25-06 with a 27.5 inch barrel

[trophy8]

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.

Lots of factors. Guess I’ve been lucky.

Gonna venture out and assume those chambers weren’t in spec.

[muzzlebrake]

Lots of factors. Guess I’ve been lucky.

Gonna venture out and assume those chambers weren’t in spec.

That and short throat are a recipe for high pressure spikes especially with some powders that ramp quickly once the deterrent coating is burned off the granules. I wish I could still remember which powders those are but powder formulations these days change faster than a widow woman changes underwear. I just try to use the MFG data pressure data they show for max loads and pick a powder that looks to have lower pressure than the others and still give velocity I would like. The CFE powders all show to have the least amount of pressure for max loads but CFE's can all ramp extremely fast once the coating is burned off and flatten primers where you wouldn't think they should.
I have an engineering background and I love this stuff but at my age it makes my head hurt. I think I will go load some bullets.

[kmon]

Your smith hopefully knows what he is talking about, listen to him. If a chamber is near the min specifications it will reach pressure with less powder than one at max chamber specifications. Had good example of this with a couple factory rifles I loaded for a couple years. One was mine and the other was a friends, his rifle took 2.5 grains more powder to reach the same velocity that mine did. Factory loads Mine also shot 200fps faster than his. I could chamber my brass in his rifle before resizing no, but his brass would not chamber in my rifle even after FL sizing in the RCBS die.

[RifleBowPistol]

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.

Yes, that is true, there are many reasons for it. The volume of the brass, the exact bullet you are using. Now days with some many different designed bullets out there made so many different ways, that is a big factor in how much power a round can take. The ogive of bullets vary a lot from one design to anther, even in the same weight. Compared a Berger to a Sierra Pro Hunter or Game King. Even if they are all the same weight bullet, the bullet over all length will be greatly different and then different shape bases, Berger boat tails are much longer than a typical hunting bullet boat tail, such as a Sierra Game king. That will affect how much of the bullet is in the case. Then you have flat base bullets like the Pro Hunter, that again will result in very different overall length and how much the of the case volume the bullet consumes. Then when you have bullets with greatly different ogives, it can greatly affect how deeply you seat the bullet in the case. Again, to extremes are the Bergers, such as a VLD, compared to a Sierra Pro Hunter or a Game King.

Then you throw in solid copper bullets, those right off will jack the pressure up, because the bullet is so much harder. The bullets Barnes has been making for years now, are a result of what was learned many years ago. Back in the 80s, Barnes bullets were completely solid copper, no grooves cut in the outside of the body. Those things would skyrocket pressures. I had a lot of trouble getting the pressures down to something useable, the first time I tried some Barnes solids. I think I backed of the powder charge something like 20 grains under minimum for a 30-06. It still would kick the crap out of you when it went off and had the primers pretty flat. I never did shoot the whole box of those things. I did not feel safe, backing the powder charge off that much, but even with the charge backed off that far, the pressures were still high. I don't remember what powder I was using.

But the newer, or what Berger has been making for a long time now, will greatly reduce the pressures compared to their early stuff. But since they are made of solid copper and then have the grooves cut in the body. To get a bullet of the same weight as a common bullet of a given caliber, the bullet winds up quite a bit longer than a common lead core bullet. So you will wind up seating them deeper, taking up more of the case, so again, you have to reduce the powder charge to compensate for the smaller case capacity.

Then you can get some rifles or pistols, with deeper or shallower throats, and even the chamber it's self can be cut differently.

I used to have a early first gen Sendero in 7mm Rem. Mag. I tried two different powders in the gun, after my many years of loading 7mm Rem. Mag. then studying load data for 140 gr. bullet in a 7mm Rem. Mag. I chose Reloader 19 and Reloader 22. They both gave me some very nice velocities, but Reloader 22, I got too high of pressures, but some very nice velocities. I dropped it and went with Reloader 19. I was only able to load 61.5 gr. of Reloader 19, in my Remington cases, behind that 140 gr. Nosler bullet. The max powder charge I found listed was more like 63.5 gr. But that was not happening with my rifle. The Nosler bullets I was using were likely a factor, because of their length compared to other bullets available at the time and the shape of their ogive. Whatever the reasoning was, I could only get 61.5 gr. in the case safely, but that thing would spit those Noslers out at 3350 fps. So I did not worry much about the smaller powder charge. Then it would shoot 3/8" groups at 200 yards from that stock Sendero. When you have the case near full or completely full, and get velocities, that do not vary much at all, you will have very good accuracy. That load for that Sendero did so.

Some calibers, I find pretty much on the money what is listed as max charge, is max charge. In those situations, there are usually fewer variables. Like when loading for the 270 AR. Most everyone loading for that caliber, was using the same bullet, powder, brass and had the barrels reamed by the same guy, with the same ream. So What worked in one gun, usually worked very close to the same in another gun. When they say, 38 gr. of Leverevolution is the max safe charge, with a 130 gr. Sierra Game King, when the over all length is just short enough to fit in a AR mag. If you load to the same overall length with the same Lapua brass, same Leverevolution powder and same 130 gr. Sierra Game Kings, most likely you will find 38 gr. is the max powder charge. But if you increase the overall length of the same round, to the point, where it won't load in the magazine, but the bullet is about .020" off the lands, you can add about 2 gr. more powder and get about 250 to 300 fps increase. Everybody that loaded that round found, when they used all the same components, they got the same results.

[cva34]

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

Agree

[DWA]

start with 51 or 52 grains of 4831sc. it has always been my go to 25-06 start load. my best load is 52.5 gr w/117 gr hornady sp