6×47 and 6.5×47 Lapua Load Data – What The Pros Use

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I surveyed 173 of the top-ranked precision rifle shooters in the country about the load they were running in their match ammo. These were the guys that finished highest in the overall season for both the Precision Rifle Series and the National Rifle League (learn about the PRS and NRL), and they represent the absolute best of the best when it comes to long-range rifle shooting.

What reloading components work best often depends on the particular cartridge you’re using, so I plan to cover the load data for each of the popular precision rifle cartridges that at least 5 of these top-ranked shooters were using. This is the 4^th installment in that series and this article focus on what bullets, cases, primers, powders, and charge weights these elite marksmen shooting a 6×47 Lapua or 6.5×47 Lapua found to work best in their rifles.

1. 6mm Dasher Load Data
2. 6 & 6.5 Creedmoor Load Data
3. 6BRX, 6BRA, and 6BR Load Data
4. 6 & 6.5×47 Lapua Load Data (this article)
5. 6XC Load Data

While I’d feel fortunate to know what load any of these top shooters are running, this set of data is the aggregate of well over 100 truly world-class shooters, so what a rich and unique data set to pull from insight from! Having such a large sample size allows us to draw more meaningful conclusions on what loads and components seem to provide optimal performance across multiple rifle configurations.

Important: You should always reference a comprehensive reloading manual and start with the minimum recommended loads and work your way up. Many of these shooters could be running “hot” loads, and just because the load is safe in their rifles, doesn’t mean it will be in your’s. There are a ton of factors that vary from them to you, including exact chamber/barrel dimensions, brass specs, reloading scales, powder lots, seating depth and tension, etc., so it’s critical to follow safety precautions. Failure to follow safe loading practices could result in severe personal injury (including death) or gun damage to the user or bystanders. Technical data and information are based upon survey responses from other shooters under specific conditions and circumstances. The author has not independently verified the accuracy of the data, and cannot be responsible for errors in published load data. Because this site and its affiliates have no control over the individual loading practices and/or components used, no responsibility is assumed by PrecisionRifleBlog.com or its affiliates in the use of this data. The information is to be used at the sole discretion of the user and the user assumes all risk.

6.5×47 Lapua Load Data

17 of the 173 shooters surveyed said their match rifle was chambered for the 6.5×47 Lapua. That represents 10% of these top-ranked competitors, which made it tied for the 3^rd most popular cartridge this group was using. Only the 6mm Dasher and 6mm Creedmoor had more shooters represented than the 6.5×47 Lapua. It was by far the most popular 6.5mm cartridge, with almost 3 times as many people choosing to run it over the very popular 6.5 Creedmoor. The 6.5×47 Lapua has been an extremely popular cartridge among precision rifle shooters since its debut in 2005. Lapua specifically designed this cartridge for 300-1000 meter competition shooting, so it really shines in these types of precision rifle matches, because those are the distances 90% of the targets will be sat at in most PRS/NRL matches. To see more data on how it stacked up against other cartridges, check out Rifle Calibers – What The Pros Use.

Now let’s dive into the load data these top tier competitors were reloading in their 6.5×47 Lapua match ammo.

6.5×47 Bullets

Let’s start by looking at the bullets these guys were running in their 6.5×47 match ammo:

On the chart above, the various colors represent where a shooter landed in terms of rank. For example, black indicates shooters who finished in the top 10 in the PRS, the darkest blue is people who finished 11-25 in the PRS, and the lighter the blue, the further out they finished in overall standings. The green colors represents the top shooters in the NRL, where the darkest green is the top 10, medium green is 11-25, and light green are the shooters who’s season rank landed from 26th to 50th. The chart legend itemizes the league and ranks each color represents, but basically the darker the color, the higher up the shooters placed.

The Berger 140gr Hybrid continues to be a very popular 6.5mm bullet among these shooters, and it’s what 65% of these top shooters prefer to run in their 6.5×47 Lapua. 5 times more shooters were using the Berger 140gr Hybrid than the next most popular bullet here! The rest of the field was spread over a few other capable bullets, including a couple shooters who said they were running the Hornady 140gr ELDM bullet, one of which ended in the top 10 overall in the PRS Open Division. Finally, there was one shooter using each of these bullets: Berger 135gr Classic Hunter, Hornady 130gr ELDM, Sierra 150gr MatchKing, and Berger 130gr Hybrid.

6.5×47 Powder

Now let’s look at the specific powder charges these guys were using in their 6.5×47 Lapua rifles. Of the 17 shooters who said they handload for their 6.5×47 Lapua, 14 of those said they use Hodgdon Varget powder. The other 3 used Hodgdon H4350, and they said they used powder charge weights of 38.2, 40.0, and 40.2407 grains. (Yes, one shooter provided the powder charge weight out to the 4^th decimal place! I can appreciate the eye for detail. 😉 )

11 of the 17 guys running a 6.5×47 Lapua provided the specific powder charge weight they were reloading. I made that part of my survey optional, because I wasn’t sure if everyone was willing to share or could recall that detail off the top of their head. I asked them to simply leave that question blank if they couldn’t remember the exact weight they were running.

Since over 80% of these shooters preferred using Varget in their 6.5×47 Lapua, let’s take a closer look at the exact powder charge weights those using Varget settled on. The color on the chart represents the bullet weight they were pairing that powder charge with.

You can see on the chart that 36.7-36.8gr of Varget seems to be the “sweet spot” among this group of elite marksmen. The shooters running in that range (i.e. 36.7-36.8gr of Varget) who used 140gr bullets from 26” barrels reported an average muzzle velocity of 2770-2785 fps. That may sound slower than a one legged dog on tranquilizers compared to most of the other cartridges, but all but one of the shooters reported SD’s from 3-5 fps. That makes the 6.5×47 Lapua the second lowest average SD’s of any of the cartridges these guys were using at an average of 4.5 fps, only bested by the 6BRA at 3.8 fps (see 6BRA Load Data)! Many guys say the 6.5×47 Lapua is extremely easy to load for and very forgiving. The PRS Champion from a few years ago once told me that it just seems like you don’t have to work as hard to find a good load for the 6.5×47 as you do on some other cartridges, and you’ll find minimal vertical stringing.

6.5×47 Brass

When “Lapua” is in the name of the cartridge, it shouldn’t surprise us that 100% of the shooters are using Lapua brass. Many consider Lapua the gold standard for match-grade rifle brass.

6.5×47 Primers

Unlike the 6XC and the 6.5 Creedmoor (at least the original Hornady design), the 6.5×47 Lapua case features a small rifle primer pocket. Some believe that is a contributor to why it’s muzzle velocities are so consistent. Let’s take a look at what primers guys were running in their 6.5×47 Lapua reloads:

76% of these top shooters were either running a CCI #450 Small Rifle Magnum Primer or the CCI BR-4 Small Rifle Primer in their 6.5×47 Lapua ammo. Both appear to be excellent choices for the 6.5×47. There were also a handful of guys using either the Federal 205M Match Small Rifle Primer or the Federal 205 Small Rifle Primer.

6.5×47 Lapua – Exact Loads From The Top Pros

When I think of the 6.5×47 Lapua, I think of Jerry Karloff, who has been rocking the 6.5×47 Lapua for several years. Jerry is a very accomplished shooter from Nebraska, who has finished in the top 3 at a ton of national-level, flagship matches. I was lucky enough to be placed in Jerry’s squad in my very first major PRS match several years ago at Shoot for the Green in Oklahoma. That was a humbling experience and a tough couple days, but Jerry was willing to help and encourage me – or I may not have come back, and probably wouldn’t be writing about this stuff either. Thanks, Jerry!

#9 in PRS: Jerry Karloff

• Cartridge: 6.5×47 Lapua
• Bullet: Hornady 140gr ELD Match
• Powder: 36.5gr of Hodgdon Varget
• Case: Lapua
• Primer: CCI BR-4 Small Rifle
• Muzzle Velocity: 2,730 fps from a 24” barrel (SD =  4 fps)

6×47 Lapua Load Data

10 of these top competitive long range shooters chose to neck down a 6.5×47 Lapua case for 6mm bullets, which we refer to as the 6×47 Lapua. Overall, 85% of these top-ranked shooters surveyed opted for 6mm caliber rifles compared to just 13% using a 6.5mm, so it shouldn’t be too surprising to see a significant number of these guys necking down the x47 case. 6mm bullets typically produce a little less recoil, and may give a slight edge on ballistics – although that may come at the cost of shorter barrel life. However, in this level of competition, these shooters are looking for any edge they can get. Let’s dive into the details of what 6×47 Lapua shooters were using to reload their ammo.

6×47 Bullets

Here’s a breakdown of the bullets the top-ranked shooters using a 6×47 Lapua chose to reload in their match ammo:

We see the Berger 105gr Hybrid, and Tubb’s 115gr DTAC RBT bullets are popular for the 6×47, just like they were for many of the other 6mm cartridges. Either of those make an excellent choice for the 6×47 Lapua.

6×47 Powder

Powder choices for the 6×47 Lapua varied more than some of the other cartridges. Here is a summary based on what the 10 top shooters who handload for the 6×47 Lapua said:

• Hodgdon H4350: 6 shooters (Breakdown of powder charge weights in chart below)
• Alliant Reloder 16: 3 shooters, 1 said they used 38.5gr of RL16 with the 105gr bullet, and two were using RL16 with 115gr bullets and said they rain charge weights of 39.5 and 40.0 grains.
• Hodgdon Varget: 1 shooter, who said they use 36.0gr of Varget with a 108gr bullet.

Since 60% of shooters were using H4350, let’s take a closer look at the breakdown of exact powder charge weights those shooters were using. Remember, the color on the chart represents the bullet weight they were pairing that powder charge with.

5 of the 6 shooters were all running between 39.5-39.8gr of H4350 in their 6×47 Lapua, which is a very tight little band! Of the guys running 39.5-39.7gr of H4350 with 105gr bullets, they reported average muzzle velocities of 3020-3050 fps with barrels ranging from 24” to 28”. The guys who opted to go with the heavier 115gr bullet with H4350 reported velocities from 2930-3000 fps.

6×47 Brass

100% of the guys shooting a 6×47 Lapua were using Lapua brass. Again, no surprise here! 😉

6×47 Primers

Finally, let’s look at what brand and model of primers the guys reloading for the 6×47 Lapua thought worked best in their match ammo:

The overwhelming majority of these guys found the CCI #450 Small Rifle Magnum Primer works best in their 6×47 load, which seems to be becoming the theme.

Do you enjoy this kind of data? This is one of several posts based on a gear survey of the top PRS shooters. To be the first to know when the next set of results is posted sign-up to receive new posts via email.