25-06 blown primers

[Dmerritt47]

Then the only thing I can think of is your over charging. From the comments above load data I would run a pressure ladder starting at 49gn, work my way up in 1/2gn increments till you find the first hint of pressure... should be below the 53gn charge weight you already know. Its good to know where max is especially with temperature sensitive powder and stay at least 1/2gn charge weight away from first hint.
Lets say its 52gns, then I would run a charge weight test around 51gn in .3 increments on either side looking for best groups.

I personally would consider a different powder for more velocity if you have some on hand. Otherwise Im guessing you will land around 2850/2900 fps.

I think you're right about changing powders. I'm am probably not even to 90% case fill with the h4831 so I will probably look elsewhere for that bullet or just stick to the eld-x. Thanks for the input

 

[MtnW]

Pretty large learning curve for safe, accurate, reliable reloading. If you do something wrong you can blow your face off.
Have you measured, shot chronographed various new factory ammunition in your rifle? Results?
Even today I individually balance beam scale each round when adding powder and then trickle remaining grains. A Hornady LOCK-N-LOAD bullet comparator really takes the seating depth out of the equation. Nothing is more satisfying than finding the perfect accurate load for your individual rifle and using your own precisely crafted ammo on your hunts.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

25/06 has a lot of case growth. If you're not trimmed adequately you can some pressure real high, real fast. Also, you're loading 2 gains over start the max was for my rifle with that powder and the Sierra 117 gameking (awesome bullet btw)

 

[AnotherAussie]

Its hard giving advise on the internet when you don't have the rifle in front of you at the range.

I spent a lifetime loading and testing at the range where on the fly changes can be made and 99% of issues can be addressed right there.

My current .25/06 I've had for 25 years. It wears a 26" match grade Hart Barrel with #5 contour, SS and fluted on a Model 70 squared and trued action. Most of its life it had a Leupold 6.5-20AO scope and loads are as tight as .2's and .3's with 100gn TTSX's @ close to 3500fps and 120gn Partitions and 117gn Hornady's around .5"-.75" and 3150-3180fps.

You will note that many contributors here are recording much lower velocities while I am still using the same brass I started with 25 years ago.

Best advice I could give is to break the rules now and again, maybe try a little faster burning like W760 for the 100's and Retumbo and Rel 22 for the heavier bullets. I do use match grade Federal 210's across the board but have never felt the need for magnum primers with this cartridge.

For deer sized game, it is worth the effort to push this cartridge a little. It's a great killer and quite flat shooting.

 

[Choupique]

bergers were 3 thousands off the lands

I'm pretty new to this but I do have a machinest background. 0.003" off the lands seems way tighter than the margin for measurement error here. Since the distance to the lands is the intersection of some sort of curve (the bullet) and a wedge (the lands) it'd be almost impossible to measure your load accurately enough to be THAT consistent without some specialized equipment. The tolerance stacking involved is likely enough to get some loads jammed. Jammed and over book max load seems like it'd track with what happened.

Doesnt berger recommend something like 0.050" off the lands as a starting point? I'd seat the bullet deeper, back down to book max at the most, and see what happens.