Considering 25/06 as a varminter

[Hired Gun]

No game with the Accubond yet. 4 bullets retrieved from a moist clay bank showed weight retention at 65-69 percent from bullets launched at 3550-3600 fps. The bank was at 105 yards. Nice looking mushrooms with the lead bonded well to the copper. I ran into what I want to run as max in my Accumark at 73 grains of IMR 7828. Velocity was 3600 at 74 grains. Next time out will be with RL-25. That big bullet going so fast kind of takes the fun out of shooting the 257wby as a varmint rifle. It doesn't hurt or anything but it starts jumping out of the bags. My 25-06AI in that rubber Hogue stock is a real sweet heart to shoot.

 

[QuietHunter]

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Kirby cant find the 110grn accubond nosler load on there site. It looks like it doesnt exist.

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It does exist. As stated, MidwayUSA is selling them. You can get some information about them at NoslerReloading.com . I should have some waiting for me when I get home today. I will try them in my 25-06 as soon as I reasonably can.
I have been told to use the 115 load data to start with.

 

[brianwinzor]

Hired Gun, It is great to hear yet another satisfield 25/06 AI shooter. I have been using rifles (currently 2) chambered for the 25/06 AI since 1986, and like you have grown to love it. I vividly remember my eldest son (about 16 at the time) declaring one night "I swear I am going to marry this rifle some day", after shooting nine big buck Kangaroos (about 7foot tall) without a miss.

Similarly, although originally achieving 3,600+fps, I settled on about 3,550 fps with the 100 grain bullet for my field loads, and sustainable case life. I originally used the Nosler Solid base, spire point boat tail, before switching to the Ballistic Tip, but with either bullet had no trouble achieving sub 0.5 moa.

Your 3,600 fps velocities with the 110 Accubond in the 257 Weatherby are a revelation, impressive, encouraging, and are in line with what I always thought this case should be capable of.

I have never owned a rifle using the 257 Weatherby, as over the years, I have noticed that very few rifles chambered for the 257 Weatherby, seem to exceed 25/06 AI velocities by more that 50- 100 fps, despite a 12-13 grain case capacity advantage.

My gunsmith who had chambered many customer rifles for the 257 Weatherby, believed it was due to the softer brass being used, and the subsequently lower chamber pressures. I guess that prompts the question, what cases are you using, and also what is the barrel length? The photos reveal two impressive and lethal looking rifles. Regards, Brian.

 

[Quarterbore]

What is the b.c. of the 110 gr? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif I've been using the 115 gr. Nosle/Win. BST with b.c. of .453 with great results. My load is 49.5 gr of IMR 4350 shoots 2960fps from 1/10 twist Savage, groups are always < .5 MOA.

 

[Hired Gun]

off the top of my head the 25-110 AB has a B.C. of .420

Hey Brian,
I too can't say enough good things about the 25-06AI. My performance in the 24" barrel has been optimal.

As for the 50-100 foot increase of the Weatherby. Usually that is from either not slow enough powder or too short of barrel or no freebore. With 100 grain partitions my buddy was over 3900 without pressure. 3700 is a good safe speed with 74 grains of IMR7828 in the 26" barreled Weatherby. The key is slower powder. So many people try to get there with RL-19,4350, RL-22 or IMR4831 and they will hit pressure way before they get much of a speed increase. RL25 is slower than 7828 and has shown promise. This weekend if the weather holds I will go see if I can't blow myself up trying to acheive a good safe 3700 out of that Accubond. I only use genuine Weatherby brass in my Weatherby's. It has much greater capacity than the Remington brass does. If the wind cooperates I would like to do some accuracy testing too. Last time out it was gusting 30+ mph and shooting in between gusts it was under 1 inch just blasting out the window of my rig.

The 257 in a 26" barrel should put a good safe 200-300fps on any regular 24" 25-06. I know a gunsmith who does up custom Rugers in 257Wby with 30" barrels and his shop advertised load shoots 100 grain bullets at 4100fps.

JoeCool should be along one of these days and he has about the most 257 Wby experience you will ever find. We are comparing notes on the Accubond whenever we get a decent day to shoot. We have had our bullets going on a month, just the weather has been to bad to do any real development. His Accumark has just a pinch looser chamber than mine. His does over 3600 real safe with the 110. Again he hasn't tested RL-25 yet either.

I would love to get in on one of those Roo hunts. Is it possible for a tourist to bring their own rifle and go Roo hunting in Australia?

 

[Ageo308]

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I would love to get in on one of those Roo hunts. Is it possible for a tourist to bring their own rifle and go Roo hunting in Australia?

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You need to get a visitors permit and have access to a property. Usually you need to tag each roo you shoot but farmers allow you to shoot them because of the extensive damage they cause to their property.

 

[Longreach]

Hired Gun,

Currently, I'm considering a .25 calibre for pretty much the same work as Ageo308. I've never owned a .25 calibre before but all the data suggests that it would be optimal for the size of game and the ranges they would be encountered. Everyone speaks highly of the 25-06 but what of the .25 WSSM? Also, I've been gawking at a Weatherby Accumark in .257 Weatherby with it's phenomenal ballistics. Cost and availability of ammo are a concern though. If I did go the way of a .25 WSSM, a Win Coyote would be my pick. Tell me more about your .257!

Good to see the locals on the website. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Longreach]

G'day Brian,

Good to see your son's heading down the right path! Mine are too though they're somewhat younger. 7ft roos! I've seen some big ones here near the East coast but not quite that tall. The .25 should love them! Am using a .270 for most of my hunting at the moment but it's a tad big for 90% of the game hunted hence the considered move towards a .25.

Whadya reckon about the .257 Weatherby and the Accumark? Hired Gun's rig looks like a beauty!

 

[Hired Gun]

I'm not sure what to say. It has the best of everything. Mine is an early version that comes with the HS Precision aluminum bed blocked stock. The Kreiger lapped barrel is really smooth. Less than 10 patches start to finnish and she is spotless. The trigger adjusted with two screws that you can reach with it in the stock to remove the creep and weight of pull. Mine adjusted down to a real crisp 13 ounces. I stopped there. It might go lighter. I used Leupold bases with Burris Signature rings with 20 minutes of down elevation so I could have more elevation available in the Burris Black Diamond 8x32-50 scope. When I had that scope on my Ruger I could hit pop cans almost every time at 600 yards. My 300 Weatherby shoots in the .2's and I expect the Accumark to do the same. I'm thinking the 75 grain V-Maxes will top 4300 if I want to. I sure like finally having the power to just shoot the velocity I want to now rather than having to lean on stuff to get by. I'm sure all my loads will be reduced from max for the sake of long life. The brass was $106 delivered to my door from Cabela's for 100 peices of real Weatherby brass. Once you have your brass it doesn't cost much different than the 25-06 to load for. It really is one fine rifle. Everything about it is just so smooth and fit so nice. The muzzle is finnished at .705 so this has some metal in it. With my 29 ounce scope it weighs 10.5 pounds. The raised cheek area puts me in perfect alignment with the scope. I just wish the stock was a little grippier like the Hogue stock is.

I just got it on paper Monday so no real accuracy work has started yet but from what I saw so far with the tracking of the scope and the bullet placement on paper it looks like a real shooter even with all the wind I was in. I couldn't stand it. I have had it near a month and needed to shoot it.

 

[LB]

I'll add my data, just for comparison. This is my third 25'06 Ackley, the first that uses R-22, which gives me a little better performance. Barrel is 28.5"

I use 270 brass, supposedly for strength, but, in any case, it can't hurt.

I have only two loads.

100 grain Ballistic Tip 210Match primer 57.0 grains of R-22.
3650fps

75 grain VMax 210Match primer 57.0 grains of AA#2700.
4000fps

Beyond four hundred yards, the Nosler has much better ballistics. This is a predator rig, I don't waste barrel life on rabbits.

Good hunting. LB

 

[Longreach]

Hired Gun,

The first thing that struck me about a Weatherby was the Monte Carlo stock. It took a little getting used to and that was just from looking at it! After I hefted one to my shoulder, it was easy to see why it's there. It lined me up very nicely with the scope and apparently helps with the recoil too. All of a sudden it was quite attractive!

Reloading will have to be the way to go. I might have to order more than just brass to make the delivery to Oz worthwhile! Mate, it sounds like it's worth it. Hope you get to shoot yours to your heart's satisfaction asap. Thanks for your input. Weatherby might owe you a commission!

 

[brianwinzor]

Longreach, Merry Xmas to an "OZ" on the east coast.

I followed what seems to be a family tradition, as my father shot his first fox at age 5, and had me shooting at age 7. My eldest son by the age of 9 was confidently and competently shooting the 17/222 Mag imp, 224 Clark, 25/06 AI, but seemed reluctant to try the 7mm Rem Mag, and I was comfortable with that.

The Eastern Grey Buck Roos that my son shot that night were the biggest of that species I had seen, and for some strange reason all seemed to be confined to an area of about 500 acres. Since then I have occasionally seen the odd thumper that would be around 7 feet, but the majority of males would be 5.0 - 6.0 feet, with the females being considerably smaller.

I have not seen a 257 Weatherby Accumark, to be able to pass judgement. However, I have always believed that for the price of a Weatherby, I could build up a better rifle from quality custom components, and still believe that would be true.

"Hired gun's rig" certainly looks good, and he gave a good description of the level of performance from the 257 Weatherby case, and it certainly would handle about 90% of Australian game.

The cost of 257 Weatherby loaded ammunition is expensive, and if you want to reload, the Norma unprimed cases at $A170.00 per 100, are over 3 times the price of Winchester or Remington 25/06 cases. This may or may not be an issue for you to consider.

Although I do shoot various other calibres, I believe that the .257 calibre when using cases of about 25/06 size capacity (65 grains) or larger, combined with the 100 - 120 grain bullets are the best option when used on Australian medium game. The 270Win seems to work best with the 130 - 150 grain bullet weights, and I agree with you, that they are more than is needed for about 90% of your shooting.

The 25/06 will do a good job, and is the cheapest option, while the 257 Weatherby is probably the most expensive, but will have the ability to deliver the extra performance when the need arises. Good luck in whatever you choose, and email me if you want some reloading data for the 25/06 or 25/06 AI. Regards, Brian.

 

[brianwinzor]

Ageo308, I would only use the 1 in 12 twist if you intended to solely use the 70 - 75 grain bullets, as this twist would have trouble getting the 100 grain to shoot accurately or mabye even stabilise.

I would only use the 70 - 75 grain bullets, if 90% of your varmint shooting was inside 300 yards, as they have a low BC and wind will make hits much harder past 300 yards. It was for this reason that I built up the .224 Clark in the mid 1980's as a specialist long range varmint rifle using the heavier bullets with higher BC. I immediately found that I was connecting more often at the longer ranges.

I imported some 30 grain 172 calibre bullets from the US on two prior occasions, and checked several weeks ago, and found that the procedure is still the same.

Individuals (you and I) are restricted by Australian Customs regulations to a $A250.00 limit on each order. The exporter (ie.Wildcat bullets) has to declare on the outside of the package what the contents are, their value, and sign under this declaration. Customs recommend that he attach or tape an invoice to the outside of the package. Once the package arrives in Australia, the Customs will write to you requesting that you produce a B709A form, and they will then release them to you. You probably may have to pay GST on the declared value. In South Australia the B709A form is obtained from the firearms section of the South Australian Police Dept, who check that you have the appropriate fireams licence etc. Hope this infomation helps. Regards, Brian.

 

[Ageo308]

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Ageo308, I would only use the 1 in 12 twist if you intended to solely use the 70 - 75 grain bullets, as this twist would have trouble getting the 100 grain to shoot accurately or mabye even stabilise.

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Brian i was thinking of the 1-10 twist as i will probably shoot 75 - up to 100-120 grn. 1-10 might be in the middle of a 1-8 and a 1-12twist.
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Individuals (you and I) are restricted by Australian Customs regulations to a $A250.00 limit on each order. The exporter (ie.Wildcat bullets) has to declare on the outside of the package what the contents are, their value, and sign under this declaration. Customs recommend that he attach or tape an invoice to the outside of the package. Once the package arrives in Australia, the Customs will write to you requesting that you produce a B709A form, and they will then release them to you. You probably may have to pay GST on the declared value. In South Australia the B709A form is obtained from the firearms section of the South Australian Police Dept, who check that you have the appropriate fireams licence etc. Hope this infomation helps. Regards, Brian.

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Thanks for that info, pretty **** expensive just to get some ammo lol. Is it cheaper if you buy bulk??