So I tried a new powder in my .250 Savage and wasn't impressed. I loaded straight from Hogdon's web site and the 85 grain Speer SP bullet. 33 grains IMR 8208 XBR, Rem 9-1/2 primer, and once fired R-P brass. I have several pounds of this powder and thought I'd try it because it listed good velocities in their load data. I started showing pressure signs at 33.5 grains loaded .010" off the lands.
Once I established pressure I ran a seating depth test starting from .010", .040", .070, and .10" off the lands. Best group was 2" at .040" off the lands. The three other groups were closer to 4", all groups were six shots.
I keep thinking I should have started with IMR 4350 or 4064 as both seem to have a lot of load data for this cartridge. The rifle is a Charles Daly mini Mauser so I'm limited on magazine space. Pretty much 100 grain bullets are my limit.
