Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire 25-06 refuses to shoot 115 partitions

Just got an older 700 (c code) 25-06.... shoots 117 bt sierras and Hornady into about an inch for 5 shots. Shoots 100TTSX about the same. But I’ve kinda got my heart set in 115 or 120 partitions... but it sprays them into 3-5” 3 shot groups. I’ve tried imr 7977, 8133, h1000,4831 and h4350.....up close and far off the lands..... even called nosler to see if maaaaybe they had a bad batch of bullets get away from them but they said they test every run before they go out the door. I’ve shot up 2 boxes of the 115’s and nothing has grouped. Thought about trying the 120’s but after seeing the way the 115’s shot I’m hesitant. I’ve shot many many partitions from 60 grain .224 to 300grain .375.... never couldn’t get acceptable accuracy.... any ideas?

Mine likes 120s w/RL-22

Use the 100 grain TTSX and go kill big game.

I know you know this already.
You cant make the rifle like something you want it too like.

Find out what the rifle likes.

They all have their own harmonics, even exact same rifles.

I've had two 25-06s neither one would would shoot 115, 117 ,120 worth a hoot using IMR 4350 or IMR 4831, H-4831. I've used 100 Speer HP for decades now I'm trying the 110 grain Nosler. I've thought about rebarreling to a more rapid twist, say 1 in 9 or 1 in 9.5 for the heavier bullets.

And enjoy the lack of blood shot meat.

I have slowly been adopting mono's in when a rifle shoots them well.

25-06 is made for a TTSX.

Ours liked RL22 as well. Son and daughter killed game up to elk with 115 ballistic tips. Nothing went far.

Renegade is correct. My old Remington 700 BDL 25-06 shot everything I fed it well, but every rifle is different.

Reloader-19 has worked for me in several rifles.

Mine loves 120's and RL22. You may try a light pressure point out near the tip of the forearm. Is it bedded?

I wouldn't argue with the evidence. The rifle shoots other good bullets and shoots them accurately. We have a .243 that shoots 100 gr Nosler Partition sub minute also Hornady Match, but won't shoot SST very well. All my other rifles shoot the lights out with SST.

My ot6 ( totally different caliber and ball game)
Hates 150,s of any design or speed.
Hates 180,s " ".
But shoots 165,s and 168,s at around 2800 fps tight.
Bearing surface and ogive design into the leade area and 1- 10 twist, JMO.
Problem is I dont handload and have had ta change several times over the years cause lines get discontinued of course.
( Frigging good idea fairies)....

Wish Winchester never schit canned the original failsafe round from the mid 90,s. That was a 3 shot cold barrel 1 ragged hole load.

But it shoots the Barnes factory TTSX BT 168gr load sub moa also now into a clover leaf group which is GTG.
I dont see this loading getting discontinued anytime soon.
But i do make sure I am making mid shoulder/ spine breakdown shots with a mono bullet.
Punch em thru the lungs and top of heart combo they are gonna run
( 30 to 100 yards). Not alot of shocking effect and little to no expansion with a mono with a traditional chest shot never recovered a spent bullet from a shot like that either.
.30 going in and .30 going out basically.
Another advantage of a mono bullet is ya can drive one thru an animal,s vitals on about any angle its presents.
Have recovered bullets on hard bone shots and lenght wise traversing shots and the bullets absolutely smash everything, expand and fragment some times and deposit energy well.
Im not real worried about meat loss, but a mono bullet traversing a deer,s body cavity lenght wise or oblique wise does make for a knarly gutting out job.

Every rifle is unique in its own way, as already has been mentioned. Lots of 25-06's love lighter bullets..... Mine never has. They shoot OK but heavier stuff shot much better regardless of the many loads I tried. Got to where I considered 115 gr. as the bare minimum on bullet weight. Finally settled on 117 gr. Sierra Pro-Hunters and RL-22 and that's the only thing that gets used in that rifle anymore. Let your barrel decide what it prefers.

I sanded the hump out of the fore tip to “float “ the barrel but it’s not been bedded.... anyone shoot the 115tsx? I’m wondering if it might work but have read some barrels with standard twist won’t shoot it either.

Oh yeah, I tried RL23 also....

Sounds like you have been doing a lot of testing. 3-5 inches is outside the norm for me when selecting a bullet. In fact I have never seen a variation from 1 inch to 5 just by changing bullets (quality bullets)

With all that testing have you scrubbed that bore with a good copper remover, like Wipe-Out?

Some bullets can shoot with a loaded bore, others not so much.

You are giving the barrel sufficient time to cool, yes.

Have you tested the Sierra's again after the Partitions failed you and are they still at 1 inch?

Ya gotta spend some benjamins and do some range time ta see what it likes man.

You cant make a peice of steel like something you want it to like.

Usually the mono bullets have a longer bearing surface cause of being less dense than lead core bullets of the same weight.

They might be your ticket to confidence.

Partitions have been the most consistently inaccurate bullets I've ever tried. When they work, they work superbly but for the most part, I've never had much luck with them accuracy-wise. Then I discovered TTSXs and for the most part, use them exclusively..

This also ^^^^^^^^^^^
All need an equal footing/ starting baseline barrel condition.
makes no sense to not have same conditions for accuracy testing.
Especially the cold bore whatever condition it likes 1st hunting shot.
Big time important!!!!!!

They all have their own peculiarities. .250 Savage, 85 BT's on top, 100 NPT on the bottom. Doesn't matter what I do, it's pretty much the way it shoots. Go figure.




Mr. Roberts on the other hand, seems to prefer 117 BTSP Hornies.