MY 25 X 47 LAPUA BUILD & LOAD WORK-UP

[Bill Norris]

Wanted to start a thread consisting of info concerning my ODCR 25 X 47 Lapua build along with my shooting buddy SVT_Tactical. We are working together to establish a couple of these rifles from the ground up that we plan to compete with in the future. We feel that we have the best builder (WSMNUT here on the site) that we could possibly have ever found to work with and we have great confidence in his ability to build quality rifles for us. This has been proven many times over for the past few years with build after build coming to us. As I will mention periodically in the thread Zack has designed his own reamer for the 25 X 47 Lapua that is personal to him and his shop and has not been released to the public. We are not at liberty to give out that info that would infringe on his work. I would warn that the loads listed in this thread will probably not be safe to use with any other 25 X 47 Lapua reamer. However, my hope is to share whatever info I can here to help other shooters to gain knowledge of this Wildcat and the performance of it as well. I will be moving my post from the other 25 X 47 Thread so that all info will be in one place and easier to follow. Appreciate comments and ideas going forward.

 

[Bill Norris]

Rem 700 B R Custom by Old Dominion Custom Rifles - Zack Donovant

CHAMBER - 25 X 47 Lapua
BARREL - Hawk Hill 28 Inch 1 - 7.5 Tw. Threaded 5/8" X 24 Muzzle
w/V-2 E C Tuner & Thread Cover
ACTION - Rem 700 S S Polished - Custom Side Bolt Release
LUG - PTG .2285 Tapered
BOLT - Spiral Fluted - Sako Extractor Added - Bolt Face & Firing Pin Bushed - Custom Over-sized Knob - PTG Firing Pin Assembly & Tubb Duo- Springs Ejector Removed
TRIGGER - Jewell B R / Safety Delete / Bolt Release Delete
STOCK - Revolution BR 3 " F/A Bedded w/escutcheon Cobalt Blue Paint - Brett C.
SCOPE - Burris XTR II 8 X 40 X 50mm 1/8 MOA w/-0- MOA Base (06/17/25)

 

[Bill Norris]

Looks like the Sierra 131 gr. M K is gonna want 40.8 gr. of H-4350 @ 2900 FPS. Weather permitting I plan to get a seat depth check done this afternoon. Then on to the tuner test following this week. Will most likely re-visit testing a little bit once the barrel gets enough rounds on it to speed up. I'm not looking to need much if any changes but we will see. I am liking this thing right now.

EDIT: WARNING DO NOT LOAD THIS WITHOUT THE CORRECT REAMER.

 

[Bill Norris]

I went to 41.2 gr. @ 2929 FPS and it still looked O K for pressure but the E S was higher.

EDIT: WARNING DO NOT LOAD THIS WITHOUT THE CORRECT REAMER.

 

[Bill Norris]

Finally getting around to checking seat depth with the 131 gr. Sierras. Plan to check and fine tune powder charge/seat depth and then go to the tuner.

EDIT: WARNING DO NOT LOAD THIS WITHOUT THE CORRECT REAMER.

 

[Bill Norris]

Posted by SVT_Tactical - Bill and I are both getting speeds much faster than the limited published data out there. I know the x47 case is one that hides pressure signs but all brass measurements look good and no red flags so far.

 

[Bill Norris]

Had a hankering to try VV-N555 in this case and it will tune with the heavies but much slower than where we want to be with speed. Tops would be just over 2800 FPS with a full case (Compressed) with a 1 - 7.5 twist 28 inch barrel.

EDIT: WARNING DO NOT LOAD THIS WITHOUT THE CORRECT REAMER.

 

[Bill Norris]

We want 2900 + FPS and we are able to get 2950 - 2960 with VV-N540. I simply wanted to see if we might be leaving anything on the table with the slower VV-N555 but it turns out we are not. For now VV-N540 will be our go-to powder. I do not recommend anyone trying to go there without the correct reamer.

 

[Bill Norris]

Well, just realized I have a bad batch of these Sierra 131 gr. MK bullets. Should have measured this before I started loading but I measured from base to tip. Was checking to see if my lands had moved back with the Wheeler Method and saw shorter numbers than I originally saw up front. Deductive reasoning says that my chamber is not shrinking so I started looking elsewhere. Measured 20 bullets that I was about to load and realized the variance was a whopping .010 from base to ogive over the 20 count. Seating bullets measuring from case base to ogive with Sinclair tool but unfortunately that will not correct the issue. Stopping with this bullet and going to Berger 135 gr. LRHT.

 

[Bill Norris]

H-4350 is a good candidate for this bullet along with Varget. Have worked with both up front and numbers looked good. My builder "ODCR" suggest VV-N540 so wanted to give it a shot. Seems like the E S & S D is better with VV-N540 and with better M V #s. Will not rule either of the other powders out but for now will stick with the VV-N540 with swapping over to the Berger 135 gr. LRHT. Base to Ogive on these are far more consistent (10 bullets @ .0005 variances ) than the Sierra 131 gr. M K I am abandoning due to poor quality. I have not ever seen the variances in any Sierra bullet as I have found with these.

 

[Bill Norris]

WOW!!! What a difference a bullet can make. I was doing O K with the Sierras but I just did not feel it was giving my rifle it's best. Worked with the Berger 135 gr. LRHT bullet today with powder check and seat depth. Checked it at 100 yds. a few mins ago and I think my rifle is a happy camper. I may turn the tuner a tad but I'm not sure it needs a thing.


CAUTION - DO NOT DUPLICATE THIS LOAD WITHOUT THE CORRECT REAMER
IT IS PERSONAL TO MY SMITH - ODCR

LAPUA ONCE FIRED BRASS
135 GR. BERGER LRHT 2.131 O M 2.883 COL T/L B S .456 B C .650
POWDER VV-N540 38.3 GR. PRIMER CCI 450 .281 BU. T/S @ -0-
SEATED @ 2.124 O M 2.876 COL .007 OTL 07/11/25

 

[WSMNUT]

Thanks for sharing Bill. We all appreciate your time in efforts to help bring us the data and knowledge that you guys have gained from shooting down in the swamp lol. As most know I like the 25 caliber’s and enjoy seeing the success that you and many others are having with it. Keep up the great work

 

[Bill Norris]

Always happy to share what I know to be facts. Certainly appreciate all of your hard work and dedication to building great shooting rifles. Without that we would not be able to shoot and learn at the pace we are used to.

 

[boltfluter]

WOW!!! What a difference a bullet can make. I was doing O K with the Sierras but I just did not feel it was giving my rifle it's best. Worked with the Berger 135 gr. LRHT bullet today with powder check and seat depth. Checked it at 100 yds. a few mins ago and I think my rifle is a happy camper. I may turn the tuner a tad but I'm not sure it needs a thing.


CAUTION - DO NOT DUPLICATE THIS LOAD WITHOUT THE CORRECT REAMER
IT IS PERSONAL TO MY SMITH - ODCR

LAPUA ONCE FIRED BRASS
135 GR. BERGER LRHT 2.131 O M 2.883 COL T/L B S .456 B C .650
POWDER VV-N540 38.3 GR. PRIMER CCI 450 .281 BU. T/S @ -0-
SEATED @ 2.124 O M 2.876 COL .007 OTL 07/11/25

Great shooting Bill! And another fantastic rifle by Zac! You guys are making the rest of us look like rank amateurs. Not sure how you are going to improve on that group. Lol.
Paul

 

[Bill Norris]

Great shooting Bill! And another fantastic rifle by Zac! You guys are making the rest of us look like rank amateurs. Not sure how you are going to improve on that group. Lol.
Paul

Thank you for the kind words Paul. Zack does build some excellent shooting rifles that enables us to test and find these components that work well together. I truly appreciate all the comments and ideas from everyone and plan to continue to bring as much info forward as possible to help ease the efforts to find the nugget that works.