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Reloading / Small case / Heavy Bullet / Powder

Posted: Sat Aug 24, 2024 6:54 am
by 375Short
Question for the reloading crowed.

What relatively slow powders have you tried in small 6mm cases with heavy for caliber bullets? By small cases 6BR and smaller, like 6mm-223, 6x45, 6TCU, 6 PPC. Good or bad results. There is some printed data but for some of the cartridges it’s very dated and rarely focused on top performance with heavy bullets in the little cases. In some circumstances our current crop of bullets and powders did not exist when the big companies tested for the cartridges. Also in the printed data the focus is often towards light bullets going fast because that’s the typical / historical use for the mild little cartridges.

Re: Reloading / Small case / Heavy Bullet / Powder

Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2024 4:39 am
by acorneau
My current Ram load in my 6BR is:

Berger 115 VLD-Target bullets
Vihtavuori N150, 29.9 grains
CCI 450 magnum small rifle primers
Lapua 6BR brass

Barrel is 1:7.5 twist, right at 26" (maximum Hunter rifle length). This combination gets the 115's going ~2715 fps. Berger's online ballistic calculator says it delivers about 965 ft/lbs of energy at 500m.

I ended up moving to N150 after having previously used N140 but having a hard time getting the speed up without getting into dangerous pressures. It's still a little bit of a hot load but not into the dangerous zone.

Hope that helps.

Re: Reloading / Small case / Heavy Bullet / Powder

Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2024 11:37 am
by 375Short
It does, thanks Allen.