ORIGINAL: B Ott
Hi everyone- I am pondering getting into reloading. I don't know much about it, and none of my buddies do either. I currently own a .25-06 and a .300 win mag. I was wondering, could one load the .25-06 strong enough such that it would be a reliable, back-up elk rifle? I was wondering about the opposite for the .300 (and I'm pretty sure I already know that answer), could you load it down to say a .308 level (good back-up deer round)?
I was thinking about buying a 7mm-08 to fill a niche between the two guns, but it occurred to me that I could begin reloading for the same price or cheaper than the cost of the gun/scope. Any opinions or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
You can do both-develop a backup .25/'06 load for elk, and load the .300 Mag. down to .308 levels.
For the elk load in the .25/'06, I would use a premium 120-grain bullet loaded to over 3000 FPS. You can achieve these velocities in the .25/'06 with IMR 7828, RE22, or Norma MRP powder. I'd use a Nosler Partition, Accubond or a Barnes TSX type bullet. For the .300 Mag., use a 165-grain bullet with 58 grains of IMR 4064 for around 2700 FPS - a .308 Win. equivalent load.