25 DTI waiting game begins

G

GREG OF PA

New member
Well between reading threads hear and shooting my friends... the 25 DTI bug bit me bad. Spoke with Mike on Monday and mine is on order...

medium contour, select match Shilen, fluted, cerakote, ni-boron bolt carrier, 2 mags, and dies...

Dies and mags are on the way (so are the SSA brass on order).. and the wait for the real prize begins.

This will go on my Colt LE6920 lower for now which has SSA trigger, Also I have a spare Leopold VX3 3.5 to 10 for now and i am thinking about getting the Nikon 223 mount, the one i had on my olympic arms worked well.

In terms of loads, thanks for all the posts! I will probably pick up some Sierra 90gr for deer and everything else. Also thinking about Speer hot core 87 grain. I have some H4895 which seems to work well, but also have 2# of AR Comp and 1# 8208xbr. Has anyone tried AR Comp with 90 grain or know the safe starting load? Same for XBR?

Thanks again
Greg
 
When i shot my friends he had been having issues with his loads jamming so i was at the range figuring out the issue with him. I had 3 rounds that didn't jam and shot them from a cold barrel into a clover leaf at 100 yards... thought to my self that i must have one of these...
 
Well, I have been trying keep myself busy while playing the waiting game:4 bags SSA brass anealed and sized to 25dti, picked up 2 boxes each of 90gr SGK and 87gr Speer HC.

I have read many posts on various loads and like the H4895 results, although i would like to try something that meters better. I have AR Comp and 8208XBR on hand. So i began reading up on 26 x 6.8 loads. How close is the load data for this wildcat round to the 25Dti?

Thanks for the feedback
 
Just Loaded up some Hornady 75gr HP's that I found stuck back in a drawer for my 25DTi. Just happens I tried a load with both AR Comp and XBR8208.
Both shot same POI and about same velocity. From my 18 inch barrel they average just over 3100fps.
Strangest thing happened that I have never seen. Brand new SSA brass and four of 50 pieces the primers pockets were too tight and I could not get a primer in. They looked like they had crimps and I reamed them out and the primers went in OK??? This was right out of a sealed bag.
 
With the 25X6.8 reamer I designed the load data is directly transferable to the DTI. The fire forming doesn't add enough appreciably to the volume.

The 6.8 variants in 25 are excellent deer cartridges. I wish there were more quarter bore bullets out there.

Greg

 
Venatic, thanks for the feedback. I had one case out of the 100 bag of SSA that the rim on the base was too thick and would not fit into the rcbs shell holder, really surprised me. I contacted them to be sure they knew. But the crimp issue out of a new bag just doesnt make any sense. I had a few tight primer pockets but not so tight that they didnt seat.
Also thanks for the feedback on AR Comp and 8208XBR

GlShooter, that is good news. I was hoping they lined up closely but good to see. Obviously will start low and work up slowly, afterall that just means more time shooting, darn.
 
Originally Posted By: venaticJust Loaded up some Hornady 75gr HP's that I found stuck back in a drawer for my 25DTi. Just happens I tried a load with both AR Comp and XBR8208.
Both shot same POI and about same velocity. From my 18 inch barrel they average just over 3100fps.
Strangest thing happened that I have never seen. Brand new SSA brass and four of 50 pieces the primers pockets were too tight and I could not get a primer in. They looked like they had crimps and I reamed them out and the primers went in OK??? This was right out of a sealed bag.

I was loading new SSA brass the other day and had a few that had 1 gr less capacity to them.I never measured thickness just tossed them
 
Originally Posted By: GREG OF PASSA 6.8spc seems to be in short supply, do you think quality is suffering to increase production?

The quality fell off the cliff when Nosler bought SSA. What you buy today is better than what they were selling after the take over so it has come up some I donot believe it will ever rival the original..

Many guys are buying the Fusion ammo and shooting it in a 6.8 and then sizing down. The S&B brass is god and while it has large primers the Remington is very decent. S&B is not available in bulk and the bulk Remington is rare but buying loaded ammo on sale from them is almost as cheap as new brass plus it is already primed. I keep my eyes open for once fired Federal. Loaded sanely it does well for you.

I believe the brass is scarce not because of high demand but because of just the opposite. It just isn't being shot all that much compared to the other cartridges and they see no reason to do the bulk thing. Production levels probably meet the needs for loaded ammunition with little over run available to us on the shelves. IMHO

Greg
 
I tried some 22 Nosler cases. Used a 223 shell holder and ran them thru the 25 dti die. Trimmed accordingly. Worked fine. The H2O capacity on my cases averaged 35.4 grains of water. The spread was 35.2 to 35.6. My lot of SSA cases averaged 36.0 grains. Their spread was 35.8 to 36.3.

Caution --- the Nosler cases DO NOT have as hard of a head as the old SSA. More like Hornady cases. I simple exchanged my 6.8 bolt carrier for a 223 bolt carrier. Worked like a champ.

Just another alternative.
 
That is interresting. I have limited experience with wildcats and am a middle od the road reloader, so all this information is amazingly valuable. Thank you for sharing.

I haf been reloading for 20+ years, but just as an occasional hobby. Several years back i baught a olympic arms game stalker in 300olympic. Sized from 25wssm and took the next step in the learning curve including annealing. This is a cool next step and appreciate all in tnfo from this site and the others!
 
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