And a 115g ballistic tip?
Dave

H1000 or H4831 would be hard to beat. R22 gives good results but I quit using it when the temp sensitivity became the topic of discussion. I always use Fed 215 primers to light.

YMMV

David

I've used H4831 in various 25-06s since 1965. I've tried other powders but always go back to H4831. You may give up a little velocity in comparison with some newer powders, but accuracy has always been excellent with H4831, whether it was the war surplus stuff or the newer mixtures.

I would probably try Retumbo or IMR7828 with a 115gr.

Thanks guys.
I have rel23 , rel26 , imr7828 , and Norma mrp.
I'm short on h4831...
I'm just looken around should be getting the gun in a week or so.
Dave

Actually have h1000 as well
Dave

Dave, I’ve used a few of those with 115 and 120’s and honestly they’ve all worked excellent. RL23 or 26 should be really good. I use 26 with the 100 grain Scirocco for 3400 and it’s real accurate and pretty deadly.

beretzs
When I get this going I'll write it up
Your going to get a kick out of it.
I have not messed with a 25-06 in over 30 years.
Thought it was time for a revisit.
Should be fun.. It's like a 1980s retro build.
Dave

Bigstick would have told me to build a creedmire
Dave

I've had good (best) luck with H4350 and 115 gr NBT and Hornady 117 gr I/L.

I also use H4831 (SC, lately) and Fed 215s. Works well in my rifle. That's with 115 Partitions, which have performed brilliantly on game over the years. Never shot anything bigger than a real big mulie, though some folks kill elk with them.
Best of luck,
Rex

I've used RL22 with 115 and 120 gr bullets in my 25-06 since 1991. Works great.

I use IMR 4350, accurate, not the fastest.

My go to powders for the 25.06 and 115 / 120gr bullets is RL25 & RL22, both shoot great but i get a little more velocity with 25. I've always heard and read articles on the temp sensitivity of these powders but i have honestly never had any issues with either here in NC. Both these powders have been very accurate and consistent for me and i've been using both for as long as i can remember. We don't have big temp swings in this part (southeastern) of the state so maybe that's why. I'm sure there's something to the temp sensitivity claims there's to many for there not to be but like i said i've personally never experienced it myself. I've also had pretty good results with Retumbo and the heavier bullets but not as good as with 25 & 22.

IMR 4831 is my Huckleberry

What's the best get's asked about everything. Truth is there is no best of anything that I know of. Come's to powder in a 25-06 one guy likes one powder best and another guy something else, Which one is right. Now I have a system I've used for years for picking powder's. Seem's heavier for cal bullet's like slower powder better. I pick the bullet I want and look for the powder that gives the highest velocity with it. In my 25-06 the bullet is a 117gr Hornady Interlock. Off the top of my hear I think it's RL-22 I use with it. But I'm sure I could use a different powder and get results I could easily live with. But when no clue where to start, I simply look for where I get top velocity. Generally speaking, heavier bullet's in a cartridge usually use a slower powder to produce top velocities. If you don't care about velocity, just pick anything easy to find near home and go for it. Which ever you choose you'll probably find a suitable load.

The 25/06 is quite amazing, imo. Recently, I used RL 25 with mine, RL 26 is very good also.
In the 80's I used mine for Bull Elk and Moose, 120 NP's
performed very well over IMR 4831.
Great chambering, an overachiever

50g of IMR 4831 with the 115 is one heck of a load for Remingtons, 3000 fps...bug hole accurate and deer flop. The 117g Sierra btsp is another fine bullet to use with this same load.

Never forget the 120g speer hot core that is a flat base in this weight range...you will become a True Believer in this bullet, and if you can find any, the 117g Hornady flat base thinks it is a partition.

We played with some faster loads with R#25 and federal 215's, use Winchester brass only, accuracy was great and velocity was 3150fps with the 117g Sierra BTSP and 3300 fps with a hot load of R#25 in a custom 10T Shilen barrel.

Few try them, the 100g Partition in 25 caliber is the most accurate partition I have ever shot, 1/2" in Remingtons is normal.

The 25/06 is perhaps one of the most under rated calibers for deer on the market.

For years, I hunted coyotes with Sierra 90g HP and loaded IMR 3031 at 3500 fps that shot tiny groups.

Thanks guys.
Not that worried about temperature senativity.
I consider it a talking point for the sales force.
Pretty much load develop and check drops close to season. So the temps are not that much different.
Have extensive experience with Rel 22 in the 300 win mag.
Never a problem.
The copper fouling attivies in the powders I've messed with ,, Rel 26, AR COMP. N550, Staball. All lay down alot of black cchitt. That requires more elbow grease to remove.
Less copper ,yes. But more work to remove, clean.
I was just looking for a little collective wisdom on the fire.
For a cartridge I have not messed with for a very long time

Dave

Mine runs on 100gr bullets and RL17. 3,350fps shoots flat.

.......... Same with me since about 2002. RL22 with 117 gr. Sierra Pro-Hunter ( I think they discontinued that bullet but I have a bunch of 'em.).

I'm short on 4350 and 4831. Actually have some Rel 25.
My old deer guide Russell Thornberry recommended the the 25-05 and the 100g NPT to anyone who would listen.
Hard hitting, flat shooting, light recoil, the 100g NPT will drill through a big whitetail from any direction.... Don't know why I waited so long.......
The gunsmith recommended the 115g nosler BT.
Dave

25-06
54 gr IMR-4451 115 gr Nos bal tip moly 3.275"

I just started playing with a 25-06. I have a decent load for a 100gr BT w/IMR 4350. I have saw a lot of love for the 110gr Accubond so Im going to be trying those next. I will give them a try with the IMR 4350 and some R22. I do have some 115gr BT to give a whirl after the 110 AB so am keeping an eye on this thread.

Good luck with yours.

The 110gr Accubond worked great for me with RL22.

They aren’t super slick but man, out to 400 they get there in a hurry!

I’m looking forward to the write up Dave. I’ve got a 70 Classic that is a gang buster shooter but has been neglected more than it should be.

I,be been messing with the 26 Nosler. taking the lazy way and running factory ammo. My spot this year could very well be screwed. .. So I built a light wright bump and run gun. Might have to be a bit more mobile. This season...
I'm a paint job away from having it in my hands

Dave

IMR's 4350 & 4831 have been my go to for the 25. Hodgdon in both never helped with velocity.

Plan to try the newish Hornady 110 ELD-X. A bit better numbers on paper than the 115 BT.

That's impressive..

Dave

That’s pretty damned cool. I still reread you fast 270 write up from awhile back.

I believe my 70 25-06 will get an EDGE filled Bridges before too long. Lightening it up a skosh it’d be a honey for carrying.

That was my idea to lighten things up some. And I had all the parts. I was looking at the 25-06 AI... I passed...
I run hot and cold on ballistic tips. Used them for years. Great accuracy but had alot of dead deer running type situations.
Mashburn. Ran 150g BT... Had two deer run over 150 yards. Switched out to a 168g hunting Berger.
Without a dought the biggest mess I've ever seen.
Disgusting. Bullet exploded. Never seen anything like that.
Switched out to the 26 Nosler and accubond. Worked well.
The 270 STW. Was a fun project. Very hard on barrels.
Dave

RL 22 works for me.

The Ballistic Tips have worked great for me on deer in a few cartridges but I’d bet the 150 7mm and 150 270 act more like a heavier bullet. They have killed fine just in a more traditional fashion.

I can’t imagine the Berger hitting up close, I’d bet that was fairly graphic.

The 100 grain Ballistic Tip was pretty good at even at under a 100 yards in mine and my cousins 25-06’s a few years back. I used RL22 for those and guess I was around 3300 if I recall. Those were like a light switch for a handful of deer. I switched to the Scirocco since but only cause I wanted to, not cause the BT didn’t work. The Scirocco is like a BT that exits. If that makes sense.

Good luck. Can’t wait to see what you come up with.





58 and 58.6 shoot pretty well in mine.

Now looking at my targets, I really need to get this one back into the fold!

I had a 25-06 in a Sendero that I shot in the 1000 yard Benchrest stock class at Pella, Ia.

Set the range record with a 4.XX" group using 115 Bergers, H-4831-SC, Fed 210's, and Lapua brass.

aalf
Nice.
Had the guy next to us at Ridgeway on the 1000 yard silhouettes bangen away with the 25-06 and the 115g berger. He did pretty well. Was the only gun he had
Dave

Winchester 760 shoots tighter groups than I can these days in my .25/06 using 100gn bullets.
The rifle prefers 100gn Partitions or TTSX.
Although I have used a lot of other powders, it was really to design consumption loads for the days of retirement as I'd like to leave an empty powder shelf.

Fed 215's, Ww brass, most 120 gr bullets , max dose H870 allways works for me.

I ended up going with RL22 and 115 NBTs in 2 different rifles.
One a Sendero and the other a Marlin XS7
Both are 3300 FPS and damn accurate.
Three deer so far, all bang flops.

IMR8133 looked good too but at the time I couldn't get my hands on any of it.

My rule of thumb has always been to find the powder that gives the best (not necessarily the fastest) velocities with a case fill as close to 100% as possible. A little bit of compressed load doesn't bother me, but I've never liked hearing an audible crunch when seating bullets....
For me, H4831 always worked best in the 25-06 and gave good velocities and outstanding accuracy. RL 22 is very close in burn rate to H4831, so it stands to reason it would work well in this cartridge. My favorites were always Nosler 115 and 120 Partitions and now the AB's . Haven't had a 25-06 in a while since I burned out the barrel and had a Hart barrel put on the action opened up to 25-284.

Most of the 25-06 loads I tried in the heavier bullets were a perfect fit to the mag and chamber/leade, but I found the lighter bullets I tried to load for varmint work wouldn't come close to the leade with sufficient bullet in the neck for tension... so I gave up on varminting with it unless I wanted to use the 115/120 bullets for varminting, which work fine BTW....

Bob

Thanks guys.
Pretty good advice Sheister.
Whay back when I hunted wood chucks with the HB 700.
100g speer hp and 75g hornadys. Nasty. I can't even remember what powder I ran back then. Never used it on deer but know alot of people that have.
Dave

I,d say so.
That thing is working.
I'm going to start with Rel 23 and Rel 26.
See how that works.
Dave

Some day I'll fill you in on the Mashburn berger story.
Dave

I do remember working up an acceptable load for 75 Grain Hornady HP's. The things those bullets did to rock chucks sunning themselves on rocks at long range was something to behold... we called it showing them how to be astronauts...

Bob

I use RE 19 and 100 TSX in mine. Super accurate and kills fast going 3317 FPS

Excited.
Picking it up tomorrow. Friday.
Dave

......... And called you a window licker while at it.

I'm sure.
I've licked a few on my time...
Creedmires on the list
Dave

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/gallery/80/full/140235.jpeg

I picked it up today.
Randy shot this group at 100 yards yesterday just checking the chamber out.
There was one shot at 25 yards to check the zero on the scope. And then the 3 at 100.
Shots 2,3 and 4 . The very first rounds fired down the tube.
Into a .560 nice.
Turns out ,56.5 of MRP and the 115g BT is his pet load.
I Don't think it's going to take alot to find a decent load....

Dave

Looks good. I am using MRP, R26 in mine for 100-117 gr. bullets, R16 for 85 grain bullets and just because I have it I load 120s with AA8700.

Beretz's load looks to be maximum at 58 grains as the velocity drops above that but hard to say with a single string. That rifle and cartridge should be easy to load for.

100 nbt ,w/primer or fed210, 58 grains of RL/22,w-w-c,or r-p-c, 1/10 twist 26bbl ,tmv3465 to 3499 over a Ohler35p ,work up 24 bbl won't do it .

That's moving.
How many firings on a case with that?
Dave

Thks I can't answer that cause I don't shoot it enough , need more testing ,shoots great though .

RL-22, hands down, but MRP is a near dupe of that performance wise.

The newer '23 or '26 might bring something more to the table, but my loads work fine & I have no desire to work up new loads as long as '22 & MRP are available & I have good supplies of both.

For lighter bullets, RL-19 is a tad better than '22 & H4350 is also good if you have it.

MM

Not a big fan of Berger’s on game either, had one blow up on pigs shoulder that was caught in a pen. It knocked her down, she got up, went back to eating corn like nothing had happened. This was a 264 Win Mag at 70 yds.

RL 22 is my go to powder with 100 gr Sierra GameKings.

Well, that takes the fun right outta load work right there!

Agree, MRP is a RL-22 dupe, some say it's a more refined version with less lot to lot variation. Don't know about that.

I'm using up my RL-22, replacing it with RL-23. I do have a big jug of MRP, so I'm in good shape for the time being.

MRP is also a great Swede powder, mine likes the 139 Scenar over MRP, in Lapua brass...

DF

MRP works well in the 270 & 280 also.......................

MM

I saw a post where the Ran Shot technician said R22 & MRP were not the same powder. I don't know if this was motivated by Ram Shot being the importer of Norma powders are not. Even though the loads will usually interchange I still think there are differences with MRP being more consistent and uniform. It may be less affected by temperature variations but for sure the lot to lot variation is less with MRP.

I did run a minor test with mrp .
Seems pretty dirty .. sootie to me.
Just got a 3 inch group at 500 yards with ,Rel26.
Now it's Rel23 against Rel26 shoot off....
Dave

Jeeze, 3” huh? I’m sorry your barrels bent Dave

Hey Dave, how's that shoot off playing out between rl23&rl26, I'm guessing less then 100 fps ? Thks

Jeff
Yesterday.
120g bt with fed 210. Win case.
Had 54.5 of reloader 23 put 4 into a sub two inch group at 500 yards.
3055 fps with a sd of 11.
If that holds up it's going to be hard to beat.
Rel 26 will run over 3100 no problem but not as good accuracy wise
Barrel is still copper fouling some. It's going away every time I clean it . It's getting better.
I'm running out of time.....

Dave

been using rl 22 but playing with rl16 to see what happens

Dave thks for that answer ,that's Great shooting rite there ! A nd you're rite it's gonna be hard to beat ,congrats your ready & have a great hunt !, thks .

Jeff
I removed the swivel studs amd put the Sinclair bench rest adapter on the forend.
I'm running it the very same way I test my bench guns.
I did it because I could.
Have always been curious how a hunting caliber would stand up shot in such a way.
I'm going to get about one more range session before I have to return it to hunting mode....
I'm just playing around having fun.

Dave

For my first post since Jan 2018 I’m saying use RL22

Ed
You should post more often..
How much reloader 22?
IMR 7828 ssc didn't show me much
Dave

I had good luck in a Savage 111 with 117gr Hornadys and RL 22.

My first center fire was a 25-06, in 1974. I tried a few other powders, but settled on H4831 way back in the 70s, and have not changed. I shoot that rifle once in five years these days, but have loaned it to son and friends. H4831 in that R700 has killed many deer, antelope and varmints.

H-4831, darn tough powder too beat in 25-06.

Dave saw your post about that forend adapter ,I'm sure that will help with your groups because it stops the roll of the forend , never played with one but I've no doubt of the out come ,have you shot it yet ?. They gene270 what bullets weights you trying w/RL/16 85/87 grainers ? Thks guys !

I can’t answer the best powder question, but I’ve found several that work well. IMR4350, IMR4831, H4831SC, RL22, 23, 25, 26. I’m also playing with IMR7977. I’m liking it so far.

I have shot a few does with the 115 NBT. All perfectly broadside between 50 and 80 yards, and I’ve not seen a complete pass through yet. No shoulder shots either. All heart/lung shots. I like speed and rapid fragmentation, but I also like an exit hole. I’m thinking the partition might do it all? Trying it next.

I’ve been using imr4831 for over 25 years and will continue as long as it is available.

using the 100 gtain ttsx with rl16 ...i am about to run out of 22 and 16 is right with it in the velocity arena along with some added advantages with that powder

Of the deer 🦌 shot with the 115g.
Bang flops or runners???
Dave

One bang flop, one runner. All this year. The bullet killed extremely fast, just no exit through the hide. Kinda wondering what would happen on bone? I’ll experiment more....

gene270 thks for the info I've got some also, Dave 77 how goes your hunt ?, thks

Jeff.
54g of reloader 23 .115g ballistic tip.
3050 fps.
Two freezer does on Saturday.
170 yards.
Both shoulder shot.
Both did a 35 yard death run.
Both had exits.

Dave