reloading the 25-06 for varmints

[Savage Shooter]

Well i have been on the fence for a while about getting a gun for some bean field shooting and i decided to go with a 25-06. I ended up getting a browning bar safari i wanted a bolt gun and a 24" barrel BUT.... i was at a auction and nobody was bidding on this little beauty so i got it for a very fair price.

I want to use it on coyotes and foxes this fur season and on any unlucky crow or groundhog i see. I was curious to see if anyone has had good luck using their 25-06 to take fur with that's not damaging the hides to bad. I'm also curious if 500 yards is out of the question to take these guys with this caliber.
thanks

 

[Blackrock]

Hide damage will depend a lot on bullet selection. As for long range accuracy a good scope with up around 16 to 20 max magnification will help a bunch.
I have used my .257 Roberts on Pdogs out to around 5oo yards and the pups went splat with a 70g Speer hollow point.

 

[Tolkachi Robotnik]

A lot will depend on where you hit them.

Try for head shoots. Too bad you are Illinois, it would make a fine deer rifle.

 

[witchhunter]

A 75 Sierra HP out of a .25/06 does to a fox what a .220 Swift does to a prairie dog. It will drop a coyote as far as you can hit em. It will be hard on fur though, you might experiment with bigger bullets like a Barnes 100 TTX that wont expand as easily.

 

[Savage Shooter]

Ya i figured the light varmint bullets would just disintegrate whatever little thing i shot. I was figuring people were loading up some heavier bullets for deer that would stay together and just punch a hole.

 

[Txhillbilly]

100 gr Sierra Matchkings work really well,and don't damage the fur too bad. I've shot plenty of yote's with 115 gr Nosler C/T Silvertips and Berger Hunting VLD's,but you really tear them up with those bullets.
My rifle doesn't like to shoot anything lighter than the 100 grainers.

 

[Savage Shooter]

I may look for some matchkings next time I'm in town see if there available. I definitely want to save the fur so i didn't get anything with a ballistic tip. I bought a box of rem 100gr core-loc psp's and a box of win 120gr positive expanding points. Wasn't much of a selection may have to try a few stores. Still have to get a scope picked out so i can't sight in yet anyway. I was looking at something in a 4-16 power possibly a nikon monarch 3 4-16x42 but I'm still looking.

 

[sage5907]

That Winchester 120 grain positive expanding point may be good for shooting coyotes and fox. I know a guy that has been shooting deer with them in a 25-06 for years and he always complained that they are slow to open up. They may shoot a hole through your animals without opening. I personally always liked the 120 grain bullets in my 25-06s and I definitely wouldn't use anything below 100 grains. Small light bullets are traveling so fast they open quickly and ususlly make a large entrance hole.

 

[Savage Shooter]

Thats good i'll try those maybe on some pumpkins to see what they do. I still haven't had time to shoot it yet to sight in, working six days a week doesn't work to well for free time. I was going to get a new scope but decided to throw on a leupold 4-12x40 scope i had instead of the 4-16 i wanted.

 

[41 Mag]

I ran the 115's the most in mine, and if that Lupy is the Vari X with the duplex reticle then you can figure on it being right at 18" from top to bottom of the center cross at about 400yds if you want to use it as a range finder as well.

My load with the 115gr Partition used RL-22 and ran 3150fps form the 24" barrel on my 700. Using the Vari X I knew just where to hold on anything out to 400 and some change. It wasn't too bad on yotes, but it was hell on fox squirrels that I shot of my deer feeders. I put a goodly number of them into the red mist from out past 200yds with it.

Good luck with yours, I don't know about those auto loaders much, but you might not want to run the slower powders, maybe load them like one of the Garands with the medium stuff.

 

[Taterhead]

RL 17 and a 100SMK has outstanding precision in my heavy 24" barrel Rem 700 BDL 25.06.

Not quite to Alliant's book max. Velocities are a hair under 3400.

You might look at the 90 gr Barnes "banded solid" for a fur gathering bullet. It is non-expanding. I imagine that RL-17 or IMR 4350 would match well with that bullet, although I have no first-hand experience with it.

Congrats on the new rifle!

 

[Eb1]

man, the .25-06 is such a great cartridge. I don't know if you can find some sierra match kings in .257 caliber. If so, that is what I'd use.

Perhaps these banded solids would work good? 90 grain http://barnesbullets.myshopify.com/collections/banded-solidstm


DOH! Taterhead beat me to it.

 

[Savage Shooter]

ya the leupold is a vari-x 1 but it's a wide duplex reticle. I will look for the barnes too but i don't think i'll have much luck with finding them might have to order some off the ole interweb and see what they do

 

[ArchAngelCD]

While there is nothing wrong with Leupold scopes I have been looking in a different direction lately. Nikon has a new line, the ProStaff 5 line and the scopes are great IMO. They have a For the same price as the VX-1 you bought you could have gotten a little more magnification (3.5-14X40) and a BDC Reticle which will aid on the longer shots. http://swfa.com/Nikon-35-14x40-ProStaff-5-Riflescope-P61623.aspx

If you don't like a BDC Reticle they have the same scope with a Fine Duplex Reticle like the one you bought. http://swfa.com/Nikon-35-14x40-ProStaff-5-Riflescope-P61622.aspx

This is a completely new and modern line of scopes from Nikon so I'm not sure why they used the old ProStaff name with an added #5, especially since they are still selling the original ProStaff scopes.