I've owned a 25-06 Rem. 700 for 15yrs. or so. It's always been a shooter, 1 MOA and better with the right bullet and powder. ( It loves the Siearra 100gr. flat base over VV-N160) Well not hearing much about 25-06's here at the CBA it's the last of my accumulation to buy a mould for. It's a NOE 258-120gr. FN. Al must have been thinking of the 25-06 when he cut this mould as it's right at max weight and length to stabilize in the 25cal. one in ten according to Greenhill. I had it to the range today for tests. Bullet sized .259, gas checked and hand lubed with Saeco green. This was seated into the rifling with a light crimp and over 13gr. IMR 4227. Two ten shot groups at 100yrds. First ten went into 1.15 inches and the second into .935. This won't win a quarter bore match but I'm real happy with it for a first try. Gp
25-06
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I keep reading what seems to be a pattern. .25-06 that shoot all day long 5 shot 100 yard groups at an inch with jacketed bullets. I'm making progress with mine I think. I found a shorter bullet that does not project beyond the neck into the case and yet will chamber just touching the throat. Went to the range last weekend in what turned out to be far from ideal conditions. Cold with a 20ish mph wind from the right. Anyway my 5 shot group was right at 2 inches. Hopefully I will find better conditions this weekend to see if I can get good groups.
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I have just taken receipt of a H&R Handi Rifle in .25-06 that I am baby sitting for my late friend until his kids are old enough. Looking forward to running some cast up the barrel. Another friend has a NOE mould throwing a variety of bullets I can borrow.
Cheers from New Zealand
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I grew up on the .25 cal. A .257 Roberts that I had from my Grandfather. My Dad's .25-35WCF, Then a .25-06 Vanguard, a new rifle, just for me. Bought it in 1976. There was a Ruger M77 in .250-3000 in the rack next to it, had to buy it too. That .25-06 shot straight enough to kill 2 mulies & a Wyoming pronghorn that 1st year. Sierra 117gr SPBT over a max load of IMR-4350, Five shots into an inch at 100yds all day long.
Now that I've been reading all this great stuff I'm finally ready to try cast bullets in something smaller than 6.5x55 Swede.
Thanks, Guys
Long time Caster/Reloader, Getting back into it after almost 10yrs. Life Member NRA 40+yrs, Life S.A.S.S. #375. Does this mean a description of me as a fumble-fingered knuckle-draggin' baboon. I also drool in my sleep. I firmly believe that true happiness is a warm gun. Did I mention how much I HATE auto-correct on this blasted tablet.
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Greetings gpIdaho,
Thought I would post a photo of what the bullets did you sent me, second time with 20 grains of H414, matched the first set.003.jpg?width=690&upscale=false” alt=)
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Ken: I want to get started with a couple of those slash cartridges. 25- , 32- Might have to get a bigger safe. lol Gp
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i guess i always wanted a 25-20......wonder if the big-case problem is over-stated ??
There is a lot of evidence that it is overstated at least for cast bullets. Joe B's work with 223 and 22-250 indicated that we may have it backward.
John
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gp... large cases and reduced loads ... one fun thing i did with my 257 wea. was to shoot bean cans with the hornady 60 grain 25-20 bullet ... unique or 2400 or 4227 ...
seat out max long ...can't get over 3000 fps or so... or bullet disappears ( g ) ... but vaporizes water filled bean cans and doesn't kick much atall ...
ken
i guess i always wanted a 25-20......wonder if the big-case problem is over-stated ??
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TK: Thanks for your comments on the 25-06. It actually came as somewhat of a surprise to me that cast worked so well in this instance. I'd listened to all the stories of technical problems involved when using cast bullets in a large case. I enjoy looking over the moulds at NOE when SSI payday rolls around and the 258-120-fn caught my eye. I recommend this one highly. The flat nose is very small, mush like you would get when seating a bullet who's nose had bottomed out in a seating die. I too use the intermediate step of 270 if necking down 30-06 I remove the expander buttons from my dies and use the mandrels from my Sinclair neck sizer for expansion and finish up with the NOE expanders that fit in the Lee universal expander (flaring tool) This works well for me. Tests will be interrupted for a bit as grandson Dustin dropped by yesterday to see if he could borrow “Pops” 25 for a deer hunt. Next up elk camp. Remembering how grandpa got me started, I just smile big, pat him on the back, loan out my favorite rifle for it's intended use and say “Bring me some meat". Gp involved
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Greetings, gpidaho, I like your 25-06 results, I may have to see about cast in my 25-06, to go along with my 45-70 trapdoors. Mine is also a Model 700, bought is for my Father as a Christmas present before I went to RVN. Now it has returned to me after a few hundred fox, a couple deer, and a couple thousand prairie dogs. Dad never did get a coyote as he couldn't keep his head on the stock, he admitted he kept looking up to watch the dog roll and it never did. Oh, it also worked well on a caribou.
For cases I was given a bunch of military 06 rounds, and sized them down. What I found out was going 06 to 270 to 25-06 was my best route. If you resize 06, I recommend a 2-step process based on my limited experience. Also, I noticed the shoulder before firing the first time had a slight hump (for lack of better terminology). Straight shoulder after the first firing, and groups did not alter.
Look forward to upcoming results.
TK
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Just have to say thanks again to Al at Noe and frnkeore for the Noe 258-120-Fn. My 25-06 brass was running a little short so I necked down and trimmed some 270s. That bullet shoots better when fire forming brass than bullets from most of my moulds do when I go to great lengths to get things just right. Great bullet. Gp
GPidaho, Your rifle bullet combination may just like slightly lower pressure loads, or a more gentle pressure curve, as seen by the fire forming results.
Brodie
B.E.Brickey
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Just have to say thanks again to Al at Noe and frnkeore for the Noe 258-120-Fn. My 25-06 brass was running a little short so I necked down and trimmed some 270s. That bullet shoots better when fire forming brass than bullets from most of my moulds do when I go to great lengths to get things just right. Great bullet. Gp
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wind ...highly under-respected .....even when it blows kinda AT you it is just setting you up for over confidence .... a gentle breeze can blow a cast bullet an inch or two ... so when, as i usually do ... just aim at the bullseye and get a fat group in a ” gentle ” wind ... i just mentally deduct an inch or two from that group ... makes me feel good.
i think crosswinds are easier to figger out than a to-and-from target wind .
ha..the last long shot i took at a coyote with my 243 y 70 gr bullet was about 500 yards...wind blowing to right ... i held 2 feet left and hit 2 feet right ... where was that 25-06 100 gr i shoulda built ?? still got a mental pic of him jumping though ...
ken
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Don't ever be tempted to sell that rifle unless you want to sell it to me. John
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Being anxious to see if last weeks groups were just a fluke, I took the 25 to the range again today. Stepping up from the cat sneeze 13gr, load a little I fired four ten shot groups of IMR 4227, 15, 16,5, 18 and twenty gr. (Lyman book says 15 min and 23 max) The rifle seems very tolerant of velocity change and scope was only adjusted for elevation. Two things were different today, a fair breeze blowing pretty much right back at me and the rifle lanes were all taken so I had to settle for a shotgun slot, so 80yrds. instead of 100. Best 10 shot group was just under an inch (15gr.) worst just over 1.75 inches (18gr.) I'll try to get SIL to help me post some pics, I'm a computer Tard. It would sure be fun to live down the road from some of you guys that can really shoot. I'd like to see what this rifle and bullet could do out of my shaky hands. Best to All. Gp
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D's kid: If you would like to give the NOE bullet a try in the wife's rifle, PM me when you get it ready and I would be happy to send you some to see how they work for her rifle. Mould has both a gas check cavity and a plain base. John: Yup, grandpa's 25 is pretty popular with younger family members come deer season. Gp
I just may do that....if I remember.
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Good stuff. I like reading about somebody working outside the typical choices. Well done. Makes me want a .257.
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I have a Bullberry 25-06 AI, 24 inch bull, Encore suspension.
I shoot 120s, plain base, SP, Midway blems (bought 1000 of them one day). Those with a stout dose of RL19 (had to go “there” due to the late smokeless unpleasantness a few years back, slower pdrs not avail then)----- Any soda can (translated POP CAN for Ken in case he gets confused, or anyone in the midwest for that matter----) LAUGH NOW. You know you say POP, not soda.
Anyway any POP can at 400-450 yards is mine. Don't care about wind or rain or sleet or snow, I own every soda can sized object at that distance (and closer)
Matter of fact, I have handed that gun off to every relative I have (almost, well more honestly about 5-6 if my count is correct) and every one of them has shot a POP can at 400 like it was second nature. One shot, one can. No trial and error for noob user. I say dope it left about 1/2 can, and high a full can------ can explodes. Its a very stable platform to end diabetes from. The 12 ounce trigger helps all users.
Back to cast---- I have an RCBS 120gr that I had Erik O mod for a HP and a FP (interchangeable). Have yet to cast a bullet with it. I expect it to shoot well (but I expect that everything I conceive shoots well and often (read- nearly always) I find myself somewhat disappointed. Seems that I can think it will shoot well but that doesn't make it ACTUALLY shoot well.)
Ill figure out how to make what I think actually happen- eventually.
I love my 25-06, if you want a few hund more FPS, go AI rather than Wea. Flat shooting, superb accuracy, hits like a mack truck although------ recoil does its work on you (at the load level I am shooting with JB's)
I do desire to push the RCBS mold to modest velocities, not piddly fart at 1400 for pop gun (dang theres that POP word again) performance. Wait, here again I have concluded that something will work that is ------ unlikely! Dang it.
I think it be worthy of paper patching.Not TOO small to make it TOO difficult and maybe get 2500-2800 out of it with no leading and modest accuracy.
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D's kid: If you would like to give the NOE bullet a try in the wife's rifle, PM me when you get it ready and I would be happy to send you some to see how they work for her rifle. Mould has both a gas check cavity and a plain base. John: Yup, grandpa's 25 is pretty popular with younger family members come deer season. Gp
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Got my first 25-06 over 40 years ago, have had my current Ruger 77 for 35 and for more than a few of those years it was the only centerfire I owned. More than just a yote gun it also did a fine job on whitetail and smaller varmints. A truly great all around rifle on the plains. Nice to see it can perform in the cast arena as well.
John Carlson. CBA Director of Military Competition.
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