Absolute Hammer Load Data

[winmag]

At that point, even if I’m not hitting pressure I’ll have all the velocity I care about.

Looking good! I’d keep going until you find pressure, then back off. In my experience, Nosler brass will ejector mark way before you get a sticky bolt.

I bet you get above 3100fps.

 

[noharleyyet]

The absolutes will scoot for sure...wish I could've found the node for appreciable speed gain with the RUM but pressure showed up early. Was tempted to re-alchemy the .257 with em but decided to leave more than good enough alone but still might get some 90g absolutes just for crono grins.

 

[JLS]

Looking good! I’d keep going until you find pressure, then back off. In my experience, Nosler brass will ejector mark way before you get a sticky bolt.

I bet you get above 3100fps.

Steve emailed me back this morning. He thinks I'll run out of case capacity before I pressure out, and also thinks 3200 is possible.

 

[winmag]

and also thinks 3200 is possible

I imagine that'll be fast enough to make you quite happy!

Looking at the powder burn rate chart, there aren't too many options for temp stable powders that are slightly faster than RL16. You could try Varget if you wanted to keep tinkering, but if I got 3200fps out of that combo I think I'd be done.

 

[JLS]

Did another charge progression. 54.5 was at 3006 FPS and 57 hit 3165. Nice velocity increases with charge weight.

 

[marksjeep]

Any pressure signs? That's got some speed to it. Looks very promising.

 

[JLS]

Any pressure signs? That's got some speed to it. Looks very promising.

Primers starting to flatten at 57. Bolt lift is fine. Ejector marks, but honestly they showed up around 2950. Not too worried about them.

 

[Mule man]

Primers starting to flatten at 57. Bolt lift is fine. Ejector marks, but honestly they showed up around 2950. Not too worried about them.

Very impressive ,did you put a few on the heater and try them? Velocity is great and where they should be. Awesome load

 

[JLS]

Very impressive ,did you put a few on the heater and try them? Velocity is great and where they should be. Awesome load

You mean to check temp sensitivity? They were at room temp when I fired them.

 

[stevejfarms]

Finally got to shoot today!
257 Weatherby
26” 1-10
90 gr. AH
Once fired Hornady brass
Fed 215, COAL 3.170 Lee FCD 1/4 turn
IMR4350
63 gr. 3380
64. 3458
65 3509
66. 3557
67. 3675
No pressure signs, no felt recoil changes, will have to load some more and push a little farther.
IMR 4831
71 gr. 3761
72. 3852 faint ejector swipe
73. 3968 ejector, flat primer, heavy bolt lift, quit here, big recoil impulse. Quit here.
Rl26
62 gr. 3140
63. 3137
64. 3189
65. 3271
66. 3244
Nothing happening here, need to jump at least 4 gr. and see what happens, lot of case cap left.
IMR 7828 SSC
71gr. 3564
72. 3677 slight primer flattening
73. 3701 primer
74. 3766 primer
75. 3833 primer flat slight ejector
Need to push this one up a couple more grains and see.
72-75 were touching and 71 was about an 1/8” outside the group so it’s accurate anyway. Might need to live here, 3700 or so ain’t bad.

Hornady factory 90 gr. GMX averaged 3440.

26 nosler
26” 1-8
123 gr AH
New Nosler brass
Win. lrm primer
3.30 COAL
IMR 7828 ssc
74 gr. 3291
75. 3385 very faint ejector
76. 3403. “
77. 3462. “
78. 3506. “
79. 3555. “
80. 3585. “ primer flat
81. 3666 slight ejector primer flat
82. 3695 ejector primer flat
83. 3768 heavy ejector, flat primer, heavy bolt lift, quit here
77-80 were touching that’s where I’ll live for now 3550 avg. ain’t bad!
I’ve got some 129’s loaded and some 140’s for 280 ai, but ran out of time today. Will report back later how they turn out, hopefully tomorrow if the rain holds off.

 

[rtraverdavis]

Some serious speed on some of those loads @stevejfarms! Impressive stuff.

 

[rtraverdavis]

I never posted my velocity results from last weekend, so here goes:

6.5 Creedbro
22” barrel
Twice fired Nosler Brass trimmed to 1.905
RL15
Fed 215M Primers
123 grain AH
2.810 COAL

40— 2780
40.3— 2803
40.6— 2836
40.9— 2864
41.2— 2888
41.5— 2870 ?
41.8—2935
42.1— 2963 slight ejector swipe
42.4— 2972 ejector, flat primer
42.7— 3007 heavily cratered primer, heavy bolt lift, stopped here

I was hoping to land somewhere above 3000 fps before pressure, but I don’t know if I can with the powder I have on hand and the 22” barrel. After talking with Steve this week he suggested I give it another go with 210s instead, so that’s what I’ll do and post after I get those results. It’s tough getting out to shoot at the moment so it may be a few weeks.

 

[brockel]

Did another charge progression. 54.5 was at 3006 FPS and 57 hit 3165. Nice velocity increases with charge weight.

View attachment 175542
View attachment 175595

What length of barrel? I assume 22” being a Remington mountain rifle. I’ve got a 284 Winchester being built right now and some 143 hammers on the shelf. Might have to get some of these absolutes

 

[JLS]

What length of barrel? I assume 22” being a Remington mountain rifle. I’ve got a 284 Winchester being built right now and some 143 hammers on the shelf. Might have to get some of these absolutes

22”, 1:9.25 twist rate.

 

[stevejfarms]

Did a little more load testing today.
257 Weatherby
26” 10 twist
once fired Hornady brass
Fed 215
COAL 3.170
90 gr AH

IMR 4350
67.5 3788
68.0 3810
68.5 3856 slight ejector
69.0 3895 ejector slightly heavy bolt stuck case

Rl 26
70.0 3493
71.0 3561
72.0 3618
73.0 3740
74.0 3800
74.5 3855 stuck case


26 Nosler
26” 8 twist
New Nosler brass
WLRM primer
COAL 3.450
fcd 1/8 turn
129 gr AH
H4831

75.0 3340
76.0 3401
77.0 3452 ejector
78.0 3468 bright ejector, bolt lift


280 ai
22” 9 twist
once fired nosler brass
Fed 215
COAL 3.410
140 gr AH
IMR 4350
56.0 2931
57.0 3015
58.0 3089 slight ejector
59.0 3141 “
60.0 3220. “
61.0 3257. bright ejector
62.0 3304. bright ejector
63.0 3348. blown primer!!
I was surprised by the blown primer, the bolt lifted easily after the shot. There was very bright sunshine and the ejector marks were shinier than I thought in the glare. I need to be more careful.

I’m going to slow down a little and try some 4831 in the a.i.

 

[stevejfarms]

I bought a sample pack of 123gr and 129 gr in 6.5. I’ m marginal on twist for the 129’s if I can’t push them as fast as I thought. I have 10 of the 129’s left if any of you guys want to try them, just pay shipping.

 

[JLS]

I took out my anger at Disney Brownells at the range today.

My preliminary accuracy testing with the 140 Absolute in my .280 was very disappointing. Groups around 1.25” at 100. Not what I’m used to with these bullets. I went back to check my work and realized I must have been drunk when I set my seating depth. I was about 0.055” off the lands. I re-established my seating depth to put the bullets 0.015” off. A charge i shot last week shrunk from 1.25” to 0.8”.

This was the best group, 55.0 grains of RL16 at 3055 FPS.



Im going to reshoot at 0.010” off and see what we look like. No pressure signs at all at this velocity. The 136 Sledge Hammer at 53.7 grains and 3100 FPS is really hot.

 

[noharleyyet]

The 136 Sledge Hammer at 53.7 grains and 3100 FPS is really hot.

Would certainly live up to it's handle when it hits....

 

[JLS]

The 136 Sledge Hammer at 53.7 grains and 3100 FPS is really hot.

Would certainly live up to it's handle when it hits....

It’s slightly less anemic than the barista rifle (ironic side note, I think the paint color I used was called Mocha) spitting out 123s at about 110 FPS less.

Both entirely marginal on the big bodied mountain mule deer. Probably okay on the tiny swamp rat whitetails.

 

[JLS]

Looking at the powder burn rate chart, there aren't too many options for temp stable powders that are slightly faster than RL16. You could try Varget if you wanted to keep tinkering, but if I got 3200fps out of that combo I think I'd be done.

I don’t have a lot of Varget, and I have 9 pounds of RL16. I’ll give up 100-150 FPS for the Varget always being out of stock.