Anyone reloading 8.5x55 Blaser?

[andychas]

finally got round to doing some load development for my 8.5x55, time, work etc etc just got in the way!
anyway, have to say its been a breeze getting a load to shoot well in this calibre. its very comfortable to shoot and extremely accurate.
I can't see an 8.5x55 load database in that section so I'll post it here but usual caveats apply (work up from 10% below, watch for pressure etc etc)

Rifle - R8, 20" semi weight barrel
Bullet - Peregrine 200gn VLR4
case - Norma
Primer - Federal 210 LR
Powder - 63.5gns Reload Swiss RS60
COL - 3.105"
velocity - 2700fps

tbh I could probably push a bit more velocity as I was well within Quickload max and there were no pressure signs at 64.8gns RS60, but this gave the best accuracy (3 successive 3 shot groups all touching) so went with this. I use the Peregrine in 6.5x55 and it doesn't seem to need pushing hard, but Ill try it and if needs be revisit the load. Happy with it though, off hunting now!

[Vaughan]

Very interested to hear how it performs Peregrine bullets are a bit like unicorn manure in these parts, you happy with them?

[hv]

Nice job. Consider notifying Swiss Reload of your load. There are only a few customer load data so far for this cal.

[Rifletuner]

Also interested to hear how the Peregrine performs. I guess they have a solid market in the UK with the lead ban?

[andychas]

I’ll post results with the peregrines, if they follow suit with the 6.5x55 then I’ll be happy! I’ve been impressed with their performance in that calibre, easy to work a load and great performance on game. They don’t seem to need to be driven as fast as Barnes for example, expending well at lower velocities and giving good kills.
They seem readily available in the UK (better than Barnes) too, which is a bonus. Although there’s no official lead ban date set, it’s a voluntary phased move over atm, game dealers are stopping accepting carcasses shot with lead so I can’t see it being long before a full ban comes in. Fortunately, the alternatives I’ve tried have been as good if not better so it’s no big deal for rifle ammunition

[andychas]

Nice job. Consider notifying Swiss Reload of your load. There are only a few customer load data so far for this cal.

Good idea, will do

[Rifletuner]

I’ll post results with the peregrines, if they follow suit with the 6.5x55 then I’ll be happy! I’ve been impressed with their performance in that calibre, easy to work a load and great performance on game. They don’t seem to need to be driven as fast as Barnes for example, expending well at lower velocities and giving good kills.
They seem readily available in the UK (better than Barnes) too, which is a bonus. Although there’s no official lead ban date set, it’s a voluntary phased move over atm, game dealers are stopping accepting carcasses shot with lead so I can’t see it being long before a full ban comes in. Fortunately, the alternatives I’ve tried have been as good if not better so it’s no big deal for rifle ammunition

Hey, thats interesting about the expansion at lower velocities than Barnes. What sort of velocities are you seeing them working at in your 6.5?

[andychas]

I’ll post results with the peregrines, if they follow suit with the 6.5x55 then I’ll be happy! I’ve been impressed with their performance in that calibre, easy to work a load and great performance on game. They don’t seem to need to be driven as fast as Barnes for example, expending well at lower velocities and giving good kills.
They seem readily available in the UK (better than Barnes) too, which is a bonus. Although there’s no official lead ban date set, it’s a voluntary phased move over atm, game dealers are stopping accepting carcasses shot with lead so I can’t see it being long before a full ban comes in. Fortunately, the alternatives I’ve tried have been as good if not better so it’s no big deal for rifle ammunition

Hey, thats interesting about the expansion at lower velocities than Barnes. What sort of velocities are you seeing them working at in your 6.5?

The 6.5 load we use in a Blaser Standard barrel (23”?) is doing about 2800fps, it’s a very mild load but accurate. Longest shots so far in my experience has been around 250yds (that should give a terminal velocity of around 2350fps.) which is a normal max range for lowland roe/fallow around here I guess, most shots are a sub 200. Bullet expansion has been great on the deer shot, good exit hole and internal organ damage but no excessive meat damage, all the animals have dropped within 15-20 yards if not on the spot. I’m very aware that this direct experience is limited and shouldn’t be seen as definitive in any way, any bullet can do the unexpected! it’s also not meant to say that Barnes are in any way inferior either. I used them before and they worked well at the same ranges, though they were doing 3000fps at the muzzle when we got a load working, where I am in the UK though, Barnes are becoming much more difficult to find and seem have different performance characteristics., preferring to be driven fast. We are lucky in the UK in that there’s a couple of companies that are developing lead free bullets that will behave(expand/fragment) more like their lead counterpart - Yew Tree and Virtus are two but it’s still early days on the lead free transition really.
What is interesting is when you start looking at peoples reported experiences on the longer range stuff (400yds plus) there’s a lot of people very happy with peregrine performance, and looking at Peregrines own blurb, they claim good expansion down to 1600fps. Lower perhaps than the reported minimums with Barnes?
I’m not intending the 8.5x55 to be a long range tool, it’ll be woodland and boar really as it’s a short barrel but I’d be completely confident out to 250yds. I will report back on that obvs, and I’m planning on using peregrines in my 30-06 barrel, which I am going to tweak for use at longer range - I’ll let you know!

[Rifletuner]

Andy, thanks for the detailed replay. I appreciate it as we dont see the Peregrine bullets here in Australia. The Barnes issue may be be related to the Remington bankruptcy and the sale of Barnes to Sierra bullets maybe?

[andychas]

Andy, thanks for the detailed replay. I appreciate it as we dont see the Peregrine bullets here in Australia. The Barnes issue may be be related to the Remington bankruptcy and the sale of Barnes to Sierra bullets maybe?

Good point, though tbh there’s a shortage of most supplies atm. Getting hold of Hornady vmax for the 223 and 6xc is very difficult and primers/powder etc from across the pond are all in short supply. It’s just one of those periods really, fortunately I’m pretty well stocked for my needs at present and it’s no bad thing having British bullet makers being given a boost in sales!

[Rifletuner]

Good point, though tbh there’s a shortage of most supplies atm. Getting hold of Hornady vmax for the 223 and 6xc is very difficult and primers/powder etc from across the pond are all in short supply. It’s just one of those periods really, fortunately I’m pretty well stocked for my needs at present and it’s no bad thing having British bullet makers being given a boost in sales!

Yes, the US ammo / component shortage is effecting all markets for sure. We have been seeing stocks running out in Australia too. With Barnes at least, its probably difficult to tell how much is related to change of ownership and how much is USA shortages.

[GBG-!]

Searching for reloading dies for 8,5x55. Looked at Triebel and some manufacturer in France. Does it exist any any brand who does dies to 8,5?

[andychas]

Searching for reloading dies for 8,5x55. Looked at Triebel and some manufacturer in France. Does it exist any any brand who does dies to 8,5?

I ended up with Triebel, eye watering price but beautifully made. Struggled to find any alternatives, though I think wheddon in the US will make them up so they may be worth talking to?

[hv]

When I finally got my hands on Barnes 185 gr TTSX bullets, I did a similar test as before. I already did these tests in the summer and forgot to tell you. I think I've had something else in mind.

I chose Vihtavuori N550 as gunpowder and didn't search for the overall length so much, I just chose it so that the mouth of the case was placed on the edge of the first band with a huge jump.

I wanted a velocity curve and I set the starting charge to 59.0gr, and from that at first every 2gr and finally up every 0.5gr, aiming for more than 900mps. So like this:
59.0gr 792mps (2598fps)
61.0gr 826mps (2710fps)
63.0gr 872mps (2860fps)
64.0gr 884mps (2900fps)
64.5gr 893mps (2930fps)
65.0gr 907mps (2976fps)
65.5gr 906mps (2972fps)
66.0gr 918mps (3012fps)
It would be possible to increase it a little more, but I will try now if I can find an accuracy between 65.0-65.5 gr. I ended up extending the overall length a bit and it worked. There is still a long jump. I chose 65.5gr as the final charge and with that the bullet leaves 895 mps.



I also tried how the bullet performs when it hits a wet stack of phone books at different speeds.

[stokesrj]

Great results, you should try N555, it has less nitroglycerin and is more stable over temperature and less affected by moisture content than N550. I typically get standard deviations in the 5-8 fps when using N555 compared to 10-18fps SD when using N550. Not a big deal 0-300 meters but a really big deal as ranges grow longer.