Bill2905
09-21-2020, 11:18 PM
This project came about after several months of planning and gleaning a lot of good advice and information from the members on this site. After waiting four months for the barrel, I assembled it in May and have been working on load development all summer. It started coming together this past month and is really shooting nice now.
I debated between building this on one of my existing Savage actions or starting with a new custom action. I ended up choosing a custom and here is the parts list of everything that went into it.
· Bighorn TL3 single shot action
· Shilen select 6BR Norma barrel / 1-12” twist / 26” length / bull contour
· NSS barrel nut
· Trigger Tech Diamond trigger
· Bell and Carlson Medalist stock
· Remington BDL bottom metal
· EGW rings
· Vortex Golden Eagle HD 15-60X52 with SCR-1 reticle
I opted for the 12 twist barrel and lighter bullets since nearly all of my shooting is 100-200 yards. I wasn’t convinced that a 8 twist barrel with longer heavy projectiles was needed or appropriate for this range. Shilen cut the throat to a dummy round assembled with a Berger 68 gr FB target bullet.
Since many popular 6BR powders are hard to come by recently, I did my load development with what I had on hand – H322, W748, and IMR 4895. Most of the development was done with the Sierra 60 gr HP, Berger 68 gr FB Target, and the Sierra Match King 70 gr HP. I have also tinkered with the 58 gr and 65 gr V-Max. So far, these are my best loads.
Sierra 60 gr HP / 25.1 gr H322 / COL 1.997” / 2919 fps
Berger 68 gr FB / 30.0 gr W748 / COL 2.067” / 3025 fps
SMK 70 gr HP / 27.0 gr H322 / COL 2.065” / 3041 fps
All were seated 0.020 off the lands. I have intentionally kept the velocities low because initially, I was getting significantly higher than published velocities and saw signs of pressure at lower book charge weights. Best performance to date is with the SMK 70 gr HP which is the target pictured below. Four of the 100 yd 5-shot groups measure between 0.20 and 0.25 inches center to center and the fifth is about 0.40 inches.
I will keep working the load development in the coming months and plan to add some N133 and N135 loads to the mix as well as possibly trying the Berger 80 gr bullet. I appreciate all of your answers to my questions and all of the information and advice that comes from being a member of this forum.
I debated between building this on one of my existing Savage actions or starting with a new custom action. I ended up choosing a custom and here is the parts list of everything that went into it.
· Bighorn TL3 single shot action
· Shilen select 6BR Norma barrel / 1-12” twist / 26” length / bull contour
· NSS barrel nut
· Trigger Tech Diamond trigger
· Bell and Carlson Medalist stock
· Remington BDL bottom metal
· EGW rings
· Vortex Golden Eagle HD 15-60X52 with SCR-1 reticle
I opted for the 12 twist barrel and lighter bullets since nearly all of my shooting is 100-200 yards. I wasn’t convinced that a 8 twist barrel with longer heavy projectiles was needed or appropriate for this range. Shilen cut the throat to a dummy round assembled with a Berger 68 gr FB target bullet.
Since many popular 6BR powders are hard to come by recently, I did my load development with what I had on hand – H322, W748, and IMR 4895. Most of the development was done with the Sierra 60 gr HP, Berger 68 gr FB Target, and the Sierra Match King 70 gr HP. I have also tinkered with the 58 gr and 65 gr V-Max. So far, these are my best loads.
Sierra 60 gr HP / 25.1 gr H322 / COL 1.997” / 2919 fps
Berger 68 gr FB / 30.0 gr W748 / COL 2.067” / 3025 fps
SMK 70 gr HP / 27.0 gr H322 / COL 2.065” / 3041 fps
All were seated 0.020 off the lands. I have intentionally kept the velocities low because initially, I was getting significantly higher than published velocities and saw signs of pressure at lower book charge weights. Best performance to date is with the SMK 70 gr HP which is the target pictured below. Four of the 100 yd 5-shot groups measure between 0.20 and 0.25 inches center to center and the fifth is about 0.40 inches.
I will keep working the load development in the coming months and plan to add some N133 and N135 loads to the mix as well as possibly trying the Berger 80 gr bullet. I appreciate all of your answers to my questions and all of the information and advice that comes from being a member of this forum.