I have a friend, he has 6 sons from 17 to 32 years old. He bought each of them a Ruger 77MK11 for Christmas, all were 25-06!!! I am getting lots of questions about the caliber Can I get some imput from all of you reguarding loads, bullets powders etc, We shot 2 of them last Sat. with factory ammo and they were VERY accurate.

Hey Elkman, Everyone I know that hunt with 25-06s use either IMR-4831 or H4831.

Most of these guys have had them for a long time and have no desire to try "newer" Powders. So, there may be a different Powder available today that would do even better.

I believe they use bullet weights of 100gr, 117gr and 120gr. And they use all different brands of Bullets which occasionally results in some interesting debates about which is a better Bullet.

They all seem to kill fine to me.

Some seem to have a problem getting acceptable accuracy with the 120gr Bullets for some unknown reason. So, if they decided to try them, tell them not to buy 1000 at a time until they know for sure those rifles will shoot them at an accuracy level they like.

Tell them to quickly get a load of data 86 powder from powder valley. perfect for the 25-06 and only $59/8# and going fast. It is very close to 4831 burning rate. I will be continuing my testing of it tomorrow. We have used it in a fair number of rifles and it has proved to produce a high degree of accuracy in all. I just received another 48 pounds of it today. roger

ELKMAN, the 25-06 is overbore and it likes slow burning powders for best performance and accuracy. Below are some loads to try with the 115 gr. Nosler Partition - a first rate bullet for North American game, large and small. Work up in 0.5 gr. increments to the max charges, starting 3 grs. below. I've had the best performance from Reloader 25. I recommend using a chronograph and not exceeding 3280 fps.

Cartridge: .25-06 Rem.
Bullet: .257, 115, NOS PART SP
Cartridge O.A.L.: 3.250 inch
Barrel Length: 24.0 inch

Predicted Data for Indicated Charges of the Following Powders. Matching Maximum Pressure: 65000 psi, or 448 MPa or a maximum loading ratio or filling of 120%.

C A U T I O N : any load listed can result in a powder charge that falls below minimum suggested
loads or exceeds maximum suggested loads as presented in current handloading manuals. Understand that all of the listed powders can be unsuitable for the given combination of cartridge, bullet and gun. Actual load order can vary, depending upon lot-to-lot powder and component variations.

Hodgdon Retumbo/63.0g/3277fps
Vihtavuori N560/58.9g/3266fps
Alliant Reloder-25/60.7g/3265fps
Ramshot Magnum/63.1g/3265fps
IMR 7828 SSC/58.5g/3258fps
Accurate MAGPRO/61.4g/3253fps