As I outlined previously, I am working through load development for a few new 6.8/270 bullets. I looked through several sources for recommended loads for each of these bullets. I hate having to compare between sources. Most loads shown were from a 20 20 inch barrel, but some used a 24 inch barrel. This is causes confusion when trying to find the powder which produces the highest velocity for a given bullet weight. Plus, what percentage of people shooting the 6.8 are using a 24 inch barrel?
So for some real world results, I am using a 16″ barrel as the baseline for load development. Here is the first run across the chronograph. I am trying to find the maximum velocity/energy first. With the max loads, I will work back until I get the best, or an acceptable level, of accuracy.
Hornady 110 gr loaded to suggest overall length 2.260
- AA 2230 – max 2497 fps
- VV N133 – max 2470 fps
- H322 – max 2610 fps
Hornady 120 SST loaded to Mag Length 2.310 using PRI magazines
- Xterm – max 2257 fps
- Benchmark – max 2372 fps
- VV N133 – max 2387 fps
- H322 – max 2494 fps
Nosler 85gr Etip loaded to suggest overall length 2.260
- With H322 being the best performer in the previous 2 loadings, and a limited number of bullets to use, I skipped testing other powders. So H322 it is
- H322 – max 2849 fps
Hatcher's Notebook 