6.5 Creedmoor - VihtaVuori N555 and 130gr Berger AR Hybrid OTM Tactical 

My videos have been posted late the last two weeks, so let's go a little early on this one. Sorry about that folks!

Just got a deer today with my grandfather's .243 Winchester model 70 he bought for woodchucks. Hit the buck with the Hornady SST 95gr. Went about 20 yards and dropped dead.

Hey Johnny, According to your velocity chart 43.1 is the best place with the BR4 primer. You want the curve to be as flat as possible on either side of the chosen charge weight. 43.7 has relatively large speed changes on either side. I wouldn't pick it without a good reason.

Wilson should link to this video as part of their instructions. Thank you for explaining everything well. Loaded 127 Grain Barnes LRX in 6.5CM this weekend. Looking forward to taking a deer with it.

What I want for Christmas....A don't blow your face off t-shirt

I sure do enjoy your videos. I hope you never tire of doing this stuff. Thank you.

I don't have time to watch this anytime soon but I wanted you to know that you're valued and appreciated. You make great stuff Johnny.

You got the best reload videos

Late reply - just got back from deer camp - but this is a wealth of information! I, for one, am happy you included the last five shots of each primer type. It'll be a good reference point for the point of impact of your groups as you continue to test and tinker.

Yay!! More creedmoor videos! My favorite videos to watch because I load for 6.5 creedmoor and 300 blk

Sitting here loading up some 6.5 creedmoor right now with 140gr Sierra Game Changer TGK and H4350. Saw your video notification pop up and got stoked. 👍🏼

Love your videos, Johnny. keep on going !

The N500 Series of powders are among the hottest burning powders made, they eat up throats and barrels in quick fashion, second by R#17

Got one myself. All Aero Precision, 24" heavy barrel. Weighs 14lbs scoped. Sweet gun.

Its about time someone makes a vid on the Vihta n555

Love your content buddy. Especially the AR 10 stuff.

Hey there my fellow reloaders, great vid as usual, love to see the 6.5 lead free options aren't as bad as originally expected out of the ar10 even with the he possibility of the rounds moving whist being actioned. End result looks more than sufficient for any ethical hunting distance.

The Federal/Berger Hybrid 130gr worked really well in my ADM 6.5 which has a Criterion barrel.

I've used Wilson bushing dies for 10 years and own a bunch of Redding bushing dies which are also nice. The Wilson bushing has a neat feature. If flipped over, ie numbers down, it is about .0003-4 ten thousandths tighter due to a 3 degree taper intentionally machined into it. Sometimes your measurements indicate an uneven number bushing but since they are not available unless you send one in and have custom size made you can flip it if you think the tension is a slightly light and possible get one that Little Red Riding Hood would call "juuust right". I do it quite a bit with new lots of brass which can vary a bit. Right now I have a friends 6.5 Creedmoor Bergara and new box of Lapua brass and I had best results when I flipped the bushing in a die I use for a batch of my own Lapua brass, which is perfect numbers up.

I can’t easily say I’m not at this point. I got into reloading so I would gain the ability to make my own ammo. In a way I’m glad I haven’t gotten sucked down this rabbit hole like I have with some other things. I like reloading but haven’t yet gotten the precision bug yet. If I had a property I could shoot on I think it would be a different story. Having to go to the range every time I want to test something really kills it for me.

Thank you for sharing your research

Very interesting video. I used 130 grain Berger OTM bullets in Lapua 6.5x47 for a 600 yd. prone match Saturday. The 6.5x47 Lapua holds less powder than the Creedmore but I have a 30” Krieger barrel compared to your 20” barrel. It was a team match so I had a wind coach. The rounds landed on call. I think the Bergers shot very well indeed. I used 39.5 grains of H4350. The first match I shot rather badly so so all I can say is that the shots went where the trigger broke. The second match I managed 13X indicating to me that the gun and the ammo shot very well and any misses were my fault. It also indicates my wind coach did a good job. The bad news: Berger bullets now cost over 50 cents/round. Every target shooters ideal is a bullet this good that doesn’t cost so much.

.190" jump seems like a lot. From what I've read on the hybrids they like a longer jump, but that seems like a huge amount.

"Or you can use a hammer." -Johnny

Thank goodness I've been waiting for you to make a video of this powder, I've had 2 pounds for awhile. Want to work a load for 6crdmr 105 bergers

AR-10 6.5 CM with 18" Criterion barrel here, velocity of 2597 fps with 140 gr Barnes Match Burners and 42 gr of H4350, Lapua SR primer cases, CCI BR-4 primers. I found the gun shot best with a shorter seating depth 2.74" OAl. I also found a huge difference in how the gun ran/shot when I added a JP High Pressure bolt plus it did not tear up brass as much with that bolt. Three five shot groups, shot back to back, that averaged .76" at 100 yards. The gun will stay on 12" steel at 600 yards no problem, hope to try at longer range in future.

Vihtavuori has become my go to powder for the Grendel and the Creedmoor... With the 120gr Gold Dots and Vihtavuori N135 in my 6.5 Grendel I'm getting 2520fps out of a 20 inch Proof Research match barrel with a SD of 3fps and an ES of 7fps that's consistently shooting into .5 to .75 inches. My Creedmoor I'm using the Swift Sirocco 2 130gr bullets with Vihtavuori N150 out of my Howa 1500 that I'm getting 2730fps with a SD of 2fps and an ES of I believe 7fps also that's consistently shooting between .25 to .5 inches. I've also used N140 in both Grendel and Creedmoor that I'm not getting the velocity I want but still getting extremely good accuracy and numbers. I haven't tried any of the 500 series powders yet but will be in the future. Their stuff is expensive especially these days but so far everything I've tried has given me such good results that basically all I've had to do is just adjust my powder until I get the velocity I'm looking for. Great video as always keepem coming brother!!!

Thanks testing some 6.5 bullets. I just assembled a 6.5C AR-308 and have yet to shoot it. Hopefully it stacks them on top of each other like my 7-08 AR-308.

Good video. I must be lucky, I shoot the PPU (Privi) 120's and Hornady 129 SST's and have had great luck with my Savage 12FV. The PPU 120's are a cheap ($.27) OTM bullet and the SST's speak for themselves. Pushed by a mid charge of StaBall 6.5, Win 748 or IMR 4350 I get top velocity's and 3/8" groups at 100 yards using just a set of standard Hornady dies. I do spend a huge amount of time on my brass. In our current shortage I use Federal 308 Brass and resize it to 6.5 Creedmoor, deburr the flash holes and turn the necks. These rounds just work in anything I fire them in so far and a half dozen whitetails have fallen to them in both mine and my family's rifles, most times DRT at ranges out to 200 yards or so. On the range 300 yard groups if I do my part average 2", maybe slightly over out of my Savage, best I can do with the 6x24x50 Vortex Tactical glass on top but the performance of the loads has been just great and won't break the bank.

43.7 looks really good cci primer is giving better overall results.

Johnny, would love to see the new 169gr SMK and 4064 in 308 someday. Great video I always enjoy watching.

I had my Forster honed to .2885 and it's working great in a bolt rifle. Seems about perfect for Peterson and Starline brass. Might want to go smaller to .287 for a gas gun.

On the AR platform you should check your neck tension by releasing the bolt and then re-measure your C.O.A.L. to make sure they are not growing. Love watching your videos. Just remember.... a little strike with the hammer will fix anything, lol

Johnny, I have been reloading since 1994 and you make me feel like a total amateur. Dood, u got skills I need - I could use a credit card my wife doesnt know exists also...

Thanks Johnny!

N555 is a very good powder!!!!!

One way to deal with compressed loads and arbor dies: 1. Seat bullet only a quarter of the way. 2. Flip entire assembly upside down, letting the powder settle around the boattail and finish the seating to full depth.

Trust the shot marker ladder! Overall length next!. If you adjust neck tension double check bullet grip when closing ar bolt

Unicorn dust powder! Nice!

Question: when settling the powder in a full case is there a reason not to just vibrate it and let it pack like you would buffer in a shotshell?

Howdy Johnny, not sure if someone else here said this, there has to be an actual Machinist in here. If you set that Arbor Press up so that you finish the work/press, and the arm is parallel to the ground (you are pushing straight down on the arm) you will find it much easier to use. You may still have some slip on heavily compressed loads dependent on neck tension, but it still works easier

Generally you want to be in the middle of a flat velocity node, with the BR-4 at 43.5 seems to put you in a good flat node. Also when looking at the flat nodes, usually you should see another node within a 3% increase in powder. I would ignore the group size for now and base the decision on the flat nodes and start playing the COAL at +/- 0.003".

I already have 50 different loads in 6 different calibers using a dozen different powder, primers and projectiles. I THINK I MAY HAVE A PROBLEM AND YOUR NOT HELPING! Love me some JRB! It’s like your doing the Lords work and I’m a disciple!

Found a load for the creemore(6.5). 150 Mosley partition and h4350. Try it, you’ll like it. If possible, set the bullet .030 off the rifillings. One hole!

Holly cow he's early

I've been seeing alot of this powder on the shelf. I guess people don't know what its for. Ill have to try it in my 7mm-08

Keep at it Johnny and good luck deer hunting you takeing the 223 or 308 . Thanks showing that press off and different powder how would u compare that to stayball 6.5?

It did look like the powder strung back when compressing the load, on that zoomed in picture, very light, and might not be what was really happening.

Try the 130gr with 43.1 gr IMR 4451 = 2816 ft/sec in a 22 in AR10 ODIN WORKS barrel. coal 2.800 with hornady brass, cci larger rifle primer.

If you ever have that barrel out, its not a bad idea to take a chipstick with some 800 grit or a round ceramic small stone and knock the sharp points off of the lugs in the barrel extension. I'm regretting not doing it in my last BA barrel, as i'm now bedded in and getting the beaver tooth marks on my necks.

OK, so if I'm missing something please tell me. From my interpretation of the data, 43.7 grains of powder, CCI primer gave you a spike in the plateau. You got 2700 fps and seems to be at the sweet spot (center of a harmonic*), if I were tuning a resonate cavity (radio shiznit*) that's where I'd go. It's no at the peak of powder, so no compression to worry about and might be a spot worth investigating. Now, I'm not a precision rifle shooter and don't even play one on TV, but my electronics background drew me to this spot.

Awesome Video! What is that target program?!?!?! Its epic!

Those two parallel scratches on the case mouth (@ 33:12) looks like a problem for reloading or brass life. Can you polish the inside of the barrel extension or something to fix that problem?

Why is it every time I see a box of primers I get all excited.

Use a long drop tube to get the powder packed down better, and seat the bullet out a bit. I think the best compression is when it is just barely starting to compress, but not enough to push the bullet out. Semi-autos need good neck tension too, might go up on that. I wonder if the barrel extension could not be stoned a bit on the place where the neck drags by, to reduce the gouge? Maybe there is a little burr there. You can definitely waste a lot of time fooling around on the bench. For long range loads you want low standard deviation on the velocity. Group size ain't everything. Get a good enough load and go with it. Group size is not a very good measure of accuracy. Try using radial standard deviation if possible - make all your shots count, not just the two outliers.

You might not want to use the bleed off feature on the agb. I saw a video were they measured the fps on an AR15 with the gas block fully opened (like a fixed gas block) and with the bleed off feature open. They found a 50fps loss with the bleed off feature. Idk if that is a big enough loss to be negative but just wanted to let you know incase you were not aware of this.

Hey Johnny, I just caught wind of the new YT guidelines. I hope they don't shut down this channel, but if they do, what video platform will you be using? I love your content and would like to continue watching your videos.

How do you check for pressure sings

I wonder from which hat they pulled 2.677". Oh, 68 mm. With that length, there is .308" in the case *plus* the .240" boattail, so maybe go longer? Also, the N550 powder seems to be a little less bulky.

Hey jrb I always look forward to your videos. I have a very similar setup with the 24" barrel. Mine is beating the crap out of my brass. Would you recommend the slr adjustable gas block to slow the carrier down? Keep up the content, even the idiot raising chickens is great 👍

Oh, what suppressor r u using here? Looks like OSS? Btw, keep us posted on the deer hunt! Loved seeing your (2019?) hunt video! My bro and I tagged out in Oregon. Both my bro and I got an 8 point (west coast 3x3 w/eye guards).

Johnny, ever messed with a brass catcher?

My next step would be to load 5 at 43.2 and confirm they are all within 10fps of each other. If es and SD is good then it's on to seating depth test.

Since you’re not compressed with that 43.7 grain load, I’d mess with overall length. Start at 2.800” and work down .003” until you hit the accuracy node.

Johnny, are you using the JP high pressure bolt or the standard Aero Precision bolt?

I need a set of those dies just to stare at them

Previous comment referring to neck sizing with Wilson die. I bump shoulders in a separate Redding "body die" as they refer to instead of calling them bump die.

I struggled and struggled with my AR-10 6.5 Creedmoor. I can get it to shoot decently for about 20 rounds then accuracy would go. I found the only bullet that shot worth a darn was the 130 hybrid with H4350. It's darn near a duplicate load to the federal load. I even swapped out barrels to a Criterion. It shot okay but it's the last gun I grab in my safe.

Greetings from NY Johnny! Could you please explain to me why would you use an arbor press instead of (well in my case) a Redding TR7. I don’t see the difference. In accuracy or convenience.

Wouldn’t that diagonal stringing be consistent with left to right wind gusts

Get z EC tuner brake it helps me a lot on load development time.

My impression is that people use arbor presses because they are supposed to be more consistent, but I've been wondering what the functional difference is between them and a top down press like the Lee APP

Is this a a20inch barrel or 22 inch?

Starlinr is great however the necks necks are quite tick

what application are you using for your charts?

I would go with the length. I have always thought that closer to the barrel is better. with that said, my opinion and a $1.50 will get you a large coffee at any C store.

Factory ammo with this bullet from federal was OAL 2.780

you want to narrow things down but still used rem primers that you found to get pierced under high pressures? maybe watch your own playlist to find out that you settled on cci41 primers. was the brass annealed? might explain the crunchy ones. really glad to see a 6.5cm video, its been too long! hope this helps.

Are you still doing Twitch streams?

What app are you using for tracking your impacts at the range??

WOOHOO!!!

Bleed off doesn’t work with 308 at least mine didn’t . Went back to Slr sentry 7 and all is good again

6mmGT in a bolt gun/AR? Less recoil than 6.5 Creed and more velocity than 6mm ARC/PPC. Thanks for sharing your vids. L

I almost vote find a COL before messing with neck tension as I feel COL will have more of a play in group sized then neck tension will. So if you dial COL in first then neck tension maybe we’ll have some stupid small groups.

reduce neck tension and then see how overall length stays put on higher loads for powder.

Finally

AYE FOO WEN U GONNA STREAM ON TWITCH AGAIN???

No more 6.5 videos?

Feet per size?

I have a question in regards to the feed ramps scraping the projectile. When chambering the round is there a way to stop this. Is the even a issue? I would think that scrapes along the front of projectile would cause accuracy issues.

Lady bug on the funnel.

Anyone hunt deer sized game? with the 130 OTM Hybrid Tactical?

I think an electric toothbrush is the modern powder settling tool...

.........with a wind change. ( between grp 1 and grp 2 )

With all your recording of settings. You have no powder testing.

If you redo this start 0.030” off the lands/mag length and redo the BR-4s. Then look for the flattest spot which is not the peak you were looking at between two numbers. Then seating depth test.. try 3 you could seat long and then seat them as you go at the shooting bench. 3 may not reveal an issue but you can’t shrink bad groups so you could save ammo by not shooting the remainders of a bad group. As all would have the same charge at this point just seat them to the next test depth and continue on.. once you find a couple good one in a row seat just inside the long group to verify.

BA and Aero are the same company.

"I'm 10 thousandths long." Too much information, my guy.

I can see that seating press moving and flexing. Doesn't look as it will be precise with compressed loads.

42.9-43.5 BR-4 really looks fine and where I would pick! Why the BR-4 is simply the plateaus seen in the velocity data for a node. Eye test sure but chart is where the gold is