Everything looks right in line there to me. First, Sierra's manual has been properly "lawyerized". Second, I just checked my Sierra book and they used a pressure barrel in a universal receiver which is going to have a tighter chamber and bore most likely and will explain the higher velocities at the same powder charges. Third, some powders don't give best results until the pressure gets to a certain level. Your numbers indicated things were improving. Fourth, if you are going to measure group size and are not simply just sighting in, I strongly recommend aiming at a black and white square. You may be "losing" your reticle inside that big black dot. Your eye will quickly and naturally quarter a b/w square perfectly with the reticle. Fifth, your gun will tell you when you should stop. If the neck isn't sealing the chamber off, you have room to go up in charge weight. We all know the .25-06 is capable of 3100fps with that bullet weight. I would increase charge weight .5 gr at a time until you reach 3100. Yes, you might go over book max, but which book? As long as the powder is in the proper burn speed range (RL22 is) it should be safe to increase until standard velocities are reached. My .25-06 takes 3-4 grains over book max to reach the book velocities. I'm not recommending anything, you are on your own, I'm just saying what I would do if it was my gun. Sixth, is your gun nice and clean? Because the bolt is coming back far and hard enough to eject the empty and strip the next round from the magazine. In the end, if you decide RL22 isn't for you, I would try IMR 7828 or 7977. Of course, IMR4831 has long been the standard powder in the King of the Quarterbores. Sorry if this was too windy. Loved the vid. Looking forward to the next one.
Yes to all you said. Browning BAR's are known to have tight chambers yet slow barrels. Mis-fires were only with Rel. 22 and 117 sierra. (Done with this combo). Maybe the manuals have "lawyered up" but in over 20+ years of hand loading Sierra printed data, my obtained results have been consistent. Only Speer data has been mostly spot on. Because this rifle (BAR) is not a good choice for volume shooting/testing, I will go the direction of other powder bullet combos that have been more acceptable without any malfunctions. Thanks for your suggestions, I really appreciate your experience(s). Oddly, only 1 rifle I own has ever needed to go over max load and it is also a Browning 25-06, but in a Bolt action...
Agree...Previous testing did just that. I like Sierra bullets and this combo was recommended by Sierra. Didn't work for me though. Thanks for watching.
Hi Dave. I shoot Reloader 22 and 17 in my 25-06’s. Like you I was a little concerned at the wide powder charge recipes given by different manufactures. I emailed Alliant and requested their reloading catalog. It took 2 months to arrive but I got it. I’d be happy to look at it tomorrow and give you the data strait from Alliant on your 117’s. I’m at work right now and work 24 hour shifts so I can get back to you tomorrow afternoon.
Yes please!. Alliant on line say 52grain max for Rel 22 using 115-120 speer bullets.. But because I have success with Reloder 23 without malfunctions, I will probably quit on using Rel 22.
@@davestrohmeyer-saddleupsho8009 you got it. I am pretty certain it is in the 52.0 zone. I always got my best groups with 52.0 of RL22 with 115 Nosler ballistic tips. But I know for a fact that people go higher. I went up to 52.5 with no pressure signs in my rifle.
Dave, Another good and interesting video. I agree those were not your typical groups. That looked more like I was doing the shooting, which tends to be a bit mixed. Thanks for sharing even if it did not go exactly as you had planned. I always enjoy watching your videos. Take care.
Yep, I'd try another powder for sure. But I wouldn't hesitate to push Re22 just a bit more. Maybe .5gr or 1gr more. The gas operation is bleeding off your potential velocity. As you went hotter your ES and SD improved significantly. Given that Re22 is a slow powder, maybe magnum primers would help it ignite better. I think just a little more powder would help, but a different powder will likely yield better results. Even on a bad day the BAR shoots much better than I suspected it would. Your series on this will probably make me get a BAR at some point haha.
Agreed Eric. But I am satisfied with Re-23 that has met all previous 100-115 grain bullet test for both functionality and accuracy. Truthfully, I had extra Re 22 powder and because Sierra listed it as it's preferred powder for the 117gn GK...I thought I'd give it a go. But low velocity, malfunctions due to low pressure and charge weights that vary 7 full grains from Sierra to Hornady max load data, make me to suspicious to go down the Re 22 path any further. Yes, to your idea of using a Magnum primer, if I were to experiment further. I have owned a 300 Win mag in a BAR for 40 years and never had a cycling (under gassed issue) with it, but those charge weights are 78 grains of Re 22 and spot on with the manuals as to max load , velocity and accuracy. Thanks for your suggestions... .
In this test the powder bullet combo was unsatisfactory along with the fact that the velocity and pressure needed to properly cycle the action was insufficient. These results dictated to me to not continue or further explore the 117gn sierra with Rel. 22. Glad you found a good load for your rifle. Thanks for watching.
If you got some IMR 4831 I think that if it was me I would try it seems to me to work better from my experience than reloader 22 I have got good results with reloader 22 in magnum rifles like your 300H&H with 180 grain bullets
Thanks Scott. Yes Rel. 22 works well in my 300 win mag, but not so good in my 300 h-h...This 25-06 did well with Rel 23 and different bull combos. The inconsistency in load data between the manuals was a 7 grain difference to max load. That inconsistency is not worth further exploration especially since BAR rifle malfunctions occurred only with this combo.
@@davestrohmeyer-saddleupsho8009 that interesting I loaded some reloader 22 in my 300H&H and hornady 180gr and got cloverleaf at 100 yards but I have never got it to group in my 25-06’s
Dave, I'm having a Similar issue with my BAR 270. Bolt dosent close all the way with my brass. Full length resize, trimmed to minimum 2.53, what was your fix?
@@pauldwyer2839 Paul, I bought a cartridge case gauge made by the Wilson Co., to rule out anything related to the resized case being an issue. I also thoroughly cleaned the gas piston and the slides. Then I went and reloaded previously tested ammo with a different powder (at higher pressure and velocity) without a failure. I called the technicians at Browning about tuning the Gas block, and relating the previous problem. They suggested I send the rifle to them for a repair. But with the higher velocity hunting loads and cleaning the problem has Not returned. If the problem does return, I will send it to Browning.
Thanks Shane. As shown in previous 25-06 vids Rel 23 (not 22) gave me excellent velocity and acceptable accuracy for 100-115 grain bullets. h4350 is one of those powders that seems to work well with allot of calibers.
@@davestrohmeyer-saddleupsho8009 i use h4350 /2209 here in Australia for all my bigger calibers from 243w up to my 300wsm , it seems to be a really good powder . . . " if you can get it that is "!!!!
Good afternoon/morning Dave. For a 117grn Sierra Gameking the Alliant manual shows 53.8 grains of RL22 with a FPS of 3,092. They show a COAL of 3.110. Reloader 17 shows 49.9 grains with 3,095 and the same COAL.
Thank you. I did take the load to 53 grain in the video, but still low pressure and velocity of only 2,920 fps (seeking 3,100 fps) and not good accuracy...But thanks for your kindness. Sometimes I try to put a square peg in a round hole, so I guess "I'll dance with the gal that brought me," and stick with Rel 23 instead.
@@davestrohmeyer-saddleupsho8009 no problem. I hear ya. Sometimes I have really wanted certain powders or bullets to work and they just won’t. You may look into Retumbo, Hybrid 100V and Reloader 26. I have heard pretty good things about those powders getting that max velocity out of the 115, 117 and 120’s. I agree with you, if aren’t gonna push them fast then why even shoot the 25-06? It’s a speed demon that deserves good velocity.
I just purchased a browning bar safari II in 270 win. I noticed the forearm is touching on the right side at the end. Should I sand this out to get a free float or does it matter?
Contact Browning USA for guidance. I am of the opinion you could base all accuracy questions on performance on a target. The forearm is attached by the sling mount and the gas block mech. is attached to the barrel. So the barrel is not free floated.
