25.06 A.I.

[nitis]

I have always had the bug for a faster quarter bore and the one that seems to make most sense would be a 25.06 AI but I dont think I shoot enough or would want to take the time to fireform all the brass to get the load development so that makes it not such a good choice. I have a standard 25.06 in a 700 classic and love it I am still shooting grandads reloads for now wo I really have not worked on a load for it yet.

I have been bit by the bug for a predator gun and am thinking 25.06 or 223 I know a big difference but if I am already loading for one 25 why not 2? If I got a standard production 700 with a 24" barrel that they come with a 1in 10 twist will they shoot the light bullets like the 85 gr ballistic tip and the 75 gr v max very well?

Or should I break down and get a 257 wby? Or some other wildcat that does not need fireforming?

throw me some ideas.

 

[JD338]

The 25-06 is a great round for long range varmints, predators, deer, black bear, antelope and even elk and moose with heavy premium bullets. It shoots flat with light recoil.
The 1:10 twist will handle light weight bullets from 75-85 grs just fine. A couple of great bullets are the 100 gr and 115 gr BT's. Either one will handle
coyotes very well. If you go with an AI, you will be stepping on the heels of the 257 Wby.

I really like the quarter boars. :grin:

JD338

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

I am big fan of the 25-06 and it is pretty impressive IMO. Its always been a very accurate cartridge and never been picky. They have little recoil, shoot pretty dam flat, and carry quite a wallop when you use the right bullets and loads. I've never had a problem killing anything I pointed my 25-06 at and that includes everything from ground squirrels, coyotes, antelope, deer, elk, and black bear. My bullet of choice for deer and black bear was the 115g NBT at 3200fps. It has seen its fair share of kills from 300-600 yards and most of them were shoulder shots, DRT's and I never recovered a single bullet. I've tried pretty much every 257 bullet out there and a lot of powders in my 4 25-06's over 10 years. 75g vmax at 3800 is nice for splat factor and coyotes to medium range. The 85g nbt at 3700 is quite the yote zapper and would be great out to 800 yards. The 100g nbt at 3500fps should be good out to 1K providing there is little wind, I know it would knock a yote flat on his butt. I was mainly using Rl-22 or RL-19 out of my 25's. I was getting your average 3350 w/100g and 3150-3200 w/115's. But I got a wild hair and decided to experiment with Retumbo in my latest 25-06 and I was kinda amazed at the results. With the 115g VLD and 58.5g of Retumbo, I was getting 3275fps and 1-2" groups at 400 yards. With 100g NBT's and 60.5g of Retumbo I am getting 3500fps and 2" groups at 400 yards. I haven't gotten the chance to field test the loads on anything yet but rocks and steel, but coyotes are always fair game!

I would try some Retumbo w/100g NBT's and see what happens. In my 24" shilen 700 I am getting 3500fps and 2" out to 400 yards so far. It would be good out to 1K on varmints in fair conditions IMO. The 115g NBT would surely get you to 1K, and it will work on everything from coyotes to black bear.

The 257 WBY would be nice, but as much as I shoot, its not really worth it. The first 25-06 I had finally gave out around the 3000 mark. The 257 WBY would be lucky to get 2000. THe 25-06 does everything I need it to out to 600 yard field shots and thats still quite a ways.

The 25-06 AI has alawys been in the back of my head as well. WIth a 26" tube your pretty much on the heels of a 257 WBY. But then again, my standard 25-06 with those 100g nbts at 3500 and Retumbo aren't exactly all that far off a factory loaded 257 WM

The 1 in 10" will stabilize anything from the 75g varmint bullets to 125g bullets.

 

[nomosendero]

I have a 26" Rem Sendero that was not only re-chambered to 25-06AI, but the rec. trued up, skim bedded, recrowned, the works. This was done by Kirby Allen in MT. It is a real shooter now. I like the 257Wea. very much, but this gets me within 75-100fps with the various bullets. Looks like it will be going back to WY. to go after Antelope again. 3,350 or so with the 115BT is bad stuff for those fellas.

 

[nitis]

well that new xhr has been tempting me so maybe I will stick with the original 25.06 and maybe put an axiom stock on it and use the other on my classic so I dont beat it up any worse than it is now