25-06; bullet weight & load data

[MudRunner2005]

Man, I love these 25-06 discussions! One of my favorite rifles. Mine is just a 700 CDL with the factory 24" barrel and a 6x Leupold. Did have it pillar bedded, free floated, and the trigger adjusted to a crisp 3#. I use mine as a general purpose hunting rifle, not a dedicated long-range rig. It's been TERRIFC!

Used several loads over the years:

100 gr Barnes TSX @ 3340 fps via H4350 Lack of expansion on deer at longer ranges. Quit using that bullet. Since then Barnes has introduced the tipped version which I understand is very good. My barrel also got quite a bit of copper fouling from the soft, all copper bullet. Wasn't thrilled, but I did take a couple of mule deer bucks with it.

115 gr Berger VLD @ 3190 fps via Retumbo Turned to this after the TSX. John Barsness had just published some very favorable info re the Berger VLD as a hunting bullet, so I decided to give 'em a try. My goodness, I was impressed! Excellent accuracy. Minimal drop & drift. And excellent killing power. Just as described: tiny entrance wound coupled with violent expansion inside the chest cavity. Took three mule deer with this load at 175, 230 and 400 yards. All instant drops. I was impressed.

115 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip @3150 fps via Retumbo I backed off my load a bit for this bullet and found it to be an excellent all-around hunting bullet. Good penetration, excellent expansion and easily sub MOA accuracy. Longest kill was a coyote, one shot at 420 yards. Held on the dog as he was heading uphill, away from me. Have taken several mule deer & pronghorn antelope with this bullet and I think it's just about perfect for deer & antelope sized game. Just two weeks ago I took a nice sized 4x4 mule deer with one shot at about 355 yards, from the bipod/prone. I was pleased.

I've also shot the 115 gr Nosler Partition, using Retumbo, and have seen excellent results on target. Partitions can be very accurate! I've not yet used that bullet on game, though I really ought to get started since I bought 500 of them!

Yes, your 25-06 is an excellent cartridge. I was surprised when I got mine, to learn that so many people happily use them on black bear and elk! I haven't done that yet, though I did carry it on one elk hunt, with the 115 gr Partitions. No shot though. Phooey.

Most recent buck:

Antelope:

420 yard coyote via the 115 gr Ballistic Tip:

Biggest buck with my 25-06, 340 yards, 115 Ballistic Tip:

The "Blue Cyclone" 115 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips:

It's just a great cartridge! Light recoil. Excellent accuracy. Reasonably flat trajectory at "normal" hunting ranges. Easy to load, easy to shoot, deadly on game. Ya, I like it.

LOTS of great replies here. Enjoy your new cartridge/rifle.

Regards, Guy

Guy, if you like the SAAMI standard .25-06 Rem, you would love the Ackley Improved version. What's not to love about less case trimming and a 200+ FPS increase?

 

[Toecutter]

In honor of this thread (sorta), took the 25-06 out today trying to see if it wanted to bring some good luck to my GF. Three does and moosy cow at 20yds. Beautiful day to be out though.

 

[jjmp]

congrats on yur 25/06 sendero, it should be Fantastic your twist 1/10 will shoot all the bullet weights from 75 to 120 grainers , imr 4831 helped my friend to shoot his praire dog at 771 yards. 100 gn sierra Match kings and 52 gns of imr 4350 shoots Fantastic,also rl-22 is fantastic with 100 grainers also,mine crooned 3499 , just brings smiles when you brake the shot,,,, 115 nbt's are great with rl-22 as are sierra's 117bt's, never shot a 120 wt thru my custom 26inch 1/10 twist chrome moly bbl Shilen mated to a rem bdl action worked over piller n glass beded n free floated ,im more then Happy with her performance, that's why I went with a 26 inch bbl, enjoy the forum, brake your bbl in proper and she'll repay you 10 fold, yeah that 25 ought six aint she something!!!! ps always wanted to try retumbo but burned it up in other caliber cartridges , enjoy !

 

[MudRunner2005]

JJMP, try IMR 7828 SSC. One of the best around I've found in my .25-06 AI with 115 VLD's and Fed 210M's.

That's the powder that pushes me really close to .257 Wby velocities (equal playing field, both 26" 1:10 barrels, same bullets & powder).

 

[jjmp]

Thks MR2005, i'll keep that in mine , never shot a 115 vld in her either lol ,so many bullets n powder need mor time lol , thks jjmp

 

[MudRunner2005]

Just an FYI, be really careful with 7828 SSC, it doesn't show hardly any pressure signs until you're right at the wall. So, definitely work up very carefully.

 

[jjmp]

thks ,great to know !!!

 

[Havard]

Ok gents, I finally got the NF scope mounted and completed a break in procedure. Up to about 30 rounds out of her and achieved .75" as best so far. I do have a question though;
We loaded a 100gr TSX w/ 53gr of RL22 (best group), Hornady brass(new), and federal primers. Max load as per the Barnes book was 55.5gr. At 54.5, I saw some light ejector marks and the group went to crap, so I did an all stop. Is it possible to adjust seating depth and try for the max load again, or will seating depth have nothing to do with it? I'm just off the lands and thinking if I seat to .050" seating depth as the book suggests that I may see the pressure signs reduce. Sorry if this is elementary questions but I am asking prior to proceeding.

Thanks

 

[MudRunner2005]

Ok gents, I finally got the NF scope mounted and completed a break in procedure. Up to about 30 rounds out of her and achieved .75" as best so far. I do have a question though;
We loaded a 100gr TSX w/ 53gr of RL22 (best group), Hornady brass(new), and federal primers. Max load as per the Barnes book was 55.5gr. At 54.5, I saw some light ejector marks and the group went to crap, so I did an all stop. Is it possible to adjust seating depth and try for the max load again, or will seating depth have nothing to do with it? I'm just off the lands and thinking if I seat to .050" seating depth as the book suggests that I may see the pressure signs reduce. Sorry if this is elementary questions but I am asking prior to proceeding.

Thanks

Seating depth is one of those "happy medium" things... Seating too deep in the case creates more pressure, because it takes more pressure to push more of the bullet's bearing surface out of the case neck and into the bore. Seating too far into the lands creates more pressure because while less of the bullet is in the case, it's pushed up against the lands, and it takes alot more pressure to push the bullet into the rifling from a dead-stop up against the leade. It's all about finding the sweet spot.

 

[jjmp]

Great points above , I've gotten away with as little as 0.35 jump with Barnes bullets but in different calibers , but Barnes like 0.50 so you could experiment , that's part of reloading also ,even noslers E-tip like .100 thousands jump n mor ,just saying , Congrats again 3/4 inch is Great shooting , lots n lots of LV for the 25/06 on this Forum and just as much reading about it to boot !!! Thks

 

[kiwikid]

Havard, this link may be of interest to you,
https://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/.25-06+Remington.html
It is a bit of a read but has some great info in there particularly in the hand loaded section.
At present I load for 5 different 25-06 rifles and have found that three of them sing on 56 grains of Rel22 with Fed 210M primers and Sierra 100gr GK. One rifle prefers 54gr Rel23, Fed 210M and Sierra 100gr Pro Hunter and the last likes
52 gr Rel17 Fed 210M and 100gr Nosler Partitions.
After having the synthetic stock bedded on my Cooper 52 25-06 I sighted the scope in and took it to 400m (437 ys) to confirm drop. This is the three shot group I fired, two bullets went through the right hand hole. Luckily I had used a new corflute backing and there were two holes together. They measure 0.623"
Have fun with your 25-06.
Kiwikid.

 

[lacajun]

115 vld's 4831 sc my rifle likes this combo @ 52 grns but start lower and work your way up...
see target in link...100 meters not yards.

https://www.longrangehunting.com/threads/arnold-arms-25-06-tack-driver.210104/