Author Topic: Range report on 25 06 (Read 1850 times)

Ditchdigger · « **on:** May 10, 2005, 05:02:34 PM »

Well I bought the 25 06 ultra I posted about earlier and its comeing around pretty good. The thing on closer exam the next day looked like the throat was shot completly out and the lands were rounded over,so I thought the barrel was junk,but with the Vari x 2 on it it was still worth 309 dollars out the door.The dealer had soaked a patch in somthing and the lands didn't look any better. I took it home and put a very tight patch through it and it looked alot better. I shot 4 shots through it and got a 3.5" pattern at 100 yds. so back to the gun room with it. I soaked it with Hoppes no.9 and lo and behold black stuff started running out of the end of the barrel,and now the barrel looks brand new.I cleaned all of the grease off that was on the breech,and tried again. 2" groups,put 2 thickness's of business card under the forend.and the first 2 shot,were .120 center to center with a third shot bringing it out to 1.020. Shot 3 more shots and the first 2 were .230 with the third shot taking it to 1.250 " Anyone out there with some pet loads? These were 100 gr. corlokts. Digger

quickdtoo · « **Reply #1 on:** May 10, 2005, 05:09:41 PM »

Digger, mine likes the Federal 115gr Nosler partitions and the Hornady 117gr BTSP, shot less than 1" with the first 2 touching. Seems to me Mac's liked the Winchester Supremes, if I remember correctly.

and.....

my other .25-06 will only like 200-250gr CT Ballistic Silvertips........but it's gonna be a 338-06!!!! :eek: :-D :-D :-D

Here's his target showing how the 115gr Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips shoot.

tcman · « **Reply #2 on:** May 10, 2005, 05:50:43 PM »

51.0 grains of H4831 & 100 grain sierra flat base............

Paul5388 · « **Reply #3 on:** May 10, 2005, 05:57:15 PM »

Digger,

Those 100 gr may not be the best in the world for accuracy. However, if you want pretty good accuracy that won't beat you to death while you get some trigger time, try 22.5 gr of Blue Dot with those same bullets. It's a very mild load that runs around 2000-2200 fps, but it will group at 1 1/4" at 100 yards.

Mac11700 · « **Reply #4 on:** May 10, 2005, 07:22:18 PM »

Digger...pick up some of that Winchester Supreme ammo...the 115 Ballistic Silver Tips shot superb out of mine...( Thanks Quick)...and you won't be disapointed...I've found this to be true with all of my Handi's...that the Winchester stuff delivers outstanding accuracy...and when they become available down there...try out some of the new Federal Fusion ammo...they might have it out by hunting season...

Mac

lik2hunt · « **Reply #5 on:** May 11, 2005, 01:22:14 AM »

I knew it.....you bought a shooter! Those are some pretty decent groups you posted about already. And you and I both know that that is a virtually unfired gun so it will probably "shoot in" after another 50-60 rounds.

Hildy · « **Reply #6 on:** May 11, 2005, 03:13:11 PM »

75 grain V-Max on 56.5 grains of IMR 4350 w/ CCI 200's.

Under an inch at 100 yards and a 2.1 inch group at 325 yards.

Here's a picture of the 325y group...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Hildy1121/325yardgroup.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

Sounds like your doing good so far. Sure did cut the groups down from when you got it :grin:

Norseman112 · « **Reply #7 on:** May 11, 2005, 04:38:07 PM »

wow thats a awesome group Hildy.... good shooting

Mitch in MI · « **Reply #8 on:** May 13, 2005, 11:46:16 AM »

1/8" to 1/4" 2 shot groups are awesome hunting accuracy if they are repeatable. If I could do that with CoreLokts in Digger's gun, I'd not bother handloading for it.

Ricci Price · « **Reply #9 on:** May 13, 2005, 01:06:52 PM »

Just got mine back in the 1" group with 100 grn. hornady flat base bullets, boat tails did not give me the same accuracy best load so far is with 52grns. of IMR 4831 have tried 4350 and 4064 but these loads strung about 2"-3". What you were seeing in your barrel is the freebore area in it these barrels have alot of it in them. If you really want to see it shoot try some 75grain bullets my pet load for that is 51 grns. of IMR 4064. I have got almost 500 rounds through this thing and the barrel still looks real good inside.

quickdtoo · « **Reply #10 on:** May 13, 2005, 01:26:23 PM »

When/if I reload for the .25-06, my first load will be Hildy's load, it looks great to me for yotes to as far as I can shoot!!! For deer/antelope, I'll shoot up the federal 115gr nosler partitions, since the first 2 touch at 100yd, there's no need to handload for it. :grin:

ScatterGunner · « **Reply #11 on:** May 13, 2005, 03:20:34 PM »

hello guys -

the 25-06 always intrigued me. a 30-06 necked down to drive a quarter inch bullet way past any sane velocity, but hey, i like it.

fred m. kinda turned me off about the 25-06 handi last year with his experience with the roomy throat and grooves he had in his handi. he does know his stuff and his opinion has a bit of weight in my view.

i guess it's time get one and put it through its' paces. the 6mm-1/4" class of bullets seems to walk the tightrope of marginal ballistic stability. but then again, it is most likely me !

sg

quickdtoo · « **Reply #12 on:** May 13, 2005, 03:56:42 PM »

SG, FWIW, I slugged my .25-06, it was slightly over optimum by Fred's standards, but well within tolerances. And it does shoot extremely well....I think Fred knows too much for his own good, and ours for that matter! Sometimes a person picks things apart too much, and just gets too picky in the end. There are too many good shooting 25-06s on the forum here to believe they are poor shooters, Fred just had one of those bad ones and didn't have factory repair as a recourse cuz he lives too far north, so he had to do the best he could. :money:

mitchell · « **Reply #13 on:** May 13, 2005, 04:37:10 PM »

Quote from: quickdtoo

so he had to do the best he could. :money:

yeah sold it to me and i got it to shoot just at MOA (sometimes bigger)with factor ammo.

Ricci Price · « **Reply #14 on:** May 13, 2005, 04:45:32 PM »

I'm surprised Fred hasn't stopped by to say something about these high pressure 25-06's. Ol Fred is one smart suka.

quickdtoo · « **Reply #15 on:** May 13, 2005, 04:53:22 PM »

Fred hasn't been playing much here since he had the crow dinner..... :roll:

http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?p=355457&highlight=#355457

Ditchdigger · « **Reply #16 on:** May 13, 2005, 04:53:48 PM »

I've been trying 75 gr V max's ,87 gr. Sierra's,and 100 gr. speers,and still can't get under 1" consistantly.I'm using IMR 4350 with various loads,so I'm loading some with Rel. 19 to try tomorrow,if its not raining. Digger

quickdtoo · « **Reply #17 on:** May 13, 2005, 04:58:34 PM »

Digger,

Here's Hildy's pm to me on his .25-06 handloading...

Quote

Hey Tim,

I got up to the range yesterday and have some info for ya on the reloads...

Scope: Swift Premier 6-18x44(set on 12 power for the groups)
Rest: BullBag front sand bag rear

A dry cotton patch was run through the bore before every group

Powder: 56.5grns of IMR 4350
Bullet: 75grn V-Max
Velocity: 3575fps
This load showed to be the most accurate shooting a 3-shot group right dead at 1 inch. Out to 150 yards they were still on course and it was an easy task to hit a 2 inch square at that range.

Powder: 47.7grns of IMR 4064
Bullet: 75grn V-Max
Velocity: 3500fps
This load wasn't the greatest outta my gun and groups were in the 2 inch catagory. Nothing special, two grouped under an inch and then the third one would throw the group out of whack.

Powder: 49grns of IMR 4895
Bullet: 75grn V-Max
Velocity: 3595fps
The same as load two with groups in the 2 inch catagory. Again, two grouped nicely and a third one would throw the group outta whack.

So, it looks to me like I will be sticking with the first one as far as accuracy and over-all varmint distinguishing. I would say that any varmint being torched with 2000ft/lbs of energy won't have too much of a chance.

Oh, and I also want to say that Winchester 115gr Ballistic SilverTips had the same POI at 100 yards and even at 150 yards I had one touch a 75 grainer making a 1/4 inch two shot group. Not much of a group only having 2 shots, but, well, ya know, it looked good atleast. So that is cool that I won't have to re-sight my scope for varmints and deer.

Hildy · « **Reply #18 on:** May 13, 2005, 05:17:29 PM »

Thanks for the kind comments and I appreciate you posting that PM quick...

I just wanted to add...in my "review" I sent quick, I stated the 4350 load shot 1 inch. Well, after further testing, and breaking in the barrel, the load settled down to around 3/4". I don't need anymore accuracy as I made two one-shot kills at 280 and 290 yards on crows with it. After some practice ofcourse

tcman · « **Reply #19 on:** May 13, 2005, 05:41:26 PM »

H4831 seems to be a real good powder for the 25-06 100 grain Sierra....my Encore went form just under 1" group at 100 yards with IMR 4831 to a 0.44 group with the H4831.

Fred M · « **Reply #20 on:** May 13, 2005, 08:07:34 PM »

Quick.
That crow dinner actually tasted pretty good, after the expert handloader produced a blown case with a serious case head separation with his safe loads and damaged the chamber trying to pry out a separated case with a screw driver. After rechecking I don't think I was out too far. Crow is not too bad after all.

Yes I know what that 25-06 I traded was doing, it was not something to write home about. I fired more than 200 rounds through that rifle and got a pretty good idea.

My idea of a 25-06 is a 3/8" or better gun like my Ruger #1, but then I am fuzzy.

As you noticed " For my own good" I have not given out any more advise.

quickdtoo · « **Reply #21 on:** May 13, 2005, 08:35:29 PM »

Quote from: Fred M

Quick.
.. after the expert handloader produced a blown case with a serious case head separation with his safe loads and damaged the chamber trying to pry out a separated case with a screw driver. After rechecking I don't think I was out too far....

And that happened when? The only incident relating to a handi that
I recollect was with the reman blackhills ammo.... :?

Are you thinking of this on....?

Quote

So, I got my new Handi-Rifle out to the range last Friday. It seemed to shoot pretty good. Got some 1.5" groups and some others that were more like 3-4". But, I'm waiting until I get a couple hundred rounds and a couple good cleanings on the barrel before I start paying alot of attention to the groups. I did find that different kinds of ammo had significantly different points of impact. I only had one case stick out of about 120 rounds I fired. So, I'm glad that's not a major problem for me.

I found the Black Hills ammo was shooting the best for me. I was just shooting alot of cheap stuff while I try to smooth out the barrel. I tried Rem UMC, American Eagle, Black Hills, and some Winchester Valu-Pak stuff. Overall, the Black Hills shot the best for me. But, I did have one mis-fire with the Black Hills and had to drop the hammer on it a second time to get it to fire. Then, most distressingly, I had a case separation on one of the Black Hills rounds. So, two problems in only 25 or so rounds of the Black Hills stuff. I don't think I'll buy any more of that.

I think the Black Hills ammo is made with Lake City brass. I don't know what would have caused the case separation but I really dislike the idea of that happening again. I could understand if this was some old handloads where the brass had been fired and resized several times and maybe had a few upper end powder charges loaded into it. But, this was brand new factory ammo. I opened the action and only the bottom half inch of the case popped out. The rest of the brass was left in the chamber.

http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=62507&highlight=black+hills

or this one...?

Quote

I went prairie dog hunting in Montana this weekend and was shooting Black Hill Remanufactured bullets in my new .223 Ultra. I went to eject the shell and only about Â¼ of the shell came out. The rest of the brass was still in the chamberÂ…basically blew up the casing. Me, being the rocket scientist that I am, decided to take a screw driver to it and see if I could bend over the remaining part of the casing and use a ram rod to tap out the remain brass. I did it as careful as I could with the tools that I had out in the field.

I got the rest of the cartridge out of the camber. I was elated thinking my new Ultra was back in business. The next time I shot the casing would not eject. I never had this problem prior to removing the blown up casing. I then had to use my ram rod to gently tap out the spent casing in order to remove them on the average of 8 out of 10 times. I examined the casing and could see little scratches in the brass caused by a nick I must have gouged in the chamber while trying to remove the casing. The brass wouldnÂ’t have any scratches in them prior to putting them in the chamber.

Now what to do? Any ideas how to smooth out the gouge in the chamber??

P.S. I WILL NEVER shoot Black Hills remanufactured bullets again! I learned a hard lesson.

P.S.S. This was our first PD hunt and we had a great time! Good thing I had the old Remington 788 .243 and NEF 17HMR Sporter.

http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=62769&highlight=screw+driver

quickdtoo · « **Reply #22 on:** May 13, 2005, 08:54:13 PM »

Crow served cold with a little salt is best from what I've heard! :-D :-D :-D

Mac11700 · « **Reply #23 on:** May 13, 2005, 08:58:52 PM »

Well...I'm glad you like eating it..I've only had to eat it a couple times in my life...and I never want to eat it again...

Bon Apeptite

Mac

Fred M · « **Reply #24 on:** May 13, 2005, 09:10:29 PM »

I was not refering to black hills ammo.

With cases as strong as the 204 Ruger you get case head seperations?

Who are you trying to kid. I woiuld have never brought it up but you keep relishing to rub in the crow dinner, I thought I let you know how good it tasted. Just keep on stuffing cases with max loads in Handi's and some body will looking for a seeing eye dog.

Quote

mitchell

A Real Regular
Joined: 12 Feb 2004
Total posts: 519
Location: ohio
Age: 18
Gender: Male Posted: Fri May 06, 2005 9:06 am Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

i had this happen to me about 2 weeks ago in my 204 (my fault i tried to get one too many reloads out of those hornady cases) well i didn't have a tap that would fit so i tried a number of things but still couldn't get it out . well it turns out my dad had a tap that would fit so i put in it and pulled my case out . after i got it out i was looking at the chamber and saw some scratches so i did the thing with the case like tim said it worked like a charm.
_________________
curiosity killed the cat , but i was lead suspect for a while

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Mac11700 · « **Reply #25 on:** May 13, 2005, 09:14:35 PM »

Fred:

Quote

I was not refering to black hills ammo.

With cases as strong as the 204 Ruger you get case head seperations?

Who are you trying to kid. I woiuld have never brought it up but you keep relishing to rub in the crow dinner, I thought I let you know how good it tasted. Just keep on stuffing cases with max loads in Handi's and some body will looking for a seeing eye dog.

It wasn't a too hot handload.....he just reloaded the case too-many times....

Quote

i had this happen to me about 2 weeks ago in my 204 (my fault i tried to get one too many reloads out of those hornady cases )

And I don't think the 204 is made with any magical proprietary features that will keep this from happening if you reload the cases too many times...

Bon Apetite

Mac

quickdtoo · « **Reply #26 on:** May 13, 2005, 09:38:02 PM »

Quote from: Fred M

Just keep on stuffing cases with max loads in Handi's and some body will looking for a seeing eye dog.

Fred, you're right .....if someone keeps reloading the same ammo over and over again too many times! That's gonna happen even with moderate loads.

mitchell · « **Reply #27 on:** May 14, 2005, 05:01:38 AM »

hey mac how many times have i asked for your help being that i have only reloaded for about 1 1/2 years??

fred i never claimed to be an "expert handloader " but yes i did make a rookie mistake i thought i could get one more reload out some cases that are very hard to find .

Fred just because you have shot bench rest a few times in your life doesn't make you the best thing since sliced bread. i know a few people who could completely out shootanybody they wanted to on a target range, and you know what when we shoot together they don't try to show off or talk about how good they are or how much money they won ect. ect. they just try to improve me and my shooting. i think you need to stop eating crow and have a bite of humble pie. some humility would go a long way with you.

edited do to advise form an older and more mature member . i apologize everybody for snapping.

lik2hunt · « **Reply #28 on:** May 14, 2005, 05:11:09 AM »

OUCH!!

mitchell · « **Reply #29 on:** May 14, 2005, 05:15:28 AM »

Quote from: Fred M

Quick.
damaged the chamber trying to pry out a separated case with a screw driver

hey fred one more thing if its going to be you that quote somebody else make sure you get it right ok??? the other guy used the screw driver not me i scratch mine with the tapp but it was just a little slip of my hand (i have hand trimmers) but after a quick polish it was gone i don't think it was that bad and you can't see it now .

edited do to advise form an older and more mature member .