Darrell Jones 6.5×47 Lapua (2006)

Darrell wanted to be one of the first to have a 6.5×47 benchrest rifle in the United States. That meant taking some chances–ordering tooling before the production brass had even arrived at Grafs.com for North American distribution. Darrell explained: “I kept this project on a strict timeline to be able to be one of the first to shoot this caliber in the USA. David Kiff (Pacific Tool & Gauge) made me a reamer for a 0.293? no-turn neck. Using the reamer, my smith, Karl Feldkamp of Kampfeld Custom, had the gun chambered and assembled before we even had brass. But I had a friend that visited Finland often. He managed to get some of the first lot of brass air-freighted to me. With that ‘privately imported’ brass, I was able to start shooting three weeks before Graf & Sons got their first shipment. I knew I’d need a sizing die, so I contacted Hornady’s custom shop. Using some pre-production sample brass and Dave Kiff’s print, Hornady built a custom 6.5×47 full-length sizing die with neck bushing (similar to a Redding “Type S” die), plus a seater die. Hornady did a great job and the dies were very reasonably priced. One thing–be sure to order the VLD seating stem for the seater. My seater had a standard stem. This was too short and the long bullets could touch the stem at the bullet tip. That threw concentricity out of whack. But with the right stem, run-out was very low.”

Darrell’s 6.5×47 features a BAT Machine RBLP action mated to a K&P 28?, 8-twist barrel, chambered with a .293? no-turn neck by Karl Feldkamp, who also applied the “snakeskin” surface texture to the barrel.

Darrell says there is no need for a longer barrel: “I think 28? is plenty–it will easily get you to the speeds where the bullets shoot best”. Darrell employs a Weaver T-36 scope, held in polished Kelbly aluminum rings. The handsome “Field & Stream” laminated stock is a Shehane Tracker II, fitted with a polished Bruno’s trigger guard, and metal buttplate. The Jewell trigger is set at 1.5 ounces.

Testing began in earnest in mid-June 2006. Unfortunately, Darrell didn’t have any reliable load data. The case was very similar to a 6XC in size and capacity, and that suggested Hodgdon H4350 would be a good choice. However, with a larger bore diameter, the pressure characteristics were actually quite different. Darrell contacted AccurateShooter.com, and this editor created a profile for the new cartridge in QuickLOAD. Running a simulation with a 63,000 psi max load, and 123gr Scenar bullets seated in the lands, QuickLOAD predicted that Varget, RL15, N550, Win 760 and Vectan SP11 would be good choices for the 6.5×47, running the 123s. Note–the bigger bore really DID make a difference–powders that are “too fast” for the 6XC, work fine in the 6.5×47. QuickLOAD predicted that 6.5×47 could run a faster-burning class of powers, and meet or beat the velocities produced by the 6XC. That prediction proved true.

In mid-June, Darrell started his first tests, trying a variety of 120-grainers from Lapua, Sierra, and Nosler. The groups were not very impressive, but shooting conditions were atrocious–windy and blustery. The good news was that Darrell was able to achieve very high speeds with the 120s, pushing them up to 3200 fps. It was clear, however, that the accuracy was much better under 3100 fps, and the ES and SD was high with most of the very hot loads. Darrell did have one excellent group with Nosler 120s, pushed by Vihtavuori N550 at a super-fast 3198 fps. Darrell may have found a second accuracy node up at that level; but hitting that “high node” was tough on the brass. (Darrell ‘sacrificed’ nearly 70 cases during the testing process, pushing them to the limit).

Darrell also tried some Berger 140s with N550. Somewhat surprisingly, he achieved 2900 fps pretty easily, and took them up as high as 3000 fps. But Darrell observed that the ES was high at 3000 fps with the 140s, and there were definite pressure signs. Darrell recommends keeping velocities under 2900 fps if you use the 6.5×47 with the 140s.

Darrell started out with N550 and H4350. The H4350 showed real promise with loads in the 2950-3000 fps range, producing some of the best groups initially. 42.0 and 41.5 grains of H4350 were very accurate, producing cloverleafs with both Scenar 123s and Sierra 120s. With the Scenars, H4350 also produced two 5-shot groups with single digit Extreme Spreads. However, the low ES/SD numbers were at modest 2955 fps and 2928 fps speeds (Click for TARGET). Darrell wanted more speed, but to push H4350 much higher, Darrell was running short on case capacity. Darrell wanted to see if could get more velocity while improving accuracy. So, with the suggested Varget and RL15 QuickLOAD recipes, Darrell moved on to the faster powders. That would prove to be a smart move, but Darrell says “After RL15, H4350 was the second-best choice in powders for this cartridge, among those I tested.”

When Darrell then loaded the Cauterucio 120s and started shooting with RL15, the group sizes really started to shrink. Now Darrell was seeing five-shot groups in the low Twos and high Ones. Further testing revealed that about 39.0gr of RL15 shot well with all the bullets tested, including the Noslers and Sierras (i.e. the 120 SMKs, not the new 123gr Sierras, which haven’t been tested yet). Darrell even tried this load with the lighter 107gr SMKs and it shot a tight 1/4? cloverleaf, clocking 3141 fps. (Darrell believes you could probably push the 107s to 3250+ without much difficulty).

A load of 39.3gr RL15 with the Cauterucio 120 produced a .17? group with four in one hole, at a velocity of 3068 fps. This was still with CCI 450 primers, and bullets seated about .015? into the lands. After a month of testing, using five different powders (H4350, Varget, RL15, N550, and H4831sc), Darrell concluded “this rifle really likes to run RL15 with bullets in the 3000-3060 range.”

Darrell planned to load the Cauterucios behind 39.3gr RL15 for his first match, but in late testing he noticed a few unexplained flyers. Darrell first thought excess bullet lube might have caused the flyers (Bob Cauterucio ships his bullets with die lube still on the jackets). But now we know that Darrell had a loose rear scope mount during his final testing day before the match. But he wasn’t aware of the scope problem at the time. So, just to be conservative, Darrell loaded with 120 SMKs for his first match