It's a no go on superformance. Now What?

[RangerBrad]

Well fellas, spoke with Hodgdons to day to ask about a superformance load for my 25-06 and they said it works poorly in the 25-06. I stated that hornady loads a superformance 25-06 and they told me it wasn't really superformance but a blend with some superformance added in. So back to the drawing board. They reccommended with the berger vld, 48-51 gr of H4831sc or possibly 52-56 gr of H1000. As a first time reloader I could use yals help.

What might be some of yals favorite loads for this caliber shooting either the 115gr berger or the 120gr siera 120gr game king which I believe also has a high bc as I am interested in high bcbullets with great terminal force. All advice appreciated. Thank's, Brad

 

[backwoods83]

If your loading bergers out to the lands its going to take more than 51grns of H4831sc probably 54-55 but you will have to figure that out a half grain at a time, also you can try Imr7828ssc at about a grain higher than the 4831 but usually it is faster but not as accurate.

 

[trueblue]

I used to have a 25-06 and used Retumbo with great sucess.
It gave the best speed and accuracy with 100gr bullets.

 

[strombeckj]

IMR 4831 is little faster, should be the ticket or hybrid 100V. Just remember that Berger's can be a little picky about where they are located in relationship to the lands.

hybrid 47-50
IMR 4831 49-53

Always start low and work your way up. The above numbers are just a BASE

Jon

 

[RangerBrad]

spoke with berger today and they sent me some load data. retumbo was one of 5them aqs well as H1000 which is also a powder that hodgens recommended.

O f the berger recommended powders Ramshot magnum gave the highest velocities. Brad

 

[Lyons7STW]

I highly recomend reading Eric Stecker's article on " Accuracy and performance with berger vld" before getting to far in your load testing. It was a phenomenal help to me when I made the switch to berger bullets. Only wish I had found it sooner. Good Luck and welcome to reloading.

 

[WildRose]

Well fellas, spoke with Hodgdons to day to ask about a superformance load for my 25-06 and they said it works poorly in the 25-06. I stated that hornady loads a superformance 25-06 and they told me it wasn't really superformance but a blend with some superformance added in. So back to the drawing board. They reccommended with the berger vld, 48-51 gr of H4831sc or possibly 52-56 gr of H1000. As a first time reloader I could use yals help.

What might be some of yals favorite loads for this caliber shooting either the 115gr berger or the 120gr siera 120gr game king which I believe also has a high bc as I am interested in high bcbullets with great terminal force. All advice appreciated. Thank's, Brad

It's been a long time since I loaded for 25-06 but I had real good luck with H-450 at around 54.8gr with the 110-115gr bullets in my Ruger number one.

H-1000 is I think way too slow for this application. Would probably give good accuracy but very slow by comparison. If you have a 26" bbl though it might work very well for you but still slower than the others.

 

[SBruce]

H1000 and Retumbo and Hybrid V weren't around last time I loaded 25-06, but I had really good results with 53 grns of H-4831SC, 115 Nosler Ballistic Tip, seated .010 off the lands. Winchester brass, CCI primer. Gave 3100'/sec out of a 24" remington barrel. I also used that same combination in a 26" ruger barrel and it took a buck antelope at approx 550 yds.......one shot, bang-drop, dead right there, double lung hit. I never chrono'd that load in the ruger, but I knew where it shot, had it memorized and it was accurate, so I didn't really care how fast it was going.

Good luck

 

[baldhunter]

Back when I had a 25-06,the best powder I found was 51.2grs of IMR-4350 using 117-120gr bullets.I was getting nice little 1/2" groups at around 3050fps.I as tried IMR-4831,it was good too,but the Imr-4350 consistently shot the best out of my rifle.I just checked my old 1970 Lyman manual and it shows 117gr Max loads as:
IMR-4350 51.0grs - 3013fps
H-4831 54.0grs - 3062fps

Always work your loads up in small increments when approaching max.

 

[RangerBrad]

Have heard alot of powders suggested by searching on the internet but H4831sc seems to allways be mentioned as a reliable accurate powder. One article even stated that the H4831 was the powder that set the 25-06 apart and made it what it is today, as stated before, though writers mentioned several diffrent powders this one was allways one on their list. What say yal?

Do the berger 115gr vld have the highest bc or is there another .257 in the 115 - 120 gr weight that I'm missing? Would like to have a back up bullet if the berger proves to be to long for my magazine. Thank's, Brad

 

[Korhil78]

I use 54gr H4831SC with the 115 VLD and it shoots great. I use a remington 700 bdl and I seat mine out to the lands and still have extra room in my magazine. Good luck.

 

[6mm Remington]

I've had good luck with IMR4350 in the 25-06 using 120 gr. Nosler Partitions. H4831SC would also be one I would try. The new 110 gr. Nosler Accubond would also be worth a look as far as bullets go! Good luck!

David

 

[liltank]

Well I'm going to be different! I used IMR 4831 with excellent results when I was an early teen reloading. First time I shot a bug hole at 100yds. It is a Howa with a trigger job and after market walnut stock. Beautiful rifle. Not sure of the velocity, but used 52.8 grains of powder, CCI 200's, SGK 120grn BTHP, seated to the lands. Shot really well for someone just starting to plug around with reloading. Wish I had more data from back then.

Tank

 

[RangerBrad]

Yes the IMR powders mentioned on this thread were also mentioned as good powders on other internet searches.
The only Bergers I've shot in this rifle were the HSM factory loads and they fit in the magazine fine however, with the original barrel on the Marlin MR-7 they were so far into the lands. I couldn't hardly close the bolt but, With the rebuild I did I changed to a Krieger #5 contour barrel and they fit fine as it must have a longer throat but when I reload to take them within a few thousands of the lands on this barrel they maybe to long for the magazine. I'll just have to get my OAL, then find out.( hope I made all that as clear as mud haha)
Anyway I'm getting 1" to 1.2" at 100yds with the HSM factory rounds with only 80 rounds through the barrel( including a good break in) and want to cut that in half or preferably better. HSM claims they are geeting 3165fps with their rounds( I don't know what powder load their using) but, I would like to see velocities in that range. Heck the Hornady superformance rounds are only promoted as 3110 fps. Anyway this is very interesting and I appreciate yals input. Thank's, Brad