6.5x47 Lapua

[sixfivesavage]

Anyone out there pushin the 123 grain scenars out the tube? I'm currently running 130 Bergers about 2880 but even if I find I can push em faster it looks like the scenars are gonna beat the pants off them any day of the week even if there slower. So needless to say I have some comin in the mail. Just lookin for a starting point from actually users.

 

[JamesBailey]

Be careful w/ the 123gr Scenar. That is one of the bullets whose BC looks 'inflated'. Lapua claims it as 0.54; Litz has got it at 0.52. A 123gr bullet would need a sub 0.90 form factor to drive as high a BC as Lapua claims. Is that possible? yes. Is it likely, especially considering the scenars have tangent ogives? no.

Also, the 130gr Berger is the weakest of the four 130grs. JLK, Norma, and Cauteruccio all in front of it.

If you are pushing the 130gr at 2880, and you assume equal kinetic energy at muzzle, you will push the 123gr Scenar at 2960, all else equal, as a rough calculation.

Does a 0.52 G1 bullet at 2960 outperform a 0.55 G1 bullet at 2880? Depends on your range requirements - probably not at 1000, but probably at 600... Also, I would not hunt w/ the Scenar, whereas the Berger VLD is an excellent choice.

 

[sixfivesavage]

So you're of the mind that I should just stay with the bergers and maybe try and push them harder? Or should I switch to another 130 and start over? In lookin out to 1k but everything in between too. I haven't realy hit pressure yet but they shoot damn well at that speed, the wind just eats me up. I was just comparing the 2 on the shooter program using Litz's numbers.

 

[Oliveralan]

I shoot 130 JLKs at a mild 2914fps from a 26" 1-8.5twist Krieger. You should be able to get close to 3000 possibly with H4350. If you really just want mrs speed, while it's a less stable powder, RL17 should let you hit 3100 with a 130 and close to 2950 with a 140.

You cannot outrun the wind though, all this does is allow for a slightly larger error in your wind call. If you really want to learn to beat the wind, take a few classes with someone like Ed Shell of CVT. I expended lots of rounds previous to taking classes, and it really was enlightening.

 

[sixfivesavage]

I'm running my modest speeds with 41 grains of RL17 from a 30 inch 8 twist krieger. No pressure so I'm sure I could go faster, hope the accuracy is there. It just seemed in the shooter program that the Lapua would be a whole lot flatter and buck the wind a lot better. But I'm looking to stay with something I can hunt with. How's the other 130s stack up to the bergers?

 

[JamesBailey]

How's the other 130s stack up to the bergers?

I think the Berger is last of the four (although 2 of the 4 are from custom bulletsmiths). If you want the best, call Swampy at JLK. If you don't want to wait for Swampy to stamp out your bullets, buy the Norma 130 from Midway. The Norma 130 has a long surface bearing area, which makes it a very stable bullet in-bore (unlikely to yaw/pitch in bore). Ed Shell on here shoots them into sub 0.20" at 100 at 2975fps from his 26" 260Rem. It also has a BC of 0.58 vs the Berger's 0.55, so it will maintain its velocity better.

All 4 of the 130s are wonderful bullets so I don't think there is a wrong choice The G7 form factors average an insane 0.91 - I'm not sure there is another weight range across any calibers that averages that low (maybe 175-180gr 7mm):

JLK 0.89
Norma 0.91
Caut. 0.91
Berger 0.94
Average 0.91

The Berger is probably the best hunting bullet of the four however, as its the most VLD of the group. I have a buddy who is planning to hunt with the JLKs, but we don't have any real world data yet on their terminal performance.

The 6.5x47L was really built to shoot these 130s at very attractive speeds into tiny groups. Share some of your reloading data with us as well...

 

[sixfivesavage]

So far I'm running neck sized brass out of either a .290 or .289 bushing. I can't realy remember at the moment. Tried the 123 grain SMK but gave up on that because there is better bullets out there. I haven't tried the Lapua 123 yet, I'm waiting on them to show up. As of right now I'm pushing the 130 Berger at about 2880 with 41 grains or RL17. I don't have any pressure signs yet so I'm gonna try a little more when I get some time, hopefully this weekend. So far I've been using cci magnums for primers but think I may try wolf out eventually. I have some 4350 laying around that I may try out some more, but when I tried it the first time it didn't produce the kind of velocity I'm looking for. Once I get home I'll have to look around for the rest of my test info. I'm doing all this from memory at work. I know I'm running about .015 jam on the Berger but I can't remember anything else realy at the moment.