I had my buddy at Apache Machine and Custom put this together from parts I sent him. Older “C” prefix 700 long action. HS Precision ADL stock, Trigger Tech Special, and a Bartlein #3 contour .257 barrel. If it shoots anything like the others he’s built it will be a laser.
.25-06
- Thread starter FLS
- Start date
noharleyyet
Well-known member
Good choice...nice set up
JohnCushman
Well-known member
excellent. My 25-06 is a tack driver and good antelope medicine.
Hem
Well-known member
Bonus...edges out the 6.5.
EastTNHunter
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Sure looks nice. Hopefully it shoots well too
If there is a cartridge that just feels plain good to shoot, I'd say it may be the 25-06. Not too heavy on the recoil, not too light... just right.
I'm just getting to the final touches on a load of 90gr Absolute Hammers with a Krieger re-barreled Rem700.
I'm just getting to the final touches on a load of 90gr Absolute Hammers with a Krieger re-barreled Rem700.
I planned on doing a fast twist,with the thought of shooting the Hammers, but sporter weight barrels were unobtainium when I started and I didn’t want to wait any longer. The day the rifle was completed, I got a notification that a vendor had some Brux .257 1-7 twist barrels available….
Stray Horse
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My 25-06 is my favorite rifle.
RobertD
Well-known member
Always felt like 25-06 is the dream antelope caliber.
Nice rifle OP thanks for sharing
std7mag
Well-known member
Looks good!
I'm assuming from your earlier post you went with a 1:10 twist.
Be aware, a friend of mine ordered a barrel last month for his match rifle, his expected deilery is March 2022.
So if somebody has a barrel in stock, jump on it!
I'm assuming from your earlier post you went with a 1:10 twist.
Be aware, a friend of mine ordered a barrel last month for his match rifle, his expected deilery is March 2022.
So if somebody has a barrel in stock, jump on it!
std7mag
Well-known member
I got a sales flier from a barrel maker the other day for a Savage sporter 24" in 25-06.
Delivery within 6 days.
But i just had my right wrist operated on, left wrist next week. Off work for at least another month.
Delivery within 6 days.
But i just had my right wrist operated on, left wrist next week. Off work for at least another month.
ImBillT
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1-7” was too tight anyway. For the velocities that a 25-06 will be running, 1-8” is about as tight as you want to go. 1-8.5” is probably better. I’m sure you’ll be happy with your 1-10”.
Realistically, hotrods like a 25-06, and tight twists don’t mix all that well. After blowing up a bunch of bullets in a 1-8” 6mm Remington, I wish I had gone with a 1-8.5” or 1-9” and scratched 115gr bullets off my list.
std7mag
Well-known member
Depends greatly upon which bullet he plans to shoot!
The 131gr Blackjack Ace requires a 1:7.5 twist.
Ditto the new 133gr Berger Elite Hunter & 135gr Berger Hybrid Target bullets.
Cutting Edge requires a 1:8 for their monolithic 115gr MTH bullet.
ImBillT
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The 131 Blackjack does not REQUIRE 1:7.5. Neither do the two Bergers. With a 25-06 or larger, Blackjack themselves recommend going with a 1:7.75” to 1:8”. Why? RPM. Really high RPMs contribute to poor accuracy and risk of midair blowups. FURTHERMORE, if one chooses to go with a 7.5”-8” twist, he must also accept that he is significantly limiting which bullets will work well when he is not shooting heavy bullets. Really heavy bullets drop velocity, and that reduces RPMs, and heavy bullets require fast twists, BUT when you do that, you have to understand that shooting light-mid weight bullets will result is more velocity, and more RPMs and many lightweight and mid-weight bullets cannot tolerate those RPMs. Many will, but you must be mindful that there a lot of bullets out there that will not reach a 100yd target from a 1:7.5 twist 25-06.
On a side note, the Blackjack is standing up to higher velocities than Berger Hunting line. That requires thicker jackets. The Berger target line uses thicker jackets to insulate enough to prevent it from melting and slipping at high RPM. Berger’s balistic gel testing indicated that the thicker jacket of the Target line did not yield consistent results the way the thinner jacket did. I don’t see any ballistic gel tests from Blackjack, and I don’t know if their jackets are thicker or thinner than the Berger target line. I only know that jacket thickness is the key to withstanding high RPMs, and the Blackjack must be thicker than the Berger. I would say that if you intend to use the Blackjack on game, at least find as many reviews as possible before doing so. Lots of hunting bullets use very thick jackets BUT all of those use very nose designs than open tip target bullets do. Too thick of a jacket in an open tip match bullet can result in the bullet behaving more like an FMJ, which is generally not what you want when hunting.
If I was looking for a serious edge in long range competition, I would look very hard a 131 BlackJack in a 25x47L or 25CM with a 1:7” to 1:8” twist. Going with the extreme velocity of a 25-06, I would lean much more toward a 1:8 to 1:8.5, particularly if I knew I would not be shooting at low altitude, and even more particularly if I had an interest in shooting any other bullet through that rifle. The two new Bergers do not need as much twist as the 131 Blackjack and should work better in a 1:8” to 1:8.5”, but they have lower form factors. I’m not suggesting that they are better bullets, BUT I would suggest that you could build a gun to shoot them and have a gun that worked slightly better with light to medium bullets.
Don Fischer
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The only thing I get out of this is that if you go to specialty bullet's in a cartridge you simply limit yourself from the git go and are much better off stepping up to a factory cartridge a dia or more bigger with a standard twist. You are talking about 130gr 25 cal bullet's I've never heard of and no clue where to get vers 120gr bullet's I can get at the local gun shop! What a waste of time and money! Really easy answer to shooting a 130gr bullet from a 30-06 case, get a 6.5x06 or a 270. No fast twist needed, bullet's at the local gun shop and if you desire, heavier bullet's avaliable without having to get a new rifle! Creating a different cartridge to be able to shoot a heavier bullet and having to re-arrainge the twist rate is ridicules'! This is as silly as dropping down to a 120gr bullet in a 6.5x06., drop to a lighter bullet with probably a thinner jacket to get more velocity to tear the bullet up faster? Hell stay with the 25-06 and use a 120gr bullet and have a bullet designed for what your doing with a factory cartridge! Or if ya just have to have a wildcatt, go with it and have it set up to shoot 120gr bullet's.
ImBillT
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I agree with your sentiment, BUT the real flaw is not that .257” isn’t big enough, or that 131gr is too heavy for a .257” bore. It’s that prior to two very recent additions by Berger, the heaviest .257” bullet from a major manufacturer was 120gr, Berger’s two new bullets are still only targeting a tiny niche that uses specialty bullets, and the Blackjack is even more extreme. It would not be that hard to design a .257” bullet that weighed 130-145gr, and would stabilize in an 8.5”-9” twist, and then you could shoot a much higher percentage of .257” bullets without issues related to excessive RPM.
The only thing wrong with .257” bores is the lack of bullets.
There’s not much, if any, reason to get bigger than a 25-06 in a .257” bore, and even that is a tad on the n high side. That’s just based in case capacity/bore area ratio. A 6.5-06 is about as big as a 6.5mm bore needs as well.
My only real preference for .264” over .257” is that there just aren’t many options for .257” bullets and the world is your oyster in .264”. If the gap between them was greater than .007”, then there might be more reason for .257” cartridges.
