I use it a lot but in the mag chamberings. It does need a good mag primer to work well. I like fed large rifle mag primers with it. If I'm using reloader in the 2506 its usually re22 I'm going to start with. If that doesn't work id try imr7828 both give top velocitys in the 2506

 

On my 25-06, I too use the RL22 poweder, like Lloyd. I use the Sierra 117 bullet with about 50 grains but don't hold me to it. Velocity is about 3100 if my chrono is right out of a Tikka 595. Gotta love them 25-06s.
Best of luck,
Deerandduck

 

I like RL22 with the 100 grain bullets up to 110, but with 115 & Heavier I get better velocities and accuracy with RL25. With RL25 & 115BT I am getting just over 3200 with my son's Sendero & was getting 3250 with a 125 gr. Wildcat in my Sendero 25-06AI. bought some of the new RL26, I will see if it is any better though it will be tough to be better! I use CCI250 Mag primers with the heavier slow powder loads in the big 25's.

 

those are some smoking 2506 velocitys. Its about where I run my 257 wby! My favorite primer with the harder to ignite powders is the fed match mag.

 

those are some smoking 2506 velocitys. Its about where I run my 257 wby! My favorite primer with the harder to ignite powders is the fed match mag.

Yes it is fast & I should have added this appears to be a "fast barrel" running 60-80 fps faster than another 26" barrel Sendero. So far, I have not been able to beat it with Retumbo or anything else. I use the 215 Fed a lot in my 300WM & 264WM but it showed pressure signs in this 25-06 load for some reason.

 

I don't know about the need for mag primers y'all, I was using CCI 200 's the other day and most of my SD's were single digits after I got enough powder in the case to help make the ignitions a little more consistent. Even before the case got enough powder in it to be uniform , the SD's were running in the mid to high teens. I think I am going to like this powder in the 25-06. So far so good. I didn't shoot a deer with a 25-06 last year. Used the 280 exclusively. Year before last I shot 3 with it, using a Hornady 117 SPBT, I wasn't getting the bullet performance I wanted and went back to old reliable Speer 120 SPBT's , those bullets will penetrate like crazy. It was my bullet of choice for years when a 25-06 was the only rifle I had to deer hunt with. Thanks for the feed back.

 

I don't know about the need for mag primers y'all, I was using CCI 200 's the other day and most of my SD's were single digits after I got enough powder in the case to help make the ignitions a little more consistent. Even before the case got enough powder in it to be uniform , the SD's were running in the mid to high teens. I think I am going to like this powder in the 25-06. So far so good. I didn't shoot a deer with a 25-06 last year. Used the 280 exclusively. Year before last I shot 3 with it, using a Hornady 117 SPBT, I wasn't getting the bullet performance I wanted and went back to old reliable Speer 120 SPBT's , those bullets will penetrate like crazy. It was my bullet of choice for years when a 25-06 was the only rifle I had to deer hunt with. Thanks for the feed back.

Do you like the expansion you get with the 120 Speer?

 

Not so much the expansion as the penetration. I like a hole that goes all the way through. I once shot a whitetail buck with his head down feeding facing me at about 80 yards. The bullet penetrated from the a point in front of the withers all the way back to the pelvis where I found the bullet. It was expanded nearly to the break of the boat tail and loose in the jacket. I shot a bunch of them straight through the shoulder to try and catch that bullet in whitetails. It just didn't happen hardly. These bullets gave me exactly what I wanted with the 25-06.

 

ive shot quite a few deer with the 120 hotcore if that's the bullet your talking and it allways did real well. It holds together a bit better then a ballistic tip or sierra but not quite as much as a hornady interlock or rem corelock. Its an accurate bullet too. Rugerfan.64 I agree that mag primers are not needed. What I do is work up a load and then try a couple std primers and a couple mag and use what is most accurate. If you looked at my post youd see I said I use them with mag rounds. With the 2506 its usually a stand primer that does best but not allways. bump the powder charge up or down one grain and everything changes. I do agree with nomosondero in that re22 and re19 are better suited to the 2506.

 

I was using RL 22 with 117 Hornady interlocks SPBT, wasn't getting the penetration like I wanted. I was running them pretty fast if I recall correctly. Around 3100. good accurate load, the bullets just weren't standing up to the velocity like I wanted. They were killing fine, the bullets weren't giving me pass throughs on broadside shots. As to Mag primers , I only had one load that required them, loaded up a very good load with H 414 and 87 grain Hornady bullets for crows and such. When I tested them I experienced hang fires. Several as a matter of fact, switched over to mag primer and the load quit the hang fires and grouped very well. Ball powder needs mag primer in my opinion, extruded doesn't in my experience.
I had tried RL 22 with this bullet before and didn't get the results I wanted, accuracy , velocity with out getting pressure signs. So I am going to load some more with RL 25 and try them out some more. Thanks for everyones replies, I'll post up some targets and numbers hopefully this weekend.

 

I doubt your going to get any more velocity with re25. Could be wrong though. 3100 is a smoking load out of a 2506 and id about bet a dime to a dollar your already over book loads and pressures or at least right at the top of them. IF your really concerned about pass through you might need to switch to a partition or x bullet or at least a bonded bullet. But chances are there going to require more work to find accuracy with then the cup and core bullets.

 

Those loads could've been on the warm side, but I never saw any indication of it on the brass or primers. I know this isn't the best indicator but it is all I have to go by. I'm not looking for excessive velocity with RL 25, around 3000 fps , would settle for less with good accuracy. I was shooting IMR 4350 but the accuracy wasn't there. I have had a 25-06 in one form or another for a bunch of years, since 1983. Had several good loads , this is a new rifle to me , a Browning A Bolt with a 24" barrel, I will get it to shoot eventually. I like for the load density to be in the 80 -90% range , makes for a more uniform load in my opinion. Alliant shows 58 gr Max , and 3071 fps with that bullet powder combo. With 58 being a compressed load using R-P brass. I am using Win 270 brass neck down and trimmed to 25-06. With 55.0 gr I was getting 3000 and change. When I got to 56 gr I reached 3070 fps and wrote it down as MAX. I am working from 55 gr back down to the start load, I shot 54.0 and 54.5 and got pretty good accuracy out of both of those. I figure I am close to 3000 fps. Next time I go shooting I will carry the chrony and shoot for numbers and accuracy.

 

I doubt your going to get any more velocity with re25. Could be wrong though. 3100 is a smoking load out of a 2506 and id about bet a dime to a dollar your already over book loads and pressures or at least right at the top of them. IF your really concerned about pass through you might need to switch to a partition or x bullet or at least a bonded bullet. But chances are there going to require more work to find accuracy with then the cup and core bullets.

I have not seen pressure signs with the load and have no desire to load too hot in my son's rifle and my grandson has access as well. I do not have a ballistic lab at home but the pressure signs are not there and case life is good. 3100 is not a problem but again this is a 26" with a nice straight chamber. For a good 24" rifle 3050 should be no problem at all and it appears to be such in yours since you saw no problem at 3070.
Again, I haven't seen anything to top RL25 in that particular combo as yet.

 

Those loads could've been on the warm side, but I never saw any indication of it on the brass or primers. I know this isn't the best indicator but it is all I have to go by. I'm not looking for excessive velocity with RL 25, around 3000 fps , would settle for less with good accuracy. I was shooting IMR 4350 but the accuracy wasn't there. I have had a 25-06 in one form or another for a bunch of years, since 1983. Had several good loads , this is a new rifle to me , a Browning A Bolt with a 24" barrel, I will get it to shoot eventually. I like for the load density to be in the 80 -90% range , makes for a more uniform load in my opinion. Alliant shows 58 gr Max , and 3071 fps with that bullet powder combo. With 58 being a compressed load using R-P brass. I am using Win 270 brass neck down and trimmed to 25-06. With 55.0 gr I was getting 3000 and change. When I got to 56 gr I reached 3070 fps and wrote it down as MAX. I am working from 55 gr back down to the start load, I shot 54.0 and 54.5 and got pretty good accuracy out of both of those. I figure I am close to 3000 fps. Next time I go shooting I will carry the chrony and shoot for numbers and accuracy.

Sounds good

 

I doubt your going to get any more velocity with re25. Could be wrong though. 3100 is a smoking load out of a 2506 and id about bet a dime to a dollar your already over book loads and pressures or at least right at the top of them. IF your really concerned about pass through you might need to switch to a partition or x bullet or at least a bonded bullet. But chances are there going to require more work to find accuracy with then the cup and core bullets.

I have not seen pressure signs with the load and have no desire to load too hot in my son's rifle and my grandson has access as well. I do not have a ballistic lab at home but the pressure signs are not there and case life is good. 3100 is not a problem but again this is a 26" with a nice straight chamber. For a good 24" rifle 3050 should be no problem at all and it appears to be such in yours since you saw no problem at 3070.
Again, I haven't seen anything to top RL25 in that particular combo as yet.

All I shoot in my 25-06 is the 117g Hornady. Years ago I used a 160gr Speer Hot ore in a 7mm Rem Mag. great bullet. But around here Speer's are in short supply. I wouldn't have a problem one using Speer hot core bullet's in much of anything. Years ago I matched the hot core to the Hornady spire point. Shooting into wet newspaper at 100 yds, penetration was close enough not to matter. the Hornady's shot better for me though in all but my 7mm Mag. The the Speer bullet and Hornady both retained 85% of their weight. The Speer Hot Core maintained the core tight in the jadket every time. The Hornady core was lose in the jacket but never separated.

But after peer sold out, Speer's customer service went to ****. Then I saw where all their bullet's weren't Hot core anymore. that and hard to find any Hot Core's around here keep's me in Hornady's corner. But if I found some, I'd get some 120s and give them a try. my feeling's about the Hot Core is it was one of the best bullet's made. I doubt the present inter bond bullet's would be any better.

Had ment to mention in this that my 25-06 shoot's that 117gr bullet 3079fps, measured.

 

I believe there soft points are still the same bullet that hot cores were. Ill say for sure that they shoot to the same point of aim and give the same size groups in my guns and anyone that reloads knows this just wouldn't be true if they changed that bullet in anyway. Ive allways found the construction of speer hot cores closer to sierra and nos bts then they were to interlocks. Interlocks allways gave me more penetration and a bit smaller wound channel.

 

As near as I can tell the Speer "Hot Core" and SPBT bullets are still the same as always. I tried a few of the Deep Curl bullets and got pretty good results with them a few years ago. I think the Deep Curl would've been a good bullet. I think it was discontinued when they tried to ramp up production in response to the o bama gun and supply buying frenzy. I took my Browning back to the bottoms and shot a test batch of 54.0,54.2,54.5, and 55.0. The 54.5 load again proved to be the most accurate of the bunch. it turned in another nice 3/4" group at 100 yards. Its been the most consistent charge weight that I have tried with this powder. Running 2950 fps , it should do anything I need it to do.

 

As near as I can tell the Speer "Hot Core" and SPBT bullets are still the same as always. I tried a few of the Deep Curl bullets and got pretty good results with them a few years ago. I think the Deep Curl would've been a good bullet. I think it was discontinued when they tried to ramp up production in response to the o bama gun and supply buying frenzy. I took my Browning back to the bottoms and shot a test batch of 54.0,54.2,54.5, and 55.0. The 54.5 load again proved to be the most accurate of the bunch. it turned in another nice 3/4" group at 100 yards. Its been the most consistent charge weight that I have tried with this powder. Running 2950 fps , it should do anything I need it to do.

I think factory ammo production has been the resent focus with the Speer Bonded bullets, the Deep Curl which is a flat base with the so called "Deer Thug" Fed offerings and the boat tail version which is the Federal Fusion. I really wanted to see the boat tail Fusion version offered to handloaders but alas it never happened.
The Speer Boat tail is a reg cup and core bullet, I have been using the 165 Speer Boat Tail in my 308 Ruger American and it has taken several Deer & Hogs.

 

Well I don't pop in as often as I used to do but now that I'm here I see a couple of post that I hold somewhat dear to my heart.

I have had a love affair with the 25-06 since the early 80's myself. My first was a Rem 700 BDL which seemed to have a bit heavier barrel on it that the other ones I looked at. The shop had 4 of them there and I had handled a couple elsewhere, but this particular one said "TAKE ME HOME" so I did.

I have played with an abundance of bullets and weights through the years but my mainstay was the 115gr Partition. Loaded over RL-22 it gives me an honest 3150 out of the factory 24" barrel. It shoots like a laser and has never let me down from 10 to over 400yds.

Seeing the Speer bullet mentioned, I have several boxes of the sitting on my shelf to try out in my latest .257 caliber rifle. It is a few years old now but still doesn't have a big number of rounds through it. After working up the initial loads I just loaded up a box of 100 and have been slowly working on them since. These are for the 25-06 AI version working with a 28" Broughton 5C barrel and the 120gr bullets exclusively. Well almost, I also have some of the older 125 and 130gr Wildcats sitting on my shelf, and they do just as well as the others.

I had a few boxes of 100 of the older Nosler 120gr Solid Base's and managed to find someone who had a few more boxes for sale. These along with the Remington CL of all things, have both shot around an inch or less groups quite a few times at 300yds if I can do my part. Running along at 3350'ish FPS they are really something. Using the Ramshot Magnum powder I have not had any issues getting up to 10 loads from the initial fire formed cases.

Back to the standard version though, in mine I could never break 3K FPS without ironing out primers or finding the little ejector dimple on the sides of the cases. It didn't matter what powder it just don't do it comfortably. Now the Speer 120gr bullet has done an awesome job on both deer and hogs for me even running in the mid 2800 FPS range. It might not shoot as flat as the Partition, but it isn't far off the track.

I really do not know if this is a good price for those who might want to stock up on these bullets or not, but Rocky Mountain Reloading has some pulled Speer 120gr Deep Curls for sale in up to as many as you might want to purchase.

If I didn't already have enough bullets to shoot out both of my existing barrels, I would probably have already picked some up. I have purchased them in other calibers though and they shoot just as well as the standard packaged ones do. They just have some slight pull marks on some.

Anyway now that you have got me worked up I might have to give both RL-25 and some 7828 a try in one or the other, heck maybe both.

 

41, I look forward to that. BTW, I still have some 125 gr. Wildcats as well. Richard gave me a lot of good info back in the day.

 

I really hate they discontinued the Deep Curl, from what I remember it had a great BC, and was promised to rival partition performance on game. I used to purposely shoot deer through the shoulder with my old Ruger 77 ST to see if I could catch a Speer 120 gr SPBT. It didn't happen. This is a tried and true bullet for me, don't know how many deer I shot with that bullet and rifle combination but it was a bunch. I think the Speer is the best bullet made for the 25-06 in my experience. I have not tried the Sierra 117's and I am sure they would preform just as well, but I have background with the Speers. I cant break 3000 fps either apparently but I can get pretty close to it, which is plenty good for me.

 

If the Speer Boat Tail does not stop in a Deer with a shoulder shot then the Deep Curl is not needed anyway unless for Elk and I have better rounds to use for that.
Well, I have a box of Speer 120 Boat Tail on my shelf, I wanted to accuracy test them but never have. Looks like maybe I should.

 

got to agree. Most guys these days use to much bullet. They think they need the newest highest tech bullet on the market. these are great if your trying to kill a dinosaur with a 243 but for deer, black bear ect the good old cup and core bullets ARE the REAL premium bullet. They were designed to expand and kill these animals. Not to penetrate a buffalo lengthwise. Give me a nos bt, sierra spritzer, or speer hotcore every time I have animals like that in my scope and if I don't kill them its my fault not the bullets.

If the Speer Boat Tail does not stop in a Deer with a shoulder shot then the Deep Curl is not needed anyway unless for Elk and I have better rounds to use for that.
Well, I have a box of Speer 120 Boat Tail on my shelf, I wanted to accuracy test them but never have. Looks like maybe I should.

 

So, to those that have replied to this thread , many thanks for the input. I believe I have concluded this endeavor. As a test of load development I try and conclude it with a cold bore shot over a period of time. So for the last 3 weeks I have taken my trusty Browning A Bolt over to the bottom and fired one shot on a cold bore target. That and my 6.5 Grendel. I have the results and am pleased with it. The Browning shoots pretty good if I do say so myself. Probably shoots better than I do. I ended up with a .6something 3 shot group in a span of 3 weeks. Temps ranged from in the 60's to hi 80's. Winds co operated too. Just showing off I reckon, but I think RL 25 is a pretty good powder for this application. It got me to near 3000 fps when I couldn't get there with anything else with out pressure signs. Good day to y'all.