Hello Gavin,

First, I want to thank you for all your all your work in putting together a great series of videos.  I recently retired and found muyself with enough personal time that I can once again concentrate more on my hobbies and those things in life that matter to me.  I reloaded pistol calibers a bit while I was busy with my career and family, but never had enough time because of work and family constraints.  Well, now after a 40 year career as an electronics hardware engineer (for a company named after a fruit) and eventually becoming an engineering director, I can tell you that your videos have helped to get me back into reloading and are very much appreciated.

In fact, your video on Starline Brass is how I became interested in the 6.5 Creedmoor.  And because of that, I recently obtained a Tikka T3X-TAC A1 to try my hand at long range precision shooting.  And I Love that rifle.  The information in your article was of great use to me as I put together a starting load for my new Tikka.  The load I have developed for my rifle is giving me up to 1/4 inch groups at 100 yards!  I get groups consistently under 1/2 MOA.  Anyway, I still want to experiment with other loads, so there is a lot of work to be done, still.

At this time, I do not have a powder measure so I am using the powder dipper from the Lee die set to get me “in the ball park” as I measure the charge.  I then trickle in the charge to the exact weight.  I am using an RCBS beam scale to measure each load.  It then goes into the Starline  case and the bullet is then seated in.

First picture; the first picture is of the components I am using for loading cartridges.  I keep detailed notes in my notebook which is also a component of my load development.  As I mentioned, I have used your article on Starline Brass to develop my first load so far.  This load is based on 38.6 gn. of Hodgden H-4350, CCI #200 primers (large rifle), Starline brass of course, Hornady ELD-M 140 gn. bullets, and cartridges matched to the chamber dimensions of my Tikka.  I am assembling and shooting my loads 0.020 in. off the lands, according to the readings from my Hornady Headspace gauge, using a fire-formed modified cartridge.

Second picture; shows a bullet being seated into the brass casing.  The press I am using is an old RCBS Jr. is from the 60’s or 70’s and used to belong to my Dad.  I am using it now to load up these 6.5 Creedmoor loads.  It still operated as smooth as butter, and is perfect for this type of loading.

Third picture; shows the best result of my load development.  I shot ten different loads on this day and found this load (above) to be the most accurate.  The other loads were charged at 0.2 gn apart, and shot at about 1/2 MOA, so not too bad there either.  However, this load was the most accurate in my rifle coming in at about 1/4 MOA, at 100 yards, from a bench rest.  It was about 75 degrees, light to no wind, and sunny.  It was a very pleasant day!

Fourth picture; this is my rifle and a target showing a 1/4 MOA group, which was shot at 100 yards ad mentioned above.    This rifle is a dream to shoot.  The smoothness of the action, and all the other working parts is unbelievable.  It truly is a fine piece of machinery.  it makes shooting great groups very easy.  A very light trigger pull, great ergonomics, and low recoil make it best shooting rifle I’ve ever owned.  Can’t say enough good things about it!

Other pictures; these are of the rifle itself, in all its glory! lol