Spindrift
Well-Known Member
So, I have started load development in the 6,5x55- barrel of my Rössler Titan alpha rifle. This is a light weight, switch barrel bolt action with fat bolt, detatchable magazine. Barrels made by Lothar Walther of Germany, very nice barrels. Twist 1:220mm (8,66in). The rifle is my mountain rifle. Leupold VX-1 3-9x40, 19in threaded barrel (I always use sound moderator when hunting, my poor ears have had enough). Accuracy with jax is sub- MOA with almost all bullets I have tried, it is really accurate.
So, I have never loaded cast bullets for this cartridge before. I have a NOE 266-140- FN 4- cavity GC- mold, which is absolutely wonderful to work with. Alloy is air cooled 96/2/2, where the «96» part is BHN 12 nuclear medicine lead. Air- cooled bullet hardness 18 after 2 weeks. I plan to use water quenched bullets in the future, but wanted to get a feel for the cartridge/bullet at lower intensity loads first.
The mold drops at .268. I have the NOE push- through sizer, with bushings .265, .266, .267 and .268. I also have the corresponding top punch, giving the option of base- first sizing. The barrel slugs at .264 (for whatever that is worth); have not performed a pound cast.
At the first trip to the range, i tried bullets sized .265, with different loads of Viht- N110, TU-3000, IMR4198 and TU- 5000. Results from that first trip to the range were variable; the problem being, results varied from bad to even worse. Something was obviously wrong, most probably the sizing. I also suspected the gas checks (Sages, Cu) might not be up to the task since they seemed very shallow.
Next trip, I sized bullets .266, and .267. Kept the load weights that gave reasonable results (2,5 MOA). Compared Sages CuGC with homne made aluminum checks (Pat Marlin). Well, things definately looked better with both .266 and .267. The Sages and homemade gas checks performed similar. Not enough data yet to conclude with authority, but it seemed .266 worked best.
I thought I could keep you posted as I hopefully progress in the load development. I have a good feeling about this bullet, but as to how good accuracy I can get... We´ll just have to see.
Oh, and the range is 100m. Shooting from prone, with support on a bag. Bullseye is 30mm, and the distance between the circles are all 30mm (which for practical purposes is 1 MOA at 100m).
So, I have never loaded cast bullets for this cartridge before. I have a NOE 266-140- FN 4- cavity GC- mold, which is absolutely wonderful to work with. Alloy is air cooled 96/2/2, where the «96» part is BHN 12 nuclear medicine lead. Air- cooled bullet hardness 18 after 2 weeks. I plan to use water quenched bullets in the future, but wanted to get a feel for the cartridge/bullet at lower intensity loads first.
The mold drops at .268. I have the NOE push- through sizer, with bushings .265, .266, .267 and .268. I also have the corresponding top punch, giving the option of base- first sizing. The barrel slugs at .264 (for whatever that is worth); have not performed a pound cast.
At the first trip to the range, i tried bullets sized .265, with different loads of Viht- N110, TU-3000, IMR4198 and TU- 5000. Results from that first trip to the range were variable; the problem being, results varied from bad to even worse. Something was obviously wrong, most probably the sizing. I also suspected the gas checks (Sages, Cu) might not be up to the task since they seemed very shallow.
Next trip, I sized bullets .266, and .267. Kept the load weights that gave reasonable results (2,5 MOA). Compared Sages CuGC with homne made aluminum checks (Pat Marlin). Well, things definately looked better with both .266 and .267. The Sages and homemade gas checks performed similar. Not enough data yet to conclude with authority, but it seemed .266 worked best.
I thought I could keep you posted as I hopefully progress in the load development. I have a good feeling about this bullet, but as to how good accuracy I can get... We´ll just have to see.
Oh, and the range is 100m. Shooting from prone, with support on a bag. Bullseye is 30mm, and the distance between the circles are all 30mm (which for practical purposes is 1 MOA at 100m).