Fast twist 25 cal real world data

[cbuck516]

I am interested in this as well. Starline just recently started making 25-06 brass too and I have had very good luck with their brass especially considering the price.

Yeah, I’m a fan of Starline as well. Made in my home state too.

Any new info on the 25-284s and/or 25/06 AI’s you guys are shooting? I’ve got a tikka with a standard bolt face coming in. Curious on how PBB’s 25/06 AI reamer is setup and if I’d be inside Tikka mag confines with the 134s, although it sounds like they’d be able to use a dummy round to throat properly. Brass for the 06 seems to be the biggest hurdle.

My 1:7 25-06AI from PBB has Berger 135 jam at 3.485” COAL. Never tried the 134s because the Bergers shot so well. I now also have an 18 inch and 26 inch 1:7 25 Creedmoor from PBB as well.

 

[Tanner]

Yeah, I’m a fan of Starline as well. Made in my home state too.

My 1:7 25-06AI from PBB has Berger 135 jam at 3.485” COAL. Never tried the 134s because the Bergers shot so well. I now also have an 18 inch and 26 inch 1:7 25 Creedmoor from PBB as well.

Thanks for the info. I am guessing yours aren’t built on Tikkas ?

 

[cbuck516]

Thanks for the info. I am guessing yours aren’t built on Tikkas ?

Sorry, should have clarified. I have these all on Howa actions with barrel nuts. I swap my 18” 1:7 25CM back and forth between LA and SA Howa 1500s depending on my needs at the time. Shot my elk last year with it on my SA, but now it’s back on my LA while my 26” 1:7” 25CM sits in the SA. I got that 26” barrel in a 1” Varmint profile for PRS matches. Barrel alone weighs 6#. The 25CM feeds great on both actions sizes and I have my SA set up to accept 2.950” COAL.

 

[Tanner]

Sorry, should have clarified. I have these all on Howa actions with barrel nuts. I swap my 18” 1:7 25CM back and forth between LA and SA Howa 1500s depending on my needs at the time. Shot my elk last year with it on my SA, but now it’s back on my LA while my 26” 1:7” 25CM sits in the SA. I got that 26” barrel in a 1” Varmint profile for PRS matches. Barrel alone weighs 6#. The 25CM feeds great on both actions sizes and I have my SA set up to accept 2.950” COAL. View attachment 993787

Good info, thanks !

Starting all over again would you bother with the 25/06 AI after doing the 25 CMs? What brass did you end up using for the 06 AI?

My purpose will be a sub 9lb scoped and suppressed hunting rifle, it’ll likely get shot between 3-500 rounds a year and I’ve got a pile of Creed and x47 based rifles so I wouldn’t mind having something With a little more ass to play around with and hunt with, which led me to looking into the 06 AI or 25-284 again.

 

[Harvey_NW]

Good info, thanks !

Starting all over again would you bother with the 25/06 AI after doing the 25 CMs? What brass did you end up using for the 06 AI?

My purpose will be a sub 9lb scoped and suppressed hunting rifle, it’ll likely get shot between 3-500 rounds a year and I’ve got a pile of Creed and x47 based rifles so I wouldn’t mind having something With a little more ass to play around with and hunt with, which led me to looking into the 06 AI or 25-284 again.

The CM case is pretty anemic in a shorter barrel with the heavies, I could only push a 133 to about 2,700 in a 20" before getting ejector marks on Peterson brass. I would definitely go at least 284 or 06 case, or either PRC or the wildcat off the 6.8 Western that another member did. There's a thread on it, search 25 Western and it should come up.

 

[Brandon.miller.4]

25-7 prc is where its at if you want short barrel and speed.

 

[Tanner]

25-7 prc is where its at if you want short barrel and speed.

Brandon, I recall reading in a few threads where you were pretty happy with your 25-284. Are you still shooting that one?

 

[Tanner]

The CM case is pretty anemic in a shorter barrel with the heavies, I could only push a 133 to about 2,700 in a 20" before getting ejector marks on Peterson brass. I would definitely go at least 284 or 06 case, or either PRC or the wildcat off the 6.8 Western that another member did. There's a thread on it, search 25 Western and it should come up.

Thanks for weighing in. That Western case is intriguing for sure!

 

[Brandon.miller.4]

Re-barreled to the 25-7. I loved the 25-284 but youd need to be at 22" min to get to the 3000fps mark. Im doing 3060 with the 25-7 out of an 18". If youre ok with the 2800-2900 then 25-284 is the easy answer with standard bolt face.

 

[Qholum37]

The 257 Roberts AI is another option I’ve been thinking about for a tikka standard bolt face. Not the greatest brass options though.

 

[cbuck516]

Good info, thanks !

Starting all over again would you bother with the 25/06 AI after doing the 25 CMs? What brass did you end up using for the 06 AI?

My purpose will be a sub 9lb scoped and suppressed hunting rifle, it’ll likely get shot between 3-500 rounds a year and I’ve got a pile of Creed and x47 based rifles so I wouldn’t mind having something With a little more ass to play around with and hunt with, which led me to looking into the 06 AI or 25-284 again.

In my opinion, it depends on what bullet weight and barrel length you intend to shoot and what you intend to use that combo for. The 25CM is super efficient and is ideal for short barrel setups, but the 25-06 and Ackley version are going to be pretty problematic for shorter barrels due to how much unburnt powder you will be constantly throwing in your can. 2600-2650fps is achievable with the 135 in my 18” 1:7 25CM with the right powder. I actually just got a uni-throater as well and will be increasing free bore to around 0.250” on my 18” barrel which will allow further velocity gain. My current hunting load is around 2970fps with the 107HBC. I use that same bullet in my 26” 25-06AI @3516fps. If you want two very different setups, I think a long barrel 25-06AI and a short barrel 25CM are a sweet combo. That will let you cover a wider range of possible powders with a little overlap between them and let you use two different sizes of primers if you want to. If you are die hard 25 caliber nerd, it is a pretty supply chain tolerant combination in my opinion. I didn’t see CCI or Federal LRP on a shelf for over 4 years so that was a big reason why I got into Creedmoor and the 308Win recently.

My 26” 1:7 25-06AI is 12-14# fully loaded and I hunt with it that way in the mountains. Just took it on a backpacking hunt this fall at around 12.5# and packed it in 10 miles. Some men can, and some men can’t. A sub 9# 25-06AI doesn’t sound like a great idea to me. It is a pretty over bore magnum and creates barrel heat as such. To reach your weight target you will either have to use a really light profile or a really short barrel, neither of which I think is a good idea for an over bore magnum as I think you will very likely end up seeing groups start to wander after three shots like I do on my pencil profile 300 PRC

 

[Tanner]

The CM case is pretty anemic in a shorter barrel with the heavies, I could only push a 133 to about 2,700 in a 20" before getting ejector marks on Peterson brass. I would definitely go at least 284 or 06 case, or either PRC or the wildcat off the 6.8 Western that another member did. There's a thread on it, search 25 Western and it should come up.

Thanks for weighing in. That W

In my opinion, it depends on what bullet weight and barrel length you intend to shoot and what you intend to use that combo for. The 25CM is super efficient and is ideal for short barrel setups, but the 25-06 and Ackley version are going to be pretty problematic for shorter barrels due to how much unburnt powder you will be constantly throwing in your can. 2600-2650fps is achievable with the 135 in my 18” 1:7 25CM with the right powder. I actually just got a uni-throater as well and will be increasing free bore to around 0.250” on my 18” barrel which will allow further velocity gain. My current hunting load is around 2970fps with the 107HBC. I use that same bullet in my 26” 25-06AI @3516fps. If you want two very different setups, I think a long barrel 25-06AI and a short barrel 25CM are a sweet combo. That will let you cover a wider range of possible powders with a little overlap between them and let you use two different sizes of primers if you want to. If you are die hard 25 caliber nerd, it is a pretty supply chain tolerant combination in my opinion. I didn’t see CCI or Federal LRP on a shelf for over 4 years so that was a big reason why I got into Creedmoor and the 308Win recently.

My 26” 1:7 25-06AI is 12-14# fully loaded and I hunt with it that way in the mountains. Just took it on a backpacking hunt this fall at around 12.5# and packed it in 10 miles. Some men can, and some men can’t. A sub 9# 25-06AI doesn’t sound like a great idea to me. It is a pretty over bore magnum and creates barrel heat as such. To reach your weight target you will either have to use a really light profile or a really short barrel, neither of which I think is a good idea for an over bore magnum as I think you will very likely end up seeing groups start to wander after three shots like I do on my pencil profile 300 PRC

thanks again for the info.

I have a 19” 6 Creed that I shoot 109s in at 2870 so I’d have quite a bit of overlap with a 25 CM in the herd, which is kind of why I started looking into the medium to bigger 25s.

I tend to lean towards the highest BC bullets that I can shoot in any given cartridge so the 134s and 133s would be my desired bullet, but the 128 ELDX also catches my eye.

I can pack some serious weight when I need to but definitely tend more towards the “gram weenie” side of the spectrum when it comes to all of my backpacking gear, and won’t hunt a rifle that weighs much over 9# with a scope and can.

Your comment about the unburnt powder flowing into the can with a magnum sized cart in a short barrel is a very good point, and that coupled with the lack of COAL latitude in a Tikka, make me lean heavily towards the 25-284. If I could be in the 2800 range with a 134 out of a 20-22” barrel, it would be a good step up in BC and SD over my 6 Creed, and would probably be a sweet spot in shootability in a lighter rifle.

 

[Tanner]

Re-barreled to the 25-7. I loved the 25-284 but youd need to be at 22" min to get to the 3000fps mark. Im doing 3060 with the 25-7 out of an 18". If youre ok with the 2800-2900 then 25-284 is the easy answer with standard bolt face.

Can you refresh my memory on what your barrel length was on the 25-284, and what velocity you were seeing with the 134s?

 

[Brandon.miller.4]

Can you refresh my memory on what your barrel length was on the 25-284, and what velocity you were seeing with the 134s?

133 bergers in a 21" tube ~2950

 

[Quandary]

In my 25-06AI the 133 Berger EHs at .025OTLs are 3.345. Running 3,250 over 62.8gr of Retumbo in a 24" CRB barrel. Using 25-06 Nosler fire formed brass.