Thread: Lower than expected velocities

Max velocity gets you reduced case life, more throat erosion, burns more powder, recoils a bit more which can help refine a flinch nicely. Accuracy Uber alles for me with as much speed as practical

Originally Posted by Longrun

Yeah, it's nice to use cartridges to their potential though.

Perhaps you purchased the wrong chambering then.

Originally Posted by Oldbloke

Perhaps you purchased the wrong chambering then.

Originally Posted by Longrun

This was hogdon load data and stabal 6.5 powder.




Load is accurate but I'm shooting 25-06 for its mpbr

My experience with the 25-06 has shown that the best accuracy tends to be close to max loads, currently I load for five different 25-06 rifles. In three of these rifles I found that the 100 grain Partition produced between 30 and 50 fps faster than the 100 grain Sierra GK with exactly the same load. Unfortunately only the Vanguard produced acceptable sub moa accuracy.
As for velocities I have found that the Reloader powders tend to produce great speed with accuracy. Reloader 17 with the 100 gr Partition is producing 3203 fps from a 24" Weatherby Vanguard.
Rel 22 with the Sierra GK hits just over 3300 fps in my 26" Cooper and the same power charge in my Schultz and Larsen 24" barrel manages 3175 fps.
Rel 23 in my Sauer 202 with 24" barrel manages 3176 fps and a friends S&L Classic DL 24" hits 3130 fps both with 54 grains of powder.
None of the above loads exceed book maximum.

Reloader 23 also produced good speed and exceptional accuracy with Sierra 130 grain TGK in a modern 6.5x55. Staring at 45 grains I worked up to 48 grains which produced an average of 2812 fps. There were no pressure signs at all in the RWS brass I was using and I believe that this load could safely be increased while looking carefully for pressure signs.

Nice collection of 1/4 bores there @Tech

Originally Posted by Oldbloke

Perhaps you purchased the wrong chambering then.

Not so much the wrong chambering as the same factors would likely influence whatever else is chosen. It comes back to the trajectory, every extra inch of drop at 100 shortens your usable effective range by a noticeable chunk. The only way to alleviate that is reduce the drop, which means running warmer loads...

Originally Posted by Longrun

Nice collection of 1/4 bores there @Tech

Thanks, there is also a 257 Roberts and a 250 Savage AI hiding in the safe.

Any pressure signs?
Seating your pill out as you are you should have have space available to feed it a touch more.

2209 is a good starting place. Alliant powders RL22/23 give a bit more velocity as a rule. But not worth the cost difference now in my opinion.
2213 is a good option


I shoot a .257Rai. 100s at 3300 fps, 25 inch tube. 2209. You should be getting similar.


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My old Browning A-Bolt had a 22" barrel but I always thought that's a bit short for a .25/06
Eventually re-barreled with a 25". Nicer to shoot and velocity much closer to advertised (factory ammo)

Originally Posted by Dicko

Any pressure signs?
Seating your pill out as you are you should have have space available to feed it a touch more.

2209 is a good starting place. Alliant powders RL22/23 give a bit more velocity as a rule. But not worth the cost difference now in my opinion.
2213 is a good option


I shoot a .257Rai. 100s at 3300 fps, 25 inch tube. 2209. You should be getting similar.


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Yes, that's what I'm thinking. It's not quite up to the pressure stated.

I'm going to load singles .3gr increments till I see some excess pressure signs and then back off a bit and find an accurate load.

I'll consider 2209 after that.

The swede I'll sneak a bit more in and call it good.


I never had these kinds of issue before getting a chronograph lol

We used to use everything prior to chronographs being as available, trajectory was always a very good approximate with the appropriate calculation doohickey. Instant flashing numbers can be a distraction sometimes, but knowing the arc your pill is flying on is sometimes more useful than velocity

Greetings,
John Barsness wrote in Handloader a few years ago that the 6.5x55 needed about 2 grains more of the same powder to produce the same velocity and pressure assuming equal barrel length. This also assumes that the powder lot is the same or same speed and the 6.5 is a modern strong rifle. Looking at the .260 data your 47 grain load of W760 looks reasonable but is producing less velocity even when the shorter barrel is factored in. A small increase might be considered but don't rely on "pressure signs" to keep you out of trouble, keep your eye on the chronograph.
Regards Grandpamac.

Originally Posted by No.3

Not so much the wrong chambering as the same factors would likely influence whatever else is chosen. It comes back to the trajectory, every extra inch of drop at 100 shortens your usable effective range by a noticeable chunk. The only way to alleviate that is reduce the drop, which means running warmer loads...

Well, that's my point. The chambering he selected can't do what he wants. Should have purchased one that can realistically achieve more speed. Which probably means a lighter pill too.

People buy rifles based on what the max is, instead of what it can easily/realistically achieve.

Or, simply adjust your expectations.

Originally Posted by Oldbloke

Well, that's my point. The chambering he selected can't do what he wants. Should have purchased one that can realistically achieve more speed. Which probably means a lighter pill too.

People buy rifles based on what the max is, instead of what it can easily/realistically achieve.

Or, simply adjust your expectations.

Garbage. All of the data can't be incorrect. I expect to achieve an accurate 100gr load with no pressure signs at around 3200fps. There's shit loads of data and real world experience to support this. Some of which is kindly posted in this thread.
Whether I achieve that with stabal 6.5 is yet to be decided.

Nailed it there - for whatever reason that batch of components are not achieving the listed speeds. 'Max' is what the factory lists for the rifle using factory ammo , within a few percent should be achievable or to put another way you should be able to duplicate the factory specs with handloading. If you can't - why? That's the issue I have with my .308 - 20" barrel which is fairly standard for a .308 yet seems to be almost 300fps slow whatever I feed it.