Crossover 25-06

gregorsway

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Jan 11, 2010
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Recently had another rifle follow me home. Hate it when that happens. When it got home I realized it was a Kimber Montana 84L chambered for the 25-06.

Now I've read plenty of articles on that round for deer and med size game, but not much on yotes. I'll always be a 22-250 guy but like to stretch my rifles into the "crossover" category from time to time.

Any of you coyote hunters had any success with this round? If so, please share some of your knowledge base with me.

Thanks as always and happy calling!
 
The big 25 is awesome on dogs if you are not saving pelts. 800 yards is doable with an accurate rifle. The heavier bullets through the ribs will be less destructive. Light weight bullets will reduce the dog to fertilizer which isn't always bad either.
 
The big 25 is awesome on dogs if you are not saving pelts. 800 yards is doable with an accurate rifle. The heavier bullets through the ribs will be less destructive. Light weight bullets will reduce the dog to fertilizer which isn't always bad either.

I appreciate your reply! Nope, not interested in the pelts. We have cattle to worry about. Maybe I'll post a photo if I have any luck. Thanks again!
 
G, my son shoots his heavy barreled 25-06 for coyotes and I use my .257 WBY. We don't worry about pelts either, just trying to help with the antelope and deer birth rate. The pelts are scroungy here due to the hot weather. Have fun with it, 25-06 will get the job done. Good luck
 
G, my son shoots his heavy barreled 25-06 for coyotes and I use my .257 WBY. We don't worry about pelts either, just trying to help with the antelope and deer birth rate. The pelts are scroungy here due to the hot weather. Have fun with it, 25-06 will get the job done. Good luck

Dosh, Hey thanks for the input! I really like the heavy bull barrels on my REM700's even have a 22-250 in the old REM788 with a heavy barrel. This Kimber is the thinnest barrel I've ever seen. Definitely, not a bench rest gun, but they say they can shoot! We shall see! Thanks again for the wisdom.
 
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Try some Barnes 80gr.ttsx bullets for coyotes. I send em out at 3800fps (over 60 grs.of R19...work up to it)....there is not enough critter to open up the bullet to its potential but drops em in their tracks....
 
Try some Barnes 80gr.ttsx bullets for coyotes. I send em out at 3800fps (over 60 grs.of R19...work up to it)....there is not enough critter to open up the bullet to its potential but drops em in their tracks....

I aim to get into handloading. The used Lee loading press is in a box and I've never assembled it. Guess I need a handloading class to get into it. Thanks for the 'cheat sheet' I'll come back to this and try it.
 
If you want to really stretch that 25s legs get you some Berger 115 VLD bullets and some Retumbo powder. It shoots about as flat as can be had waaaaaaaay out there in this caliber and is probably the best dealing with the wind which us usually the biggest problem waaaaaaay out there with the 25s. If you are shooting inside 500 yards the plain Jane 117 Sierra Pro Hunter flat base bullet pushed with either 49 grs IMR or AA 4350 or 52 grs H-4831 is hard to beat for low cost, superb accuracy and deadly results on most anything from deer on down. I have killed well over 200 deer with this bullet out of 25-06s and it will mess up a ground hog or a fox also.
 
If you want to really stretch that 25s legs get you some Berger 115 VLD bullets and some Retumbo powder. It shoots about as flat as can be had waaaaaaaay out there in this caliber and is probably the best dealing with the wind which us usually the biggest problem waaaaaaay out there with the 25s. If you are shooting inside 500 yards the plain Jane 117 Sierra Pro Hunter flat base bullet pushed with either 49 grs IMR or AA 4350 or 52 grs H-4831 is hard to beat for low cost, superb accuracy and deadly results on most anything from deer on down. I have killed well over 200 deer with this bullet out of 25-06s and it will mess up a ground hog or a fox also.

Thank you very much! All great info to know. I sighted the rifle in with Barnes 117 grain Nosler partition bullet. It was very sunny and very windy. My eyes aren't what they used to be and I didn't have a good day on the range. Next visit will be with the Lead Sled on a less windy day.
 
If you want to really stretch that 25s legs get you some Berger 115 VLD bullets and some Retumbo powder. It shoots about as flat as can be had waaaaaaaay out there in this caliber and is probably the best dealing with the wind which us usually the biggest problem waaaaaaay out there with the 25s. If you are shooting inside 500 yards the plain Jane 117 Sierra Pro Hunter flat base bullet pushed with either 49 grs IMR or AA 4350 or 52 grs H-4831 is hard to beat for low cost, superb accuracy and deadly results on most anything from deer on down. I have killed well over 200 deer with this bullet out of 25-06s and it will mess up a ground hog or a fox also.

Yes, Berger 115 and Retumbo is outstanding in the two 25-06 we've loaded for. Sounds a bit strange, but I read a lot of shooters are using this combo so we tried it. Good luck
 
While I've never chased song dogs with my 25-06 I've popped a few while deer hunting using 115vld, 115 nosler bt and one with a 100gr partition. Figure out which load your rifle likes best and use it. I know of a couple guys slinging 87gr varmint bullets which have the trajectory of a laser but are blown around by the wind pretty bad. My Ruger loves the 115-117 gr bullets so whatever I'm deer hunting with gets the nod. You maybe able to find a couple loads with very similar trajectory like I have for my 243, the 58gr v-max and my 95gr sst are within 1/4" and for me works great for yotes, ground hogs and deer. Try several differnt combos till you figure out exactly what your rifle likes and don't look back...lol
 
I use to shoot varmints with my old Ruger 25-06 with Hornady 75 hp with a heavy load of IMR 4831. It would make red mist. the 100g hornady were pretty good also.
 
I built two 25-06s in September with an off the shelf reamer.
I sighted in broth rifles out to 500 yards in October. They probably could have been sighted in out to 600 yard for a deer size 10" kill zone with me shooting prone.
115 nos bal tip 51.5 gr 4451, Nosler brass, 3.25", 3200 fps
I shot a mule buck at 250 yards in October. It was bang flop, not much damage. Hit the spine above the lungs.
 
I built two 25-06s in September with an off the shelf reamer.
I sighted in broth rifles out to 500 yards in October. They probably could have been sighted in out to 600 yard for a deer size 10" kill zone with me shooting prone.
115 nos bal tip 51.5 gr 4451, Nosler brass, 3.25", 3200 fps
I shot a mule buck at 250 yards in October. It was bang flop, not much damage. Hit the spine above the lungs.

Thanks for the load info and the results. I'm planning on working up several loads and I'll try this one as well. Good stuff! Thanks again for the reply and helpful tips!
 
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