The 25 sst...up and running

[wapitiaddict]

October of 2022 was a great month for my 25sst.

First my 12 year old son shot this 4x4 muley on second day of general season in Idaho. The buck was shot at 300 yards. Bullet went through and through, hit the heart, and had a great exit hole. The buck went maybe 10 yards and piled up. My 10 year old daughter was with us and she was just as excited as her brother. My biggest regret is I didn't get a picture with her in it. Just completely spaced it in the moment. I typically don't take a lot of pictures and prefer to get working on the animal right away. I think I'll be kicking myself for many years about not getting her in the pic...she was an absolute trooper on the hills.

Then I took my nephew out and he shot this 6pt bull on the general opener. The bull was shot at 175 yards. First shot was right in the boiler, went through and through with a great exit wound. Bull spun around and stopped facing the other way. I could see the exit wound and blood spilling out in the binos. The bull was dead standing, but I told my nephew to put another I'm him. Second shot went practically through the exit hole of the first bullet, but surprisingly didn't exit. Bull piled up maybe 30 yards from location of first shot. This is the first big game animal he has ever shot. Not a bad first!

Both were incredibly fun hunts with lots of great memories made.

Rifle and load info: Tikka t3x action, Bartlein 3b 24" 7.5 twist, factory Tikka varmint stock, Vox S suppressor, 131 BJ bullets, RL26, downloaded to 3000 fps for an easy recoil for my kids.

 

[bsnyder]

Thanks to @CjC73 i can now add to this thread. Maybe Saturday after we put up the new targets I can test out what it will do.

 

[CA48]

An update on my original 25sst. Against better judgment at 1320 rounds I decided to have my original barrel rechambered with the new b reamer. Smith set the chamber back .120" and cut the bbl down from 26 to 18". I have 2 more barrels but wanted to see how a rechambered barrel would do. I got it back a few months ago and just now got to shooting it. At first I shot some of the ammo I already had loaded up previously with 58gr of h1000 that was giving me 3170fps out of the 26" and was down to 3130fps by the time I got it rechambered with the 131s. Of course with the new chamber the the bullets were jammed quite bit and shooting 3shot groups around an inch at 2800fps. Went back in seated them 20 thou deeper and shot a .5" group (top of the target). Then went back in and seated them another 30 thou deeper to try and get back to original .020" jump where I used to run them then shot another 3 shot group that went in the .1s (bottom right, the shot just left that is marked was from my 22creed) this was all just now in bright sunlight with a 15mph wind at 3cl. Went back in and seated 6 more like this and shot them they went into about a 1.2" group but the wind was up to 25mph at 3cl by then. So will have to shoot a few 5 shot groups later in better conditions to see how it's going to hold up. Also went and got some of my 67gr hammer loads that we're running 4200fps in the longer barrel and blew up some Michelob ultras that got left out here (I'm an ipa guy)
131s moving 2800fps right now with a mild load of h1000 so if the gun still shoots well next outing. I may load them at 3000fps with n570 to get the most of the new setup.

 

[couesaddict]

How'd the throat clean up with that .120" setback? I'd assume with that round count it had some cracking for a ways?

 

[FrogFire7]

I just got a 25 SST barrel... Need brass and dies still, but I cannot WAIT to shoot it

 

[CA48]

How'd the throat clean up with that .120" setback? I'd assume with that round count it had some cracking for a ways?

Oh yea! I bore scoped it before I took to him and it looked pretty rough. Meant to bore scope it again before I shot it but haven't yet.
I shot it again just before dark at distance just messing around, it was still pretty windy. I have no idea if rechambered barrels speed up again like with new ones but it's seems to be speeding up. Velocity was around 2860fps this evening.

 

[CA48]

Looks like it's going to shoot decent. This is roughly +.016" jump, 5mph 10cl wind. Mild load with my original 58gr of H-1000, COAL 2.850" Pulled this scope off another rifle for now and it rides a little high.

 

[FrogFire7]

Any updates on RL-26? I have a jug of it, and my 18" 25 SST barrel. Started load work today with Hornady 134's. If my chronograph is correct, I'm at 2925 with 58 grains. Case definitely has space left in it (powder shaking around), and I didn't notice any obvious pressure signs differing from 54-58 grains, in half grain increments.

Will try to update as I progress. Would also like to try the Bergers, but hope the eld's work for me.

 

[Gstew1930]

A lot of guys are using H1000, I had much better results & higher velocity with N570

 

[Jjlo63]

A lot of guys are using H1000, I had much better results & higher velocity with N570

How many grains of 570 and what velocity are you getting

 

[CA48]

Any updates on RL-26? I have a jug of it, and my 18" 25 SST barrel. Started load work today with Hornady 134's. If my chronograph is correct, I'm at 2925 with 58 grains. Case definitely has space left in it (powder shaking around), and I didn't notice any obvious pressure signs differing from 54-58 grains, in half grain increments.

Will try to update as I progress. Would also like to try the Bergers, but hope the eld's work for me.

When my barrel was at 26" it ran the 131s 3275fps with 58gr of rl26 and that's where it shot well. I need to try it now that the barrel has been cutdown to 18". I'm guessing they will be right at 3000fps. So for you to be pushing 134s at 2925fps with 58gr of rl26 is spot on with my data for 2 barrels. This is a max working load imo.

N570 will give you ~40fps more over rl26 at equal pressures. And it's been a while but I don't think it required a drop tube either.

Going off my 131gr data I would bet 133-135gr bullets would shoot well with 60-61gr of n570. But I would work up to that with a lower charge first.

 

[Ross1147]

I ran 26 in my 25SST with the 128 HH and 135 Berger. Pressured out with the 128 at 57grns / 3090fps (EJ mark) and the 135 at 61.5 grns (all testing done in 90 deg plus temp). I honestly didn't see any improvement over N565 ~ 20-30 fps faster, so I switched back. I run 58.0 grns n565 with the 135 Berger at 3030fps for my rifles sweet spot. I have a 22" barrel and my gun typically runs 100-150 fps slower than other guys on here.

 

[Gstew1930]

My load is 61 grains of N570, velocity was 3190 with a 135 Berger (22" barrel) . It was a bigger jump for me with less pressure than N565

 

[FrogFire7]

When my barrel was at 26" it ran the 131s 3275fps with 58gr of rl26 and that's where it shot well. I need to try it now that the barrel has been cutdown to 18". I'm guessing they will be right at 3000fps. So for you to be pushing 134s at 2925fps with 58gr of rl26 is spot on with my data for 2 barrels. This is a max working load imo.

N570 will give you ~40fps more over rl26 at equal pressures. And it's been a while but I don't think it required a drop tube either.

Going off my 131gr data I would bet 133-135gr bullets would shoot well with 60-61gr of n570. But I would work up to that with a lower charge first.

Thank you very much for the info! I did try a few at 58.3 but felt like I was starting to see pressure signs, and it grouped slightly worse as well. I was going off of Rich's suggestion of 58 as the top end too. Really appreciate the info!

I was originally hoping for 3,000 fps but it's not a deal breaker for me (plus the barrel only has about 70 rounds on it... May speed up?).

I am planning on hunting down some Bergers, and trying either H1000 or 565/570. Not really for more speed but just to see what shoots best.
Thanks for taking time to respond!