I just got back from shooting my Begara Premier Divide 6.5CM for first time. I had some factory Barnes LRX 127 gr and Hammer Hunter 24 gr plus some breakin LRX rounds I had loaded. These were the Barnes 127 gr , H4350. .5 increments from 39gr to 43 gr. I am pretty much at a loss. The rifle didn’t like anything. I was getting 1-2” groups and she was not happy. I am running suppressed and avg velocities between 2667 to 2908 fps for the LRX. The HH was like a 2” group which really surprised me. The best sd for the LRX was at 41gr, sd 14.2 which nothing to write home about. I’m going back at remeasuring distance to the lans I am using GRT which is telling me that 43 gr should be a good node. I would be interested if anyone else has a Begara Premier Divide 6.5CM and what they are/have experienced. Obviously I still have some work to do.
Thanks Jim. I have some 143gr ELD-X that I will try next. I have to admit I was disappointed in the performance. Monolithic bullets have generally worked well for me.
Might try a Sierra Bullet. If it won’t shoot Sierra’s its likely not gonna shoot much else. Another powder with the Barnes? Depends on how much you want the copper bullets to shoot well, I guess is the question. I have never found changing seating depth to make a ton of differenc in my load experience, even though its out there that it can/does… Barnes bullets like to jump .050 to .250 inch so don’t make small incremental changes there. If you were at .050 jump, I would go to .100 but watch the pressure, you will be compressing the powder the further you back the bullet into the case, so might want to decrease the charge weight as you increase the jump.
Best of luck. I know how frustrating load development can be.
Might also want to try Berger bullets. They’ve been known to be very accurate.
And I know everyone says you cannot shoot mono bullets in a gun that’s dirty with regular cup and core bullets but I thought I would share this N of one that happened to me this year.
Got a Sako 7mmRM. Ran a few patches through it to get it clean, came straight from the factory. Then went to the first range session with a combination of Barns lrx and Sako monos. Could not get either the shoot anything under an inch at all.
Took the gun home, cleaned it again. Then shot about 30 rounds of two different types of Bergers and had excellent accuracy with them. Another 30 or so rounds total. Then just for the heck of it shot the lrx and the Sako ammo again without cleaning the barrel. They both shot excellent now.
Wondering if mono bullets need to have the barrel worn in a little bit before getting excellent accuracy??
Every time I get a new rifle or a new barrel it doesn’t shoot how I like for the first 50 rounds. Then after about 200 it really starts to find itself.
In fact, he says he doesn’t do any serious load development until he has put 200 rounds of something else through the barrel. Not sure if that holds true for a big Magnum or not.
Here’s what I am finding, that I believes confirms Jim’s findings.
Bergara’s carbon barrels are engineered for stiffness and consistent vibration.
Longer barrels + stiffer carbon designs tend to have harmonic nodes (the “accuracy sweet spots”) that line up better with heavier bullets.
Heavier bullets give a slightly longer barrel dwell time, which often “matches” those harmonics better.
I am going to try some bullets starting at 130gr and start working up. Will be interesting to see what occurs as I shoot heaver bullets. I’ve never had a carbon fiber barrel. Anyone else ever heard this or seen this in action?
I thought I would give a follow-up on the Begara Divide. I bought some Federal 130gr Ascent, Berger 135gr Berger Classic Hunter and Hornady 143gr ELD-x. All grouped well with the Berger giving the lowest SD and ES while the Federal Ascent gave the best group of about .5 MOA. All 3 were MOA or better which was much better. I got some 135gr Berger and doing some load development and waiting to see if I can get some Federal 130gr Ascent. Every rifle has preferences and this one likes a heavier bullet.