Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 25-06 favorite loads

I didn’t even chrono the most recent gun, but if I remember correctly it was 3200-3300 in the last one I checked which was a Hawkeye 24” barrel. Sierra book max is 54g. I usually start at 50 or 50.5 and go up till the accuracy is where I want it. Can’t recall ever getting to 53g. There’s definitely sweet spot in the 51-52g area, at least with that bullet.

Bugger: can you share you 120/3177 load with us?

My go-to load is:

49.0gr IMR4350
115gr NBT or 117gr SGK
3050 FPS.
Kills like lightning and accurate in every rifle I’ve tried.

AA3100 gave me what I was looking for, then it was discontinued. Fellow told me it was the same as either 4831 or 4350, my rifle told me different. Got lucky and found a couple of pounds and loaded a life time hunting ammo.

49gr of IMR4350 has always been a sweet spot for me for 115-120s on several rifles

I used H4831 with 100s and 120 class bullets. good accuracy and plenty of kill to them. I used it( 58 grs ) with 87 gr seirras , 90 gr seirras and 85 gr Ballistic tips to shoot many ground hogs.
H870 gave 3175 fps , but was dirty and not all that acurate.
I rebarrelled my .25-06 before I tried some of the more modern powders. But Rl25, 26 , H1000 and magnum look like likely candidates possibly IMR 7977 and such also with 120 Plus class bullets.

Pass the Seex Kreed and hold The Fluff. Hint.



Thank me later.

Hint.

Just sayin'..............

Well, I guess Bugger is not going to share his magical "3,177 FPS for 120 grain bullet" load with us...

The AMAZINGLY long list of simplistic schit,that you can't even begin to fhuqking do,is without peer...you "lucky" kchunt. Hint. Congratulations?!?




Nothing is fhuqking FUNNIER,than a Whining Texan TRYING to "talk" rifles by herself. Hint.

Bless your poor poor(literally) heart,for TRYING though.

Fhuqking LAUGHING!..............

I’ve been on the road for a little over a week. So I have not had a chance to reply. As Big Stick showed, I got the load from the Nosler manual.
I’ve found that the Nosler manual to be one of the best manuals on the market. I plan on buying the new SPEER manual soon.

As far as velocity vs accuracy goes I prefer best accuracy to top velocity.

I’ve had a couple 25-06’s - one is an early ADL the blueing is almost gone but it is a very accurate rifle.

I’ve had/have a couple 257’s. The one I sold was a very good looking rifle built on a M98 action. The one I have now is a Classic 700 - a 2022 purchase.

That old ADL is more accurate than the others. Though I plan on wringing out the Classic 257 this summer. Maybe work with the Classic 25-06 more too.

That ADL is my favorite rifle for pronghorns any more. To look at it you’d think it isn’t much.

Bugger: Thanks for the adult response. I find it interesting that Nosler's current online data for the 25/06 does not include Retumbo. I also note that Hodgdon's reloading data shows 2991 fps with a max Retumbo load of 60gr. Guess it goes to show that there are a lot of variables, and one never knows what a particular rifle will do without testing it. And FWIW, after experimenting with a number of rifles over the years, I have found that the difference is velocity potential between the 25/06 and the 257R is closer to 100-150 fps.

But I still love my quarter bores! Happy New Year to you!

you must have looked at the wrong cartridge....retumbo is listed online

https://www.nosler.com/25-06-remington

Check 110, 115, 120 grain boolits.......

My mistake. You are correct! I pulled up the 25/06 and failed to select the correct projectile!😩😡

A 115 Berger VLD over 58gr of Retumbo through a 25” barrel gives 3150fps and is consistently accurate for me. I use the same load for two rifles. It’s been an amazingly effective combination on whitetail and pronghorn.

Good information

The loads I showed at the beginning of this thread might be warm. Yet they didn't seem so in either 25-06.

From Hodgdon load data on-line:

Hodgdon H4831 0.257", 54.3 grains, 3,172 FPS -51,400 CUP (100 grain bullet)

My most accurate load with 100 grain Hornady interlock was using 56.7 grains. I probably should run that past a chronograph. The weather here is terrible for shooting. The snowplows have not been out for quite a while. Visibility is poor. The pheasants are up in my yard eating the bird feed I left out for them. Quite the winter so far! Luckily, I have the big tractor in the shed and the snow blower mounted. I'm waiting for the wind to die down before operating that - >20MPH winds and plenty of drifting snow. It's going to be a while before I get out to the range - snow has blown in and looks to be close to 4 feet deep.

I'm curious what velocity it is getting with that load - guessing well over 3,200 FPS.

My Rem 700 with a bull barrel shoots the following great

52gr IMR-4350 with 100gr NBT @ 3230 fps
54.5gr IMR-4350 with 85gr NBT @ 3450 fps
Rem brass and 9-1/2 primer

In a 26" barrelled 700LR either the Speer 87 gr HP or Sierra's 87gr FB spitzer like a charge of RL19 in RP brass with WLRs to get 3550fps. Sub 1/2" 4-shot groups @ 100yds are a regular thing. The 100 gr. Sierra FB spitzer (now discontinued) shoots about the same as the 87s in WW brass with WLRs over enough 4831SC to see 3300fps. Both loads are getting warm but not excessive in my rifle. Primer pockets remain tight after 6 or 7 firings.

Still fooling around with 115 ballistic Tips in PPU brass with WLRs. One series with RL26 saw 3182fps with no undue pressure sign, but shot smaller at closer to 3050... might be worth more testing. RL22 seems to be happiest around 3100-3125fps. H4831SC shoots best around 3050fps so far, & RL23 is holding right around 3/4" groups at 3150-3180fps. The 4831SC & RL23 loads used WLRM primers.

This thread has gotten me wanting to load some for my 25/06. Can’t find any SGK anywhere on the net.