I just pick up random samples that I find interesting to play with. Right now I’m just messing around with visual capacities and OALs, but thanks for the offer.
Would love to have a piece of XC brass to play with. Extra boiler room, but appears that it will be less optimally seated in an AICS mag than the GT, and may not give any advantage for the extra powder consumption.
it went well, with a Hornady expander ball it is one pass, with Redding I needed an intermediate with a 6mm. I load for the 22-204 and 6mm-204 so I have a bunch of options for forming 204 brass.
IF one is starting from scratch and the itch needs scratching for the niche .257 caliber In the cartridge one desires, I believe it's even a better choice. Having a 6.5 anything you listed already, the reason for a .257 for heavy bullets seems less desirable. The 131 blackjack offers better BC numbers than any 140+ class bullet in the 6.5 caliber. Being able to push it faster flatter as accurate is a plus. The new Berger's coming out are additions that will offer the same. More will show up for sure in that weight class by other companies. Having several 6.5s myself I had really no reason to build a 25-284 but having 20lbs of 6.5-284 brass, why not. It's another rifle I can play with reducing barrel wear on my others. At least that's what my wife gets for an excuse why I need just one more rifle.
The 135gr .257 Berger and 144gr .264” have form factors within .001. A .264” bore has about 6% more area than a .257” bore, and 144gr is 6.7% more than 135gr. I’m not convinced that 25-284 is going to drive a 135gr bullet much faster than a 6.5-284 will drive a 144gr bullet...but the .25-284 will burn a barrel down even faster.
Time will tell. I believe the 131 will definitely outrun the 143 (which is what I'm shooting now). The BC numbers are considerably higher and at 12 grains lighter will be flatter and very close in over all performance on game. I think I'll get at least 1400 rounds from a barrel. Burning a barrel out on a hunting rifle is never a concern. I'm building a lightweight hunting rifle so the 115-131 will be virtually recoil free vs the 143-156 bullets in the 6.5-284. I do plan on using the rifle with 115-120s for whitetails in my home state. The 131s will be for out west where stretching shots out is a bit more realistic. Like I said, my 6.5-284s would have been nearly identical in performance using the 140 ELDs. I just wanted to see how the 25-284 compares out to 1200 yards. The other thing is, it's my first CFW barreled rifle and fairly light compared to all my other LR rifles
When the 6.5-284 was in its hay day, F-Class shooters were pulling barrels at 800-1200 shots. If you’re looking for the same accuracy level, I don’t think 1400 is terribly likely when you stuff the same amount of powder in a slightly smaller bore. Then again, hunting doesn’t require long shot strings. Maybe you can do it. You might get even more. I tend to look at the low end, and the possibility of getting even less than 800 bothers me personally. Like I say, you may well get 1400+.
I've got over 1800 rounds on my current broughton 6.5-284 8 twist barrel. I run the 140 Amax at 2975-3000 fps. Still shooting as good as it did with 1000 less rounds thru it. It's definitely doable with the 25-284. Looking at the rpm numbers, the 115-120s should do fine(308,000 rpm). I'll run the 115-120s slower at around 3200 fps. In my hunting scenarios here at home, 300-400 yards is long. As far as using the 131 Blackjack(Sierra) bullet for game, I've used many of the matchkings on game with excellent results. They will be an excellent game bullet. There wasn't any practical reason to build a 25-284 when having almost any other 6.5 cartridge. With the heavier bullets available for the .257, I look forward to finishing this build. Having a .243, 6-284, 6.5-284, .260, .270 and .284s, I'm pretty sure they all would have worked as good as any of the others. Just another tool for the tool box.
Sounds like the shorter strings of fire may well save a barrel.
I hate to call it Walt’s. He didn’t design the VLD. He just agreed to make them.
It's kinda funny speaking of Berger bullets. I've shot some deer with the VLD bullets. Results varied but all deer died fast. Bullet performance was very inconsistent over the many I used. One thing I can say about the Amax and SMKs is they always performed as well or better for me than Berger bullets have. I'm not a competition shooter but I also know berger bullets shoot better in my rifles than most other LR bullets do beyond 400 yards. Out to 400 yards, I'll take a Nosler Partition any day over any Berger bullet on Game. Unfortunately the traditional hunting bullet ( flat base, high drag) just loses its gas beyond 400 yards rapidly. Accuracy is excellent in most of my hunting rifles using the Nosler Partition and many other bonded type hunting bullets.
Hard to beat that scenario. Heard dozens of stories similar using the .257 something.
Post your SGK results when you do harvest something.
