Brewing up .25's...

[Guy Miner]

With Wyoming in mind, I looked over my .25-06 ammo & components.

All the brass is several years old and has been fired and loaded multiple times. Fixed that, bought a bag of 50 fresh ones from Winchester. Had to cull two because of problems in the neck. The others were okay.

Prepped the new brass by sizing it in the Redding full length die - that ironed out all the imperfections in the necks of 48 of them...

Uniformed the primer pockets - really nothing happening there. They were fine.

De-burred the flash holes - probably not necessary, but it's easy to do and makes me feel like I paid special attention to the brass.

Trimmed them all to length in the Wilson trimmer, then gently chamfered the brass too.

They're all clean and nice and shiny and waiting further attention. Have Federal 210 match primers, Retumbo and 400 Nosler 115 gr Partitions standing by! The combo has proven to give me 3100+ fps with good accuracy. I've used Bergers in this rifle the past few years, but am returning to the Partitions this year, looking for more penetration. I suspect the Partitions will produce and exit wound. They always have.

I'll seat with my little Hart arbor press using a Wilson BR type die. Very nice. Produces very straight ammo.

Guy

 

[1Shot]

Sounds like a winner to me. :mrgreen:

 

[FOTIS]

You suspect correctly GUY!

 

[DrMike]

For sure, you are on the right track.

 

[Ridge_Runner]

winning load for sure, but a ? ya ever try the 110 accbnd's in it, just wondering
RR

 

[CatskillCrawler]

Nothing like a project to occupy yourself on a cold winter night. I'm working on .25 loads tonight too but of the 257Roberts variety. I too am using the 115gr NP. I also have some BTs in 100 and 115gr offerings to experiment with. RL-22, H-4831SC and IMR-4350 will be the powders of choice.

I just received the Hornady Headspace gauge kit so I'm playing with that. I plan on bumping back the shoulders .003" using this gauge. I have been setting up my dies by raising them 1/3 turn above the shellholder for this rifle. Basically gives me a full length neck sizing. This tool should allow me to have more consistency than eyeballing an estimated amount of rotation of the die. I also finally got a Wilson trimmer collet for this cartridge in the same package from Midway. I hate trimming....

I have yet to use Retumbo in the 25-06 but based upon what folks here are claiming, I think I'll have to give it a whirl.

 

[JD338]

Guy,

You are well on your way. The 115 gr PT is one of my favorite bullets, will wil work great on speed goats and deer.

JD338

 

[cloverleaf]

Lookee there..... We've got a guy who could walk to the safe and pick up a box of his tried and true deer loads and go hunting. So what does he do? Goes out and buys some new brass, fusses over it, plays with some new variables and then loads up some first class loads. Is this a great hobby or what?!?!?! Half the fun is getting ready! CL

 

[BK]

Guy, I have a fair number of 110 ABs at home; if you want to give them a try, I could mail you some. (When I get home, of course.)

 

[Guy Miner]

Thanks for the encouragement & good words guys. I'm looking at this load as sort of a variation on a theme, and also as my return to the good old Noslers after goofing around for a while with other bullets.

Ridge Runner - never have gotten around to trying the 110 Accubonds. I had 500 Partitions sitting here along with nearly 100 Barnes, 100 Sierra, 100 Hornady and about 150 Berger VLD's. I think I've got more than enough bullets for my .25-06 for now. Likely for my son's .257 as well.

JD keeps trying to get me to try the E-Tip too. I think I'd like it just fine, but dang, more bullets? :grin:

Catskillcrawler - I sort of stumbled on the Retumbo idea a few years back, it was left over from my .300 RUM project and I was looking for a powder for heavier bullets in the .25-06 rifle. Introduced the 115's, Retumbo and the rifle, and they've all worked it out together. Nice team. There's likely other very good powders that would have worked, but I'm happy with this.

BK - thanks for the offer - but if I like them... Then what? I've got all these Partitions sitting here, a lifetime supply of hunting bullets already!

Cloverleaf - after this first loading, it's back to the Wilson neck-size only dies and the little arbor press... I enjoy making my ammo that way.

Yes, mule deer & pronghorn are on my mind. Staying fit. Looking at maps of Montana and Wyoming and doing some shooting along with a few handloading projects. It's fun!

Regards, Guy

 

[C.Smith]

Sounds like a fun project. On those two cases that you had to cull, I had the same issue and called Winchester about it and after about a month I got a coupon for $10 or $15 off my next Winchester product purchase.

Corey

 

[FOTIS]

I use the 110 Ab at 3500 fps from my 257 Bee. Killed my goat and buck this year with it.

I will be trying the 100 e-tip this summer.

 

[6mm Remington]

Guy I use that 120 gr. Partition in my wife's 25-06 and it sure works well. I imagine that the 115 would do the same magic in your rifle. Pretty hard to beat it. That's part of the reason I haven't really played with the 110 gr. Accubonds or the new 100 gr. E-tip although they both are tempting.

The last couple of winters have been pretty hard here in Montana on the game animals and the antelope also had a disease recently in portions of the state and took a good hit from that as well. Deer and antelope numbers both are down. If you PM me with an area of the state you are looking at possibly going, I'd make a couple calls for you to see what it looks like for those areas this year, but you better make it fast. I think out of state applications are due pretty soon. Let me know and I'll do some checking to at least give you an idea.
David

 

[Guy Miner]

Thanks David - already sent in my application for the Wyoming tags, pronghorn & mule deer. Will see what happens with the draw, but historically it's pretty easy to draw the tags there.

I threw in with Steven (Roysclockgun) for the ranch hunt he likes. Looking forward to a good hunt with a new hunting buddy!

Am hoping the deer and pronghorn populations carry through with good survival after the winter. Our winter here in central Washington sure has been mild so far.

Guy

 

[ElmerThud]

Sounds great Guy.. I have trouble getting consistant groups with bullets exceeding 100gns in my .25-06Rem.

That's when I can get Nosler 110gn AB's in the UK. (Very hard to get hold of here)
I just wonder if the 1-10 twist & short 20.5" barrel combo can't stabilise them, it's more probable I just haven't found the right recipe yet.

So, I remain with Sierra 100gn Prohunter bullet, they work well enough, but I'd like a bit more retained energy at 300 yds.
However, yesterday I bought a tub of Reloder22 to try out.......we'll see what happens???Cheers, G

 

[DrMike]

Elmer,

We haven't seen you for some time. Good to see you back.

 

[SJB358]

Sounds great Guy.. I have trouble getting consistant groups with bullets exceeding 100gns in my .25-06Rem.

That's when I can get Nosler 110gn AB's in the UK. (Very hard to get hold of here)
I just wonder if the 1-10 twist & short 20.5" barrel combo can't stabilise them, it's more probable I just haven't found the right recipe yet.

So, I remain with Sierra 100gn Prohunter bullet, they work well enough, but I'd like a bit more retained energy at 300 yds.
However, yesterday I bought a tub of Reloder22 to try out.......we'll see what happens???Cheers, G

Great to see you back around buddy!

RL22 is a favorite of mine. Hope it works in your rifle...

 

[ElmerThud]

Hello guys, I've been taking the occasional look at what's going on on the site..But, I've been busy working mostly and occasionally stalking, away in Scotland half a dozen times since September and now our season finishes next week, - until 1st April....for the RoeBucks.
I've only shot five Hinds this season, it's been a bit lean for me, but great fun just the same.
Between them my friends have harvested around 30 Reds total....6 stags, the rest Hinds.

I'm interested in getting a little more from my .25-06. Not that it's not good with my usual load, - it's just very hard to find bullets of 110/115gn consistantly. The dealers here don't seem to get them into stock, so I'm stuck with 100gn bullets.

I thought I'd try to improve the group from 1/4" MOA at 100 yards....(As long as I don't wobble too much) with the current bullet......then with R22, be able to try a different propellant with some 110gn AB's if I can get any.
I'll shove a couple of pics onto the 'Hunting' pages from this season.
Cheers, ET