25-06

[rwk]

I'm thinking about getting a 700 rem in a 25-06. What do you folks think about this gun, and do you have any loads for it. It would be a deer rifle.

 

[watercam]

Good choice in gun and caliber. You did not mention what bullet weight you would be using. My neighbor has one and he has had great luck with Hodgdon or IMR 4831 with bullets from 130 - 150. He has a Remmy 700 and he was printing 3" groups at 400 yds. with no special prep or development. If he was to put in some effort I have no doubt those groups could be whittled down but he is happy.

 

[Berger.Fan222]

Good choice in gun and caliber. You did not mention what bullet weight you would be using. My neighbor has one and he has had great luck with Hodgdon or IMR 4831 with bullets from 130 - 150. He has a Remmy 700 and he was printing 3" groups at 400 yds. with no special prep or development. If he was to put in some effort I have no doubt those groups could be whittled down but he is happy.

I don't think there are many (or any) 130-150 grain bullets available for the 25-06.

In a 25-06 deer rifle, all the ballistic tips are great, but the 115 grain Nosler ballistic tip and H4831 are a combo that will produce a great deer load quickly.

 

[butchlambert]

I'm with Berger Fan, 120grn are the heaviest that I have seen. I've got 115grn. Berger VLD loaded to test. Haven't shot them yet.

 

[nmkid]

My 25.06 really likes the Nosler 110 gr Accubond and 4831sc. However, they are a hard bullet to find. In my area anyway.

 

[ireload2]

The Sierra 100grn flat base bullet is very tough and very accurate. I have killed 11 whitetail with it all but one gave complete penetration.
Unlike the .243, the .25-06 shoots as fast and as flat as the manuals claim.

 

[timeout]

I run H4831SC and 115 gr. HVLD'S in mine. My factory barrel would not shoot any bullet, powder, seating depth. Wasted time and valuable components. Chambered a custom barrel and it shoots fast, flat and accurate. Factory barrels can be a crap shoot. Give the Berger HVLD'S a try and follow Berger's seating depth test recommendations.

 

[MagnumManiac]

I too have a 25-06, mine really shines with 110gr Accubonds and RE25 powder, I tend to stick to one bullet with my rifles, but, with this one I have another load I switch to for bigger deer here, and, that's the 115gr Partition and RE25 powder.
My rifle is a genuine 3/8MoA shooter, and it shoots flat!

I would love to try the Berger 115gr HVLD, but, supply here is non-existant.

Cheers.

 

[Lapua40X]

[
As a deer rifle you might get some extended use out of it. It probably wouldn't see a lot of use between hunting seasons. Generally speaking, however, barrel like can be expected to be short if you shoot it a lot.

 

[Big Mc]

I'm thinking about getting a 700 rem in a 25-06. What do you folks think about this gun, and do you have any loads for it. It would be a deer rifle.

Got one that loves Speer 87gr. and the 117 gr. pills. H-4831 is the best powder for mine anyhoo.. Just my two cents Tommy Mc..

 

[Brians356]

As a deer rifle you might get some extended use out of it. It probably wouldn't see a lot of use between hunting seasons.

What about vermin? Launching a 87-gr TNT at 3500 fps, it will devastate coyotes, and any marmots that happen to get in the way, believe me.

Another good bullet for deer and antelope is the 100-gr Ballistic Tip. Out of my roughly equivalent 250 AI, the 100-gr BT is extremely accurate and departs at 3300+ fps.

PS No too many antelope in NY I guess. But ground hogs ...
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[JRS]

Buy it. You'll enjoy it!

 

[RonAKA]

I'm thinking about getting a 700 rem in a 25-06. What do you folks think about this gun, and do you have any loads for it. It would be a deer rifle.

It certainly will work for deer. However, it wouldn't be my choice because of the limited choices for bullets. If you are starting with a blank page I would suggest looking at the green highlighted bullets on Berger's form factor page. Those are bullets with good ballistics. For deer, I would then suggest looking at the 6.5mm bullets or .264. Both the 130 grain and 140 grain hunting VLD would be good choices, as well as the recently released 135 grain Classic Hunting bullet. Next you need brass, and Lapua in my opinion offers the best value in high quality brass. The prospects suitable for deer hunting would be the 6.5x55 SE (57 grain case capacity), 260 Remington (53 grains), and the 6.5x284 (66 grains). Here you would have to balance how much power you want with guns off the shelf that are chambered in these cartridges. The Swede and 260 can be had in lots of Remington models. To get a 6.4x284 (which would be my choice) you would have to go to a Savage, and perhaps others...

 

[Brians356]

If the OP plans to use this 25-06 in Upstate NY (his published locale), I doubt he will need to worry much about VLD bullets. More likely his concerns will be terminal expansion at shorter ranges, and possibly brush busting. In fact, the 25-06 might not be the optimal choice in cartridge, let's start with that. However, maybe the OP plans to travel or move out west with this rifle, where the 25-06 shines as a dual-purpose open country cartridge. ???
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[JRS]

It certainly will work for deer. However, it wouldn't be my choice because of the limited choices for bullets. If you are starting with a blank page I would suggest looking at the green highlighted bullets on Berger's form factor page. Those are bullets with good ballistics. For deer, I would then suggest looking at the 6.5mm bullets or .264. Both the 130 grain and 140 grain hunting VLD would be good choices, as well as the recently released 135 grain Classic Hunting bullet. Next you need brass, and Lapua in my opinion offers the best value in high quality brass. The prospects suitable for deer hunting would be the 6.5x55 SE (57 grain case capacity), 260 Remington (53 grains), and the 6.5x284 (66 grains). Here you would have to balance how much power you want with guns off the shelf that are chambered in these cartridges. The Swede and 260 can be had in lots of Remington models. To get a 6.4x284 (which would be my choice) you would have to go to a Savage, and perhaps others...

To equal the SD of a 25 caliber 120 grain bullet, in the 6.5, you have to move up to a 140 grain bullet. More powder and more felt recoil for no difference in the ability to kill.

 

[MapleHill]

I have a 25-06 and live in rural upstate NY, however I don't hunt with it here, I have better choices. I do, however love the gun. A Rem 700 SPS stainless. It took a few down the tube to get it to group, but now it is a real tack driver. 117 and 120gr pills Sierras and Speers with H4831 and Hybrid 100V are the best, RL19 and RL22 also work well. Very, very accurate rifle.

 

[Lone Hunter]

I have a 25/06 and love it. It shoots very flat. For deer I use H4831 and 115 Nosler BT's. For Varmints I use 85 gr Nosler BT's with H4831. Very impressive when it hits something.

 

[HTSmith]

I had one years ago that gave me several "dead right there" kills on deer. Could have been just luck I guess, but it was a good rifle. I used IMR7828 powder along with Nosler 120 Gr Solid Base Bullets. The Solid Base bullets have been long discontinued, so I'd be inclined to try the Accubond's instead.

 

[BillPa]

I used IMR7828 powder along with Nosler 120 Gr Solid Base Bullets. The Solid Base bullets have been long discontinued

I'd have to look to be sure, but I think I have close to 200 of the old 25-120 SBs. Now if you have any of the 25-100s we could make a trade. I use the 100s in both my 250Imp and 25-06 for 'tails.
Bill

 

[fourpower]

I'm thinking about getting a 700 rem in a 25-06. What do you folks think about this gun, and do you have any loads for it. It would be a deer rifle.

i got the first Remington sender in Oregon and that has been the best thing I have done in my long life! I had to hand lap it but I do that to all my guns and then I sent the barrel out to have it froze and put in a better trigger. this gun always shot good with 100gr sierras& nosler bts. then one day I was asked to try some berger 115s and the rest is history. with 58grs h-1000 it does 3105fps and with over 3000 rounds down the tube it still shoots better than I do. I have kills out to 904yds with it and shoot it at least once a week at bowling pins at 900yds. as for nosler accbonds I have never been able to get them to shoot in any of the over 40 rifles I own! I don't like noslers and hate barnes!! I now shoot only bergers. as for my 25-06 give me a coyote@ 500yds and he can sell his ass to god!