.25/06 ai

[SweaterDood]

I built one for a guy but I didn't get to do the load development on it. He claims its a beast with those Blackjacks and Retumbo. He's getting 3,167fps and some pretty stellar accuracy. Here are a couple pictures he sent to me. One five shot group and then a 10 shot group. Has me thinking of building one for myself.

~3160 and ~3220 have been good nodes for me as well I backed down to the 3160 to ease up on the brass and barrel a little bit. I’m shooting a Shilen 26” savage prefit, 1:7t. Not sure of the freebore on this one, but it isn’t optimized for the bullet. Optimized would be around .160” FB. Both the Blackjack 131 and Berger 135 will prefer the same FB from my experience. I’ve only taken it to 1250yds, but it’s a laser and the trace on the glass looks like the wake from a mastercraft

 

[dakotaman]

Have never had my 25-06 opened up to a improved version, but have thought of it, as I do like the A. I. cartridges.
Have shot this old 25-06 since around 1965 or so and killed a lot of deer and a few elk with the nosler partition in it.
Might just rechamber to A.I. in time. You should like yours, but go with a faster twist on those heavier/long bullets for stability.

Bill, I'm a hobbyist gunsmith and just made two 25-06 AIs for a friend and his wife. Both are 7.5 twist 26" Proof Research Sendero contour barrels. They will be shooting everything from 75g to 135g bullets (prairie dog to elk). I really like the AI for sure but while I had the rental reamer, I did NOT re-chamber two of my standard 25-06 Rem rifles because their 10 twist barrels are still pretty new and they shoot great. On a new 25-06, I would always go for a fast twist for bigger bullets and the AI version for additional speed. I shoot a 25-06 for velocity and why not get all of it while you are at it.