Wow I am always surprised at who I get to talk to on here. The 257 Grendel was what I was thinking. I like to spend my time shooting instead of working brass for sure now with a young family.
Your 25 BR what do I need to do for the lead and throat measurements for your 88 grain bullets. Also what do you like the fb or bt bullet in your BR? I am more concearned with accuracy and tuneability than ballistic coefficient because I want to make it win. I know this is going to set some off on a can't beat the ppc rant but I don't care. I will go as far as saying the ppc will be replaced someday by another cartridge if for no other reason than everything changes and progresses.
Ok now that I have ticked off a large portion of the Benchrest community I will go order my 25 caliber barrel and som fine BIB bullets and probably never make an impact on the 6ppc. However I will sure have a lot of fun doing it!
You certainly will not make a good lemming!
I already located the 257Heck (not Ted) print, dated 5/6/2005; Pacific Tool moniker - drawing by Dave Kiff, checked by A. Kiff. Some of the memory bank was correct: .285" neck diameter; OAL 1.518" (ok, at 1.520", I was only close). Free-bore is 0.060", throat angle (terminology per drawing) 1Deg. - 30 min. (3.0 deg. included) which is perfect. My 25BR reamer has the same throating, but features .283" neck diameter. Specify that the free-bore diameter (on a Kiff drawing, lead), be NOT LESS than .2575", and live with anything within tolerance over that!
When Bill Niemi made the dies, I got both FB and BT, as I knew the lack of demand [for .25 Cal bullets] would allow more time for experimentation/comparison. I was surprised that the BT produced the same precision level as the FB - I was prejudiced, and did not expect that!
Therefore, I have used mostly the BT version, and that is what I sell the most. They - BT/FB - don't necessarily "like" the same powder charge . . . I have been advised by several, that the 88s are, "as good as, or, better than", the 25 Cal. GOLD STANDARD - the 87 Gr. Fowler: of that, I am proud, and honored.
In the early 1990s, the attempt to resurrect the .25 Cal. was polluted by the lack of understanding of twist rate requirement(s) - as the shorter jackets became unavailable, and makers simply went to the next longest jacket, while maintaining the SAME weight and twist: a wreck was in the making.
People incorrectly blamed jacket quality as opposed to the inadequate twist rate - later, a few people figured this out. It took a good deal of pleading with Bill Niemi before he agreed to make 25 Cal dies for me - he didn't want a disappointed customer!
So, I purchased a bunch of jackets, measured the wall-thickness uniformity (which was EXCELLENT - 0.0002" or, <), and sent them to Bill for approval . . . he agreed with my measurement, and a few months later, I had a set of dies!
Ok, for the 88 BT you need a minimum of 1:12" (Sg 1.4 at STD. sea-level conditions); from the same twist, the FB exit the muzzle at Sg 1.5 - right where the GURUS want it!
With BR quality bullets, a faster twist-rate will not measurably errode precision. All else being equal, the addition of a BT, will increase the twist-rate requirement by about 3/4"; e.g. "ideally" (where Sg 1.5 is ideal), the correct twist rate for the 88 BT would be 1:11.25". My latest .25BR barrel is a Bartlein 1:10", chambered for me by "Humble Henry" Rivers - if it doesn't SHOOT, that's who I'll blame!
Bed time!
RG