Remington 700 Long Range - 25-06

[RT2506]

I have shot 25-06s for about 25 years. 52 grs IMR 4350 with 100 gr bullets and 52 grs H4831 or the short cut version with 115 through 120 gr bullets usually drives tacks with the proper seating depth the rifle likes. A good place to start on seating depth is 20 thousands off. Some rifles just don't like boat tail bullets. I have a Shilen SS select 26" on a Rem 700 that does not like boat tail bullets. But with 49 grs IMR 4350 in a Remington case, and a CCI 250 mag primer and a 117 Sierra Pro Hunter FLAT BASE bullet it shoots under 1/2 MOA all day long. Velocity is 3000 fps at muzzle. Kills deer like you jerked the ground from under them so far out to a little over 500 yards.
The 100 gr BT works OK on deer with 52 grs IMR 4350. My buddy has used this load for years.
You can have a barrel too clean. Some barrels need some fouling in them to shoot good. I have started NOT CLEANING my bores until accuracy starts to drop off. Yes I will run a patch of #7 down and dry it out if I have been out in rain or snow and always wipe down the outside with oil after use.
It is hard to work up loads when you don't shoot well. Practice will make you a better shot. Shoot from a good SOLID bench rest with sand bags or a good front press. I can't tell you how many people I have seen shooting off of something like a rolled up sleeping bag or an ammo box with no rear support thinking they can shoot tight groups.

 

[smalltruck]

It is hard to work up loads when you don't shoot well. Practice will make you a better

This. Practice practice practice. Not enough practice will make you like many people who claim a long shot is 200 yards...with any gun

 

[roninflag]

WV- nice pic of some pretty country. how far off the lands are you with your chosen bullet?

????

i usually use .030 off for hunting (and .010 off for match/target) to start.

 

[WVGodsCountry]

Being new to reloading, I don't know what you mean by off the lands? We were using 3.200" overall length... so are you saying I should start at 3.19" and go shorter if needed? Sorry, I'm new to this.

Thanks, the picture was taken in Lewis County West Virginia...


Also, I'm dropping the gun off at a gunsmith this afternoon to have the scope rings lapped, action bedded, and trigger tuned.

 

[roninflag]

WV- i sent a PM.

 

[smalltruck]

What he means is how far the bullet is from touching the lands. When you reload it is helpful to know if your gun will shoot better with the bullet a certain distance from the lands. You will see this referred to as jump sometimes. Like the COAL for my gun is 3.255 with a .020 jump. Many times factory leaves that length a little short so the jump the bullet has to make may be .100 to the lands or longer.

So now you needs to measure your gun with the bullet you want to use to see where are. Since the length of each different bullet is not the same that generic one size fits all of 3.200 may not apply especially if you try a vld type of bullet because you will have to stuff the bullet into the case a ways to meet that number.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

I had some good luck with RL17 and 115 CT's (Ballistic Silvertips) in my 25-06 Sendero.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f19/rl-17-25-06-a-47554/

 

[johnnyk]

WV,
Good caliber. I no longer shoot the 100gn Ballistic Tip in mine, but did to start with. I used 55gn of RL22 with Rem 9.5M primer. Killed a few deer with it and moved on to the Barnes TSX, 1/2gn more powder. Pretty much same results accuracy wise (sub 1/2") but the Barnes definately held up better than the Ballistic Tip.
I now shoot the 115gn Berger and it too is very accurate but shoots a whole lot farther and flatter than the 100gn pills. Still using RL22, 54.0gn and CCI BR2's. OAL is 2.7730". Accuracy averaged .2975" and velocity averaged 3104fps during testing.
This load hangs with my 6.5-284/140gn Amax out to 700yds. It routinely produces 3 & 5 shot, "playing card" size groups at this distance.

Shoot and clean, shoot and clean. It will start to come around. Good luck.

JohnnyK.


I wish Hornady would come out with a 120gn A-max for the .257 caliber!

 

[shorty]

+1 on the H4350 and BT115. I've used it on everything from praire dogs {windy conditions}to large mule deer.
Get yourself an O.A.L. gauge, stands for Over All Length. Mine is made by Stony Point but there are others. This gauge is easy to use after just a bit of practice, you use it to measure the distance to the lands on your rifle. This will save you much guesswork and grief and also will let you monitor the throat on your rifle as it wears as well as seating your bullets to an exact distance from the lands.
Money well spent IMO. Good shooting, Dan

 

[WVGodsCountry]

Ok. So I had some gunsmithing work done to the Remington 700 LRH before I took her out shooting again. The gunsmith bedded the action, lapped the bolt lugs (I guess only one of the lugs was making contact with the casing), and tuned the factory trigger slightly.... all for $100 bucks which was a steal.

Anyways, I took her out shooting with my father in law yesterday. First, we seated a bullet in the chamber to check the lands which turned out to be 3.226". We decided to back off the overall length to 3.210" and test her out. We went with Nosler's recommended recipe for 100 grain Nosler BT's (52.5 grains of RL 19) with a federal 110 primer.

After working up the loads, I fired 6 shots and saw 1" groups. ****... Not much better then last time. I was getting 3400 ft/s on the chrono.

Next we worked up 6 more loads with the same recipe and let my father in laws buddy shoot (experienced long range bench rest shooter). He shot 3, stood up, laughed, and said, "you sure as hell got some practice to do".

The picture of his first and only 3 shots with gun are shown below (first pic).....

I then practiced with 9 more loads and got the results shown in the second picture.

Not bad for a sub $900 hunting rifle....

Thanks for all the posts and recommendations guys.

 

[idaho elk hunter]

Load development can be a long a expensive project. I have really loved th 26 06 for more years that most have been alive. It really was a horrible cartridge back in the early days when bullet technology and slow burring good powders were not available.
With in the late 198os is when Barnes started. Since then I have not seen a 25 not shoot accurately either the Ballistic tip or the Barnes. One or the other is going to shoot. Sometimes it relies on the freebore. Closer to the lands the Ballistic tip really work and some freebore up to .040 the Barnes works.


If one wants to really make the old 25 a great Antelope to Elk rifle with good shot placement,then you need to really look at the Barnes TTSX 100 gr bullet loaded on top a worked up charge of rl 25. With a mag primer, 215m and a little freebore, .037, a person with around+ or - 62 to 64 grains of powder will be doing 3650 fps. Is load and bullet combo is a killing matching compared to heavier weight combinations. The Barnes really excels at these velocities and will retain over 90% of this weight. The typical construction bullets will shed and not create the wound channel that the Barnes will. The Barnes with its construction with lighter bullets actually do better. ESPECIALLY IN THIS CALIBER!

 

[Nomosendero]

Load development can be a long a expensive project. I have really loved th 26 06 for more years that most have been alive. It really was a horrible cartridge back in the early days when bullet technology and slow burring good powders were not available.
With in the late 198os is when Barnes started. Since then I have not seen a 25 not shoot accurately either the Ballistic tip or the Barnes. One or the other is going to shoot. Sometimes it relies on the freebore. Closer to the lands the Ballistic tip really work and some freebore up to .040 the Barnes works.


If one wants to really make the old 25 a great Antelope to Elk rifle with good shot placement,then you need to really look at the Barnes TTSX 100 gr bullet loaded on top a worked up charge of rl 25. With a mag primer, 215m and a little freebore, .037, a person with around+ or - 62 to 64 grains of powder will be doing 3650 fps. Is load and bullet combo is a killing matching compared to heavier weight combinations. The Barnes really excels at these velocities and will retain over 90% of this weight. The typical construction bullets will shed and not create the wound channel that the Barnes will. The Barnes with its construction with lighter bullets actually do better. ESPECIALLY IN THIS CALIBER!

Wow, that's some speed from a 25-06! I tell ya Sir, I may have to try that bullet in my Sendero 25-06AI that Kirby set up for me. I have some RL25 and some H1000, makes me wonder if I could eek out 3725 or so! And I was looking at trying the 115 Berger, but those speeds are interesting!!

 

[MudRunner2005]

It's been a long time, but are there any recent updates on this rifle?

 

[Trickymissfit]

my brother used the same combo in a Vanguard. Used IMR4350 at 3200fps, and as long as you kept the barrel cool, it shot .60" five shot groups almost continuously. The powder was an older lot (I have what's left), and he must have bought 500 of those 100 grain bullets! The reloaded rounds were literally thrown together, and I'm rather certain were kind of ugly. I think a sub .50" groups was easily obtained with better case prep and a better seater.
gary