25-06 Ammo Suggestions

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aprubio

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Just picked up a new Savage 111 25-06 with a 22 inch barrel. Will be using to hunt deer and hogs. Anyone have any experience / suggestions using Federal Nosler 100gr, Hornady 117gr Whitetail, or Hornady 117gr SST in this rifle? Thank you
 
I don't care for nosler partitions in any other caliber but the 120 gr partitions in 25-06 is the deadliest bullets I've found. They expand great and all but once have passed thru. I've tried them in 270 and 30 cals but didn't get much if any expansion at all. Most shots with my 25-06 have been DRT.
 
It's hard to beat Remington 100 grain Corelokt on deer. I use handloaded 100 grain SPBT (Speer?) as a combination load for coyote and deer. Generally these won't pass through but do an excellent job of killing this size animal. One caveat, don't shoot into the shoulder at close range. I've used 115-117 grain soft points on deer out of a 22" barrel and found they nearly always exit. BTW 25/06 loses quite a bit of performance out of a 22" vs 24" barrel. I traded away the only 22" 25/06 I had due to it's excessive muzzle blast and extreme fireball in low light shooting. The 24" has much less of both-my perception anyway.
 
I shoot the 100 GR sierra game king in my Ruger M77 , one of the best shots I have seen was made with a 117 gr Sierra boat tail spitzer in a Savage Anschultz bench rest rifle .
 
Thank you. Grey Ghost - What barrel length are you shooting the SSTs with? Tried them out on an FN .308 with a considerably shorter 18 inch barrel and they flew all over the place.
 
I always thought the 257 Weatherby was the best flat shooting 25 cal rifle in the field until I bought my Rem 700 Mtn 25-05. Wow!! That little Mtn rifle has ever so near the speed of a 257 Weatherby and without having all that heavy iron & bulkiness of a Weathery to tote around.
Can a hand loader have fun with the reloading of a 25-06. Oh you bet cha!! 87 gr. bullets are nothing short of a grenade when passing thru a big game animal and too they are the optimal when it comes to meat destruction.

100 gr. on the other hand anything (other than) Noslers or Hornady's Ballistic Tip's works for me. Honestly not having the muzzle blast of a Weatherby the 25-06 is so fast a animal goes on grazing than just falls over dead when shot at 100 yrds or less. "Quite similar to a streak of unseen lightning its that fast!!"
For those who prefer Max'ed out charges. 25-06 shows exceptional tight grouping accuracy at 200 & plus very on par with a 270s performance. For that purpose 4831 is the powder. Frankly: I bounced around using all kinds of powers in my 25-06 and eventually settled on 4831 with a 100 gr bullet. Never had a need to use anything heavier. (in bullet weights)
One thing is certain. A 25-06 shooter quickly learns the best shot on Deer under 200 yards {if he's intending to eat his harvest.} Either the throat's white patch or the back of the a head is the most appropriate locations because the cartridge gives its shooter that much confidence he/she can make those types of shots. For those who think their 260 7mm-08 308 or 30-06 is the cats meow in those woods. You haven't a clue how much fun y'll is missing not having a long action 25-06 instead.
 
My daughter has shot 20 deer and antelope with the .257 Roberts (basically a little less of the same flavor) and I've probably killed that many or more with it, and my ex shot 13. We have had great success with 100 grain core lockd and 120gr partitions. That 120gr partition is going to be tough to beat unless you are seeking a high BC.

Come to think of it, the old non +P 117gr RNSP at 2600fps killed everything we hit with it, even out to 300 yards.
 
The 120gr Core-Lokts Factory Load that my brother used to kill his deer was very impressive. Ray Charles could've followed that blood trail...the few short yards that it ran
 
I have used the 117 sierra and hornady on several deer with good results. The 25-06 will surprise you how flat it shoots for a non magnum caliber. Mine is very accurate also.
 
If you're going to shoot factory ammo,buy several different types and shoot them.Which ever shoots best is what you should go with.
 
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