6.5x47 Load Data

[yelnats]

Hi. My PSECO 6.5x47 Lapua rifle arrived the other day. Stiller Tac30 action, Lidja 28" barrel 1.8" twist, jewel trigger, Mcmillan Thumbhole stock. Looks and feels great and yes I am a little excited. I have been real patient for a year while it was being built but now I am impatient to shoot it. Licencing paperwork lodged and paid for. Im in Perth so in about a month to 6 weeks I will get the licence and can pick up the rifle from my local dealer. In the meantime I have to think about loading ammo. I cant legally own ammo components until I have the rifle licenced. The dealer has an order for a variety of different projectiles and I have all the other components as I have a number of .222 and .308 rifles and shoot f class. I will be using Lapua cases. My reloading dies are Redding competition bushing dies. I do not intend to neck turn the cases just to check the neck wall thickness for consistency.
I would appreciate some advice, tips and load data on reloading the 6.5x47. Thanks for any info you can give. regards Denis

[shooter mcreid]

I can't help you with load data but make sure you post a pic of that bad boy when you get it!

[yelnats]

will do. thanks

[Brad Y]

I won the 2012 FO Queens in WA with a 6.5x47L. Used 130gr berger VLD's 37.5gr 2208 and CCI450 primers. If I had one now I would stay with the 130gr bergers if you can get them, otherwise try the 140gr bergers and 2209 starting around 40gr and work up towards 41-41.5

[BATattack]

Somewhere between 39.5 and 41gr (warm so work up) of 2209 behind a 130gr berger seated .015 jammed with cci BR4 primers should give you a very good start. Once you settle on a load they seem very consistent and easy to load for! I started loading with a 222 then 308 and then 6.5x47 the same as you and found it a pretty easy thing to tune.

[John23]

I used 36.5gr of 2208h pushing a Berger 130gr vld and also cci primers and 0.020" jam
The Bergers were a pain to get and I decided to try the lapua scener 123gr.
Unfortunately I sol the rifle before I got a chance to try them.

The lapuas are sold by nioa and are easily sourced

JH

[6.5x55ai]

I started out using 123gr Scenars jammed, BR4 primers and 38.0 2208. Whilst the rifle was specifically chambered for the 123 Scenars and shot OKish I wasn't completely happy and switched to 130gr Bergers. I think the 130gr Bergers are a good compromise midway between the 123gr and 140gr projectiles and you can drive them along reasonably in the 6.5x47L. Initially tried 2209, VVN140 and finally settled on 38.3gr RL15. Getting low ES and excellent grouping. Early on considered going to 139gr/140gr but felt that is trying to make the 6.5x47L into something it is not. I also have a 6.5x55bjai for the 140gr/142gr stuff and trying to successfully shoot 140gr projectiles in the 47L was pointless with the AI available.
My 47L is a Barnard with 32" with 3 groove Lilja. Have three Lilja barrels up and running - a 6BR and 2x 6.5s.

[plumbs7]

Hi there! All good things come to those who wait! I know how it feels waiting . But Gilesy is a perfectionest on tolerances ! Very happy with my Lilya too!

I also can't help on loading data but if u have a tac style stock an alloy anti barrel torque plate on ur stock forend works well on a Seb style rest ! ( shooter Mc knocked up mine!)

Just helps it ride recoil consistently .

Can't wait to see the photo of it !

[OuttaAmmo]

37.3gn of 2208
123 Scenar Moly
CCI 450 or BR4

[BATattack]

As shown above SOOO many combinations can work well because they are so easy to tune.

My only advice would be buy one lot of powder and one bullet and do some thorough tests before swapping to the next powder or bullet. As shown above most combinations will give you good results if you put the time into doing your testing one step at a time.

[yelnats]

Thank you for your replies. I will try some of the loads with 10% less powder and work up my loads. I have some of the powders and will probably try them first. Working up loads will give me a chance to become intune with the rifle and how it shoots. thanks again.

[OuttaAmmo]

Stanley,
I also used up to the same powder and charge under the 130 bergers but scenars were cheaper so I invested in that direction.

[Peter L]

Hi guys
I got some 130 VLD Bergers and I chronographed them:Powder 2209 39.5gn: 2653(clean barrel),2689,2689,2700.Powder 2208 37.5gn: 2802,2813,2808,2808.Are these velocities OK?2208 powder seems OK.Any ideas would be appreciated.Barrel Maddco,29" 1 to 9 twist,Barnard P.I used to shoot 140 Hubrids. It was OKish on 40.5 2209.
Cheers

[willow]

I just had my 6.5x47 barrel replaced to a .284 but I found it to be an extremely easy cartridge to load for, and I only started reloading and shooting regularly since last August. I was running a 26" Maddco barrel and getting an easy 2950fps running 39.2gr of 2209 and shooting 130gr Berger VLDs. 2700 rounds later and I still have not thrown a case and have up to 30 firings on some of my brass. Barrel is still good too, and I only just started chasing the lands over the past few weeks.