I had the opportunity to take my/my Dad's 25-06 out last weekend. I didn't shoot it much - just a handful of rounds of handloads he'd put together before I was even in High School.
The rifle is more accurate than I am. The targets weren't fancy - just paper plates with a big cross and dot marked on them - but the first shot drilled the dot. There are three shots in the photo of the target - I pulled the second shot, but the third shot followed the first shot through the hole it created. Keep in mind that this rifle hasn't had a single round through it in over 20 years because Dad died in 1997, and it sat until I acquired it in 2008, whereupon it sat until this last Sunday morning. I once remember Dad saying something to the effect of "it's still pretty accurate, but the real fine accuracy has been shot out of that barrel." Could have fooled me - it's pretty much dead on at 100 yards, and if I do my part, it puts a bullet right in the center of the crosshairs. (I made sure the barrel was reasonably clean by running a bore snake through it a few times - I know dust can build up over time in a rifle bore.)
To give a bit more information on the rifle, it's a Gewehr Mauser 98 sporter, and Dad did most of the work on it to get it where it is now. I'm not quite sure how old it is in its current configuration - I think he did this build sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s. I always thought I remembered him telling me it was barreled with a Dillon barrel, but I've never pulled the action from the stock to see if it's marked anywhere - it may be a Douglas barrel and I'm just remembering it wrong. He'd had the bolt cut off and a chromed, swept, knurled bolt installed, and from what I remember him saying about the stock, he'd bought a stock "rough out," and he did all of the fitting. I remember him saying that he'd cut the magazine well down by hand with a hacksaw so that it would have a slimmer profile, which also involved shortening the spring. In any case, the mag well only holds about 4 rounds - plenty if you're deer hunting.
The scope, a Redfield 3x9x40, is probably older than me, and it was probably a dandy when Dad installed it on the rifle, but by today's standards, it's pretty basic. The glass is clear, but the reticle is just a fine crosshair - that seemed to be what he preferred.
I did notice something curious though, and that's the load data from two partial boxes of ammo I've got. He loaded a 100 gr jacketed spitzer point bullet over 58.0 grains of 4831, which I'm assuming is IMR 4831 and not H4831 - these are the times I wish he was around to ask.
In any case, according to two of the three reloading manuals I've got (Lyman doesn't list a loading for 25-06 with 4831, which is surprising because it seems to be a favorite powder for reloaders online) it lists 56.0 gr as a max load, and from what I can see, it's been that way for a while. I've got some other ammo he loaded with the same bullet, but using 55.0 gr.
For what it's worth, the load was plenty accurate and didn't blow up the gun, but 2.0 grains is a pretty big discrepancy.
I've got some other ammo for it too - a couple of boxes of 117 gr Sierra BT over 55.0 gr of 4831 - again, hotter than the hottest listed loading for that weight bullet by 2 full grains. By the time he'd loaded those, he'd been reloading for roughly 40 years, so I assume he knew what he was doing with his charge weight.
At some point in time, I'd love to take some game with that rifle and the ammo he loaded - I can think of no better way to honor the man.
The rifle is more accurate than I am. The targets weren't fancy - just paper plates with a big cross and dot marked on them - but the first shot drilled the dot. There are three shots in the photo of the target - I pulled the second shot, but the third shot followed the first shot through the hole it created. Keep in mind that this rifle hasn't had a single round through it in over 20 years because Dad died in 1997, and it sat until I acquired it in 2008, whereupon it sat until this last Sunday morning. I once remember Dad saying something to the effect of "it's still pretty accurate, but the real fine accuracy has been shot out of that barrel." Could have fooled me - it's pretty much dead on at 100 yards, and if I do my part, it puts a bullet right in the center of the crosshairs. (I made sure the barrel was reasonably clean by running a bore snake through it a few times - I know dust can build up over time in a rifle bore.)
To give a bit more information on the rifle, it's a Gewehr Mauser 98 sporter, and Dad did most of the work on it to get it where it is now. I'm not quite sure how old it is in its current configuration - I think he did this build sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s. I always thought I remembered him telling me it was barreled with a Dillon barrel, but I've never pulled the action from the stock to see if it's marked anywhere - it may be a Douglas barrel and I'm just remembering it wrong. He'd had the bolt cut off and a chromed, swept, knurled bolt installed, and from what I remember him saying about the stock, he'd bought a stock "rough out," and he did all of the fitting. I remember him saying that he'd cut the magazine well down by hand with a hacksaw so that it would have a slimmer profile, which also involved shortening the spring. In any case, the mag well only holds about 4 rounds - plenty if you're deer hunting.
The scope, a Redfield 3x9x40, is probably older than me, and it was probably a dandy when Dad installed it on the rifle, but by today's standards, it's pretty basic. The glass is clear, but the reticle is just a fine crosshair - that seemed to be what he preferred.
I did notice something curious though, and that's the load data from two partial boxes of ammo I've got. He loaded a 100 gr jacketed spitzer point bullet over 58.0 grains of 4831, which I'm assuming is IMR 4831 and not H4831 - these are the times I wish he was around to ask.
In any case, according to two of the three reloading manuals I've got (Lyman doesn't list a loading for 25-06 with 4831, which is surprising because it seems to be a favorite powder for reloaders online) it lists 56.0 gr as a max load, and from what I can see, it's been that way for a while. I've got some other ammo he loaded with the same bullet, but using 55.0 gr.
For what it's worth, the load was plenty accurate and didn't blow up the gun, but 2.0 grains is a pretty big discrepancy.
I've got some other ammo for it too - a couple of boxes of 117 gr Sierra BT over 55.0 gr of 4831 - again, hotter than the hottest listed loading for that weight bullet by 2 full grains. By the time he'd loaded those, he'd been reloading for roughly 40 years, so I assume he knew what he was doing with his charge weight.
At some point in time, I'd love to take some game with that rifle and the ammo he loaded - I can think of no better way to honor the man.