For some reason I was thinking the M340 had a shorter barrel. I know the .30-30 a friend had was short.

I checked Numrich Arms and they list an 18", 20" (Model 840), 22" and 24" barrel depending on caliber (but no .225 Win listed).


In any case, start 10% below max and work up. My Hornady (6th Ed) manual shows 32.9 gr IMR 4064 as the max load w/55 gr bullets. 34.0 gr would be hairy & scary for their bullet, case and primer choice in the chamber they used to work it up.


I recently found a load with the relatively new IMR 4451 power & 143 Gr ELD-x bullets in my .260 Rem that auto-ejects primers when fired and opens the pockets so primers will fall out from their own weight. It was 5% below the max listed on the Hodgdon Load Data site. Happily I now have confidence in the "emergency" gas ports of my M11 and I was going to glass bed it after hunting season anyway so the burnt wood isn't a bother. Not recommended to help with your concentration for the next few shots (I pulled the bullets from the rest of that batch!) That was a first (and second - D'oh!) for me.