.25-06' or .257 Weatherby Magnum Chamber...

M

Matt in Va

Guest
Gentlemen,
I have a rifle that has been paid for that was being built for my brother, who died unexpectedly at 45 years old last month. The rifle is 6 months out waiting on McMillan. It was originally to be built on a LA Remington in .30-06', however, I wanted to make the rifle something special as his last custom rifle...

I've decided to change the LA 700 to a Bat HRRPTRPIC in either a standard or magnum bolt face. The problem is that I don't have a great deal of confidence in the builders ability to make non "tactical" chambering shoot. He can make a .308 Win, .300 Win Mag, .30-06' to some point, .260 Remington, and .243 Winchester shoot well. He had built 10 full custom rifles for me until the last 7mm-08 Remington Sporter which he chambered with a reamer built for 180 grain 7mm Match Bullets seated LONG. I could not get within .100" plus of the lands without being far too long for the magazine. At any rate I would really rather have a hot .25 of some sort but I do not trust the builder to make it shoot. I gave him two chances and his best effort would have left me wanting on a factory rifle much less a $2500 custom without mounts. The maker is the darling of the tactical field and I will not name names as that does not help anything...

I'm not setup with my shop and not able to chamber it myself, however, I don't want a $3000 rifle that won't shoot. It is set up as follows:

Bat HRRPTRPIC at 8.860" with integral lug and integral picatinny rail
McMillan Remington Hunter or Sako Hunter Stock set for a #5.5 Contour Bartlein Fluted barrel at 25"
Dakota, Sunny Hill, or Badger DBM(only for the .257 Weatherby)
CG Jackson Two Stage Trigger

Likely a Schmidt Bender 4-16x42 PMII, Gen II illuminated Mil Dot, with .1 MRAD Clicks or Nightforce 55-22x50 NXS with MLR Reticle at .1 MRAD Clicks mounted in Badger Rings or Nightforce Rings...

Would anyone care to offer suggestion for a "can't miss" .25-06' or .257 Weatherby Magnum Reamer with minimal free bore that will shoot? I'll buy the reamer and make it a handload only proposition.

After a rather classless response from the builder in response to the 10th, and at that time the last, rifle I intended for him to build I am hesitant to go on. He never made the rifle right and I wound up selling it out of disgust...

Until I can get my HAAS TL-1 setup, and my shop built, I am not in a position to build it myself. Any thoughts would be appreciated...

Best Regards, Matt Garrett
Chesapeake, Virginia 23322
757-581-6270
 
Gentlemen,
Specifics on .25-06' or .257 Weatherby Magnum Reamer Sought. Looking to shoot the 100 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip Accurately...

Thank you, Matt Garrett
757-581-6270
 
.25 rifle

In my opinion the first thing you have to do is make a desition on what cal you are going to have it chambered in. Since it is a handload only rifle you could also think about 25-06 Improved. I have one rifle chambered in that and it doesnt leave much out in the velocity department from 25 Weatherby magnum. It shoots 100gr Sierra MK at 3700fps. On the other hand a regular 25-06 will do nicely for all hunting application on game up to elk. (Not that many elks would have preferences one way or the other beeing shot with a 25-06 or something bigger). After you deside on the cal then you can contact a reamer maker and have him assist you with the details on the reamer.

BA
 
Matt in Va said:
Gentlemen,
Specifics on .25-06' or .257 Weatherby Magnum Reamer Sought. Looking to shoot the 100 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip Accurately...

Thank you, Matt Garrett
757-581-6270
Click to expand...


Have Dave Kiff grind a short throat reamer just for that bullet. Have your gunsmith use your reamer.
 
You can also send Dave Kiff a dummy round that is made the way you want it and he will make a reamer for it. The only other thing he will need from you is how tight a fit you want the chamber.
 
The .25-06 AI is not a bad way to go.. I have one, but limit the velocity to a bit over 3,500 with 100 grain bullets..

Matt, once you get a shop set up to where you can build your own rifles you may find out that sometimes things just don't go according to plan. Occassionally you can use the best of components and the final results aren't what you were hoping for. Odds are nobody is more meticulous than you will be when doing your own yet there are no guarantees, 90% isn't too bad !

Best of luck with your new project.

Also terribly sorry that you lost you brother at such a young age.
 
Gentlemen,
I greatly appreciate the input... I will contact Mr. Kiff...

Pat,
I appreciate your input and the kind words...

You are very much accurate about the best parts and the best efforts of the smith not always leading to what we often expect. Thank you again.

Regards, Matt Garrett
757-581-6270
 
Matt: Give some thought to having Dave make a reamer with no throat on it and supplying a throating reamer. That way, the throat can be cut seperately for a perfect match to the range of bullets you'll be using. A reamer done this way gives maximum flexibility for other chambers in the future.

As to which chambering to recommend, that's a hard choice. The 25-06AI offers good brass, great performance with the only hangup possiblity being die/reamer/brass fit. If you go this way, I'd have Dave spec. the reamer on currently available brass so the back end doesn't get too big....he's on top of this anyway, but it wouldn't hurt to send a few pieces of virgin brass for him to measure. For dies, I'd look no further than Redding and their standard 2 die set. Again, they should be able to help with dies specs.

For the .257 Roy, you'll need to decide if it's going to be a handload-only deal. If so, you can eliminate the long throat length common to these and go with a setup just like on the 25-06AI...throated seperately. Factory Roy ammo fired in a chamber that's 'short-throated' can cause major pressure issues, so keep that in mind.

For a hunting rig, you also want loaded rounds to slurp into the chamber with zero fuss/muss.....the 25-06 case (even an Improved version) will doubtless give you less gas in that regard as would a 25WSM, for example.

Sorry to hear about your brother, Matt. Wishing you the best in making this gun a fine tribute to him. :) -Al

P.S. Pick your 'smith wisely. ;)
 
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