Rifle was Howa 1500 LA with PBB 26" 1:7" twist 25-06AI, 13.8# fully loaded trailhead weight.
Load was Lapua 3x brass with CCI 250 primer, 61gr of N565 behind Badlands SBD2-110gr set at CBTO 2.694" (0.035" jump in my rifle) with light crimp. MV and drop were measured on-site during the hunt and...
Took a hefty cow elk with my 25-06AI and the badlands SBD-2 110gr recently.
Full write up of the technical details and amateur autopsy photos can be found over on LRH forum.
Post in thread 'Badlands Precision Bullets thread - From BC to terminal ballistics'...
A 25CM will never outrun an equally spec'd 25-06AI. I will be happy if I can get 2900fps in an 18" 25CM with the SBD2 110gr. That is far more than adequate for whitetails inside 400 yards which is all I would ask it to do. I've got the 26" 25-06AI which will be going elk hunting here in a few weeks.
I may chamber my M98 in 6CM. Undecided at this point. The 25CM is definitely happening though
Edit: I went back and looked and realized why I decided against the 6CM. I want to build this 18" low recoiling rifle in a short action and the Howa SA supposedly has max COAL of around 2.8". This...
This is a 12# rifle that is braked and suppressed. Recoil is reasonably low and manageable for an adult. My 6-year old and 8-year old are still learning to shoot and I don't want them to develop any fear of recoil. The -06 based cartridges are just way less efficient than the Creedmoor class of...
Howa 1500 LA
PBB 26" 1:7" 25-06AI
Badlands SBD2 110gr 3421fps (hunting load)
I played with a variety of powders during barrel break in and fire-forming with the Berger 135 just to see if the barrel preferred any particular powder for a possible target load. I got up to 3200fps using N570...
Our first rifle deer season arrived here in Missouri this weekend and both my boys ended up shooting their first deer, a whitetail doe, using the 0.257" SBD2 110gr.
The rifle used was a Howa 1500 25-06AI with 26" 1:7" and Omega 300 suppressor, an 11# rifle fully loaded, so I don't want to hear...
After having the only reputable local gunsmith mar the barrel finish on a family heirloom rifle, I decided to learn the skill myself. I have now replaced one Howa 1500 barrel and an old Mauser M98 barrel. It is a great DIY project if you buy a prefit that requires no additional machining to set...
Sounds like you are getting plenty of lube. I wouldn't expect to have any trouble using the factory expander balls, but I don't like how much that method pulls on the brass in the neck. Maybe with plenty of lube it doesn't stretch as much.
I'm not saying don't build the 25-06AI, I'm just saying the Tikka platform will limit your options down the road.
I have a 1944 Mauser M98 that was rebarreled in the 50's to 270Win with the internal magazine restrictions of 3.22". That is a pretty similar restriction to what you are talking...
I have not had any issues with feeding, but I have had issues with weakness in the shoulder region of the 25-06AI case. This is once fired Lapua brass that was full length resized using a Redding S die (without the expander ball) then expander mandrel to set neck tension. The expander mandrel...
Having personally dealt with cartridges that exceed magazine length, I would discourage you from building a 25-06 in an action with magazine restrictions at 3.30". My PBB 25-06AI using the Berger 135gr jams at 3.485" and I assume the Hornady 134gr would be similar.
You will constantly be...
I just recently started buying the MTN OPS Hot Ignite as I was trying to get my wife off of those disgusting Starbucks coffees. After a few weeks of using the Hot Ignite, both my wife and I have both lost interest in coffee. The MTN OPS stuff doesn't really taste like coffee but it definitely...
I pack a wide variety of foods for my own mental sanity and to have a well rounded diet. This year I am adding dehydrated strawberries and cooked bacon strips to my normal food list which consists of a lot of homemade items. One of my absolute favorite foods each day is a Lenny and Larry's...
I haven't killed anything except paper targets with my 0.257" hammer bullets, but I have sure made a thick stack of dead paper targets. I did use a 0.308" hammer on elk last year and it honestly did not appear to behave significantly differently than the badlands on pronghorn a month prior, but...
Across all the cartridges I use Badlands bullets in, I have found a sweet spot somewhere between 0.020"-0.040" away from jam. This particular load is 0.035" behind jam at 3.353" COAL.
Last year I was grateful to bring home my first Pronghorn with a factory 22" 25-06 1:10" twist using the Badlands BD2 95gr. at 3550fps. 200 yard heart shot put down this Pronghorn rapidly after a 50 yard sprint. Entrance was bore size and exit was a 1" hole with a 0.5" hole next to it. I didn't...
I re-barrelled my factory Howa 22" 25-06 with a Preferred Barrels 25-06AI 26" 1:7" twist. Very happy with the quality and support from PBB, not to mention the multiple of obscure chamberings they offer in a prefit barrel. I am almost 150 rounds into that barrel and found 1/2MOA load with my...
I don't really care about the field strippable bolt, but I do appreciate that they upsized the scope base screws from 6-48 to 8-40. After upsizing the stripped threads on my 1944 Mauser I certainly appreciate some stronger threads.
I'm a bit of a Wyoming fanboy so I'm an easy sell I guess. I...