new question 6arc vs 6.5 Creedmoor

[Bassfish1952]

I have decided in for a penny in for a pound. 

Since I am going to reload 6arc my other rifle is a 6.5CM..

For the 6arc I'm using Leverevolution powder , seems to do the job so far but is not listed for the 6.5CM 
Is there any powder that you guys use that would work well in both ?

My plan is 120CX in the 6.5CM(I am using factory cx now)and the 90CX in the 6arc. 

I know I will have to have large rifle primers for one and small for the other since I'm mainly hunting and fun shooting my goal would be as close to perfect as possible with 6arc and good enough for the 6.5. The 6.5 has a lot of extra energy so I don't have to be spot on for it.

With that what do you guys think is best powder to start with or should I get different and if so what are your recommendations ?

[grayfox]

They are 2 really great cartridges (esp IMO for an old guy like me), I'm shooting both.
I have some 120 gmx/cx 2ds (it's one or the other from my observations, Midway lots of times get the 2ds from hornady) that I load for my 20" creed. ~2820 MV and very accurate.
The powder choices will differ, each rifle has its own propellant speed and powders in my opinion, the good ones, don't work for both.
Best one for the 6.5 creed is the H4350, it is pixie dust in the 6.5CM. I'm using that one in my 120 (I call them "gx2") loads.

Now that being said, varget is listed in each load setup, but you give up MV in the Arc and give up heavies in the creed. If you are good with that, then there is one powder that works in both.

For 120 and 130 grain bullets, Varget in 6.5CM will work fine. It's just that H4350 works so much better.

You may find that shooting your creed is as much fun, and definitely as accurate or even more so, as the 6 Arc. Right now both of these are my "main" and "backup" for my hunting this fall. I'm working now with them to practice shots with "as-field" conditions, ie, non bench... both of them are doing 0.5" or better as long as I'm steady-Eddy on my part.
103 eldx (factory) in the 6Arc.
130 Tgk (with H4350) in the 20" creed. I've also got a 120 nosler load for this one, H4350 again. Right behind the tgk for accuracy.

Both are handy enough for me to take into the field along with some walking - my days of lugging a 12+# rifle all over creation are over but these I can handle for some shorter walking distances.

Get 2-3# of H4350 in the same lot#, you won't be sorry. It's on the shelves of a couple lgs and online right now so good time to grab some.

Primers, try to use one standard large rifle. I have federals 210M, but 210R, or cci 200, or Br-2 even, they all work well. 6.5CM brass is also pretty available now. Mostly hornady but if you want some better but not breaking the bank, go starline LRP's or Sig sauer. Starline also has some SRP's brass, but I haven't shot any of those. If you want SRP style then the 450's you have for the ARc will also work for the starlines. But use mag small rifle primers, 450/#41's, not the normal/200/205's, etc, for the hotter flame (in srp).

[CZ527 Guy]

Good advice, Grayfox.

Though if you are willing to accept a notable compromise with one or both cartridges, a single powder may be do-able for these cartridges. Two powders come to mind with H4895 being my favorite & Accurate 2520 being my second consideration. Two rather flexible propellants that can be ideal in some instances & work rather well in others.

Reality may take you back to Grayfox's advice as Accuracy & upper velocity may be found with diffrent propellants for each cartridge.

[StoneHendge]

Bassfish, there are 2 powders for 6.5 CM - H4350 and everything else. You'll find plenty of people on the internet who have gotten another powder to work, but you won't find many who haven't gotten H4350 to work. Its extremely temp insensitive and also gives near top velocities. You'll have to pay up for it a little, but it is consistently available at Powder Valley. I've tried a bunch of the others, but have simply wasted a bunch of components and barrel life and come back to H4350.

If you want to minimize the components you use, go with small rifle primer CM brass and forget about large primers. Primers are the one thing we all keep the deepest stock on. I shoot a 6.5 CM gas gun for PRS and am still only using LRP's because I have about 3k left over from when I stocked deep the last time the primer market eased . It pains me that my current brass is starting to loosen and that I'm going to buy more LRP brass to use them up in the near future, but if primers were 4 cents apiece like they used to be, I'd stick them in a corner of my closet and use Fed AR Match primers like I use in all of my small frames (ARC, Grendel, 223 and 6x45).

Search the web and you'll see they actually give you slightly better SD's and velocity, but more importantly, longer primer pocket life (due to more metal surrounding the pocket). The one beef against SRPs in 6.5 CM is potential ignition problems in the cold, but I don't think you'll find anyone using H4350 reporting that as a problem unless you're spending the night with them in a tent in freezing temperatures. Using a ball powder could be a different story. All in all, though, if you're looking to minimize your "reloading SKUs", that woud be the direction to go in.

[Bassfish1952]

Thanks for the advice looks like I will try H4350 first because it is listed on the Hornady site for what I want to shoot, guess the idea of using the same components is out the window




Again Thanks for the advice .

I'm going to shut down for a month while I get repaired, then we'll see what happens.    My 6.5 is a ruger #1 with a brand new Pac-Nor barrel so looking forward to getting it and the 527 out to the range .

[grayfox]

With that 6.5-er, 140 grain bullets ought to be the bomb.
Or 130's, which is what I shoot mostly.

[Bassfish1952]

With that 6.5-er, 140 grain bullets ought to be the bomb.
Or 130's, which is what I shoot mostly.

I have been shooting the factory 120grCX/GMX in superformance but looking at the 120gr Outfitter, I think I can load to that or close with a good powder and patience