257 Weatherby or 25-06?

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pasturepup

New member
I was going to buy a 25-06 and now the idea of a .257 Wthby pops into my head. Which one would have the greater advantage for predators or is it a wash? I'm curious what you people think. I can get both calibers here so thats not a problem.
 
No experience with the 257, hunted with 2 25's this year on 4 animals. 2 goat and 2 deer, worked well out past 400 and if either recoils more than my 243 I would need instruments to measure it. This was with a pre accutrigger savage and a savage edge. The edge kicks a little bit more, but I replaced the pad on the other savage with a nice squishy one, so not apples to apples.

Going off of others math the 257 has about an additional 20 yards on it's PBR using 115gr bullets. I plan on continuing with the 25 for deer sized game. I'd use it for coyote hunting but I just picked up a stevens 223 specifically for that.
 
I have had both and both are good for some things. The 25-06 is a much better predator crossover than the 257 wby, or at least is my mind.
There is an abundance of 25-06's out there and a few of the wby's.
You'll burn less powder and have less recoil in the '06 (to see the hit), as well as longer barrel life.
There should be less pelt damage with the '06 but as mentioned earlier, once a dog is cut in half, what constitutes less damage?
 
My primary predator go to rifle is my heavy barrel 25-06. My primary deer rifle is another standard barrel 25-06. I owned a Roy for about a year a decade ago, its an outstanding round, but I just never cared for the belted magnums. Its based off the 300 H&H case. Mine was finicky in what it liked to eat and the belted magnum cases were spendy.

The 25-06 is about 200fps slower, that's not much. The 25-06 is an old round that's been around for a long time and for good reason. Its an easy to reload for round with fairly cheap components.

Since I do not save fur I have never had any predator run off after its been hit by the 25-06. When I lived in Alaska for about 10 yrs it was my primary Caribou and under round.

No matter what you decide the quarter bore is an outstanding multipurpose bullet. Most who shoot them for very long become passionate about their quarter bores.
 
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I went to a 25-06 for the same reason,300+ yard shots. As for pelt damage i don't think it is as bad as with my 243. I shoot Hornady 87 gr soft points. It also works well as a prairie dog rifle when you are shooting in the wind.
 
Just go price ammo and you can make your decision. Weatherby ammo has been high since way before all the other ammo went sky high. Both are great calibers. The 25-06 is all you would ever need for Deer, Pigs and even Elk.
 
KAG I like your thoughts. Very convincing. Sumrifle, I shoot a .300 Wthby and yes that does make you eat bologna for a while. But my 300 is a toy, just to hear it go boom makes me smile. But the debate over straight vs belted, that does make alot of sense.
 
I have both and the only thing that separates them as far as i am concerned is the price of the ammo for the 257 it is just a 25-06 on steroids.
 
I have both and the wby is the newer of the 2 and I often wonder why I got it?

Get the 25.06 some 100 gr ballistic tips and a pound of RL 17 and call me after you hit the range my 700 classic tickles 3500 fps with those components and my 257 can tickle 3700 but after 3600 you dont really gain much

What gun are you looking into?
 
nitis, I don't really know yet. I like Savage but its the round I'm looking at now. I have never owned a Remington rifle but several shotguns. Have any ideas?
 
I would get a remington but then again that is all I own. and you can get either caliber in a 700.

whatever you get make sure it has at least a 24" barrel other wise you may as well just get a 243
 
Does the 06 really give up that much to the 243 by the two inches gained by going with the 24" barrel? Just curious and to stay on topic I'd go 06 bc of ammo prices and ease of components if yu reload.
 
Go with the 257 roy. Got one and love it. If your worried about the price of brass theres an easy fix. Use 7mm mag brass and run it in you FL 257 dies. comes out 257 and works great. I dont have nothing bad to say against the 25-06 i havent had one. But if you want to run long range with the heavier bullets then i give the nod to the 257. Berger has the 115gr vlds that are hunting bullets in the 25cal. thats what im going to run in mine once they get them back on the shelf. On the barrel length. I my self would go no less then a 24 as well.
 
25-06
Both of these rounds are over bore,but the 25-06 is the more efficient of the two.The 257 roberts improved is considered max for efficiency in a 25 cal round. In the 25-06 case you will need a minimum of 24" of barrel to burn this capacity of power. As for the 257 Roy to make it sum what efficient you will need more barrel yet.
 
My main deer rifle is a 257 wby. It holds SUB moa out too 600 yards and kills way better than a .257 bullet should. It kicked serious asss in Africa too!
 
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