Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting A 25-06 is falling into my hands

shaman,

I've had several .25-06's and the two most consistent powder/bullet combos with those rifles have been:

100-grain bullets: 52.5 grains of H4350, though I'd imagine IMR4350 will work just as well. This isn't quite as fast as some other powders, but has gotten 3300+ in all of my rifles, with fine accuracy.

115-120 grain bullets: 60.0 grains of Ramshot Magnum. This gets 3100+, also with fine accuracy.

John, thanks for checking in.

I'm about a month away from procuring the rifle, so I'm eagerly looking for available powders.

Had a 25-06 that loved 120 Hornady hollow point interlocks and 50.0/H4350.

51.5 grs. warm weather, 52.5 grs. cool weather of RL22 with 110AB, 115BT, 117 pro hunter will be your huckleberry in the 25.06

+1 Great bullet!

+2 This bullet works great. I have every bit the confidence in it as a Partition. The .25-06 will take elk as easy a a .270, and as for long range I haven't tried it but have taken some mid-range game one a nice 5x5 at 350yards.

shaman,

I've owned and hunted with several .25-06's and have two right now. While individual rifles vary, I've found most .25-06's shoot well with 100-grain bullets and 52-53 grains of either H4350 or IMR4350, or 115-120 grain bullets with 60 grains of Ramshot Magnum.

RL22 with the 110 grain Nosler Accubond

58 grains of RE25, CCI 250 with Speer 120 BT for 3000fps in 26" Sendero. 60 grains of RE25, CCI 250 with 110 Accubond 3300fps and accounted for a big bodied whitetail at 75 yards, bullet blew up on raking shot. Deer ran more than 100 yds then dropped. Thought I missed. Aimed at off shouilder thru last rib, acted like a hand grenade inside of deer. Very dead deer tho.

Interesting......Accubombs ain't supposed to blow up!

That little Accubond was going damn fast went it hit the deer. I've shot many deer at that angle w/270s and they all went thru the deer completely, w/cup and core bullets.

I dunno. The Nosler website, under "optimum performance velocity", says "no maximum" for the Accubonds.

It surprised all of us as the guides are big time loonies and want their clients to use Accubonds as they tested them w/Nosler. Mine was probably the first one they ever saw explode and they looked for the bullet big time. An example of one means little. I'll load some Barnes tho for my Cody deer hunt w/ 270 if they shoot, big critters there that bite.

Imr 7828ssc and 115vlds for deer and everything else Berger himself helped me find the load as well as seating depth. This was the hardest bullet for me to become happy with on bench. I've killed a hand full of deer with it at 100-300 yds all kills in vitals and little or no travel after impact.

I've also used accubonds with similar results

Don't like partitions

Use 115 triple shocks as my elk bullet

Well, I've got the rifle-- went down to the farm over the weekend to get it. I'd promised O.T. I'd be down first week in August for it. O.T. called earlier in the week to ask about my health, so I knew he hadn't changed his mind. O.T. had a heck of a time getting the safe open. He blamed bad eyes, but it was obvious it more than that. He's had his last hunt.

We spent a long time talking about how it used to be. We were up on the front porch looking out over the cavernous hollow where he did the bulk of his deer hunting. Imagining O.T., rather a slight man, schlepping a 200 lb buck out of that jungle kind of boggles the mind, but O.T. was a tough old bird--a WWII Navy vet. Somewhere down in that hollow there is the abandoned town of Browningsville. O.T. is the only man I know that can remember Browningsville. I know the road that goes down there. I need to get there some day before the memory of O.T.'s tales start to fade.

O.T. had the rifle over thirty years-- longer than I've been deer hunting. He has three nice racks up on the wall, and each one had a story to it. Finally Angus and I realized it was getting late and it was time to get back to town.

He said 100 grainers and 120 grainers shot equally well. The scope hasn't changed zero in 30 years. He gave me a box of Remmie 100 grain Corelokts to put in the case, along with the minty looking manual for the early Aimpoint scope and the battery. I'll put up a pic when I can.

That will be a special rifle for you simply because of your relation to O.T. Enjoy it for his sake.

I think you lucked out.I think its a fine deer round,especially at longer ranges. You know probably more than I do about powder and bullets to reload, but I will tell you that if you are unsatisfied with the caliber, you can get it rebored to .338-06, 35 Whelen or 9.3x62 by one of several companies on that action and see if you like the larger caliber better.Its only $350 or so. I'd go for the 9.3x62.

http://deltagunshop.com/clearwater_reboring/index.html
http://randyscustomrifles.com/
http://www.35caliber.com/2.html

Regards

Oh! I'm hoping to be very satisfied. I figured this would be my last deer rifle.

I don't mean this as the last one I buy, but it would be the one I adopt later in life when recoil loses its luster. My desire originally was to get some obscure European chambering that no one knows so there'd be no second guessing me and anything I said would be Godlike truth. 25-06 is not quite that obscure, so I'm going to call it my 6.5X63 European Wildcat and I'm thinking seriously of using Lapua Brass, PRVI bullets and . . . well, I might use VARGET, but I'll pronounce it "VARJAY"

I'll wear a Loden coat and Jodhpurs and a Tyrol.

That sounds like a gift with value beyond measure. Good Hunting. I hope you enjoy fond memories of your friend every time you touch the trigger.

The 25-06 is an excellent deer rifle, even on big old Idaho Mulies. About thirty years ago, before their family sold the cattle ranch, I knew a band of five men who limited out on bull elk every year. And each of the five carried a Ruger 77 in 25-06. They often used the Hornady 117 btsp, and then they discovered Barnes Bullets.

Yup not much in Idaho the 2506 can't take care of. Its all I use and I've tried out a lot including wsms 300 win 264 and 3006's

115 triple shocks are my I big critter getter bullets