THE HANDLOADING BENCH 6mm NORMA BENCH REST (Part 6)
Oh ... what’s that? How did the rifle eventually perform in F Class? Not too badly in its Shehane Tracker stocked form – in fact very well in 300-600yd matches. Ironically, by the time I got the beast sorted, F/TR had been introduced and I quickly moved over to it. I did shoot two long-range GBFCA National League matches at Diggle with the BR in 2007 and got nowhere – both were in atrocious wind and rain conditions! It was also in one of those matches that I was squadded with Peter Hobson at 1000 yards and learned he was shooting the next wave of long-range F Class cartridges - the then rare and exotic 7mm/270 or 300WSM and I knew the little BR was finished in this role.
A quartet of Berger long-range 6mm bullets. Left to right:
95gn VLD, 105gn VLD, 105gn BT (old model), 108gn BT. They have just been joined by a new ‘Hybrid’ design.
how well the Berger 105gn VLD performed, I switched to it. The 95gn VLD also grouped very well and I shot the odd match with it. The 107gn SMK didn’t perform badly but didn’t apparently shine and its best groups were at sub 2,700 fps MVs.
The barrel didn’t like the 105gn Hornady A-Max in either ‘naked’ or factory moly-coated form so never got past a few 100 yard test groups – this isn’t a comment on the bullet, it simply didn’t match the Border barrel’s dimensions too well. I also tried the 108gn Berger BT towards the end of the barrel’s accuracy life, more likely well past it and it showed considerable promise. Whilst the 6BR shooter’s favourite propellant, Hodgdon VarGet, did everything promised, some limited testing with Alliant Reloder 15 gave good results too and Viht N150 is more than just suitable. Incidentally, N550 is a good choice if you want to ramp velocities up but you will pay for the performance in barrel life, likewise Reloader 15, as they are double-based powders and will erode the barrel throat that little bit quicker.
Next month, I’ll finish my look at the cartridge by trying varmint bullets in the Remy. Can you make itsy- bitsy 55gn Ballistic Tips and similar bullets perform in a 1-8 twist barrel with a long jump in the BR Norma throat, a worn one at that?
105s used in F Class and BR matches. Lapua Scenar in
‘naked’ and ‘Silver’ (moly-coated) forms; Berger VLD on the right.
70
Since then it’s had two seasons of 600 yard benchrest matches and it did well at first with some groups under three inches, despite Diggle’s invariably windy and unstable conditions but barrel wear kicked in shortly afterwards and groups slowly climbed up to the fours and fives even when I did everything right. So next off it’s a 6mm BR-DX in a slower twist, lighter profile barrel for the future with 88gn Berger HBC-BC bullets at over 3100 fps.
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