ndnchf wrote on Nov 18^th, 2023 at 5:31am:

Thanks

All the activity on this thread inspired me to take my .25-25 out after 3 years of non-use.  (Also, it was a dead calm morning and the Range is closed tomorrow for Thanksgiving.)

The load was Bertram cases, Remington Bench Rest small rifle primers, 12.6 gr IMR-4198 and Ideal 257464, lino/wheelweight alloy, Alox-Beeswax lube, sized 0.259" with Lyman gas check.

The rifle is a collection of parts, cobbled together over the years, the shot-out round .32-20 barrel relined by Redman  to .25 caliber and chambered by yer humble narrator.  The load was the last one that seemed to show promise after all the canoodling I did on the rifle a couple years ago.  First 5-shot group at 50 yards was an uninspiring 4-3/4", but it contained an encouraging vertical cluster of 3 in 7/8".  (For some reason, the pic is turned 90 degrees counterclockwise.)

I then moved to 100yards and got 4-1/4" (3 in 3/4"), and a mystery group of four in 4" with one gone into a wormhole somewhere.

The last five rounds I clutched the rifle in a death grip, pulling the stock hard to shoulder and cheek and holding reasonably hard on the forend.  Looks like that is the charm; a 1-1/4" group resulted.

So far, I don't seem to get anything from this caliber, accuracy or powerwise, that I wasn't able to get with much less effort from the .25-21 or .25-20SS.  But, all's well that ends well.

I have not been to the range with mine in a few months, so don't have any more to add. I've already posted about my progress to date. What I've found is that with smokeless, filling that case volume enough for consistent ignition without getting excessive velocity is a fine balance.  Very small changes in powder can make a big difference in velocity. This thread has some good info to get you started.

As a point of reference, I tried 22.0gr of Schuetzen 2F black over 2.3gr of 2400. This was with a 72 5gr bullet and CCI 450 primers. This gave me an average of 1645fps. I also tried 22.0gr of 2F APP. This gave a whopping 1932fps. 16.0gr og BH209 gave 1846fps.

As you can see, it is very easy to exceed original velocity using BP subs.

I finally got back to the range for a brief session with the #2 rolling block. This is only at 35 yards, so it doesnt mean much. The H4198 load showed the most promise. It was the first string fired. The first round in a clean, oiled barrel went a little high, just above the top edge of the target. Then the remaining 4 grouped nicely. Next time I'll move out to 50 yards.