00" which is one of the benefits of shooting a Savage action. I can always reach the lands and still put the rounds in the mags.

 

[Garandimal]

On the "enjoyable to shoot" -

Those full loads of H4350 with 140 SST's have a good kick to them in my 7 lb. Savage. I can't tell much difference between those and my 7mm-08 with 139 SST's that are doing 2850. There is a difference though, but it is slight.

However, I loaded some 140 SST's over IMR 8208 XBR (because I have an 8 lb. jug of it) and at 2400 fps that thing is a pussycat. Kinda like a grown up 6.5 Grendel. That will be the load I use for kids and people who just don't want to deal with recoil but still want to hunt. Great little load to have in the bag.

For some time now I've thought that a 140 grain 7mm bullet going 2400 fps at the muzzle would be an ideal low recoil whitetail and hog round. The only thing this one is missing is 0.5mm.

No free lunch in Physics.

Good marksmanship w/ adequate accuracy,energy, and penetration kill game.

Should be a Deer hammer.




GR

 

[farmerboy78]

what's your barrel length? 2600 is pretty low

 

[someguy2800]

what's your barrel length? 2600 is pretty low

I was thinking the same, I get just over 2700 from a 20”

 

[NorthBorder]

Just joined the 6.5 club with a Howa 1500.

I'm really not into flashy but this was a Legacy Sports International special. It actually looks nice, kind of subdued (not too bright).
Been seasoning the barrel with factory ammo and storing up a load of brass.

 

[horsemen61]

No clue how fast my rounds are going but when they do this I don’t care the red target was 5 and the orange was three I pulled one in the orange target

 

[Newtosavage]

what's your barrel length? 2600 is pretty low

20"

 

[Newtosavage]

Just joined the 6.5 club with a Howa 1500.
View attachment 832998
I'm really not into flashy but this was a Legacy Sports International special. It actually looks nice, kind of subdued (not too bright).
Been seasoning the barrel with factory ammo and storing up a load of brass.

Every Howa I've owned so far, has been an exceptional shooter.

Every trip to the range is a toss up between my Howas, my Tikka and my Savage as to which one will shoot the smallest group that day. Usually one of them churns out something close to 1/2" and none of them weigh over 7 lbs.

 

[bikemutt]

No clue how fast my rounds are going but when they do this I don’t care the red target was 5 and the orange was three I pulled one in the orange target

Damn, that's some good drivin' horseman61!

Only way I could do that is with a Dewalt cordless drill at zero yards, lol.

 

[Wreck-n-Crew]

Hard to not like a 6.5 Creedmoor or even a Savage for that matter.

 

[horsemen61]

Thanks bikemutt the dang savage shoots itself it seems it makes me look damn good

 

[Old Stumpy]

It’s a great round probably my favorite it does what I want and then some

It's certainly as great a round as the 6.5X55 Swedish. Their ballistics are identical. I love the classics.

 

[Gtscotty]

You can't go wrong with H4350, the first 1,500 or so rounds out of my RPR were 140gr Nosler CCs over 42.5 gr H4350 in Hornady brass. Seems like most folks at my range were finding good loads between 41.5 and 43 gr under various 140s before the H4350 got scarce for a couple years. If you get the hankering to try other powders, RL16 and RL17 are both proven performers that generally turn in good accuracy and higher velocities than 4350.

I haven't tried the 140gr SSTs, but they seem to be pretty a deep penetrating bullet. I might would lean towards the ELDx in a low velocity powder puff load for a bit extra expansion.

 

[Newtosavage]

You can't go wrong with H4350, the first 1,500 or so rounds out of my RPR were 140gr Nosler CCs over 42.5 gr H4350 in Hornady brass. Seems like most folks at my range were finding good loads between 41.5 and 43 gr over various 140s before the H4350 got scarce for a couple years. If you get the hankering to try other powders, RL16 and RL17 are both proven performers that generally turn in good accuracy and higher velocities than 4350.

I haven't tried the 140gr SSTs, but they seem to be pretty a deep penetrating bullet. I might would lean towards the ELDx in a low velocity powder puff load for a bit extra expansion.

I saw that same expansion test and was very impressed (but not really that surprised) with the performance of the 140 SST. And SST's have always proven to be both very accurate and very effective on game.

I ran across an article where Hodgdon was saying the 6.5 CM led to the shortage of H4350 for several years and they had never seen anything like that before. Makes sense. Especially when Hornady was listing H4350 load data right on the box of match ammo.

The only other powder I'm curious to try is RL-16, and that's only because I think it will work well in my 7mm-08 too. H4350 doesn't do anything in my 7mm-08 that the 8 lbs. of IMR 8208 XBR I'm working through, doesn't already do. And I'm in no danger of running out of that anytime soon, so it may be a while before I have a reason to try RL-16.