25-06' what to do ?

[Harter66]

As with everything I seem to get into there's more to it than meets the eye .
History .
The rifle was purchased in 1970 by my Dad . He bought 2 on his FFL the other for what was probably his best friend . Bing passed away from cancer in in October of 78' . In his last days he asked Dad "isn't it hunting season ?", "yeah it is." " What are doing here ? Our days are over . Take that boy hunting ! " . I don't know what became of Uncle Bingos white line , ebony tipped , grade A walnut , double border 1/16th diamond checkering , 24" bull barrel , 700 BDL , with a 4-12×50 before that was a thing everyone had to have . I do have Dad's . It probably doesn't have 1,000 rounds down range he quit shooting it much after Bing passed away , maybe 10 rounds to foul up up the barrel , check zero and kill a deer .
He always said it would shoot 117s but 120s opened up to almost 3/4" for 3 but the 117s even on a bad day would cover 5 with a nickle every time .

So moving along , I have several 25 cal moulds and the rifle will go see my guy with all the cool tools soon .
I'm wondering about a slick side fat 6mm for a paper patch or maybe a heavy 6mm maybe a sort of pointed , spitzer like 110 ?

I have mastered the skills and alloys in smaller cases maybe I could get 27-2800 out of the 260-120 NOE with a little 2500+ .

Of course I might not be ready to shoot Dad's rifle yet . So ......... bring it along , share some ideas let's talk about getting a top shelf 5 under a dime capable sub caliber rifle going for target work and maybe a whitetail or a hog or 6 . If nothing else there's always the fall back to the Partition 117 gr .

[rancher1913]

sell or trade it to me, love my 25-06's.

[Harter66]

Not likely . I filled my first deer tag with it too . 350yd of flagstone like granite above the tree line bang ..............flop , beautiful textbook neck shot . 135 lbs cut and wrapped . 22" spread on a near perfect 4×4 mulie .

[gpidaho]

My 25-06 Remington 700 is matte stainless and has the grey black laminate stock. It has always been one of my favorite and accurate rifles and really comes to life with the sierra 100gr. flat bases. It's the rifle that the grandson always comes to borrow come deer season. On a whim I purchased the NOE 258-120 FP Like the sierra this bullet flies very true, just at half the velocity. the 25 and one of my223 bolt guns are the two I can count on to shoot sub-moa Gp

[bstone5]

Shot a deer at 1200 yards with a 25-06. Put the rifle together for my son when he was 14 years old, he is now 42. The rifle has shot well all of the time and now has less than 200 rounds fired thru the barrel. A Ruger bolt action, new barrel and a fiber glass stock were used in assembling the rifle.

[rancher1913]

well you cant blame me for trying :-D

[Texas by God]

My Tikka 25-06 is my "ready for anything" rifle. From 5 to 500 yards it's ready. I shot cast in it years ago(90gr Lyman fp) and it was fun but I have better guns for boolits.

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[GhostHawk]

Maybe I'm off base here. But it seems to me that is an heirloom gun. Hang it on the wall. Tell every story about that gun and your dad to anyone who will listen.

Pass it on to a grandson or daughter.

You want a new toy, go ahead, feel free. But don't touch dad's rifle. Start from scratch.

Or I could be way off base, full of !##$@

[Harter66]

8-)[smilie=1:8-)

[Harter66]

well you cant blame me for trying :-D

8-)[smilie=1:

[Harter66]

Maybe I'm off base here. But it seems to me that is an heirloom gun. Hang it on the wall. Tell every story about that gun and your dad to anyone who will listen.

Pass it on to a grandson or daughter.

You want a new toy, go ahead, feel free. But don't touch dad's rifle. Start from scratch.

Or I could be way off base, full of !##$@

I don't Dad or Bingo would mind if I shot it a lot . Having moved from the west edge of the Great Basin to the Southern Ozark Green Hell I don't expect to have a lot call for Dad's 25 or the 264 WM beyond blowing the cob webs out so I have an excuse to clean them up good .

I have 6 grands that someday will appreciate , I hope , great Grampa's rifle . His M12 , GG G-Pa M37 , the others M70 and Grandma's 357 RBH , MkX 22-250 and M12 .

It's not a matter of a range toy(s) , he wouldn't approve of it continuing to just sit in the safe sucking up rust and dust , I don't think .

[Wayne Smith]

Remington used a 1/12 rifling in the 25-06 and consequently they have problems with accuracy with boolits over about 117 gr. When I had mine I could shoot 76 gr Sierria Seconds, 100gr Sierria Seconds into less than 3/4" at 100yds. This was an ADL with a Leuopold 3-9X scope. 117 and 120 gr Sierria Seconds (ok, we lived in South Whittier and Sierria was in Santa Fe Springs, a good bike ride from our apartment) opened those groups up to over 1". I bought those Serria Seconds by the lb. in brown paper bags. Stick to 100 gr for deer and you will be very happy.

Oh, every one else put a 1/10 twist on their 25-06's. They shot the longer bullets fine.

[gpidaho]

I totally agree with Wayne. While my 25 is a tack driver with the 100gr Sierras, it's just deer hunting adequate with the 117-120gr. jacketed. Why it is so accurate with the NOE 120gr.FP I can only attribute to the lower velocity. Gp

[swheeler]

Remington used a 1/12 rifling in the 25-06 and consequently they have problems with accuracy with boolits over about 117 gr. When I had mine I could shoot 76 gr Sierria Seconds, 100gr Sierria Seconds into less than 3/4" at 100yds. This was an ADL with a Leuopold 3-9X scope. 117 and 120 gr Sierria Seconds (ok, we lived in South Whittier and Sierria was in Santa Fe Springs, a good bike ride from our apartment) opened those groups up to over 1". I bought those Serria Seconds by the lb. in brown paper bags. Stick to 100 gr for deer and you will be very happy.

Oh, every one else put a 1/10 twist on their 25-06's. They shot the longer bullets fine.

My first was a Remington 700 ADL bought in 1970 and it shot 120 grainers just fine, used surplus 4831 at 52 grs, second was a Winchester Feather Weight bought in 1990 and it too shot the 120's fine. Are you sure you are not thinking of the .244 Remington later called the 6mm Remington after the twist change from 1-12 to 1-9?

[Harter66]

Dad's always shot better than Bings . I suspect it's been one of those things where the 120s were right at the ragged edge . Machine tolerance long on the rifling and long bullets and it goes out the back side of the curve .

The cast bullet , at least the NOE , is shorter than the jacketed cousins.
I have several 25 cal moulds and several 6.5s that might size as well .

[Taterhead]

I happen to be very fond of a certain 1977 model BDL 25-06 with a heavy contour barrel. It is easy to get accurate loads in it. It has proven to be a decent long range steel rifle too, with fun on steel out to 7/8 mile.

It is striking how much better the fit and finish was in the older rifles compared to a recent 700 that I acquired. I have yet to try anything cast in 25 cal though.

Regarding the question of shoot vs. hang on the wall: my vote is to do it justice and shoot the thing and dial in a winning repeatable load or two for it.

[jsizemore]

Maybe I'm off base here. But it seems to me that is an heirloom gun. Hang it on the wall. Tell every story about that gun and your dad to anyone who will listen.

Pass it on to a grandson or daughter.

You want a new toy, go ahead, feel free. But don't touch dad's rifle. Start from scratch.

Or I could be way off base, full of !##$@

What? And pass it on to someone else not to shoot? I'm pretty sure dad didn't have that in mind. I know mine taught me how to feed myself. I honor that every time I head to the stand. All the practice is to do it well.

[Texas by God]

My 25-06 only shoots 120s into 1-1/4"- 100s on down can go 1/2 moa. It's a ten twist. I hunt deer with 100gr NBT at 3300 fps.

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[ShooterAZ]

Not a 25-06, but I have had very good success paper patching the 270W. Might be worth a try anyway. I certainly would vote against it being a wall hanger.

[Lloyd Smale]

yup honor your dad by shooting the snot out of it.

[Wayne Smith]

My first was a Remington 700 ADL bought in 1970 and it shot 120 grainers just fine, used surplus 4831 at 52 grs, second was a Winchester Feather Weight bought in 1990 and it too shot the 120's fine. Are you sure you are not thinking of the .244 Remington later called the 6mm Remington after the twist change from 1-12 to 1-9?

Nope - never had a 6mm/244 Rem. Only one I had was the 25-06. They may have changed it later realizing that they made a mistake. I know mine was a 12 twist. This was back in the 70's.

[swheeler]

Speer #9 1974225710

[Harter66]

I've never checked the twist .
Anyone shot the Herters 257-80 SP ?

[Reverend Al]

I also have a "heritage" .25-06 in a Remington 700 BDL that was gifted to me many years ago by an old shooting friend just before he passed away. I don't shoot it very often, but I do dust it off once and a while and shoot a few rounds through it. It absolutely LOVES the old Winchester 785 ball powder and the 90 grain Winchester PEP bullet, but it also shoots reasonably well with the 120 grain version of the WW PEP bullet as well. (Both of those bullets as components have now been sadly discontinued by WW and my small, closely hoarded supply of them is dwindling. Thankfully though I still have a couple of pounds of WW785 tucked aside.) I did break down and install a Kwik Klip detachable magazine system in it and have several spare magazines. You couldn't ask for a better deer rifle ...

[Texas by God]

Towards the end of his life, Charles Askins named the 25 ought 6 as the best deer cartridge existent. I'm not sure I could argue with that because every deer I've seen shot with one dropped straight to the ground.

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[rockrat]

My second best friend at the time bought an ADL in 25-06. His gun liked the 90gr sierra BTHP and 785 powder. It was quite a PD and deer slayer.
He sold it years ago and has regretted it since.