Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Handloading for the 25-06

I used IMR 4350,4831 and RL 25 in mine. RL25 was what I was using last with 117’s in a Ruger No.1 B 26” barrel. Great combo in that rifle.

Just to add, I never found the 25-06 difficult to load for. I had two of them. The above mentioned Ruger and a Browning ABolt. Both shot very well with little difficulty in load development. In fact both liked max book loads for whatever bullet/powder combination I was working with. Made life pretty easy

Thanks all, I will check my inventory of powders and I will be going to town in a few days and can get others, if needed. I have the projectiles ordered. miles

Sounds like you got some good replies. My Weatherby S2 shoots 115 NBT the best with RL22 and H4831sc. 51. 51.5 and 52.0 grains, you will have to vary your OAL for the sweet spot probably. RL19, RL17, H4350, IMR4831 and Retumbo are great 06 powders also. If he for some reason does not get the accuracy he is looking for with the 117's, try the Barnes 100grn TTSX, Those bullets with RL22 took my rifle from a 3/4-1 inch gun down to 1/2 inch.

He has been shooting the SST's in loaded ammunition for a while so I will start with the length of those loaded bullets.

My 6mm-06 (shooting a heavy for caliber bullet) got good velocities with H4831SC and RL22 so I tried RL23. My velocities were in the same range but my ES went down to single digits and it seems to be very temp stable. I bought an 8 pound jug that was a different lot than my test lot. Velocities were near identical between the two lots.

I mostly load IMR 4831 in my 25-06 mainly because I have a surplus of it. I shoot mostly 115, 117, and 120 gr bullets. It's always given great accuracy with several brands of bullets. Reloader 19, 22, and H4831SC also work as well.

It’s my favorite too.

Ramshot Magnum seems to work pretty well with 117 or 120 grain. I expect it would be as good with 115 but haven’t tried

Saw the thread Miles and was surprised...

Glad to see your aren't giving up on your 7/08.....

I've been loading for the 25.06 for over 30yrs now and I've probably tried every powder there is for this caliber and I've had great results with many different ones. There's lots of choices when it comes to powder for the 25.06 and it's not hard to find one that will produce accurate handloads for this caliber. My powder of choice and the one that I've pretty much settled in on years ago is without a doubt RL22. I haven't owned or loaded for a 25.06 that didn't love a full house of this stuff with the 100-120gr bullets. It has been the most consistent and accurate for me and has worked well with just about any grain bullet I've used it with. I hear of others that say RL22 is temp sensitive but I personally haven't experienced that and it hasn't ever been an issue for me. When asked the question, what powder for the 25.06? I always say, pick up a can of RL22, that may be all you need. Mike

I have been shooting the .25-06 for about 35 years. Most of my loads have been with H4350, but I have shot a lot of H4831sc and just tried Ramshot Magnum last year because I was out of H4350. All of those powders gave good results. The H4350 load was from Mule Deer's Handloads That Work and the H4831sc load was from Bob Milek's data.

Just loading for a neighbor. He is also my Air Conditioner man, so got to keep Him happy. Never know when you will need Him in a hurry. miles

I checked out my powder stash and have Imr 4831, H 4350, and RL 25 plus some marginal powders like Varget on hand. Have everything else except the brass and He will bring some that was shot in His rifle. miles

Not sure if you need this or not but....This is directly from Nosler reloading manual #8 for 115grn bullet

IMR4831 48.0 starting work up to a max of 52.0

From my Lee reloading book

IMR4831 42.7 to 46.2 (115grn bullet)

H4350 44.0 to 47.7 (117grn bullet)

Varget 37.0 to 41.0 (117grn bullet)

Thanks, I have several manuals, but double checking is always good. miles

Nosler Manual #4 lists 115 grain partition with 53.5 grains RL22 @ 3197 FPS. I used same load with the 120, very accurate and chronographed 3150 FPS+ out of my Model 70. I don’t think the Nosler manual lists that load anymore.

It seems that perhaps more recent canisters of RL22 were less consistent/accurate. Still good accuracy, just not as good. I may try some RL26.

Been loading IMR 4831 in mine (2 now, once had 3), since about 1978. No reason to change.

I would try R25, 4831 and then 4350 in that order which is about the velocity order too. Anyone of them could and should pan out.

H414 is quite zippy in the 25/06. I use it with the 100gn TTSX which will take anything you would normally hunt with a .25/06.
This powder is only about $17 a pound in Big R stores so offers cheap shooting.
John

Miles- like the 270 and 30-06 many many powders work well. if you look at factory ammo Hornady- has super performance sst and the eld . very hard to beat those numbers. ask me how I know. you do not have to tell your ac man though.