25/06 or 308

FWIW, my friend and gunsmith, Karl Feldkamp has run his 25-06 Kampfeld(30° shoulder) at a great many of matches at the club I belong to. He has done very well with it out to 600 yards. Keep in mind, this is with a top notch gun, with a top notch shooter, who has done top notch load development with several barrels. He could not get it to run 115gr Bergers to save his life, with several barrels, IIRC. Not sure why he cared, but he did. Same rifle is now a 6.5x47 Lapua. He has already done well with it in a match or two.

Personally, you could not sell me a .257 match rifle. That said, I would not want to have to shoot against Karl's for a living........
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Quarter bores can make fine hunting rifles but are not competitive when money is on the line. When you are shooting for money, you take every advantage you can.

Jack
 
The .257 is indeed a hunting rifle and does very well for what it was intended to do.

If this cal has a weak spot that would be that there are no high bc bullets for long range target shooting. I'm actually glad about this, I have no need for 180 gr match bullets out of a 1:4" twist barrel at 2600 fps from my .25 cal. I'm a hunter first and that's why I have a .25-06.

For long range target shooting I have other rifles and cartridges that I use. Still, I always seem to gravitate back to my favorite, the .25-06 and varmint hunting.




 
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308 SUCKS!
If you compare the 308 to the 2506 using HSM factory ammo the 115 VLD shoots 3165 fps. The 308 using 165 VLD shoots 2740 fps. That is 425 fps different.The BC of the two bullets is almost the same.
I have never understood why someone would shoot a slow caliber.If you want to shoot a 30 cal bullet then get a magnum or a wildcat.
 
As far as a caliber being worthless. All the caliber that are in regular production and some that no longer are far from worthless. Some are better suited for a task than others. If I were try to shoot deer at 600 yards I would go with a caliber larger than 25-06 just to have more down range energy. Check drop charts and round availability and do some research and choose the round that best suits YOUR needs for me I use 25-06 but that doesn't mean its the right caliber for you.

The only worthless caliber IMO is the 17hmr.
 
308 they have been trying to get it gone for years. Its still here and going strong. Iv got it in a rifle and a pistol. Easy to reload or find on store shelf. It may not be the fastest or the newest but it works.

Get one if you dont like it sell it. I havent met a caliber yet I didnt like
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Not to offend anyone but, I think that's the thing that bothers me about most of these threads on cartridges.

Someone will say the .25-06 doesn't have high bc bullets while comparing it to another cartridge that has a bullet with a bc of .600. In 95% of these situations they're comparing a match bullet to a hunting bullet. Compare apples to apples, not oranges.

Bullets were designed for a purpose. Match bullets were designed for targets, hunting bullets were designed for hunting. I have no idea what a match bullet will do to a deer but I can tell you what the correct choice bullet will do.

Maybe I'm old school but I think when you pick a bullet you need to pick one for the correct purpose not for its bc. And I think shooting at deer 600 yards away is wrong, but I'm good with 400.

For hunting varmint to medium game the .25-06 is top notch or it wouldn't be around. It's been here since the 1930's.
 
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More people would be shooting it if it were TOP NOTCH IMHO.

To me its just one of those in-between calibers thats too big for one thing and not big enough for something else.
 
From the varmint/predator side of things its gonna be too hard on fur, On the big game side youre pretty much restricted to deer and antelope.

If youre not into fur saving and hunt nothing bigger than deer then youre G2G.

Remember- I said "To Me"
 
The .25-06 has a following out west where ranges are long when hunting deer and antelope. I bet there will be few Westerners that chime in.

Mine was my only centerfire rifle for 25 years. Used it for groundhogs, deer and even bear up in Canada. It never let me down for anything I ever hunted. When it comes to deer hunting it's my first choice, even over my .308.

It isn't good for everything, nothing is. That's why I have a few rifles in the safe. For game larger then deer I have a Remington Classic in .300 H&H Mag. But I can tell you the 06 sees more use then the .300 Mag.
 
Originally Posted By: joedThe .25-06 has a following out west where ranges are long when hunting deer and antelope. I bet there will be few Westerners that chime in.

Mine was my only centerfire rifle for 25 years. Used it for groundhogs, deer and even bear up in Canada. It never let me down for anything I ever hunted. When it comes to deer hunting it's my first choice, even over my .308.

It isn't good for everything, nothing is. That's why I have a few rifles in the safe. For game larger then deer I have a Remington Classic in .300 H&H Mag. But I can tell you the 06 sees more use then the .300 Mag.





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For longer range shooting and especially hunting, you want to start with heavier bullets moving as fast as you can safely push them.

While I love my 25-06, as others have said, it's not for all shooting. A coyote at 500+ yards is fair game, but a game animal (deer or elk) should be a different story.

The 308 is a medium length cartridge and usually doesn't handle heavier bullets as well as the old 30-06, which is the same length as the 25-06

From the Hornady website:
a 25-06 shooting a 117gr slug starts about 3000fps and at 500 yards has 935 ft/lbs of energy.
the 308 shooting a 165gr slug, starts at about 28040fps and at 500 yards has 1325 ft/lbs of energy
the 30-06 with a 165gr, starts at 2960 and has 1461 ftlb at 500 yards and with a 180gr bullet starts at 2820 and has 1509 ft/lb at 500 yds.

Ft/lb of energy doesn't equate out to "kill power" but it's a darn good indication.

I'd look at the 300 Win Mag or bigger for 600+yard hunting
 
Originally Posted By: salty_jenkins
too big for one thing and not big enough for something else.

Like what???

Yep, too big for a fur keeper, and limited on anything bigger then normal range deer.

Originally Posted By: jlh321308 SUCKS!

Yeah it does! Especially on the other end of a M40! There are graves all over the world filled with people who think the 308 sucks! LOL!!! Step up to effective rang and we will talk. After 500 yds, the 25 cal looses steam rather fast. Heavier bullet means more inertia, which means more energy at longer ranges.


 
If anything, 308s are BORING. Boringly accurate, boringly reliable, but still boring. And this coming from a guy who owns a target rifle and a deer rifle, both in 308, that are among my very favorites.

I still like the 7-08 better. And quite possibly the 260 also.......
 
Originally Posted By: 2muchgunIf anything, 308s are BORING. Boringly accurate, boringly reliable, but still boring. And this coming from a guy who owns a target rifle and a deer rifle, both in 308, that are among my very favorites.

I still like the 7-08 better. And quite possibly the 260 also.......

Very nice, Ken. Oh and both others are 308 based cartridges. Hmmm, that's suck factor 10!
 
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