I'm toying with the idea of loading some reduced recoil for my 25-06 for the kids to shoot. Going with recommendations from Hodgdon on H4895 and the 60% rule, I'm at 24gr. Can anyone help with the velocity expectations, or give any other powder recommendations? Currently shooting 117gr sp. Thanks

Maybe lighter bullet also! Pushing less mass should lower felt recoil. If you can find well constructed bullet for hunting if that's the plan. That and reduced load might be the ticket!

The trick to reducing recoil is to reduce bullet weight and reduce the speed. If you run a 117 and slow it down, it will reduce the recoil. But if you run an 87 grain slower, it will reduce the recoil even more. Plus, the 117 may be too heavy/long to stabilize and shoot well at reduced speeds. I would go to a 75-90 grain flat base, lead pointed bullet.

Yea, I was thinking I would need to go lower in bullet weight. The 117gr is what I currently have though.
Chad, excuse my ignorance but why a flat base bullet?

Not questioning your expertise just wanting to understand.

Sure. Anytime you slow bullets down, your stability decreases, due to decreased RPM's. A 117 grain bullet is a heavy and long bullet for a .257 caliber anyway. Stability is based on bullet length, not weight, so the longer the bullet is, the more twist rate needed to stabilize it. If you run a boat tail bullet, it increases the overall length. If you run a flat base, it makes the bullet shorter. Plus, a flat base is easier to shoot better at slower speeds.

So for a reduced recoil load, the idea is to reduce bullet weight and speed together. You can try the 117 and see what you get. But my guess is it will have trouble shooting well at slower speeds. A flat base, lead pointed 87 grain bullet using the 60% rule with H4895 would be a very good reduce load with very little recoil.

Awesome, thanks! I guess I'll try a 87gr hotcore. Do you think a 100gr partition would work? It's a 24" 1:10 barrel.

http://www.castpics.net/LoadData/OM/default.html
Link is to older Lyman manuals. Lyman #44 has some cast bullet loads. They recommend using greater than 75gr bullets.
100gr lead bullet @ 1700-1900fps. Using 700x, PB, Red Dot, Green Dot, SR4756, SR7625.

My current 'cat sneeze' load for a 30-06 is 4.6gr Red Dot and a 100gr cast lead bullet. These are really fun to shoot. Less noise, and recoil is less due to the heavier rifle, than a .22. If you cast your own, you can shoot these for about 5cents apiece. Check the castboolit site for additional info you need. There are a few cautions, like using dedicated cases for these loads.

Thanks hovercat, what velocity are you getting with that 30-06 load and how consistent is it?

That bullet would work great. Have used it in low recoil loads for a 257 roberts

The 100 grain Partition would work fine, it's just expensive to shoot!

Very consistent load, no idea of velocity, I do not have a chronograph. I made them up for the kids. Fun to watch other shooters at the range cringe when you hand an 8 year old girl a 06 to shoot. As a bonus, I carry my deer rifle checking the trapline, just switch to a light load for dispatch, then back to ready if a deer or hog shows up.
You will have to work up what works for your rifle. Find one that will always send a bullet out. Tip the muzzle down before going back on target (powder away from primer), and always check for a hole in the target while working up. Then go a few 1/10 grain over and you have the cat sneeze load for that rifle.
If you google 'the load' IIRC it is about 10gr, work it down until you are light enough. Cast lead is easier on the pocketbook also, especially for plinking ammo.

80gr ttsx

My 257wby has less recoil with them then my 25-06 with 100gr partitions

Not if you reduce that partition to 2400 fps few with a reduced load of H4895, that load will kill deer further than most kids should be shooting with very little recoil

Chad beat me to it. Good reading there. I did the same for my sons 243, and I'll be doing it for my quarter06 just for practice rounds and spits and grins