25/06 giving me fits

[stimpylu32]

Have been having a problem with cases sticking in my 25/06 Handi rifle so I gave the chamber a good polishing and that seems to have fixed that problem but now I have run into another issue .

About 3 weeks ago I shot less than 1/2 box of my hand loads in this rifle and all looked good as far as pin in print on the primers , yet now after polishing the chamber I'm now getting flow back into the firing pin hole , of the 2 rounds fired I had to smack the action over my knee to open the last one it was so bad .

These were mid level loads of IMR 4895 and Speer 100 grain bullets , all the cases were trimmed to spec and FL sized . the only things that are diffrent are the chamber was polished and the temp when shooting was about 20* warmer .

It was not a compressed load and I know that the bullet has not moved into the lands to cause a pressure spike , also the powder is not one that has been known to be temp sensitive .

This one has me baffled , I have checked and re checked my loads and am confident that it is not the ammo but who knows , any ideas ?

stimpy

[Dee]

What you have described sounds like excess chamber pressure. I have been reloading the 2506 since 1971, and as long as I have stayed within the parameters of a manual have never experience this. When polishing the chamber, are you sure that you did not remove too much of the shoulder, which would allow the bullet to contact the lands and grooves? The 2506 is EXTREMELY sensitive to this.
Another suggestion is to change powders, seat the bullet a couple of thousandths deeper and see what happens.

[Savage]

stimpylu32,
Have you changed powder lots, or bullets lately? Sounds like something has happened to cause an overpressure condition when you first started experiencing sticky extraction. Assuming the cases extracted normally (with your current load) before the cases started sticking. The chamber polish may have just contributed to the problem by allowing the case to set back against the breach face on firing. I'd double check everything, then start reducing your load by a half grain at a time and shooting under simular conditions to see if the problem goes away. If not, I'd have a gunsmith make a chamber casting and check the rifle out. I have zero experience with Handi's, so can't speak to the rigidity of the action.  With your experience, I know it's just a matter of time before you work it out. Hope you'll post your findings. Good Luck!
Savage

[stimpylu32]

Dee

That had crossed my mind so I checked the head space to see if it had changed any , its still were it was , also the Handi has a very long throat compaired to most other rifles so I don't think it is into the lands , but am going to make up a dummy round to match the problem rounds , then smoke it to check for sure .

I did pick up a pound of IMR 4350 yesterday to use in the next batch as I want to load some heavier bullets any way . I did notice that I do not have this problem with the 87 grain V-max using the same powder either .

stimpy

[Dee]

I have had excellent results with Reloader 19 in the 87 grain bullets, and Reloader 22 in the heavier bullet weights.

[stimpylu32]

Last night I took the cases that were shot so far and neck only sized them  , also took some alcohol and wiped the cases down to get any extra lube that may have been on them , I use Imperial to lube with .

Was thinking that once the chamber was polished it was just to smooth and a dab of lube would allow the cases to slide . something else is the fact that these are factory Winchester 25/06 cases , have not seen any problems with the LC 30/06 cases that I necked down though .

May just have to start from scratch with this one . 

stimpy

[Catfish]

3 more posiblities for you. The primer pockets are alittle over sized, the touch hole is over sized or your primers could be to soft for the presure your running. Your not running Fed. LP primers in it are you?

[TXSPIKE]

Because the 25-06 is such an overbore round,it is very sensitive to pressure changes.Just a little change in seating depth or just one or two tenths of a grain of powder can make a big difference.This is one of those rounds where a chronograph is really helpful when working on your loads.I always had better luck with IMR-4350.I got better groups,higher velocities and seemed to have less high pressure problems with it.I was loading 51.2grs. of the IMR-4350 and getting right at 3100fps on my chrony with a 120 grain bulllet.

[Lone Star]

Stimpy is no beginning handloader, so I'm certain he used rifle primers.  Also, when he says a moderate load of 4895 I believe him - excessive pressure is not likely due to a "fast" lot or just 20F more temp.   Case setback due to a too-smooth chamber could cause sticky extraction or a flattened primer, but not primer flow into the pin hole.  High pressure is the most likely cause.   

Severe fouling of the bore can raise pressures, but not too likely here.  It could be a matter of him never loading up to normal high pressures before in this rifle.  I once had a Handi that had a too large firing pin hole, but at moderate load levels the pin indent looked fine.  At max load levels - not excessive, just hotter than moderate - the primers exhibited flow into the hole.  Perhaps this is the answer, although only Stimpy will know.


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[stimpylu32]

Lone Star

You may be on to something there with the firing pin hole being part of the problem , I didn't think of that , and with the combo of chamber polishing & temp change may be pushing it to that point .

I also checked my records and the ammo in question was loaded in Feb. so the temps in the reloading room would have been around 65* with the first trip to the range being around 70* , the last range trip was pushing 95*

stimpy

PS -- CCI Large Rifle Primers 

[PaulS]

Stimpy, if you are having problems with cases sticking in the chamber - then you polish the chamber and have flow from the primers into the firing pin hole you have excessive pressure. Regardless of the load you are using it is too hot for your gun under the conditions of use.. I had a bad experience with H335 in a 30-30 x 6mm where no matter how high or low a charge I used it was causing problems with cases sticking and cratered primers. I switched to a different powder (4064) and all the problems disappeared. I am sure that this was a characteristic of this particular case configuration but it showed that it is possible to use sub minimum recommended loads and still get too much pressure in a particular case and firearm under the conditions of use.

[harrys]

The 2506 is an easy round and not to finicky to load try 52.0 grs imr 4350  for the 100 gr think you'll be very happy, for varmits try aa3100 and between 56.6 -57.5 i get tight groups.

[jhalcott]

 Stimpy, the 25-06 is MY night mare caliber! I've had 7(seven) of them and EACH one came (and went) with it's own problems. Either it was accuracy,or lack of it, feeding ,extraction or stock warping. I tried as best I could to remedy these till I got too frustrated and gave up on THAT particular gun. I pray that you over come this problem before throwing the gun into the river!
BTW, Merry Christmas!

[stimpylu32]

I did end up getting the bugs worked out on this one , never did find out why though . Just tossed all the problem brass in the scrap bucket and started from scrach with new Rem cases , never had the problem again .

Just something about those cases that the barrel didn't like for sure , after that problem it shot fine and opened like it should till the day I sold it . 

stimpy

[Lloyd Smale]

is it possible your load is so mild that the case isnt expanding enough to grab the chamber walls and is setting back? ive also witnessed light loads cause primers to back out then get shoved back in when hitting the recoil shield or the bolt head and make it look just like pressure problems.  Ive seen ammo do this in a handgun just because i left lube on it too. first thing id try is a slightly faster powder loaded to the same velocity and see if the increased pressure changed anything