Got my fast-twist (1:7.5) 25-06 back from the smith today where he did his usual bedding and paint magic.

Mounted a 3-9 SWFA SS and threw a few rounds together right quick. Shooting conditions were terrible with 15-20 mph winds from right to left, but I simply HAD to know if it was going to shoot these new bullets. Used my truck to block the wind as best I could and bore down. The first group with a light load of 7828ssc yielded about an inch. Not terrible, but not awesome either.

Switched to Reloader 23 and let three go....things improved a bit.



Grabbed three more loaded with R26 (same OAL) and it printed a nice little triangle.




It’s too early to call it a success, but it’s off to a good start.

Dave

The aforementioned 25-06...



131s loaded in Nosler brass at 3.400 (.02 off lands).

Very cool! Did you get a chance to chrony any of them? Looks like a custom chamber with a bit more freebore?

Congratulations, now there's a nice hunting weight rifle, can the 131 ACE's be used on game, I cant tell from the pic if it's a thin capped HP or FMJ.

Over on their website it looks like they are/were working on a long range hunting bullet.

Nice!

Second the motion on hoping to hear chrony numbers when you get some.

And, I'd like to know the ring maker please, rarely see a 42 mm obj. 30 tube sit that low.

Bolt throw and eye piece mass, has a lot to do with how low you can mount the scope.
Have a Leupold 4.5x14 30mm mounted on the deck of a Rem .204, but the SS 6X MQ on my Kimbers has to be mounted hight in order to let the bolt handle pass....

with respect, shooting 5 shot groups with these 131 gr. Black Jack bullets that`s when i can`t get consistency of 1/2 inch or less , in my 25 Creedmoor and my 257 Roberts won`t shoot consistent 5 shot groups with this 131 gr. bullet. but both rifles will with 115 gr. B.T. Noslers 1/2 inch 5 shot groups with consistency but not B.J. 131 gr. bullets.i think Black Jack bullets knows they got a problem with consistency and yes for a hunting rifle these bullets should be ok for most hunters, i just got some 115 gr. Berger bullets so i plan on trying them next. hope the best for you,Pete53

What barrel is on that rifle? I haven't found too many barrel makers that will go both fast twist and light weight in 25 caliber. Nice shooting my 25-06 likes R26 with the 117 Hornaday's so I stopped there. I will give the 115 Bergers a try but I think the 115 BT may be a better all around choice for me as I get a lot of close range shots.

pete53,

With respect..3,5,10...what group size is relevant?...because I’ve read all three written as the “gospel”. Personally, I like to keep a single target for a cold impact group where each time I go out my first shot of the day is at the same target as my first shot on the LAST trip out. After all, 90% of my kills are a first shot proposition and it’s been my experience that first shot is going to be a guy’s best chance to connect. I rarely get to shoot for groups with my hunting guns.

Every post/thread I’ve read except yours sings the praises of their accuracy. That doesn’t mean you’ve done anything wrong of course, and it doesn’t mean my limited 3-shot groups mean anything either. Time will tell, which is why I said it was too early to proclaim their virtues in my gun.

As per earlier questions, yes they have a small opening at the tip. For reference, that’s a 7mm 168 Berger VLD at left and the 131 ACE on the right.



As for the scope mounts, I think most of that “low” mounting height is because of the low bases, which are Burris Extreme. These...



Rings are these fwiw. First time I’ve used them, but local supply was limited and I was in a hurry...




If wind will lay down, I’ll probably run out this evening and do a little more work with the 7828ssc since I have so much on hand.

Dave

Tej,

Barrel and install from Preferred Barrel Blanks in UT. This is their #1 contour. Seems just about right for mountain rifle to me, but you what they say about opinions...



Muzzle diameter at 23”.

Yeah, I know most of you would have finished it longer...

Lookin good brother Dave.. 3 shots work for me too. 23” is just right. Now your ready to do gods work with it!! 👍🤙

Cool rifle! Gunna try an whack a bear with it this spring?

Thanks Jud.

The rifle is actually my son’s (Rowdy) High-School graduation present.

I originally bought it in 1990 as a .280, and turned out the lights on many an animal with it. The original tube was smoked, and Rowdy wanted something “different”.

I tried talking him into a .270 Winny in the name of practicality, but he wanted no part of it. Stumbled across the 131 Blackjacks and figured it was just weird enough to suit his desires. Action length dictated 25-06. Had to resist the urge to AI with the blind magazine configuration, as i didn’t want to be worried about any feeding issues for him down the road.

If/when I land on a consistent load with the 131s, I’ll
try some factory fodder so he has a plan “b” should I meet a premature demise somehow.

Hunter,

I’d LOVE to bear hunt with it this spring, but it’s the boy’s rifle. I’m just in charge of load development.

I’m still shooting a custom .280, pre-64 willed to me
by my shooting mentor and dearly-missed friend. It’s damn cool in it’s own right and twice as classy. Also kills stuff quite well with 160 ABs.

Dave

Ran back out this afternoon and braved the rain, hail, and wind to try some 7828ssc. Shooting conditions were TERRIBLE, but I couldn’t help myself. Shot loads at 50, 51.5, and 52. I didn’t see/feel any pressure signs and all grouped relatively well. Similar POI as well..

Here is 51.5..



52 grains...



Tried a box of 117 Hornady “American Hunter” and they sucked azz with two groups at about 1.5”.

Going to play around with seating depth and the 7828ssc and see what’s what.

Dave

Very nice!

Great thread. You’ve got to love R26. It’s pixie dust. Did you get any velocities?

5 shots for a group is the normal in benchrest competition that`s the standard at 100 and 200 yards,so that`s what i and some others measure how well our rifles shoot. i have shot 3 shot groups too that are under a 1/2 inch some were 1/4 inch with these 131 gr. Black Jack bullets but with 5 not as many for consistency, but i can with 115 gr. B.T. any day. but if your happy with a couple of 3 shot groups good for you,enjoy your rifle ,your rifle sure looks great. Pete53

I’ve had the gun a total of two days. I’m sorry my admittedly limited findings are insufficient for your needs.

Are you hoping if I shoot 5-shot groups it will somehow make your guns shoot better with them?

p.s. If you detect a tone it’s because you edited your douchy statement about my “questionable” groups first. I was responding in kind.

Keep up the good work. Ignore Pete’s dumb arse. He is the Only person on earth that does things right( his way). He even used to argue with Pat Sinclair about loading and shooting. Plus he bitches about Montana hunting too much while living in commie MN. I personally love 25-06 and 23 answers the question of 22 or 24”. Look forward to more updates. Sweet grad present btw.

I don’t think Pete is a fan of BJ Bullets.

I wasn’t going to say anything, but I wish you would have taken the time to draw better circles.

That’s some funny chit Kingston. My targets are pretty ghetto for sure. You should see my clap-trap of a portable shooting bench.

Arguing with me is one thing... but Pat is a sorcerer with all things hunting/shooting. Never argue with a fool, bystanders may not be able to tell the difference.

No, but he sucks a mean cock for SharpThings. That’s a one shot group. 😎

Speaking of sharp, his avatar cracks me up, he cant organize a fund raiser big enough to afford to buy the first hint of a clue on EVEN qualifying to compete with some of us, so how does he win????? ; ]

Don't want to derail the thread, but what kind of paint is on that stock?

Well done Dave, Rowdy's gonna stack up the critters with that one.

And I got a vacuum cleaner for my graduation.......

[quote=kingston]I don’t think Pete is a fan of BJ Bullets.

your right so far i am not happy with these 131 gr. B.J. bullets and / or i expected better 5 groups out of this bullet . B.J. bullets were advertised as a very accurate target bullet but so far the level of accuracy i expected just is not there. but i can use Nosler`s B.T, hunting bullets and shoot consistent 1/2 inch 5 shot groups out of 2 different rifles that seems odd to me ? i also bet this nice 25-06 iddave has built shoots better groups with either 115 gr. Nosler B.T. or 115 gr. Berger bullets which are just a hunting bullet too.

Hook,

My smith calls it “Krinkle paint”...beyond that I couldn’t tell you much. It feels/functions almost exactly like Kimber Montana paint if you’re familiar with that at all.

aalf,

Thanks man. He’s a pretty great kid and I hope he makes a lot of memories with it in the years to come.

That's a beauty and it appears you're off to the races with it.

He'll no doubt have that one with him forever.

Thanks for the info on the bases & rings, Dave.

A lot easier to get a smaller objective 30mm scope down where it belongs when not using those tall rails.

Dave, that it a sweet rifle! I'm sure Rowdy will do some good work with it. I might've missed it in this thread or a past thread, but what stock is that? I'm in the process of rebuilding my old ADL 270, and this rifle is pretty close to what i'm after. Thanks

That’s a McMillan, Remington KS pattern...edge fill of course. It’s my favorite hunting stock of all time, and works beautifully with this contour imho.



My pleasure Gunzo.

Dave

Great bullet choice and great looking rifle!! I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Please update with what load you decide on and your speeds.

I'm running them in my .257wby (1-7.5) @ 3300+ and had great consistency out to 800 yards... I use .340 as the g7 to true it up.

Also-- a #60 wire bit to open up the tips a bit for hunting will help.

I've taken one Aoudad with that combo so far and he was dead on his feet.

Really ?







These 3 quotes come from your own thread, in chronological order !

WTF ?

No wonder you can't get the 131gr BJ to shoot !

Don't believe a word that comes outta Pete's mouth.

Really ?







These 3 quotes come from your own thread, in chronological order !

WTF ?

No wonder you can't get the 131gr BJ to shoot !

Don't believe a word that comes outta Pete's mouth.

> I sold one 257 Roberts 99 that`s why I have 5 now WTF , Really

Good Ol Pete. Lmao

Great looking gun and shows plenty of 3 shot promise. Great gift that I hope your son will enjotly for many years.

Anyone seen any chrono numbers yet? I have a bud that wants to build a fast twist 25-06, told him I'd keep checking this thread.

From their (ACE Blackjack) Facebook sight...



There is a TON of information on their Facebook site, to include loading data for the 25-06 and 25 Creedmoor.

Dave

With Reloader 26

Hell of a deal Dave, Thanks, that's a little buttstomper, i'll point old Bud to that site.

iddave;
Good morning to you sir, I trust that this finds you and yours as well as can be all things considered.

Thanks for sharing the built specs and photos, I appreciate you doing so, but likely for different reasons than most readers.

My personal reason is that back in the day when the local mountains still had points and I had a luxurious head of hair, my hunting partner used a B78 in .25-06 and I did a fair bit of modification/tuning on the rifle and helped with the handloads.

With it, he killed a good number of local mulie bucks, one of them the largest bodied either of us ever encountered in a lifetime of traipsing about the steep hills. For the life of me I'd have to look to be sure, but think that big fellow died with 117gr Hornady BT, but we also tried 100gr Partitions and 120gr Speer spitzers too.

Anyway, from a couple of BC rednecks unscientific but reasonably extensive data, we didn't find one bit of difference between the .25-06, .270 and .30-06 with bullets up to 180gr on deer/black bear/sheep sized animals.

Since that time I've converted to the church of fast twist whenever possible and can say with a fair bit of confidence your son is going to love that rifle and the way it performs on game.

Oh, before leaving this - for years my go to hunting arm was a BBR '06 with a 21" barrel and currently is a 98 6.5x55 with a 21" barrel. In my view there's good evidence to believe that odd number barrel lengths might/could have more mojo than even numbers......

We're still gathering data of course on that theory, but the early numbers look promising.

Thanks for giving me the reason to walk back in time and go once again in my memory on some grand hunts sir, it's a much appreciated diversion.

A tip of the hat to you for doing that wonderful project for your son, well done sir!

All the best to you and yours. Stay well.

Dwayne

Dwayne,

Any thread you comment on is usually better for it friend. I very much appreciate your thoughts and previous experiences. I hope Rowdy’s experiences mirror that of your friend and he punches a lot of tags with it. My own .280 is 23”, and it most certainly has magic in it so you can add that to your collection of “data”.

He’s out chasing toms this morning with a friend of his in fact. Got a text at first light that they were into birds, but haven’t heard from him since, so I assume nothing down yet. I’m just happy he’s out doing it on his own now without any help from me.

He tagged a whopper last year with only his buddy to help, so I wouldn’t bet against him.

Dave

Awesome velocities for a 131. Or maybe all my work with 100's in 25-06's has been for naught.

But thinking the short shank length on the Match King might help with speed ??

Dang, missed this post, Thanks 10gaugemag, i'll pass it on to Bud.

>> yes, i sold one of my 257 Roberts that`s why i have 5 now, > here in America we are free to buy and sell our guns including >" PISTOLS"< freely without hassle in our nation. GRIN

You're so dumb & fulla $hit, that you can't even remember, replying to this post 3 days ago !!!

Bit like counting the number of .257's you imagine you own !

Like I said, do not trust a word.

iddave;
Good afternoon to you sir, thanks for the reply and the very kind words, I do appreciate them.

It's wonderful that your son is out chasing toms. We've got a very few of them here in the Okanagan - they came up across from Washington State and I'm told we traded for some elk, California Bighorn and moose! Oh, some of the big Fox Squirrels have come across from Washington as well - we're less happy to see them, however as they were classed an invasive species we can light them up anytime as long as it's legal to do so.

Thanks for the odd barrel length data as well sir, consider it logged into the study!

As mentioned, we were told by older hunters that we'd see a difference in killing power between the .25-06, .270 and .30-06, but so help me we really didn't. Our youngest daughter used a .250AI when she was hunting and I would say that with 100gr Hornady and the 80gr TTSX the animals hit might have been "rocked" a tad less when hit than with the .25-06, but need to quickly add that none of them needed a second application of same and most of them didn't go all that far either typically.

Thanks again for the kind reply and all the best to you and your fine family sir. Stay well.

Dwayne

The 25-06 is a favorite and seems to have that mojo. Glad I got an odd length 25" barrel on mine. I am looking forward to trying some of the Hammer bullets. My rifles 1-9 twist won't handle the heaviest ones unfortunately. If they had been around when I ordered the barrel I would have gone 1-7 or 1-7.5 at least.

The 117 Hornaday's are doing well with R26 so I have not experimented too much with other bullets yet.