Yeah, that mass is insane lol. And I'm glad I didn't give up looking for the bullet lol. I dropped off the deer to my taxidermist today and it would have been lost for good if I didn't take one lord look last night lol. I think the steep angle it ended up going through the ribs and taking out 2-3 of them in the process, and then being inline with his torso, it just stayed right in all that fat and ultimately cane yo a stop. I actually was worried I eas going to find gut material all over as I field dressed him, but luckily it did take that path across lol.

That’s all awesome to hear! I’m excited for that. And I’ll never really have any actual long range aspirations for the 25-45 lol. I can be realistic lol. But a nice capable round for close to medium ranges for deer, hogs, and even coyotes would be great and what the rifle is intended for. It’s currently my go-to coyote rig because that’s what it excels at for the current bullet combos I’ve tested in it.

I would like an option for my little 25-45 Sharps. It's a 20' 1:10 twist and I think a 70-80gr option would be best due to the twist rate as well as the small cartridge having OAL restrictions from an AR platform, as well as only being capable of pushing up to 100gr lead cores with any ideal speed vs downrange performance. I've used the 80gr Barnes in the past in it and got speeds of 3000fps with ease, but just wasn't overall impressed with the terminal performance, plus the Branes really struggles with an impact velocity below around 2200fps, so I think there's room for overall terminal performance improvement with a lighter Afterburner. All that said, I realize this would be a very oddball bullet and might not be a big seller. However, it could still be a decent bullet for other 25cal cartridges like the 257 Roberts, 250 Savage, and even the 25-06. Otherwise, I like the proposed options you already have planned for now. I think high BC and great terminal performing options in 25cal and 27cal would be awesome and help corner that market as those calibers need more good options.

Got the initial rounds shot today. The following below is the data gathered from those rounds: 135gr Afterburner 42.0gr 1- 2953 2- 2953 3- 2962 Avg- 2956 SD- 5 ES- 9 42.5gr 1- 3004 2- 3011 3- 2993 Avg- 3002 SD-9 ES- 18 43.0gr 1- 3003 2- 2996 3- 3017 Avg- 3005 SD- 10 ES- 21 So that’s exciting and means it is faster like we thought and capable of the 3000fps mark. So with all that data plugged in to QuickLoad and with it now calibrated the estimated OBT node is 42.8gr with an estimated MV of 2996fps. So next, I will load up some more rounds below, at, and above that estimated charge weight and then go shoot those and confirm where the actual node is.

Yep, I agree with that all. I’m really hoping, based on all the comparisons and knowing I’ll likely get faster speeds than the current predictions, that 8208 will get me that coveted 3000fps within safe pressures and at a good accuracy node. It seems quite feasible. Time will tell. I’m heading to Idaho for work tomorrow abd won’t get a chance to load any up until after next weekend. Then I’ll have to get the time to go shoot them, obviously.

But yes, we shall see what real results show. I anticipate faster speeds than predicted.

Yeah, I calculated WF based on the bore cross-sectional area and the water capacity of the cases I'm using. The water capacity is pretty low for a typical 308w case so that influenced the WF calculation.

I get what you’re saying completely, and had the same thought process. So I looked at several of those options too, and I just didn’t find anything that I thought looked like it would ultimately be worth dealing with groups opening a bit with temp swings. I looked at CFE 223 first, since it’s well known to produce top speeds with a lower rate of pressure, and it’s 8.4% compressed at max load, at 51.5gr (wow) and at 3030fps. I know it’s very dense stuff so that’s why it’s over 51gr and only 8.4% compressed. It would be a better option that RL-15.5 as far as top speed potential vs compression. Also, FWIW, I know compressed loads don’t translate or mean anything in regards to pressure. It’s not like compressing a gas or liquid. It just makes seating the bullet to a consistent depth (COAL), difficult and very frustrating lol. Here’s a look at max loads with several other options (because this gives you an idea of top speed potential and worse case scenario for case fill/compression): •H335 shows max 45.6gr at 2982fps and 95.9% fill •H4895 is max 45.9gr at 3005fps and 105.3% fill •BL-C(2) is max 49.2gr at 3023fps and 103.5% fill (node around 2971fps and 101.7%) •aa2460 is max 46.3gr at 2951 and 98.7% fill •aa2200 is 45.1gr at 2923fps and 101.9% fill •aa2495 is 45.4gr at 3009fps and 106.5% fill •aa2520 is max 47.8gr at 3005fps and 104.0% fill •TAC is 48.1gr at 2943fps and 102.4% fill •X-terminator is 46.5gr at 2935fps and 100% fill •IMR 3031 is max 44.9gr at 3040fps and 110.2% fill (node around 2975 and 107.5%) •Win 748 is max 47.3gr at 3025fps and 100.9% fill (node around 2958fps) •N140 is max 46.4gr at 2952fps and 108.6% fill •N130 is max 41.5gr at 2884fps and 101.9% fill •N540 is max 47.8gr at 2977fps and 108.5% fill •N530 is max 44.4gr at 2978fps and 101.3% fill •AR Comp is max 44.2gr at 2996fps and 104.2% fill •RL-15 is max 47.6gr at 3014fps and 109.2% fill •IMR 4064 is max 46.2gr at 2959fps and 112.3% fill I looked at a few others too, like IMR 4166 Hybrid 100V, etc and they were so compressed or so slow on MV potential I abandoned them immediately. Also, some, like aa2230 and Ramshot X-Terminator are the exact same powder, just labeled differently. So I didn’t look at both options. Anyway, you can see that according to the predictions, none of those, when you factor in potential node area and still the case fill and then temp sensitivity, look like they’d be worth it compared to IMR 8208 at only around 30-60fps slower at the top node. If I had a ton of the bullets, primers, brass, and tune, I’d be willing to test all the promising combinations, but unfortunately I don’t. So, I have to work with what looks to be the best and I still think 8208 or Benchmark are it, all things considered. I also fully understand QL is a prediction and real results could and likely would be quite different, but this at least gives me an idea on potential with all else equal and calculated as best as possible so far.

That’s promising. Temps change so much where I live I just can’t use ball powders or temp sensitive extruded powders anymore without it driving me crazy lol. I wish there was a temp stable double base extruded powder around the Benchmark and IMR 8208 burn rate area. I’m sure I could get 3000fps then. I may still even with 8208. It’ll just depend on how it ends up burning with my specific setup.