Been working on this one for a couple weeks in my spare time, been thinking about it for a couple years.
I enjoy the challenge of making a bullet no one else has and of course when you have the right tooling anything is possible. I have probably made many bullets that fit this description but the last one that stands out in my memory was my 130 grain 6mm VLD bullet I was successful with. This awesome 6mm bullet was at least 10 grains heavier then the next heaviest common commercial bullet of this caliber. That 6mm project took me a year from bullet creation to success on target. With a bit of luck I hope to have the same success with my latest bullet creation!
Here it is!
My BTSniper 180 grain 6.5mm caliber VLD bullet.
Berger and Sierra just came out with their latest offering in this caliber at 155 and 156 grains. There are more then a few posts on the net regarding the lack of a heavy 6.5 offering. Even at 156 grains it still seems like there is potential for a heavier commercial offering. I would be willing to bet the heavy bullets commercially offered today are limited to, and by, the number of most common twist rate barrels in the hands of today's 6.5mm shooters, that being a 1-8 twist. With the 8 twist it would seem the heaviest of current offered 6.5 bullets are at their limits regarding stability.
This weight limit really seems to go against the latest big case offerings in the 6.5mm caliber with the likes of the 26 Nosler, 6.5-300 Weatherby, 6.5 PRC and many of the big 6.5mm wildcats. They have the potential to drive a high BC heavy bullet yet are handicapped by these 145-155 grain weight class of bullets that seem to have an accuracy node well below the full potential of the big case. Sure they can get 3400+ fps from these bullets but then they get a rep for being "barrel burners".....
So...... it would seem there is potential if one of these big cases was chambered in a 7 twist and had a heavier and higher BC bullet that would shoot accurately at say 3000-3100 fps it would make for some exceptional long range potential with maybe a bit longer barrel life with the slowest of powders......
This is where having your own dies really comes in!
I happen to find a 6.5WSM barrel at 28" with a 7 twist! Perfect for the bullet I had in hand just two weeks ago. I now have this barrel in hand. I'm currently waiting on ordered brass and dies.
I have drawn down 700 jackets that are ready to make these awesome bullets. Still have to bleed some cores. For the fun of it I also drawed down 600 jackets made from 5.7x28 brass
I have run some numbers in quickload and plan to try RL-33 powder first. This the same powder I had success with in my 6mm-06AI with the heavy 130 grain bullets. With the RL-33 it predicts possible FPS reaching 3000 fps with a 180 grain bullet.
We shall see!
Here is my 180 grain 6.5mm bullet in the middle with a 180 grain Berger 7mm bullet on the left and a 140 grain Hornady 6.5mm bullet on the right.
Keep posted......
Good shooting and swage on!
BT