25-06 bullet question?

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RugerNut9

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I am going to start loading this round with IMR 4064 powder, anyone have a favorite type bullet that serves well as a target round and hunting round on occasion?
 
I find the Sierra 117 gr BTSP to be a good hunting bullet for the 25/06... if you're looking for "target" bullets the Bergers are going to be the ones.

I think you'll also find that slower powders will serve you better in the 25/06 ... not that the IMR 4064 won't work ... the slower ones will give better velocity. I like IMR 7828, IMR 4831, Reloder 22, Reloder 25 and others ...

I started reloding the 25/06 in 1969 right after it became a commerical round.

Jimmy K
 
Haha well.... I see I have an expert, Ill try a different powder, cant deny experience. Thanks for your help.
 
I agree with the slower powders and the 117gr bullet. For some reason the 25-06 seems to really like the 117gr bullet. (not a 115gr or 120gr bullet, a 117gr bullet! LOL)
 
I've loaded a lot of .25/06 for a friends rifle. He passed away in '02 and his rifle dissapeared with his daughter......
I also have taken a LOT of deer with the .257Roberts and a few with a .257wby.
Friends rifle (Cooper custom) liked IMR4350 under a 100gr and H4831SC under a 117-120gr bullet.

I like the 115gr Nosler partitions, however; I've had good results with Hornady's 100gr flat-base, as well as both 117gr RN and Boat-tail PtSpt. Sierra's however have universally given best accuracy with excellent game performance. Best terminal performance has been with the 120gr Remington Cor-lokt, however it is no longer available in component form......

Though as one poster mentioned, the slower powders give much higher velocities, don't neccessarily discount the faster powders. A friend loads only one load in his .25/06. He uses the Sierra 120gr BTHP GameKing over 42.0gr of IMR4320. It "only" gets 2,770fps but shoots 1-hole groups from his Interarms MkX Mauser. He's killed very, very many deer with it..... bang-flops.
Can't argue with that! If I was only going to use one bullet, the Sierra 120gr GK would be it......
But, If I was going to load/use a .25/06, I'd start with a 115-120gr bullet over Reloader25. Velocities trend onto what I get from my .257wby at 10-15gr less powder.....
 
Expert I ain't ... but I have tried lots of bullets and powders....

My A-Bolt 25/06 has a 22" but yet I get more velocity out of it than I did my 24" Model 70 without pressure problems. My gun loves the 115 gr Nosler BT, but I don't care for them here where I hunt. This is because I have shot deer as close as nine yards and as far as 400+ yds. and the BT just don't work good for me at the shorter ranges...

However the 117 Sierra 117 gr BTSP works well at any range ... My gun will also shoot the 120 gr Hornady flat base sp well ... it has been a good bullet up to around 300 yds, I have not shot anything beyond that with one.

My favorite load is the 117 gr Sierra over a big dose of IMR 7828 for a 3080/3090 fps velocity and dang good accuracy.

Guns is like children ... even twins ...they may look alike ... but none ever act the same.

By the way ....I purchased my first 25/06 in 1969...because it was the biggest caliber legal for wild hogs at that time(here in GA)... it did a good job on them too.

Jimmy K
 
We mostly made sausage... mixed a little fat in .... gooder than snuff ...ain't half as dusty! We hunted the swamps near Abbeville, GA ...where the "hog show" was filmed that was showed on Discovery/History channel... all the way down towards Baxley, GA ...river swamps!

Shot some varmints with the 100 gr Speer HPBT ... bumping along at 3400 fps ... makes a mess of things... 87 gr Speer/85 gr NoslerBT at 3500+ does the same! IMR 4350 and RL 17 works good with these.

Jimmy K

I shot some of the 120 HPBT Sierra GK ... they are made for deer hunting... not varmint... shot very well in my A-Bolt... never connected with a deer with one of them....
 
I used IMR-4064 for about 40 years in my 25-06, but that's with 75 grain varmint bullets.
I like IMR-4350 with 87 grain bullets.

You would do well to use slower powder still with heavier hunting bullets.

rc
 
Allright... I guess this is as good of a place to do this as any.... I own a M77 Hawkeye LH .25-06. My problem: I can't keep a group under 3" with it no matter what I shoot factory or handloads mostly w/ IMR 4350 or H4350. Any ideas/suggestions would be helpful
Thanx
 
unklereed said:
Allright... I guess this is as good of a place to do this as any.... I own a M77 Hawkeye LH .25-06. My problem: I can't keep a group under 3" with it no matter what I shoot factory or handloads mostly w/ IMR 4350 or H4350. Any ideas/suggestions would be helpful
Thanx
Click to expand...
Check and make sure your barrel is free floated the entire length.You might want to also bed the action.
Also check for copper fouling in the barrel.
 
I've loaded the same bullet (120 gr Speer/H4831 powder) for over 20 years and have taken deer, antelope, dall sheep, caribou, black bear and prairie dogs without losing even one critter. The statement that all guns are different is spot on. I see many people come on the reloading forums looking for an accuracy load for a certain cartridge, this magic recipe doesn't exist.
 
JimKirk said:
I find the Sierra 117 gr BTSP to be a good hunting bullet for the 25/06... if you're looking for "target" bullets the Bergers are going to be the ones.

I think you'll also find that slower powders will serve you better in the 25/06 ... not that the IMR 4064 won't work ... the slower ones will give better velocity. I like IMR 7828, IMR 4831, Reloder 22, Reloder 25 and others ...

I started reloding the 25/06 in 1969 right after it became a commerical round.

Jimmy K
Click to expand...
I ordered 1 of the first 25-06 Rem 700 Varmitters and still have it.
I loaded 2000 rounds loaded with 75 gr HP from Hornady back in 1982 and am still shooting these rounds accurately. I used IMR4831 but forget the amount.

Now I load 87gr BT's with 57.0 grains of IMR4831 and have had good accuracy.

My daughter has a Sporter 25-06 Rem 700 which she reloads with 53 grains of IMR4831 with the 117 gr Hornady. It is very accurate!!!!

(I still have 18 pounds of IMR4831 left over from closing my gun shop back in 1987.)
(But then I have lots of powders and bullets from another gun shop I bought out more recently.)
 
I understand that the .25-06 can be finicky and I would hate to think it's the rifle but I'm fairly certain it isn't me. Every other firearm I own shoots tight groups, this Ruger(the only Ruger I own BTW) being the exception. I have gone-over everything making certain that nothing was loose, pinched.... shot everything between 75gr to 120gr with the same results. Shooting from a fixed rest, the best I can get is 2 rounds within 2" but the third round will stray as much as 4" every time and is all over the place. I am frustrated enough that I am half-tempted to strip the action from it a build a heavy-barrel varmint rifle with it and "scrap" the rest
 
unklereed said:
I understand that the .25-06 can be finicky and I would hate to think it's the rifle but I'm fairly certain it isn't me. Every other firearm I own shoots tight groups, this Ruger(the only Ruger I own BTW) being the exception. I have gone-over everything making certain that nothing was loose, pinched.... shot everything between 75gr to 120gr with the same results. Shooting from a fixed rest, the best I can get is 2 rounds within 2" but the third round will stray as much as 4" every time and is all over the place. I am frustrated enough that I am half-tempted to strip the action from it a build a heavy-barrel varmint rifle with it and "scrap" the rest
Click to expand...
Does the stock forearm touch the barrel in any place?
Does the trigger break clean with a light pul/squeeze?

Any pressure against the barrel will cause change of impact as barrel heats during firing.
Trigger pull is the biggest thing causing lack of accuracy - if hard or creepy, you pull too hard and don't know when it will fall.
 
I like Retumbo with 100 grain Nosler BT, 115 Nosler BT and 120 grain Sierras. The Noslers are particularly accurate with this powder.
 
In my gun the 100gr Sierra gk spbt, 100gr nbt, 115gr nbt and 117gr Hornady interlock spbt shoot really well. I`m running them all with R22. I`m going to use the 117gr Hornady`s for hunting this year.
 
I own a M77 Hawkeye LH .25-06. My problem: I can't keep a group under 3" with it no matter what I shoot factory or handloads
Click to expand...

Just saying ... I had a M77 243 that I never ever was able to make it shoot very well ... I free floated the barrel ... bedded the action ....changed the stock.... nothing ever worked! I honestly think the barrel was crap... I traded it off... it was one of very few that I've not been able to find out how to get it to shoot.

Jimmy K
 
Hey Bush Pilot, my favorite 25-06 load is similar to yours. It's a Speer 120 grain bullet with 49 grains of IMR 4831 and I have been shooting this load since 1965. In the early days is used military surplus 4831 powder but switched to IMR 4831 when it became available in my area. I've tried Noslers, Hornadys and Sierras but the reliable Speer 120 grain hotcor always worked the best. I'm on my 3rd rifle 25-06 rifle now and will keep shooting the Speer as long as it is available. I've had bad experiences with some of the bullets the younger shooters are touting, they just haven't learned yet! BW
 
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