I recently bought a Sako 75 Hunter in 25-06 and I was very disappointed with the accuracy I got at first. I have been trying various loads for many weeks, and the groups I was getting where between 1-2†something I didn’t expect from Sako. I was beginning to think that buying 25-06 was a big mistake! But yesterday I went to the range to try some loads and BINGO… at last. The best group I got at 100 metres (109 yards) is 0.2684 “with a plain 100 gr. Speer SPBT. A lesson learned is that Reloading is all about patience…

Some guys where saying that a new rifle needs at least 100-150 rounds to get accurate ! I there some truth in that ?

Looks great! What powder did you end up using?

Yes it does help to season the barrel with many rifles.

N-160 and N-560 gave me the best accuracy. Haven’t tried Norma yet, which might give good results.

i know the feeling bought a used like new sako ss 75 syn. in stw . it shot 1.25-1.5 3 shot groups rite off the bat, after 60 -80 rounds she started over-lapping bullets, yes indeey their barrels need braken in. jb bore past really helps speed this processes up without hurting the bore, regards

I got a similiar group of .3 something recently with my model 70 winchester 25-06 with a max load of rl22 and a hornady 117 grain btsp.

Ingvar,
Thanks for the post! I am currently chasing accuracy with a used Ruger in 257 Roberts and a new Tikka in 22-250. Some trips to the range leave me muttering and some give me some hope about what the next batch of loads might do.

I believe we have all traveled down the road of perception of accuracy at one time or another .

Some persons think that a new weapon should produce 5 shot single hole accuracy !. Dreamers and non shooters .

Real shooters least wise my way of thinking any way , says .5" MOA is A OK as long as the load and weapon will do it on a consistent basis .

Any think under that , well I just get a big shit eating grin on my mug !.

Nice grouping !. I prefer 5 shot groups myself .

I believe it's a more accurate test of the weapons ability is all .

Hunting weapons 1.0 " MOA is just fine for all intense purposes , unless one is varmint shooting that is . Those boys aren't happy if all their shots wouldn't cover with a dime a 300 Yd. . Picky Picky picky .

Shot Straight know Your Target . ...

Congrats on finding some hope.

I recently had the same experience with my 257Rob (VZ-24 Mauser). I couldn't get it to shoot less than 1-3/16". I finally switched to H4831SC and found several sub moa loads. It's great when it starts to finally come together.

quote:

Originally posted by Ingvar J. ... The best group I got at 100 metres (109 yards) is 0.2684 “with a plain 100 gr. Speer SPBT. A lesson learned is that Reloading is all about patience…

And an excellent Bullet! Works great on Deer size Game out to 200yds or so if you keep it directly into the Chest or Ribs. Beyond there, it even does a fine job(at 25-06 muzzle velocity) into a Shoulder.

quote:

Some guys where saying that a new rifle needs at least 100-150 rounds to get accurate ! I there some truth in that ? ...

Rifles are simply different. Some need a good many Bullets through them and some take very few.

Verify that Load and enjoy the Hunting. Best of luck to you.

nice job, i have been having trouble with my sako varmint in 204 ruger. totally different than my rem xr 100

Ingvar,

Good job finding the Holy Grail.
What I've been doing to hasten the break in process is to run a tight fitting patch loaded with JB Bore Paste down the bore about 100 strokes. This is for barrels that are not lapped by the barrel maker. For barrels that are lapped by the maker, I just shoot them as they come frtom the maker.
But, for most factory rifles, the bores have tool marks that need polishing so you get best accuracy. I've been doing this for a couple of years, and it does work.
After all, custom barrel makers lap their bores for the same reason, to smooth out any tool marks left in the barrel. We pay for that lapping in the higher price of these good barrels. So, using the JB Bore Paste approximates what they do.

Don

Went to the range today to verify my load and shot 2 x 3 shot group, both about 0.2 inches ! My buddy tried this same load in his new Sako 85 hunter (mine is the 75 model) with the same result

I’m absolutely trilled with my new rifle in 25-06.

P.S. his new rifle also needed about 100 rounds to get really accurate….

DMB, I cannot argue with what you do, but ME, I'd worry about wearing the throat as I am not experienced in doing this, and prefer to 'shoot it in' but I am sure this is not near as 'aggressive' as using the 'fire lapping' kits that use a grit on the bullets-those I understand can really wear a throat, prematurely.

quote:

Originally posted by Ingvar J. Kristjansson:
The best group I got at 100 metres (109 yards) is 0.2684 “with a plain 100 gr. Speer SPBT.

I'm curious as to what manner you used to measure those bullet holes to the 4th decimal place.

By converting from metric to inches...one inch is 25.4 mm. or 2.54 cm.

Maybe it’s more correct to use only one decimal place in inches. So 1/3 of an inch is more correct ? I have to confess I’m not very familiar with imperial measuring system…

Ingvar,

You're free to use decimals, fractions, inches or metric. The convention in the USA has always been decimals. My question, however, regards the exactness of your result: 0.2684". I'm curious as to what tool or measuring device you used to determine that the center of the two widest dispersed shots could be measured to the ten thousandths of an inch. That's mighty small, mister. Especially for something as imprecise as a ragged bullet hole in target paper.

Dave…

You are absolutely right …. I got my calculation all wrong, the group you see on the paper is 0.6 “ or 15mm. to bee exact !

Now that's more like it! My Colt\Sauer 25-06 Rem also likes 100gr bullets best; factory bulk Rem core-lokts. Nothing special, nothing fancy. Although I did load Barnes X bullets, 85 grains for Springboks in Namibia, and got 6 one shot kills.

Give Accurate Arms MagPro powder a try. Most speed + accuracy of all powders I tried. The data on their website is all the way at the bottom of the 25-06 page. Good luck.

25-06 MagPro