Quarter bore thoughts

[Koda]

Uh oh... another acronym thread.

 

[NeoBlackdog]

Uh oh... another acronym thread.

UoAAT to you, mister!

 

[Caveman Jim]

I'm a S/A guy (EBR's).

I don't know what that is???

AR's, evil black rifles. Now ya know it all .

 

[Spitpatch]

Except for when it was my ONLY High-Powered rifle (a B78 in .25-06 that needed to be capable of everything from Rodents to Elk), I now feed it only 100gr Nosler Ballistic Tips, and a Winchester 70XTR the same. Heavier bullets never shot as well in either gun. With the 26" barrel on the Browning, handloads step right on the heels of a .257 Weatherby factory load.

Critters smaller or larger than Deer and Antelope normally now receive the attention of other guns in other calibers.

Favorite bullets in the littler .25's are the 85gr Ballistic Tip, and and the 90gr Sierra Hollowpoint (a big-game designed bullet, despite its appearance and weight). These two perform on paper AND in the field, in cartridges like the .250-3000 and the Roberts.

Varmint bullets of good results include the Hornady 75gr V-Max, and a really great newcomer: the Sierra 70gr Blitz King. The Sierra is a one-holer in my Pfeiffer .250, and has yet to meet a rifle that doesn't love it. I bought a big box of 'em.

The Cooper Model 56 .257 Wby wouldn't shoot heavy bullets quite as well as the 100gr Ballistic either and it hated ANYTHING all-copper. I have a great assortment of heavies and could supply perhaps "sample packs" out of the partial boxes.

...and I like the very idea that the Nosler starts its brief journey at 3700fps.

 

[Certaindeaf]

A quarter bore famously took out a grizzly bear a ways back..






the .25acp is no limp dick!

 

[oremike]

I like all the load ideas, as a long time reloader these loads I'm starting with are just to set a couple of benchmarks that as I load I can compare to. I like the round nose bullets because I can load to magazine length and get the bearing surface closer to the rifling as compared to a spire point with a longer olgive. I've used the 130gr Speer TNT bullets in a 300 Savage, 308, 30-06 and now 50gn in my 223 where they all seem to like to be driven hard and shoot well.I already have Retumbo for the 117 gr bullets and W-760 for the 87 gr. I figure to start with what I've got and improve from there. Thats the fun part of reloading, too many people these days want the one and done load without the effort to find it.

 

[2506]

I'm a fan.

 

[Spitpatch]

For the 100gr bullets in the .25-06, I've tried both flavors of 4831, and settled on the IMR version over the Hogdon offering. In that process, IMR4350 and Accurate 3100 were also tried. Benchrest primers always. 55 grains of IMR4831 is a safe starting point at the high end: go up in "easy does it" fashion from there. A 24" barrel should achieve 3300fps and better. Extruded powders are at home here. Ball powders work well elsewhere.

NEVER mess with reduced loads in the .25-06. Well-documented incidents of serious trouble have occurred, possibly due to powder arrangement in the open interior of the case. Feed your racehorse for the race. Performance and accuracy arrive at a high plateau with this shell.

A round nose bullet in this cartridge is not unlike a parachute deployed to the back of your Corvette. No 100gr bullet or heavier (longer) should have any trouble being seated to reach the lands while remaining magazine operational.

 

[Bobbygun]

NEVER mess with reduced loads in the .25-06. Well-documented incidents of serious trouble have occurred, possibly due to powder arrangement in the open interior of the case. Feed your racehorse for the race. Performance and accuracy arrive at a high plateau with this shell.

I should clarify that my reference in post #2 to a "reduced recoil" load is not a "reduced load". I'm loading 87 grain bullets using H4895 at a weight that is above the suggested starting point in my loading manual. It is a soft-kicking round for sure.

ETA: The load I'm using is based on a recommendation in the May 2007 issue of Guns & Ammo. The Reloading column is subtitled Reduced Loads. In the process of warning about the possible dangers of using reduced loads, the author (John Haviland) had three specific recommendations for 87 grain bullets out of the .25-06. I chose the one using H4895 because I had some of that powder on hand, plus it had the highest velocity (2900 fps) of the three choices.

Also, out of curiosity, I compared the recommended starting load in eight different reloading manuals. While they were all fairly close, there was a variance of up to 3 grains depending upon the powder. I admit, most of my manuals are really old. A couple of the newer ones are less than 10 years old.

ETA: Also found this from Hodgon. Fascinating.

https://hodgdon.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/h4895-reduced-rifle-loads.pdf

 

[oremike]

UPS brought me Brass, Bullets and Lee Dies for the 25-06 and I did the paperwork for the "instant" background check on the rifle. FFL calls in the background checks and told me I should get the rifle in the next day or two.I looked at the receiver holes for the scope mount bases and the look like very fine threads so I'm going to guess they are the 6X48 ones.

 

[Spitpatch]

I believe they make the Axis with AND without the Accu-Trigger. Both Axis guns I have shot (.243 and .308) did not have the Accu-Trigger and the trigger pulls were in the 7-8lb range. I'm NOT a fan of the Accu-Trigger, but ANYTHING would have been better.

The fix was pretty easy and resulted in a nice crisp pull on both guns (with no offending "dog appendage"/"fake two-stage safety device" attached).

 

[2506]

For the 100gr bullets in the .25-06, I've tried both flavors of 4831, and settled on the IMR version over the Hogdon offering. In that process, IMR4350 and Accurate 3100 were also tried. Benchrest primers always. 55 grains of IMR4831 is a safe starting point at the high end: go up in "easy does it" fashion from there. A 24" barrel should achieve 3300fps and better. Extruded powders are at home here. Ball powders work well elsewhere.

NEVER mess with reduced loads in the .25-06. Well-documented incidents of serious trouble have occurred, possibly due to powder arrangement in the open interior of the case. Feed your racehorse for the race. Performance and accuracy arrive at a high plateau with this shell.

A round nose bullet in this cartridge is not unlike a parachute deployed to the back of your Corvette. No 100gr bullet or heavier (longer) should have any trouble being seated to reach the lands while remaining magazine operational.

100 grain NBT over 57 grains of RL-22 has been my deer-slayer for over 30 years. 3500 fps is good medicine.

I've heard the Nosler Accubonds in 117gr shoot the same with little or no change, but I've got a lifetime supply of 100's.

 

[oremike]

The rifle got to the FFL on Tuesday, and to my safe on Wednesday. I still need to sort out the scope and rings I want and I'm waiting for the 87gr TNT's from Speer..

 

[oremike]

Well the rings are ordered, leupold 1" backcountry medium height, and I think I'll pull the 3.5X10X40 off of my .223 for the 25-06 and put a bigger 50mm on the 223 .

 

[Spitpatch]

Low rings might work. Ideally, you'd want that scope as low as possible (unless you're a "full figured girl" in the face).

Any gap between the objective bell and the barrel greater than 1/4" is an abomination in my eye (unless there are bolt clearance issues).

My usual lofty goal is a "dental floss gap".

 

[JRuby]

I put my face on the stock open my eyes and see if I can easily see through the scope. If it doesnt lineup i change the rings and try again.

 

[Certaindeaf]

 

[Spitpatch]

I put my face on the stock open my eyes and see if I can easily see through the scope. If it doesnt lineup i change the rings and try again.

That is also the acid test for eye relief: Shoulder the gun AFTER closing your eyes. In the naturally arrived at position (as if shooting at game), open your eyes to see if full image view is obtained at the highest magnification setting of the scope. (where eye relief is most unforgiving).

Do this multiple times to adjust and make sure.

 

[Cerberus Group]

Well the rings are ordered, leupold 1" backcountry medium height, and I think I'll pull the 3.5X10X40 off of my .223 for the 25-06 and put a bigger 50mm on the 223 .

I went with a 4.5-14 on my 25-06, as for the longer shots I can see better...but then I'm in wide open country here.

I put on a 3.5-10 on the 257 Roberts, as the trajectory is not as good as the 25-06, so for 200-250 yards on in it does well.

 

[oremike]

I went with a 4.5-14 on my 25-06, as for the longer shots I can see better...but then I'm in wide open country here.

I put on a 3.5-10 on the 257 Roberts, as the trajectory is not as good as the 25-06, so for 200-250 yards on in it does well.

I have a 4.5-14-50 on the 300 Win Mag as my long range gun. It's a Browning X-Bolt Hunter with a 26" barrel. This 25-06 has a 22" barrel so I'm thinking its a 300yd Deer rifle. The 3.5-10-40 will be plenty of scope for that. I'll be going the the Hillsboro show this weekend so I'll see what I can find there.

Forgot to add that my rings and the Speer TNT bullets shipped today.