25-06 running slow?

[SJB358]

KSU, you could run a piece of soft lead through the bore, just to check the size. A lead sinker that is slightly larger than the bore can be pushed through to get an idea of the bores true size.

I would continue working up slowly. If you are not seeing PSI signs, your rifle could have a large chamber or any other variable happening.

Good luck, a rebarrel of the rifle would probably put you back in good terms with the rifle. I had a BOSS equipped rifle for quite awhile and it was insanely accurate. Sometimes it's just a bad product. It happens.

 

[Oldtrader3]

The BOSS could be installed wrong and be canted which would cause the bullet to rub against one-side when fired? I would send it to Browning for a checkup?

 

[FOTIS]

Remove Boss all together and work up load. What primers are you using. Hopefully not CCI 200 very cold cap.

If you put BOSS back on soak it in Powder solvent. They will accumulate a lot of residue throwing the weight off.

 

[preacher]

It would get a new Shilen 26 inch #2 pronto at my house, ha! Or trade it off on Mod 700 CDL; Don't worry about the next guy, he might like playing with all the combinations! I saw a beautiful Browning Safari Hi Power in .264 win mag...with a 22" barrel! I walked right by that disappointment, and the price was fair too! Why in the world would a manufacturer put such a high performance cartridge in such a short barrel is beyond me. I often marveled at guys I grew up with who wanted a super short rifle yet hunted rabbits/birds with a 30" 12 ga! ha I hope you get it settled for you Pard, but having had a .257 Ackley and a couple 25-06s and even two 257 Weatherbys...you are missing out settling for less, especially that much less. The fast 25s are pure poison on game and coyotes.

 

[Guy Miner]

I'm with you Preacher. New barrel, or new rifle...

Guy

 

[Oldtrader3]

I would call Winchester and ask them to look at and determine what is the problem? You sell it knowingly to another person and it injures them, you may be liable? I would not sell it to another person on principle, somebody must have some principles. I don't want to hurt anyone with something I got stuck with. In fact, I would go back on who sold it to you!!!

I have been stuck by unprincipled dealers more than once in 50+ years and just because some jerk stuck you is not reason to stick someone else? My strong opinion, FWIW?

 

[ksubuck]

BOSS is aligned correctly, cleaning rod from breach passes through the center of the BOSS.

I am not going to dump the rifle on someone else and I have no recourse against the previous owner. So, if it doesn't get ironed out very soon, it will get a new barrel with the next bonus check.

Was thinking Shilen, now looking at Bartlein.

 

[Oldtrader3]

I go back on Winchester and give them a chance to make it right?

 

[SJB358]

I go back on Winchester and give them a chance to make it right?

I would pause a little before sending it back. Brian (Woodycreek) just sent a M70 Classic Stainless 7mm Rem back to Winchester. 9 months later he got the exact same rifle back, with no fixes. I'll let him tell the story, but it was HORRIBLE. He sent his in because it had a very poorly machined chamber. Winchester would do nothing to fix the rifle since it was an older NH rifle, brand new, but still the older version. They offered him a new rifle with a 40% discount. Pretty crap deal.

If it were me, I'd stick with a Bartlein or Krieger. I am betting you wouldn't regret it a bit!

 

[preacher]

You sell it knowingly to another person and it injures them, you may be liable? I would not sell it to another person on principle, somebody must have some principles. I don't want to hurt anyone with something I got stuck with. In fact, I would go back on who sold it to you!!!

I hear you OT, but the OP is using it safely, a lot! ha. I'm not talking about an unsafe rifle, just a finicky rifle. He has found some accurate loads, though they are not at 25-06 velocities. What's to say if he traded it in at, say a gun store, on another rifle he wanted. Joe Average sees the nifty little browning w/Boss, buys it, gets it on a paper plate at 50yds, kills every buck he hunts "in the woods he normally hunts in"? Or, like in most of Texas, hunts over a feeder at 50yds or less and he is just awed by "his 25-06"? One man's junk is another man's treasure...

 

[Oldtrader3]

I was just being conservative, having ended up with others problems a couple of times and no one said a word?

 

[preacher]

Yes sir, I've been burnt too along the way, but its always a gamble in gun trading. I'm addicted to it, I admit! I love a 'deal" on any rifle I "like". if I don't like it ( you couldn't 'give me" a Savage, for instance) I don't care how good a deal it is. I also am not thrilled with any Browning that is not an older Belgium Hi Power, so jetting an Abolt would happen so fast I'd throw my shoulder out of socket, ha! But, they are very popular here in Utah.

 

[ksubuck]

More work at the range today. 115g BTips, H4831, Fed 210M primers.

53.5g 4831 gave 2889fps. No pressure signs again.

54.0, 54.5, 55.0g 4831 gave no pressure signs. Starting to see some consistent accuracy with groups from 0.8 to 1.1 MOA. I think getting the speed up is stabilizing the bullets better.

I am now 3 grains over Nosler book max but have absolutely no pressure signs. Plan to Chrono 55.0g load. Then it will be time to pick a charge and play with seating depth and fine tuning the BOSS.

It has been a long process and I appreciate all of the helpful input everyone has given. I think I have this rifle figured out a bit... I hope... but it may be time to play it safe and rebarrel the thing

 

[Oldtrader3]

With the 120 Partition, I was running about 55.5 IMR 7828 with a Fed 215 primer, to get 3000+ out of my .25-06 and that was 20 years ago? The rifle was a standard Model 70 with 24 inch barrel.

 

[Dwh7271]

If what I ran is correct your 55 gr load is going to come in around 2970 fps.
Be interesting to see if it's around that or not.

 

[Oldtrader3]

Did you use the magnum primer? It adds about 3KSI?

 

[Heavy Barrel]

I've heard some smiths won't work on Brownings...something about the threads and threadlocker.

That is true...I use to have an abolt II w/ boss some time ago, with the exception that it was chambered in .300 Win Mag. .

Tried a few different factory loads, everything from 150gr Winchester Failsafe to Federal GM 190gr HPBT. And at 100yds I was getting very consistent groups, about the size of a dinner plate. :shock:

Spoke with several smiths about the problem, they suspected there was something wrong with the barrel. Asked them about re-barreling it, only to be told the same thing. Ended up replacing it with a Savage 110.

 

[ksubuck]

If what I ran is correct your 55 gr load is going to come in around 2970 fps.
Be interesting to see if it's around that or not.

Chrono for the 55gr load was 2964.

 

[Dwh7271]

Basing the readings you are getting off your chrono, here's what I think you will find (or have already found)
DON'T use the pressure readings as I really have no idea what's going on there but the speeds here match up to what you have found.
This is roughly what I used to give you a guess on the 55 gr load.

Cartridge : .25-06 Rem.
Bullet : .257, 115, Nosler BalTip 25115
Useable Case Capaci: 60.107 grain H2O = 3.903 cm³
Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 3.250 inch = 82.55 mm
Barrel Length : 22.0 inch = 558.8 mm
Powder : IMR 4831 ?

Predicted data by increasing and decreasing the given charge,
incremented in steps of 0.389% of nominal charge.
CAUTION: Figures exceed maximum and minimum recommended loads !

Step Fill. Charge Vel. Energy Pmax Pmuz Prop.Burnt B_Time
% % Grains fps ft.lbs psi psi % ms

-03.9 100 52.86 2854 2080 49241 13222 97.1 1.212
-03.5 100 53.08 2866 2097 49873 13272 97.2 1.205
-03.1 100 53.29 2878 2115 50513 13321 97.4 1.198
-02.7 101 53.50 2890 2133 51161 13370 97.5 1.190
-02.3 101 53.72 2902 2151 51818 13418 97.7 1.183
-01.9 102 53.93 2914 2169 52483 13465 97.8 1.176
-01.6 102 54.15 2926 2187 53157 13511 97.9 1.169
-01.2 102 54.36 2938 2205 53839 13556 98.1 1.162
-00.8 103 54.57 2950 2223 54530 13600 98.2 1.155
-00.4 103 54.79 2962 2241 55231 13644 98.3 1.148
+00.0 104 55.00 2975 2259 55940 13686 98.4 1.141 ! Near Maximum !
+00.4 104 55.21 2987 2278 56659 13728 98.5 1.135 ! Near Maximum !
+00.8 104 55.43 2999 2296 57387 13769 98.7 1.128 ! Near Maximum !
+01.2 105 55.64 3011 2314 58125 13809 98.8 1.121 ! Near Maximum !
+01.6 105 55.85 3023 2333 58873 13848 98.9 1.114 ! Near Maximum !
+01.9 106 56.07 3035 2352 59630 13886 99.0 1.108 ! Near Maximum !

 

[Dwh7271]

It would be interesting to mic a piece or two of brand new unfired brass like you are using then mic the brass you have fired.Top, middle, neck, etc. I'm thinking the stuff you have fired is going to be bigger by a bit. Just a guess.

The next is not meant to offend. Are you certain this isn't an Ackley Chamber? I ran a QuickLoad on a 25-06 Ackley without modifying anything (like I did on the previous one) and what I came up with almost duplicates what you are seeing. Granted, the 53.5 doesn't match right but it seems to parellel what you are finding. Just curious is all. Here you go.

Cartridge : .25-06 Ack Imp.
Bullet : .257, 115, Nosler BalTip 25115
Useable Case Capaci: 69.193 grain H2O = 4.493 cm³
Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 3.400 inch = 86.36 mm
Barrel Length : 22.0 inch = 558.8 mm
Powder : IMR 4831

Predicted data by increasing and decreasing the given charge,
incremented in steps of 0.389% of nominal charge.
CAUTION: Figures exceed maximum and minimum recommended loads !

Step Fill. Charge Vel. Energy Pmax Pmuz Prop.Burnt B_Time
% % Grains fps ft.lbs psi psi % ms

-03.9 87 52.86 2876 2111 50196 13357 100.0 1.223
-03.5 87 53.08 2886 2127 50756 13388 100.0 1.216
-03.1 87 53.29 2896 2142 51322 13418 100.0 1.210 ! Near Maximum !
-02.7 88 53.51 2906 2157 51893 13447 100.0 1.204 ! Near Maximum !
-02.3 88 53.72 2916 2172 52471 13475 100.0 1.197 ! Near Maximum !
-01.9 88 53.93 2927 2187 53054 13504 100.0 1.191 ! Near Maximum !
-01.6 89 54.15 2937 2202 53642 13532 100.0 1.185 ! Near Maximum !
-01.2 89 54.36 2947 2218 54237 13560 100.0 1.178 ! Near Maximum !
-00.8 89 54.57 2957 2233 54838 13587 100.0 1.172 ! Near Maximum !
-00.4 90 54.79 2967 2248 55445 13615 100.0 1.166 ! Near Maximum !
+00.0 90 55.00 2977 2263 56058 13643 100.0 1.160 ! Near Maximum !
+00.4 90 55.21 2987 2279 56677 13670 100.0 1.154 ! Near Maximum !
+00.8 91 55.43 2997 2294 57302 13698 100.0 1.148 ! Near Maximum !
+01.2 91 55.64 3007 2309 57934 13725 100.0 1.142 ! Near Maximum !
+01.6 91 55.86 3017 2324 58572 13752 100.0 1.136 ! Near Maximum !
+01.9 92 56.07 3027 2340 59216 13779 100.0 1.130 ! Near Maximum !