Weatherby Ammo vs Hendershots or similar in 6.5 RPM

[CoHunter1991]

I have been shooting a 6.5 wby RPM for a few years now and it has been great. I have always used the 130g Swift Sirocco Weatherby ammo. This year I got a Garmin radar and was concerned to see my 100$ box of premium ammo produce a ES of 120 and a SD of 40 over 14 rounds. I shot Norma factory ammo which produced a ES of 40 and a SD of 16 and a set of Copper Creek rounds with a ES of 10 and SD of 3 in other calibers that same day.

I am looking for another source of 6.5 rpm ammo since i have lost some confidence in Weatherby and wondered if any of you had other success with other providers of semi custom ammo. I have had great luck with copper creek but they do not offer 6.5 RPM unless special ordered. Hendershots and Choice both offer 6.5 RPM but that's all i know of.

Thanks for the help.

 

[44hunter45]

Do you handload?

For the money you are spending in boxed 6.5 RPM you could set yourself up nicely.

The RPM loads pretty easily and mine likes TTSX and Hammer monolithics.

I don't see any reference to group size in your post, only velocity spread. I'd say if the groups are small the game won't notice 120 fps.

 

[winmag]

If it worked great before then knowing it has poor ES and SD doesn’t make it shoot any worse. If you’re not shooting over 500 yards then it won’t matter anyway.

 

[CoHunter1991]

Do you handload?

For the money you are spending in boxed 6.5 RPM you could set yourself up nicely.

The RPM loads pretty easily and mine likes TTSX and Hammer monolithics.

I don't see any reference to group size in your post, only velocity spread. I'd say if the groups are small the game won't notice 120 fps.

I wish I had the time to hand load. Right now it’s not in my cards

 

[CoHunter1991]

If it worked great before then knowing it has poor ES and SD doesn’t make it shoot any worse. If you’re not shooting over 500 yards then it won’t matter anyway.

Yeah my groups are sitting around 1/2-3/4 with 5 shot groups.

I just missed an antelope at 425 this past week and even though I’m 99.9% sure it was me that caused the miss the .1% chance I caught a hot round is on my mind. I’m just hoping for more consistency out of a 100$ box of ammo

 

[turbobrick]

Yeah my groups are sitting around 1/2-3/4 with 5 shot groups.

I just missed an antelope at 425 this past week and even though I’m 99.9% sure it was me that caused the miss the .1% chance I caught a hot round is on my mind. I’m just hoping for more consistency out of a 100$ box of ammo

How has the WBY ammo usually shot at 435? That SD and ES are really poor, so I fully understand wanting to find something else.

 

[winmag]

Yeah my groups are sitting around 1/2-3/4 with 5 shot groups.

I just missed an antelope at 425 this past week and even though I’m 99.9% sure it was me that caused the miss the .1% chance I caught a hot round is on my mind. I’m just hoping for more consistency out of a 100$ box of ammo

I get that. 120fps ES is a lot. If I miss, I want to know 100% that it was me and not the gun.

If it makes you feel any better, the difference in drop at 425 yards with that load at 3225fps vs 3105fps (so the full extreme spread) is 1.7”, so you can be confident it wasn’t the gun.

 

[CoHunter1991]

How has the WBY ammo usually shot at 435? That SD and ES are really poor, so I fully understand wanting to find something else.

It has shot fine at 100 for sight in and I usually have no issue hitting steel at 500-600 yards while practicing.

 

[CoHunter1991]

I get that. 120fps ES is a lot. If I miss, I want to know 100% that it was me and not the gun.

If it makes you feel any better, the difference in drop at 425 yards with that load at 3225fps vs 3105fps (so the full extreme spread) is 1.7”, so you can be confident it wasn’t the gun.

Yeah that’s a good point and backs up my main assumption. Figured I’d chase down a better ammo this off season in the meantime also if I can.

 

[TN2shot07]

I’ve heard good things about hendershots but never used them. If you know the rifle is the one you want it may be worth it to use one of the load development services.

 

[EastTNHunter]

Sometimes I think that I’d rather reload than hunt. I like the silence, focus, mechanism, and the satisfaction of the final product. I could be going out on a limb, but If you have time to chat on HT then you can probably make time to reload, unless you are typing from the road all of the time. I have a hard time finding time sometimes but I find the time to make time at times throughout the year (see what I did there?). I have a hard time finding time to shoot and for load development is my biggest problem.

 

[CoHunter1991]

I see your point and also agree that getting out shooting for load development would likely be my restrictions. Definitely something I will pursue at some point but not right now. Anyone use choice?