HARV6
Member
Gotta love it when you find published data that makes you scratch your head. In looking for a good hunting bullet to bring out the best of my 25-06 I read several praises for the 115 Nosler Partition. After buying 4 boxes of them I looked into my Nosler #6 manual and noted with all Nosler115 grain bullets Hodgdon's Retumbo should deliver maximum velocity of 3170fps w/ 57.5 grains. Good, I've got Retumbo already! I check Hodgdon's website. They don't have info for a 115gr bullet but they do have it for a 117 grain which should be safe to use. They list 60.5 grains as max w/ 3079fps..... Huh?
So then I start to look deeper...
1. Barrel length? Both used 24"
2. Nosler lists the SAME charge of 57.5 and 3175fps as max for it's 120gr partition...huh?
3. Nosler lists 59.0 and 3267fps as max for it's 110 Accubond.
In my mind, it looks like Nosler just took the max charge they found for their 120 partition and used it for their 115 partition as well. So what I decided to do was find the middle ground between Nosler's 110 and 120 data. Comes out to be 58.25gr. @ 3221fps.
Last night I loaded them up. Dropped back to 55.5 as a starting charge, and in 1.0 grain increments stepped up to Hodgdon's max of 60.5. Luckily I have a chronograph and will stop @ 3200fps or pressure signs. I've never loaded my other rifles hot enough to find pressure signs. Kinda nervous about that, but with such conflicting data, seems like it's time to learn. Any advice?
So then I start to look deeper...
1. Barrel length? Both used 24"
2. Nosler lists the SAME charge of 57.5 and 3175fps as max for it's 120gr partition...huh?
3. Nosler lists 59.0 and 3267fps as max for it's 110 Accubond.
In my mind, it looks like Nosler just took the max charge they found for their 120 partition and used it for their 115 partition as well. So what I decided to do was find the middle ground between Nosler's 110 and 120 data. Comes out to be 58.25gr. @ 3221fps.
Last night I loaded them up. Dropped back to 55.5 as a starting charge, and in 1.0 grain increments stepped up to Hodgdon's max of 60.5. Luckily I have a chronograph and will stop @ 3200fps or pressure signs. I've never loaded my other rifles hot enough to find pressure signs. Kinda nervous about that, but with such conflicting data, seems like it's time to learn. Any advice?