Savage 6mmBR with Bartlein Barrel

[russ69]

So I have a Savage Model 12 BR in 6mmBR. It wasn't shooting all that great so I had our own AR15Barrels spin a Bartlein 5R on the thing. Much much better. I'm not a benchrest shooter by any means and the wind was off and on all day but here's what I got without working hard....100 yards, two 5 shot groups and one 3 shot group. Oh this is with heavy bullets for 1000 yard shooting and not short range benchrest loads.

[LynnJr]

Russ
Ask Randall how much freebore his reamer has and what is your twist rate?

[LynnJr]

Russ
Just re-read your post and you said 1000 yards so I am assuming an 8.5 twist or faster barrel.
Lapua brass CCI 450 Magnum primer and 30+ grains of Varget with your bullet jammed as hard into the lands as your brass will allow on 5 cases. Measure up those 5 bullets on the ogive to get an average tossing out anything way short. Now back that number off 0.020 and go up in powder until you see pressure.
That thing should be putting all 5 into a tiny knot. You cant reach the top node with Fed 205M primers so if thats what your using 30.2-30.8 grains of Varget depending on your freebore.

[russ69]

Thanx Lynn. I know I should pay more attention but I guess that's why I'm not a bench shooter. I believe the barrel was a 1:7.7 twist with a fairy long throat for the long range bullets. I'm jumping the bullets right now and the load is way safe. I'm using no turn Lapua brass (.272 neck chamber), 4895, a 107 Sierra, and a Fed BR primer. My next step is CCI 450s, a Berger bullet, and get my front rest sorted out (I have a Hart rest).
This is no HV gun, it's a factory rifle with an aftermarket barrel and that's all, it's probably good enough for a mid-range gun. I'm even using the stock trigger (it's no Jewell). I can probably cut my groups in half with better bench technique but I'm a highpower shooter mostly so if it shoots an X, I'm pretty happy in most cases. Thanks for the tips, I'll be working on it.

[postal]

My brother shoots a 6BR bartlein spun by Randall- I'll find out what powder he's using. I thought varget was too slow- I *THINK* he's using 4350... but I'll get back to you on that. He's running berger hybrid 105's about 3,100 or a tad faster..

At 100 yd, it should be a tiny cluster- even bipod rear bag.... You have some load development to sort out. Those are 1" shoot n c pasters in the center right? It should be tighter.

[postal]

Update-

Had that backwards....

Varget is too fast.

Bro uses 4350-

He pushes 105 hybrids at near 3150.

4831 is another option.

With bipod/rear bag, he can get 5 shot groups at 100yd around 3/8" pretty easy. Dont recall his small groups - sub 1/4" though.

[russ69]

My brother shoots a 6BR bartlein spun by Randall- I'll find out what powder he's using. I thought varget was too slow- I *THINK* he's using 4350... but I'll get back to you on that. He's running berger hybrid 105's about 3,100 or a tad faster..
At 100 yd, it should be a tiny cluster- even bipod rear bag.... You have some load development to sort out. Those are 1" shoot n c pasters in the center right? It should be tighter.

No, small shoot N C repair dots. The biggest group is under 1/2 inch. I'm using 4895 because that's what I have, I haven't seen any Varget in 3 years in my valley, got plenty of 4895. That was the first groups out of the barrel, windy day. I'll put a wind flag out next time and hand pick some groups for you. I can't shoot 1/4 inch groups unless I work really hard and use a wind flag. And no way with today's conditions, wind was blowing hard then stopping, most of the day there were 3 conditions all at one time in the first 100 yards!

[Switchbarrel]

Update

Varget is too fast.

Bro uses 4350-

He pushes 105 hybrids at near 3150.

4831 is another option.

Varget and RL15 are very common 6BR powders, along w/ H4895 & a couple VV powders.

"Nearly" 3150 fps is SCREAMING fast for a 6BR shooting 105's. A sub-88gr. bullet going that fast is more common.

I normally shoot a 108 Berger with 33.3 gr. Varget in my Dasher (6BR imp.) and get ~3030fps from multiple 28" barrels (Bartlein's & Benchmark).

Which 4831? H4831 is more common in larger cartridges like the 6.5x.284 and .284 Win.

With a 7.7" twist, I would def. try the Berger Hybrids and the 108's in this rifle. I just tried the Vapor Trail 103's in my Dasher at 1K, they are def. worth more investigation.

The SSS competition (or EVO if you have a PTA & Fred installs it) & Rifle Basix Sav-2 are nice upgrades over the factory Savage trigger(s).

As Lynn stated, that thing should be able to reduce those groups to one large hole with some load development and co-operation from mother nature.

-Rick

[LynnJr]

Russ
Your not a Bench rest Shooter YET but a Bartlien Barrel in 6BR will get you there faster than anything else.
The Vapor Trail bullets are the Clay Spencer bullets after Clay sold them and are the best long range bullets made in 6 mm today. The CopperHead bullets made in Australia are direct copies.

I gave H4350 a chance with the straight 6BR and it will give you higher velocities but it will never reach pressure. It is a touch to slow for me.
The reason for the CCI primers is to bring your extreme spreads down into single digits. As your pressure increases your extreme spread will shrink and your powder will burn cleaner. As you keep going up in powder charge your extreme spreads will once again open up.
You want your load in the narrow spot and that is were the primers fall into your reloading equation.
The BR4 or 450 Magnums have very high brisance and will allow you to go from 25 fps down to 5 feet per second extreme spreads. The big plus is they do all of that for less money than the Fed 205M primers which is huge.
The only issue with the sierras is they put bullets from 25 dies into the same box which means you will get 2-3 distinct bearing lengths out of a 500 pack.
If you sort them by bearing surface they will fly with the best of them and it is very easy to do while watching tv and it doesn't cramp your fingers.
Don't panic on picking the best powder charge get something that works and play with your seating depth.
Use a comparator mounted to a $10 Harbor Freight caliper and your all set.
The powder node or sweet spot is 0.5 grains wide on a 6BR with the heavy bullets.
If your gun isn't bedded do it first then work on the trigger.
Nothing wrong with the Hart rest as its all in the front bag.

I shouldn't post this as the NBRSA 1000 Yard National Champion for 2014 is reading this but you can soak your filled bag in liquid laundry starch for a solid 4-5 hours. You can then rinse off the slime with warm water and install it back in your rest. Set that baby in your backyard with the gun in the gag and let it dry for a couple days in heavy sun light. Use a piece of plastic wrap between the front bag and the forearm to keep the gun from sticking.
You will end up with a form fit bag that will shoot lights out.
Lynn

[russ69]

Hey Lynn thanks for all the help. I'm going to switch to the CCI Mag primers, and I'll give the Vapor Trail bullets a try. I know the Sierra bullets are good but not great from working with my old 6X47.
I'm not going to bed the rifle, I'm more likely to put a prone stock on it and try some mid-range shooting. The guys say that's an easy way to earn a high-master classification (easy as in a lot of hard work), that would be a nice feather in my cap. Thanks again for getting me going.

[postal]

Varget and RL15 are very common 6BR powders, along w/ H4895 & a couple VV powders.

"Nearly" 3150 fps is SCREAMING fast for a 6BR shooting 105's. A sub-88gr. bullet going that fast is more common.

I normally shoot a 108 Berger with 33.3 gr. Varget in my Dasher (6BR imp.) and get ~3030fps from multiple 28" barrels (Bartlein's & Benchmark).

Which 4831? H4831 is more common in larger cartridges like the 6.5x.284 and .284 Win.

With a 7.7" twist, I would def. try the Berger Hybrids and the 108's in this rifle. I just tried the Vapor Trail 103's in my Dasher at 1K, they are def. worth more investigation.

The SSS competition (or EVO if you have a PTA & Fred installs it) & Rifle Basix Sav-2 are nice upgrades over the factory Savage trigger(s).

As Lynn stated, that thing should be able to reduce those groups to one large hole with some load development and co-operation from mother nature.

-Rick

My bad-

3050 FPS.

He uses 4350- so do most people locally with 6mm cd. He told me 4831 was an option but didnt clarify which one, or expected mv.

[Switchbarrel]

My bad-

3050 FPS.

He uses 4350- so do most people locally with 6mm cd. He told me 4831 was an option but didnt clarify which one, or expected mv.

If you're talkin' about a 6 Creedmoor, that's a different cartridge than the
OP's. Your info would make more sense in that case (pun intended).

-Rick

[killshot44]

I was fireforming Dasher brass at the last two matches at SacValley, 30.5gr of RL15 and CCI400s, shot a 399 and a 599.
Basically shot a 6BR with a long chamber, false shoulder and Hybrids jammed .030".

Try some RL15 and the 450s, your SD will be lower.

[killshot44]

The Vapor Trail bullets are unavailable until the Summer, I got on the waiting list in January.

[russ69]

The Vapor Trail bullets are unavailable until the Summer, I got on the waiting list in January.

I guess I'll use Bergers for now.