25-06 with a 27.5 inch barrel

[monster7]

wanting to shoot a 117 gr bullet through it , My question is this
should I start below the min on my reloads and work up or just treat it like any other 25-06 with factory barrel ?
My smith said might want to start way on the low side but wondering what other might think on this . Bullets n powder is kinda hard to find and don't want to waste anymore than I have to .

[fish4food]

It’s my understanding you should always start low unless you’re working with a gun and Using components you’ve already used before.

[Slick8]

DON'T start below minimum for the bullet and powder you're working with according to the proper manual ref. This could cause a dangerous situation called detonation where you could have a huge pressure spike down barrel where it's not designed to handle it.

That extra length doesn't make much a difference IMO. It allows for more efficient burning of slow powders gaining velocity.

[monster7]

Slick ,
this is what I was thinking also !
I will start on the min the book calls for and go from there

[Phillip Fields]

I would treat it like any other .25-06 with factory barrel. I don't recommend going below min loads.

[muzzlebrake]

I'm different. So they say. Anyway with that long of a barrel I would start in the middle with my loads. I sure wouldn't want the middle barrel spike with a minimum load. Just make sure the bullets are not jammed into the lands. .05 to .08 freebore if possible. Or just shoot some factory green box remingtons.

[monster7]

Not a place in Waco has any factory ammo for it .

[howabouttheiris]

Max pressure spike should be reached when the bullet is less than an inch or 2 into the barrel and will decrease after that. A longer barrel, in itself, should not increase the pressure. (Other factors when switching from barrel to barrel may cause a pressure change, so always start with a generally safe load).

You should expect to be about 100fps faster than published (40 or so fps for every inch over the standard test length of 24"), if blindly using the numbers on the side of the ammo box.

[RifleBowPistol]

DON'T start below minimum for the bullet and powder you're working with according to the proper manual ref. This could cause a dangerous situation called detonation where you could have a huge pressure spike down barrel where it's not designed to handle it.

That extra length doesn't make much a difference IMO. It allows for more efficient burning of slow powders gaining velocity.

Very true, most don't have a clue on this subject.

[RifleBowPistol]

Might be interesting to see what it will do with that length barrel. So why is the barrel 27.5"? Odd length for a 25-06 or anything else for that matter. With that length barrel, I would be trying out some slower burning powders, you might wind up with some interesting velocity numbers. Even with something like 4064, you could wind up with some pretty good velocities.

[muzzlebrake]

Very true, most don't have a clue on this subject.

True dat. Pressure wave detonation is real. Lots of data out there on it. Seems to happen when people are trying to load reduced recoil or sub sonic loads where they didn't use a filler to evenly distribute the powder throughout the case. Not enough powder and laying in the bottom of the case the primer explosion goes over the top of the powder charge and pushes the bullet out into the rifling without igniting the powder and then the pressure wave bounces back and sets off the powder. By now the bullet is stuck or fused to the barrel and kaboom! Something gotta give and if its the barrel the bullet will usually still be stuck in there. The cartridge case will collapse and look like you stomped it flat. I've seen one of these my gunsmith extracted from a .264 WM. Barrel was split open about midway.
Powder itself doesn't explode without an accelerator and under pressure. Primers explode at about 500 psi enough to detonate the powder from the rear pushing it all forward and out the barrel. Imagine if this is moving backward right at your face. From what I've read it seems to happen more often with large capacity cases firing small diameter bullets. Interesting reading all over the net. Here's some https://www.thehighroad.org/index.ph...d-case.399439/

[trophy8]

Slick ,
this is what I was thinking also !
I will start on the min the book calls for and go from there

Why? If you’re not chasing speed then there’s no reason to go woth that barrel length. Start a couple grains or less under published max. Jump .01-.03 and work up in .2 grain increments watching for pressure signs. Book max is VERY conservative. Starting at minimum load is a waste of time and components.

[muzzlebrake]

Also if you are loading virgin brass the first firing uses some of the energy to expand the brass to fill the chamber space and usually results in a bit lower velocity than once firing brass using the same load. For that reason I always start mid range of published data. Call me crazy, but I want my brass to be expanded all the way before I start wasting reloading components to get up to my pet load. After the first firing I may back off half a grain and still see the same velocity as in virgin brass. Some of it is theory and some of it real. Could be several factors for velocity changes like ambient temp or air density but thats' the way I do it.
Even with full length resizing/trimming you will never get once fired brass back to the exact same case volume as new virgin brass even with small base dies. Depends on your chamber size and dies you use. 1% to 4% increase in case volume can be expected when shot in commercial made chambers.
Even with once fired and resized brass you will see an increase in chamber pressure using the same exact same load and lot number of components so don't add more powder just because you have more case volume. It's all about the fit. The best we can do is to try and make everything uniform.

[Phillip Fields]

Why? If you’re not chasing speed then there’s no reason to go woth that barrel length. Start a couple grains or less under published max. Jump .01-.03 and work up in .2 grain increments watching for pressure signs. Book max is VERY conservative. Starting at minimum load is a waste of time and components.

This is NOT always true. In my years of reloading I have seen cases where the max loads in a manual were too much for some rifles.

[tdwinklr]

This is NOT always true. In my years of reloading I have seen cases where the max loads in a manual were too much for some rifles.

Same here. I've had a few, very few, where even the mid-level loads were flattening primers. Glad I worked up from minimum.