.25-06 and 85-grain Ballistic Tips...Thumbs Up

[RiverRider]

I've had one heck of a time getting my Model 70 to shoot consistently. I gave up on 75-grain V-Max a while back and focused on the 85 BTs.

The heck of it is, it turns out that my Caldwell Fire Control rest has been treating me badly all this time. The front rest pedestal was not tight enough and it was rocking to-and-fro to some extent and I never realized that the slop could be taken out. It's been like that since the day I bought it. Today at the range I put two and two together and decided that the rest HAD to be the cause of my vertical stringing. Fortunately I have some allen wrenches in my range bag, so I put them to work.

The odd thing is that my several other rifles never seemed to care about the slop in the front rest pedestal so I never gave much thought to the notion this was where my issue was. I have one other rifle that has shot very well in the past but has given me fits snce about the time I bought that rest---a 700 Classic in .223 Remington. I'll be shooting it again soon to verify that there's not something really wrong with it (I know there isn't, though). In fact I think I'll shoot everything in my gunsafe again soon to see if I've been missing some accuracy all this time.

Anyway, I had already decided that 58.8 grains of H4831SC was my charge, and I had seen that seating .020" and .050" seemed to be the better seating depths and I was shooting those loads today. I had ten rounds of each seating depth. Fortunately I had fired five of each before this whole thing occurred to me so I had five of each left. The .020" load put all five in .65" with four touching in a very tight cluster. I am not sure I pulled the first shout out, but still I know I've got coyote poison in the gunsafe.

There's just nothing I do not like about that Model 70! I love my VZ24-based .35 Whelen as much as ever, but I think I have a new favorite rifle. I think I may have to start referring to it as "my .25 Whelen!"

 

[RiverRider]

I should have mentioned that both loads shot much better after doctoring my rest. The .050" load put five shots in about .85 inch. Before my fiddling, each load gave me a very disappointing inch and a half or so.

 

[DrMike]

Each rifle is a law unto itself. I'm not surprised that your Model 70 was particular. The stock shape perhaps didn't fit the rest as well as some other stocks.

 

[FOTIS]

You got a winner there. No coyote is safe

 

[Oldtrader3]

I use that same bullet in my .257 Roberts (standard action, long throat) and it shoots 1/2 inch groups fairly consistently at 100 yards. At almost 3400 fps in my rifle, it will be coyote poison!

 

[RiverRider]

Charlie, what powder are you using in the Bob?

 

[Oldtrader3]

I am using:
-IMR 4064 with the 85 gr BT.
-IMR4350 with the 100 gr PT.
-Hybrid 100 V with the 110 PT.
My rifle is full length action with freebore so loads are different by a couple of grains.

 

[1Shot]

I hope you are not into keep the hides on those yotes. Those 85 BTs make a mess. I have found that faster burning powders give better accuracy and velocity in the 25-06. With 85 to 87 grs bullets 52.2 grs IMR 4350 and with 75 grs bullets 49 grs IMR 4064 has really shot well for me. The 87 gr Sierra will scatter a ground hog all over the field red mist style. They really come apart.

Glad you found that your rest was the problem. I tell people all the time that a lot of the problems they think is load related is really a shooter era of some sort. I just love the guy that shows up at the range to sight in the new scope on his deer rifle and uses something like a rolled up sleeping bag as his rest then thinks something has to be wrong with his new scope because he can't keep shots on the paper at 100 yards. LOL

 

[Oldtrader3]

My interests in coyotes are to keep them away from my pets. Splaying them with the 85 gr BT is the point.

 

[RiverRider]

I'm not interested in coyote hides, just dead coyotes!

I've seen that the .25 Whelen . does seem to be fairly broadband in terms of burn rates. When I was trying the 75-grain V-Max, I was getting 3700 fps easily with H4895. Now that I know the rest was my problem, I have to wonder how that load would actually shoot...but I am stocked up for life with powder and bullets for this rifle and see no reason to backtrack. I suspect the V-Max might be more fur-friendly, but as I said---not an item of consideration for me.

 

[Vince]

My 25/06 wouldn't shoot anything I tried but the flat base mid-weight bullets.

The Hornady 87 grain flat base varmint bullet and the Nosler 100 grain Partition are the two that shoot best in my rifle. 0.5" for the Hornady and 0.6" for the Nosler. I found that due to having a "tight" chamber that midrange loads were about as hot as I could go.

I think the new Winchesters are more consistent and better made than anything in the past from a functionality standpoint. The new computer aided tooling helps with that. Another thing I found was that it was powder dependent. It favored very particular powders. In my case it was IMR 4350.

I'll have to give the Nosler 85 grain bullets a try when I run out of my stock of Hornady 87 grain bullets. I was wanting to use something heavier but 100 grains is as heavy as I can use in my rifle. It wouldn't surprise me if your rifle was the same given the tooling they are using.

Happy shooting and loading.

 

[RiverRider]

Vince, as far as I can tell looking back at my data and the latest results, my rifle likes the BTs about .020" off the lands.

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

Glad you got your model 70 to shoot! I didn't think the rest would have that much to do with it honestly...My model 70 classic sporter in 25-06 is easily the most accurate factory rifle i've ever owned. Still owns my smallest 3 shot group at 100 yards to date at .043" Was no fluke as I proved the load to be a 1/2 MOA load at worst, on my bad days. It will shoot virtually any .257" bullet from 75-125g into 1 MOA or less without much hassle. Only thing done to it is a trigger job and my handloads.

the 85 or 100g nbts are awesome longer range coyote bullets, heck even the 115g is for that matter...more BC means further range

I run the 100g NBT out of my model 70 classic sporter in 25-06 now as what I consider the best of both worlds, speed, accuracy, and velocity. I get 3375fps and under 1/2 MOA with RL22 and WLR primer, right at the lands in my rifle. Hammers coytes and deer to 600 yards.

I dont like the 75 vmax as it doesn't have near the BC to get it very far out west...Accurate and explosive you bet, but its a bullet thats good only out to about 400 yards in my opinion. they can either be fur friendly or not, all depends on range and where the dog gets hit.

the 85 and 100g nbts penetrate a lot more and still open up plenty...no chance of runners going this route. Some of the worst holes I've put in coyotes have been with these bullets on shoulders/high shoulders at 100-200 yards, almost rips them in half...

 

[RiverRider]

I got a nice demonstration of the 85 BT's destructiveness on Monday while haunting my old hunting grounds east of El Paso. It seems the jackrabbit population cycle is still at an ebb, but one very unlucky one made himself a target. The destruction was spectacular to say the least. I had no doubts at all, but I have always liked to confirm at least one jack with each of my rifles and there are none where I generally get to hunt in the DFW vicinity and opportunities are pretty rare in the area.

I'd post a pic of it, but it might be considered poor taste to do so. I just wish I'd seen a coyote. Fortunately they're abundant in my current neighborhood and I don't think it will be too long before my .25 gets to take one or two out!

 

[Oldtrader3]

Vince, 46 grains of IMR 4350 is a really good load in my .257 Roberts with the 100 grain Partition. They group well under an inch and run about 3050 fps. There may be some headspace for more powder too, because my pressures seem low.

 

[Wincheringen]

I must have put some together in the past, because I had a half box of them. Curiosity got to me, because I just put a few together. I'm not sure what I'll use them for, but it used up some RE19 I had laying around.

 

[SJB358]

I've yet to try the 100 grain or lighter bullets in my wife's Model 70, but the 115 PTs shoot really well with RL19 and the 120 Swift A-Frames shoot excellent with RL22 at around 3140. Need to grab some 100's to try. Jorey has pretty much sold me on them and since he has the load worked out already, they should be alot of fun.

 

[Oldtrader3]

The 85 gain Ballistic Tips are super accurate in my .257 Roberts with IMR 4064. I am getting 1/2-5/8's groups and 3395 fps in a Roberts. Mine are intended to blow up coyotes.

 

[Guy Miner]

Sweet! Blow up coyotes I think they will do!

Guy