Guys,

First of all what a great forum, I am by nature a little reluctant to join online forums, but I have been reading posts as a guest for about 3 months. For the most part everyone hear seems to be very knowledgeable and polite.
Hear is the deal, I fell in love with my uncles Rifle's Inc Pear Flat in 6.5-284. I began to research and decided on building one myself though my local gunsmith. I am also a hand loader, and have looked for what best powder to push 140 Amax's and Berger's around 2900-2950fps out of a 26' barrel. The gun will be ready Thursday, and I have everything set. I am trying H4350 from 43 grains starting then working up in 3 shot groups to 46.5grains. I am shooting Lapua brass, rem9.5 primers. I also have Varget H4831sc and RL 19,and 22 on hand. Any thoughts and/or suggestions would be appreciated.

I've gotten best results with H4831SC in mine. I'm shooting Berger 140's, as they are slightly better than the SMK 142's I started with. I've stopped at 50.0 grs, as .5 grs more opens the group up slightly. I'm using Lapua brass and Fed gold match primers.

Mine's a standard no-turn chamber using standard neck diameter on my brass, and a .292 bushing in a Redding neck bushing die. So far I'm on 3rd brass firing and haven't had to set the shoulder back yet. I do have the Redding body die when that time comes.

Are you going to build it tight necked and turn brass? If so the Sinclair neck turning tool is great, I highly recommend one. I use it on my Lapua brass to just true the necks, it doesn't take much at all to true the Lapua's necks, there brass is excellent.

Why only a 26" bbl? Mine's a 30". Is it a field gun or bench gun (that may be the answer there huh)? Mine's a bench gun, weighs around 18 lbs with scope and ready to shoot. You can get there with a 26" bbl, but you'll have to step harder on your brass.

Slowpoke,

Thanks for the info, and it is a hunting rig. 5.7 contour Schiender P5 1 in 8 twist on remington long action, B&C Medalist, picatinny rail, Leopold Mark 4 4.5-14x50LR. I skimped on the stock as a Mcmillian I wanted was 6 months wait. My gunsmith ordered a standard reamer from Pacific tool and gauge. I am fairly new to reloading and not to sure about neck turning, But I always am willing to learn.
I thought about a long barrel, but my uncle's 6.5 is only 24'' I believe and shots 3.4 inches @500 with 130 Nosler Accubonds. Thats more than enough for what we do, and that was the premise for the rig 600 yards max on deer sized game,and something that could shoot across a large green field or perhaps a power line, as thats the longest shots we get here in NE Alabama.

There is no such thing as the "best powder" as everyone's needs vary as do there results with any given powder. That said, I would echo Slim's comments in that I have had the best accuracy with H4831SC with very low variance in velocity. For practice rounds I use Ramshot Magnum because it meters more uniformly. Lots of folks like Reloader 22. While I haven't tried it, I have shot a lot of Norma MRP which is alleged to be the same powder and gave much less uniform loads. In my opinion 4350 and Rel. 19 are a touch too fast to get the best velocity.

Wes

WESR's right,

I should have added that MY best powder may not be YOUR best powder. Your rifle will tell you what it likes.

I know several reloaders that have fantastic accuracy with Varget powder in their various calibers. However, I don't have a single rifle that will shoot Varget worth a dang. That doesn't make Varget a bad powder, it just means that it's not MY powder.

Part of the "fun" of handloading.



I know a couple of guys shooting 6.5x284's that get better accuracy with H4350, but H4831SC works better in my rifle.

Go figure.

Thanks Guys,

6mmbr.com's article on the caliber second's what yall are saying, so I know I am heading in the right direction. I have several differant powder/weight combos preloaded now ready for thursday if weather behaves. I kinda hope H4350 works as I have an 8 pound keg on hand.

H4350 is a good choice with the heavier bullet and 4831 works well too. I recently started playing with R17 in mine with the 140 gr Nosler Competition HP and was suprised. The accuracy was quite good and vel ran ~2850 fps from my 22" tube with no sign of pressure.

H4350 will work well, but you'll likely get better vel. & equal accuracy going to a bit slower powder like IMR4831, H4831sc, RL22 or IMR7828. I run IMR78228ssc in my 269ai w/ 142grSMK. I get 2800fps & for me, quite impressive accuracy, less then 1/2moa out to 300yds (as far as I have been able to put it on paper).

I use R22.