25-06 Rem in Africa

[Frederik]

@Frederik
The 100gn Speers will be like grenades at 3,400 fps you will be able to get out of the 25-06.
A great general purpose bullet is the 117gn SST.
Driven at 3,000 fps it hits hard and holds together well even when driven at over 3,300fps out of my 25.
Bob

Thanks Bob, I'm going to stick to the 100gr Spoor Bullet company bullest when they come out after the Remington boxes are finished it's locally made and I won't have any struggle to find stock.
It's a aproper prmeium soft that will work for head and neck shots and if need be a hard enough bullet to penetrate and take on larger game on body shots.

Below for refference the 160gr 7mm left from a large eland cow and 500gr 458 from buffalo.
So I think the 100gr .25 Cal bullet will do amazing.

 

[FlyGuy]

N

What make of rifle would the 25-06 gurus here recommend as the most accurate current-production rifle for use in the field? Not looking for a 12lb heavy barreled, thick-stocked bench rifle, but suitable one for all-day carry that shoots sub-MOA with factory ammo.

Thanks.

No longer in production, but the Remington Sendero was insanely accurate.
The Weatherby Vanguard would be a good choice.

 

[MooseHunter]

I hav e never hunted Africa . . .yet. But here in the USA I have had great luck with my 25 06 for WT deer, antelope, Mule deer. Mine is built on Sako AV with Shilen barrel at 24 inches. My go to bullet was the Speer 1410 120 gr BT with .480 BC. Have tried others but seem to go back to the Speer.
I bought a Remington 700 for my son. He got his Antelope at age 12 at 200yds. Lately I am having one built on pre 64 Model 70 with 7 twist 26 in barrel in McMillan stock. The Classic Model 70 would be a great choice if it was not handicapped with 22 in barrel. I think 24 in is needed to burn the slow powders that make the 25 do what it does. 26 should do a little better. The Sako custom and Remington 700 are easily .5 in guns at 100 yds. 117 SSTs or 90 grain Blitzkings shoot equally well. I am experimenting with 100gr Siroccos as well. The lighter bullets like IMR 4350 and the 120s do well with IMR4831sc or IMR7828sc. Nothing works poorly in my experience and game just drops

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

@Jack Stevens
Great shooters at a good price are the Stevens 200 ( if you can find one), CVA single shot, Howa 1500 or Weatherby vanguard

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

@Frederik
Sorry mate I thought it was a spelling mistake and you meant Speer.
Those look like great premium projectiles similar to North fork
I would have no hesitation using them on game like zebra or kudu or even blue or black wildebeest. If they are 100gn in 25 cal hard driven to 3,400fps they will be devastating on game
Bob

 

[Close Range]

I’ve owned 2 weatherby vanguards. The first one was a 25-06 weighed 9.75 lb with a Nikon monarch scope. The black plastic stock on it was so ugly I always said I would put a different on on it but it shot so good I never could change it. I once killed a 12 oz mt dew can at 400 yds with 4 shots in a row using the hornady 117 gr spbt with a stiff charge of h4831sc. Another time I shot a 1” group with the barrel too hot to touch with the same load. Its favorite load was a 100 gr ttsx with a charge of rl22 behind it. Those it would group in .5 moa clover leafs with boring regularity. The only whitetail I ever had drop in its tracks with a behind the shoulder hit was with that gun.

 

[Frederik]

So with the rain giving me a bit of a gap I took the 25-06 to the range on Saturday to break in the barrel with 100gr Remington Core Lokt Factory ammo.
Had a target setup at 50 meters to check scope and to roughly sight in and then to move to 100 meters.
I also decided to go the whole route to break in the barrel the long way.
Cleaning first thoroughly and then shooting 1 shot repeating it 4 times and then shooting 3 shots.
So this is where it got a bit tricky after the 3rd set of cleaning with 3 shots the rifle was still not grouping. It was sighted in at 100 meters half an inch high and the first shot was always on te money.

At first I ignored it as I also did clean my 7x57 for upcoming hunt and season and it took two flyer shots to get it to print where it normally prints.

I then skipped cleaning with cleaning compound and only cleaned with patches and still no grouping whatsoever more like shotgun groups of 4-5 inches.
Next I checked if scope was mounted properly and nothing loose nope that was fine.
Fired a 5 shot group still shotgun group of about 5" bear in mind the fist shot lands exactly spot on.
Then I took a piece of target paper and slipped it under the barrel and it went smooth as free floating barrel should be except for about 1 1/2" in front of the chamber where it is not stuck but feels rough.

Before you ask yes I did give plenty of time for the barrel to cool down between sessions.
One thng I could not check at the range was the torgue on the rifle itself and if the screws were loose ad I did not have the correct tools.

I phoned the shop where I bought the rifle and they were still open and upon quick inspection there before they closed also felt the rough bit on the free float.

So although it was frustating I kept my cool as the first shot always hit where it should then it sprayed in no pattern to be called once horisontal 3 shots with spread of 4' one left of first shot and one right then it shoots a group of 5 shots of 5"

I suspect that the Plastic Houge stock is not properly finished and might be that something is touching the barrel after the first shot when heated.
Especially since when cooled down the 1st shot is always on the money.
Otherwise the rifle shoots well and am sure to see that it will be a tact driver.
Might look into bedding it properly or getting another stock.

Will keep you posted.

BTW shooting 40 rounds off the bench with just keeping the rifle still at the pistol grip I can feel that I have shot a few so there is quite a bit of powder behind that bullet.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

So with the rain giving me a bit of a gap I took the 25-06 to the range on Saturday to break in the barrel with 100gr Remington Core Lokt Factory ammo.
Had a target setup at 50 meters to check scope and to roughly sight in and then to move to 100 meters.
I also decided to go the whole route to break in the barrel the long way.
Cleaning first thoroughly and then shooting 1 shot repeating it 4 times and then shooting 3 shots.
So this is where it got a bit tricky after the 3rd set of cleaning with 3 shots the rifle was still not grouping. It was sighted in at 100 meters half an inch high and the first shot was always on te money.

At first I ignored it as I also did clean my 7x57 for upcoming hunt and season and it took two flyer shots to get it to print where it normally prints.

I then skipped cleaning with cleaning compound and only cleaned with patches and still no grouping whatsoever more like shotgun groups of 4-5 inches.
Next I checked if scope was mounted properly and nothing loose nope that was fine.
Fired a 5 shot group still shotgun group of about 5" bear in mind the fist shot lands exactly spot on.
Then I took a piece of target paper and slipped it under the barrel and it went smooth as free floating barrel should be except for about 1 1/2" in front of the chamber where it is not stuck but feels rough.

Before you ask yes I did give plenty of time for the barrel to cool down between sessions.
One thng I could not check at the range was the torgue on the rifle itself and if the screws were loose ad I did not have the correct tools.

I phoned the shop where I bought the rifle and they were still open and upon quick inspection there before they closed also felt the rough bit on the free float.

So although it was frustating I kept my cool as the first shot always hit where it should then it sprayed in no pattern to be called once horisontal 3 shots with spread of 4' one left of first shot and one right then it shoots a group of 5 shots of 5"

I suspect that the Plastic Houge stock is not properly finished and might be that something is touching the barrel after the first shot when heated.
Especially since when cooled down the 1st shot is always on the money.
Otherwise the rifle shoots well and am sure to see that it will be a tact driver.
Might look into bedding it properly or getting another stock.

Will keep you posted.

BTW shooting 40 rounds off the bench with just keeping the rifle still at the pistol grip I can feel that I have shot a few so there is quite a bit of powder behind that bullet.

@Frederik
Before bedding the stock or playing with it any other way try:-
Putting a piece of two of credit card under the barrel between the barrel and the forend tip. This puts a slight upward pressure in the barrel and can reduce barrel vibration.
It has worked for me in the past and saved a lot of time and money.
Bob

 

[MooseHunter]

Remington used a pressure point in the 700 series. Mine had that but I sanded it out when I bedded the rifle. It shot fine out of the box but I was worried about wood warping when carried in the weather. Hot and cold in and out of camp etc. A glass stock is not supposed to do that. My friend was gunsmith also. He put me on the 25 06 many years ago. His was one he built on pre 64 Model 70. Our last hunt together was in British Columbia for Mountain Goat. I thought I needed my 300 Weatherby. He killed a very nice billy at 375 with what? His 25 06 and 100 grain bullet in his handloads at 3300. With age come wisdom and experience. I learned quite a lot from this guy. This was 35+ years ago. I had mine built after this hunt. My new one will have a 7 twist barrel and 26 in long. There are new bullets now that require the fast twist. Example Berger Elite with B.C. of .600. Impressive. I am not sure the Berger is the magic bullet as I have heard of problems with expansion with the hollow point getting plugged on the way through the hide. Also I am not sure I want a grenade for a bullet in case I eat the beast. The idea of the fast twist was to be ready for the conventional bullet of high B. C. to show up. Maybe monolithic is the answer. Glad to hear of anyone's experience along these lines. I recently hunted Whitetail in western Pa. I was using the 110 gr ELDX. Velocity 3000 out of 10 twist barrel. .5 in or less at 100 yds as usual for the 25 06.
Those deer aren't real big and the longest shot was +- 200 yds. The exit wound was the size of a golf ball. No bullet were recovered. Usually the exit wound with the Speer 1410 is more like a quarter +-. In the summer I tested the ELDX on ground hogs. Some as far as 325 yds. Some at 150. whatever presented itself. There was expansion for sure. But nothing explosive like a Sierra 90 grain BlitzKing from same 25 06.