Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 25-06 Load Data

Looking for your recommendations on 25-06 load data. I’m considering using a 117gr Hornady Interlock for game up to and including cow elk.

115 BT with reloder 22

120 with h4831

I'm loading for an Encore with the 24 inch barrel. I am also using 117 gr. Hornady BTSP bullets. IMR4350 is frequently listed as the accuracy powder for the 25-06. I tried both IMR and Hodgdon 4350, H4831 and RL19. For me, RL19 gave the best, most consistent accuracy. In the Encore that's right at an inch, depending on my shooting that day.

I've taken quite a few deer and one hog with it. All the bullets gave exits and all game dropped within thirty yards of where they were shot. Does that make it a bullet for game the size of cow elk, don't know. I shot two deer on consecutive days, on the same path, at the same distance. One with the 25-06 and the other with a 35 Whelen with 200gr. Hornady SP. Each shot took out a shoulder and exited behind the off shoulder. Both ran an equal distance with heavy blood trails.

I use IMR 4350, 115 Ballistic tips, works great!

RL 22.

I'm loading 54.0 of H-4831sc using the "discontinued" Hornady 120 gr HP. An extremely accurate load in my T/C
Encore. Don't let the "hollow point" fool you , the 120 gr HP is an extremely tough bullet. When Doug Derner was still working at Hornady I spoke to him on using this bullet for Elk, Doug's reply was the 120 gr HP is one of the toughest bullets we make.

There is a poster over at Trapshooters.com whose screen name is "SuperXJeff." His hunting group has killed
over 80 Elk and Mule Deer using the 120 gr HP. When Hornady discontinued the 120 gr HP Jeff went into a "PANIC", he was able to pick up 1,000 bullets in short order. I just picked up a another box on the classifieds
last week.

I also shoot the Hornady 100 gr interlock using 51.0 of H-4350, chrono's at 3,389.

I don't shoot boattail bullets as the 117 gr BTSP but have used the Hornady 117 gr SST in my 250 Savage with
stellar results even at very low speeds.

I found the 25-06 to really awaken with the newer slow powders like H1000, RE25/26 and Retumbo. They all work with bullets of 100g and heavier.
I have used 56g of RE25 with a 117g SGK.

Cheers.

For years my only centerfire rifle was a 25-06. I shot a bunch of woodchucks with it. My deer load was 50 grains of IMR 4350 under a 120 grain Hornady hollow point, as mentioned above. It broke both shoulders of a buck and exited, so I think it's tough enough. This was a while back. Today, there are a bunch of new powders and no more Hornady 120 grain hollow points being made.

My ultimate big game load for that 25-06 was 54 grains of H 4831 under a 120 grain Nosler Partition for 3,120 fps. If I still had that rifle and were hunting elk, that's what I would load. One might get a bit more velocity with RL-26 or another one of the new powders, but not much more.

These days I shoot a 257 Roberts. A bit slower, a lot less recoil.

I know they are no longer made but the Speer 120gr Hot-Cor with a full house of either RL22 or RL25 is a great combination and on game performance has always been excellent for me. Both powders produce excellent accuracy with RL25 giving a tad more velocity.

I've been loading the .25-06 since 1965 and have had five or six rifles. All have been quite accurate with H4831 using bullets in the 87 - 120 grain range.

Mine likes Imr 4831 pushing a 110 Accubond.

I've had two 25-06s, one was a Mark X and the other is Remington. Sendero. With both rifles a case full of IMR or H 4831 with a 100 grain flat base bullet, usually Speer gave sterling accuracy. I never tried anything of a lower weight, the boat tails of any bullet weight did not match the accuracy of the Speer. I have long hoped for a 115, a117 or a 120 grain for long range [400 to 600 yards]. I've thought about rebarreling to a different twist rate to se i that improved the accuracy with the heavier bullet weights.
I've wondered if the boat tail bullets might be the problem. The flat baseSpeer always out shoots the various boat tails.

For 100 grain bullets I use H4350/52 grains. For 115 to 120 grains I have started using Magnum/60 grains. Have used a lot of H4831 in the past before the SC version came out. Never got back to H4831sc, but maybe this year as I am short of both Magnum and H4350.

I allways used good H870 in mine with various 120 bullets. I still have enough H870 to get me by. The 120 gr hp Hornady pencil thru the lungs of a nice antelope buck on me, no expansion. I was able to find and tag him but it took an hr
So I quit using them on game. The 120 gr open pt Sierra is only a rib cage bullet at 25-06 velocity.
The 120 corelokt was a favorite and 120 open point expanding WW's work well to. Mb

My favorite bullet for my 25/06 was the 120 Nosler Solid Base: discontinued. Also had good luck with the 120 Speer Hot Core: discontinued. Found the 120 Speer Deep Curl to perform very well: discontinued. Ok, really like the 120 Hornady HP: discontinued.

When I find my next favorite bullet for the 25/06, I'll let you know so you can stock up!!

I also use RL 22.

Fortunately I have a box of each of those plus 3 of the Hornady 120 HP that have been gathering dust for many years. Also have 2 Nosler 110 AB, 2 115 BT and 5 boxes of 117 Pro Hunters which has been my favorite for many years hence the dust on the others. Bought some when Sierra decided to discontinue them. Favorite load is 53 grains RL22 and a 117 PH or a 115 BT. 110 AB isn’t shabby either.

My 25-06 is more accurate with the 117 Sierra but it's not bad with the Hornady. IMR 4831 has always work well.

49.0gr of IMR 4350 has proven accurate in several 25-06s. I use the 115gr NBT and 117gr SGK interchangeably.

I also feel your pain. Just picked up another box of the Hornady 117 gr SST to work up a replacement load for the Hornady 120 gr hollow point. The 117 gr SST has performed extremely well on paper and deer in my .250 Savage so "Why Not'!