As I have written in recent articles, round nose and flat point bullets in short range thick brush environments, can deliver more immediate impact energy to the big game you are hunting at shorter ranges under 200 yards than with some of the long range designed spitzer bullets. The reloading issue is, to get a round or flat nose bullet in a bottleneck cartridge, you must find the bullet and hand load it. Sadly, many round/flat nose bullets are no longer manufactured or are reduced to special manufacture runs. The Lapua Mega 155 grain flat points have a brass jacket and are very hard to find, if at all. The Lapua Reloading Manual is no longer available.
Accordingly, I had to determine the cartridge overall length – COL to the lands in my rifle, which are 2.68 inches and then I back off the lands to 2.64 inches. I used a spent case and pinched the opening to hold a bullet marked with black magic marker and loaded it in the rifle and closed the bolt. Note: Hornady says COL Max is 2.8 inches for the spitzers. My max COL is much less. Caution: Each rifle may be different. These calculations and data are for my rifle only, a Weatherby Vanguard Weatherguard with a 24 inch barrel topped with a Leupold VX-3.
My research of reloading data found that Sierra and Hornady had some data for 150, 153 grain and 160 grain bullets. Powders were typical, such as IMR 4350, H4350, IMR 4831 but one powder stood out, it was Hodgdon’s Superformance powder. The powder was published by Hornady for the 153 grain A-Tip Match up to 42. 9 grains max load providing 2650 fps. Superformance allowed me to work up a load safely to higher energy than the other powders but not at max load.
I did so in half grain increments beginning with 39.5 grains and looking for any signs of overpressure like a really flat primer or gas leaks. I did so with 2 shots for each 1/2 grain increment followed by case and primer inspection, all was normal. I stopped at 41 grains and loaded three rounds for group. I did not chrono these but based on the 153 grain data by Hornady I was in the 2550 fps range. The primers were still rounded and not flattened. Here is my group at 41 grains of Superformance at 75 yards, no wind. Looks like 1/2 inch group. Nice!
Below is the Trajectory and Energy table at 2550 fps. Delivered energy for elk is said to be 1500 ft-lbs, thus we are good for elk at 180 yards.
This load is for Northern Whitetails with a flat-point, should mushroom very well. It will be devastating on a 300 pound whitetail buck at under 100 yards at 1800 to 1900 ft-lbs, A Hammer in anyone’s book!
| Calculated Table | ||||||||||
| Range | Drop | Drop | Windage | Windage | Velocity | Mach | Energy | Time | Lead | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (yd) | (in) | (MOA) | (in) | (MOA) | (ft/s) | (none) | (ft•lbs) | (s) | (in) | (MOA) |
| 0 | -1.5 | *** | 0.0 | *** | 2550.0 | 2.375 | 2237.6 | 0.000 | 0.0 | *** |
| 25 | -0.3 | -1.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 2487.5 | 2.317 | 2129.2 | 0.030 | 1.0 | 4.0 |
| 50 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 2425.9 | 2.259 | 2025.1 | 0.060 | 2.1 | 4.1 |
| 75 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 2365.2 | 2.203 | 1925.0 | 0.092 | 3.2 | 4.1 |
| 100 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 2305.3 | 2.147 | 1828.8 | 0.124 | 4.4 | 4.2 |
| 125 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 2246.3 | 2.092 | 1736.4 | 0.157 | 5.5 | 4.2 |
| 150 | -0.0 | -0.0 | 2.5 | 1.6 | 2188.1 | 2.038 | 1647.6 | 0.191 | 6.7 | 4.3 |
| 175 | -1.2 | -0.7 | 3.4 | 1.9 | 2130.8 | 1.985 | 1562.4 | 0.225 | 7.9 | 4.3 |
| 200 | -2.9 | -1.4 | 4.5 | 2.2 | 2074.3 | 1.932 | 1480.6 | 0.261 | 9.2 | 4.4
|
I compared this Energy data to my earlier article on my downloaded .375 Ruger. See below.
Speer Hot Core Semi-Spitzer 235 g 375 Ruger Downloaded for Big Northern Whitetails Or…
The 6.5 Creedmoor with the Lapua Mega 155 grain Flat Point is the clear winner for energy, and will mushroom on the entrance of the hide, but either cartridge and bullet will do the job well for the loads discussed.
Good Hunting!
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Ed, Have you seen the Lapua Ballistic app for your phone? No load data but a lot of ballistic variables. They don’t list the 155 Mega for the 6.5 CR but they do show it for 6.5 Swedish. I like your group. Looks like a good load. Where did you find the Superformance powder and $$$?
Yes, I like that group too. I did not look for the Lapua Ballistic App., perhaps I should have but guess I am old school first. I have found data on-line for the 6.5 Swedish as well for the 155 Mega but did not list Superformance Powder. I had the powder in my cupboard for some time. The only place it showed up is in Hornady 153 A-Tip. So glad I found that. It is a finer powder and meters well. The throat/lands of each rifle should be measured for COL calculations and spacing. If I didn’t have Superformance I would try IMR 4831. Caution for other readers : This data is for my rifle only.
Tim,
Happy Independence Day! Midway USA just got some Lapua 155g Mega’s in. Nice! I ordered a box. I purchased some 160g RN Hornady but the Lapua 155g shoots a tighter group.
Ed
Ed – It is kind of a gray area in COL, but you will find that COL is less for round nose or flat point bullet loadings due to the bullet shape. It has nothing to do with magazine length or feeding. The issue is that the the edge of the RN or FP bullet encroaches on the rifling differently than a pointed bullet. A pointed bullet will protrude in the barrel space, long before the shoulder of the pointed bullet engages the rifling. I learned this a while back when I was loading long, heavy FP cast lead bullets for some silhouette shoots at my club. I had to seat them deeper than I expected for them to chamber properly.
Yes, quite right Tim! You have real time experience burning powder and reloading! COL/seating depth length is less for round/flat nose vs spitzer. But leave gap between bullet and lands. Best Practices
I found a great article https://precisionrifleblog.com/2020/03/21/bullet-jump-and-seating-depth-reloading-best-practices/
Bullet jump/gap will often affect grouping too. Some target shooters put the spitzer on the land/rifling but that also can increase pressure as you read the article.