Made a post in the firearms section about my little budget custom 20" Tikka 25 creedmoor and said I would follow up with load data, so here's what I have so far. I will disclaim that I'm testing different methods, this one because of the shorter than expected freebore I did a short seating depth first at a safe break in load to see if it might work, or if I needed to add more freebore, or ditch the 133 all together. This is also a new barrel, total round count after this weekend 42. I see tons of claims about not even starting load development until a barrel is burned in, but who wants to waste components and not get data? This is the 3rd rifle I've done immediate development with, I'll follow up with where I land and what happens after it's settled as well.
COAL at .010" off the lands, seating depth test from .010"-.030"
OCW test at .010" off the lands. 38-39.5gr H4350, CCI200. Berger published max 39.7, no pressure signs.
I did make a scope adjustment 1" down before shooting the 38.9gr group in case POI shifted any higher. Velocity was pretty much linear through the test until the very last group, which could be an anomaly. My chrono finally missed a shot out of the second group so the 39.2 group is shots 12-14, ES of 8. It's not screaming fast, but it's got a slow and manageable recoil, and I estimate it will speed up as it burns in. My plan is to shoot the remaining 58 cases at this charge and monitor the load. After the brass is all once fired and the barrel is sped up and stabilized, I may do another pressure test up to the 41gr range if I can get there without pressure. For now, she shoots fine. Hopefully a kid will get it bloody this fall.
COAL at .010" off the lands, seating depth test from .010"-.030"
OCW test at .010" off the lands. 38-39.5gr H4350, CCI200. Berger published max 39.7, no pressure signs.
I did make a scope adjustment 1" down before shooting the 38.9gr group in case POI shifted any higher. Velocity was pretty much linear through the test until the very last group, which could be an anomaly. My chrono finally missed a shot out of the second group so the 39.2 group is shots 12-14, ES of 8. It's not screaming fast, but it's got a slow and manageable recoil, and I estimate it will speed up as it burns in. My plan is to shoot the remaining 58 cases at this charge and monitor the load. After the brass is all once fired and the barrel is sped up and stabilized, I may do another pressure test up to the 41gr range if I can get there without pressure. For now, she shoots fine. Hopefully a kid will get it bloody this fall.
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