25-06 bullets?

[tater]

I purchased a rifle on a whim for the action with the intent to rebarrel it to 6.5-06AI (my last rifle kind of deal). It was a truck gun for 20 years before being stuck in a gun safe for another 20. The wood was chewed, and there were some cosmetic issues with the blueing and it all just cried out "rebarrel/cerakote/hydrodip". I was given all of the brass that the gun ever fired in the original boxes (dating back to 1975), plus the one box of reloads made for it in 1989. The previous owner's hunting partner guessed round count at 120, and the inside of the barrel looks to confirm it.

Turns out that with some TLC the wood is beautiful (even checkering has ben salvaged), and this thing flat out shoots (out of seven different bullets (75-117Gr.) only one was printing larger than .485-.785" at 100 yards). This was with no real load development, just throwing some guess loads together using the brass that came with the gun, and some miscellaneous 25 cal bullets that my Pops donated to me.

So, it seems a waste to rebarrel something that shoots like that. The question is what is a good bullet choice for a 25-06? It would be a deer/bear gun, but there is always the possibility of an elk popping up. I am a bowhunter 98% of the time, and am incredilbly selective with shots, even with rifles. Think calm animal broadside under 200 yards for this gun.

When i was more of a gun guy i used Barnes in my .308 and .338. Is there something better these days? My concern is balance between controlled expansion and penetration with a smaller/faster bullet (something new to me). Any feedback from quarterbore guys on here?

 

[GKPrice]

a guy could do worse than 110 Accubonds

 

[BARichardson]

Use ur Barnes again... the 100gr TSX has killed 6 or 7 200"+ muledeer for my master guide and it dose so well I'm actually building a Ultralight in the 25-06AI to run them or the 90gr GMX bullet. Im a hand loader an on my first ladder test I was close to 3800FPS with the 90gr bullets.

 

[Jackelope]

115 Berger hunting VLD
115 Barnes
110 accubond

I just picked up a 700LR in .25-06 and that's what I'll be experimenting with. Is yours a 10 twist?

 

[PathFinder]

I've run the 100 gr Barnes in my 25 WSSM a lot. That rifle/bullet combo has killed around ten deer, and not lost a single one. Thinking back I think only one lengthwise shot didn't exit. Kills were from 50-725 yards. Accubonds are probably good, but I shot the 110 NBTs one year and terminal performance was horrible.

 

[Chad E]

I've had great success with the 110 nosler accubonds. Extremely accurate and really hits deer hard.

 

[GKPrice]

I've run the 100 gr Barnes in my 25 WSSM a lot. That rifle/bullet combo has killed around ten deer, and not lost a single one. Thinking back I think only one lengthwise shot didn't exit. Kills were from 50-725 yards. Accubonds are probably good, but I shot the 110 NBTs one year and terminal performance was horrible.

I don't recall Nosler ever producing a "110 NBT" ? On another note, I used 85 gr Ballistic Silvertips from a 25 WSSM to kill a pretty nice pronghorn buck and it held together just fine (but I called Nosler and first asked a ballistician what he thought about my trying that first because I couldn't find any literature suggesting that practice one way or the other) but that's just me
IMO it's fairly important to read what a bullet manufacturer's intended use might be rather than surmise then criticize -

 

[PathFinder]

My mistake, it's a 115. It was intended to be a deer/antelope bullet, and it was awful.

 

[tater]

115 Berger hunting VLD
115 Barnes
110 accubond

I just picked up a 700LR in .25-06 and that's what I'll be experimenting with. Is yours a 10 twist?

Yes, it's a 10, but in a 26 inch barrel (it's a Browning B78;Singles are my thing). My understanding is that Bergers when pushed faster tend to rapidly expand compared to Barnes (possibly less penetration?). I have no experience with Bergers, but have heard they are more of a "larger caliber friendly" bullet. I'm going to see if i can find some 25 cal accubonds to play with (my experience with partitions years ago was less than stellar).

 

[tstowater]

I have a couple Remington 700's in 25-06. Found that the 115 grain Berger Hunting VLDs worked quite well. I also had very good accuracy with Sierra 117 grain Game Kings. I believe I am using IMR 4831 and didn't even get to max loads and found a suitable load. Just quit while I was ahead.

 

[amp713]

I was shooting the hornady superformance out of my 25-06 and dropped my elk at 400 yards. Loved the way they shot! Granted im a bow hunter haha

 

[CodyB]

I've been super pleased with the 100 gr TTSX from my Sako 25-06 using RL-22. The 110 Accubonds with H4831SC also shot well. The 25-06 is the rifle I take to CA to hunt some of th lead free zones so using the TTSX keeps things easier and they group great and the performance on game has been great.

 

[AZ Vince]

I run the 100 grain Nosler Partition and 87 grain Hornady Spire Point in my 25-06.

The 87 grain load is for coyotes, groundhogs, and such but it will work on antelope too.

I'd have no problem using the 100 grain load on deer or your typical black bear.

Vince

 

[GKPrice]

don't have a .25 anything right now but for a long time I kept a Ruger tang safety heavy barrel behind the rear seat when I was "in the country" - it shot 75 grain Vmax very well and that combo made an awesome coyote/rockchuck long range killer - too much recoil for prairie dogs but for those times when just a few shots were called for it was a lot of fun - a well constructed 100/110 is a very effective bullet at 25.06 velocities

 

[tater]

Thanks for all of the great feedback!
I guess i'm going to have to lose some of the inoctrination from my childhood where every time you picked up a round you saw Elmer Keith floating in the distance and wondered if you shouldn't use something bigger to flatten whatever it was you were thinking of shooting at.

And yes, 4831 seems to be THE powder for this gun/cartridge combo., and the Speer 117's are winners as well.

 

[GKPrice]

Thanks for all of the great feedback!
I guess i'm going to have to lose some of the inoctrination from my childhood where every time you picked up a round you saw Elmer Keith floating in the distance and wondered if you shouldn't use something bigger to flatten whatever it was you were thinking of shooting at.

And yes, 4831 seems to be THE powder for this gun/cartridge combo., and the Speer 117's are winners as well.

up to just a few years ago I was a "338 guy" - I tried the faster versions but settled back with the 338 Win Mag, with 200/210 or 225 class, either one, an experienced shooter can do quite well out to 700 or even beyond (and I did) but then somewhere along the line the recoil, although not really what I would say is abusive in a 7 - 71/2 rifle just started to affect my shooting ... it'll happen to a lot of "us" - "If it can't be done with a 30.06 then I really don't need to do it" is my old fart motto ......

 

[6mm Remington]

120 gr. Partitions is what I load for my wife's 25-06. I'm using IMR4350 and they chronograph right at 3000 fps in the 22" barrel on her rifle. I do wish it was 24", but it shoots very well. It has taken deer, antelope, and a couple of elk. I shot a spike bull at about 350 yards with it.

110 gr. Accubond would be another bullet to try. I'm very impressed with their results on game.

 

[6mm Remington]

Here are a couple pictures of bullets I recovered from water jugs doing testing for penetration, weight retention, and expansion. 25 yards is a pretty brutal test!!



These are three favorite Nosler bullets all out of a 6mm Remington.

 

[GKPrice]

we've been using the etips on elk when we can get them to shoot out a particular gun and get somewhere near the MV hoped for - IF the MV and accuracy are there another choice isn't really needed for game from what we've been seeing, at least with elk - I have been completely satisfied with 180 Accubonds from my 30.06 but I'm still going to give the 168 etip a try plus I need to chronograph the load I stumbled onto with 150 etips and the new enduron IMR 4166, if the speed is there It will be another temptation ..... sorry ! wandered off topic ! I'd have the utmost confidence in the .25 etip from a good shooting 25.06