Long range varmint & deer rifle?

L

lewish11

New member
Being new to the hunting thing, I want to get a longer range varmint rifle that can also double as a deer rifle. I determined that the .25-06 was the answer. A friend offered to reload for me, but suggested I look at the 25 WSSM. I like it better because of its size & weight. In the Browning Hunter they are the same price. He will reload the WSSM also, he has dies for .223 WSSM.

My question is: What's the current feeling about the life of the 25 WSSM? If I get one will I end up with an orphan? No one here seems to know, and Cabelas has one clearenced.
 
Stay away my friend! The -06 will do all you need, dont have to reload, and its here to stay. The wssm's are nice, but the fad is fading!
 
What type of Varmints? If you are talking coyotes mostly, I would get the 7mm rem mag.....For the sole reason that you might get into hunting and want to hunt bigger north american game and this caliber will do anything for north america except maybe the grizzly. It is flat as heck and kils dead.....I am not a fan of the 30-06 even though it is close to the ballistics of the 7mm......Just to standard for me. I also like the 243 wssm, but do not have one in the line-up just as of yet. By the end of the year I will.
 
I agree with rowney, get the 25-06 and you should be set for deer, antelope, and coyotes. It's fast and flat shooting. If you decide to hunt bigger stuff move to a 338 or 325 wsm. If you want to hunt PD's then a 204 or 223 would cover the bottom end.
 
My two cents I deer hunt with a 7mm is great i love it but I dont think I would want to varmint hunt with it just because of beating you have to endure everytime you shoot and if you plan to keep any fur 7mm is not what you want it would be funny for sure. If I wanted a gun to do both I would get a 243 you can get a 55gr bullet to varmint hunt and 100gr to deer hunt. You will be limited to varmints and deer size game but 243 is old school people have been using them for years and it's here to stay. In most states the 243 is the smallest gun you can use for deer by law. 25-06 is also a good flat shooting deer gun but I don't think you can drop down to a 55gr bullet for varmints reloading you may have that option. Factory ammo you have more options with 243. Good luck Chris
 
Welcome to the board lewish.

You don't say where you hunt or what kind of "varmints" you'll be shooting, and you don't say what you consider to be long range.

Since you throw deer into the equation and .24 caliber is the smallest you can use on them in some states, either the .243 or the 25-06 would work well, with the caveats raised above.

You say you are new to hunting, but are you new to shooting too? If you aren't something of a confirmed gun nut already, I wouldn't suggest going to a wizzum of either caliber, until you have enough experience to know that this is something you will stick with. Probably not unless you start to reload yourself.

You'll be able to resell a standard caliber much more easily if the sport turns out not to be your thing.

You might check the laws in your state. If .22 caliber centerfires can be used in your state a 22-250 is a lot cheaper to shoot, especially on colony varmints, and can be very effective on deer too, with heavier bullets.
 
If it were me,i would stay away from the wssm.The way thease things are falling off the market,i dont think they will survive.I would recomend the 243 win for both deer and varmits.If it were for just varmits,i would recomend the 22-250.Both of thease guns have verry low recoil.When you just begin shooting rifles it is important to hone your shooting skills and i would recomend a low recoil rifle.Nothing is worse than developing a flinch.The 25-06 is a great rifle but has more recoil.
 
The Browning chrome lined bore, used for the WSSM rifles,
is not known for great accuracy, and there are persistent
rumors of feeding problems. Supposedly, factory ammo is
not as prone to feeding problems, but if one handloads,
and seats bullets out to the lands, these super short
fat rounds start to fail to feed. Also, due to thick
necks, on the WSSM line, the loads have to be stout, to
get a good gas seal, at the case neck, so this can lead to
signs of pressure, like sticky bolt lifts, or flattened
primers. And since hot loads come from the factory,
they had to chrome line the bores, to get any barrel life
out of these rifles. Kind of a vicious circle.
I personally would not buy one, in a bolt action rifle.
I might consider one in an AR-15 upper, since the accuracy,
and feeding, issues seemed to be addressed, at least in
DTech's uppers.

I do have .25-06 Rem, and 6mm Rem., chambered rifles,
and would highly recommend either of these, for a deer/
varmint rifle. If you are leaning more towards deer,
and antelope, then I would lean more towards the .25-06 Rem.
If you are leaning more towards varmints, with some
deer, and/or antelope hunting, then maybe the 6mm Rem.,
or a .243 Win, rifle may be a better fit. Although as
a new hunter, you might find the .25-06 Rem, a bit more
forgiving, for marginal shot placement.

Good Luck with your choice, and welcome to the wonderful
world of hunting.

Squeeze
 
I made a similar choice and chose the .243. I was told by a knowledgable gun designer that the 25-06 is somewhat load sensative and .243 is a bit more common in my area so ammo is not as great an issue. I agree about the WSSM loads. What is the point of paying premium prices for ammo that is difficult to locate at local retailers and has little if any real advantage over the older rounds? Your friend is buying into the fad and advertising. Much that you read in the gun magazines is nothing more than product promotion to increase new rifle sales. I'd be concerned that a few years from now you may have real difficulty not only buying ammuntion but also getting reasonable trade value out of such a rifle.
 
Lots of good advice here, but Im wondering just what kind of 'range' lewish11 is wanting to cover. Open feilds, wooded lots, hedgerows?
 
I'm not sure which plantet you guys are typing this from, but I'm pretty sure that you have no justification in saying that the WSSM's are FALLING OFF THE MARKET, AND THE FAD IS FADING.

WOW, I realize that some of you might be traditionalist and want to buck the new guy (WSSM) on the block but man oh man.

I don't personally see the new rounds going anywhere, anytime soon. You can just simply do too much with them as far as reloading and variations on ballistics. Especially the WSM's. Not to mention the 325 WSM is going to take over the world as the #1 Big Game round..

Just my thoughts on the subject. I would go ahead and buy the 25WSSM. I'm sure you'll have many years of enjoyment out of it.

Tim
 
Go with the good ole 25-06, I have had one for many years and has dropped everything that it has been aimed at, it is one of my favorite cal's.
 
Tim it has to do with the fact that most magazines have shown the accuracy stinks, factory ammo is hard to find at anything less than cabelas and bass pro, and there are many rifles going on sale that are in this caliber, b/c no one is buying them. Thats why the guys can get a good deal on a browning in 25 wssm and not 25-06. Then try and sell one if you buy one and dont like it. There is absolutely no market for the guns, unless its the 300 wsm and maybe the 270, the only two that most people say is going to make it. The 325 was not needed, it should have been 338 wsm. Then you would have something.

Not saying your wrong, were both giving our opinions, but I have heard very few people agree with you. BTW, this is coming from a guy who bought an A-bolt 7wsm, saw how poor the round was, and got rid of it. Just my .02!
 
I can respect anyone's opinion, that's what we're here for, to gather as much info as possible from other's experiences.

I am one of those 300WSM guys, and I reload it with a 110gr vmax, and I don't think there is a better all around, do it everything round anywhere.

I have seen the 243WSSM reloaded and was quite impressed with the results and I think you would be also. And I sure wouldn't hesitate to shoot a deer or comparable big game animal with it.

I completely agree that the factory ammo is hard to find locally in gun shops. The internet is your friend on this one. Not too mention it is expensive and reloading becomes a must if your going to shoot a bunch of rounds.

I still think the VARMINTERS are going to keep these rounds in business.

Tim
 
And your right, they may, but, i havent seen what makes a 223,243, or 25 wssm better than whats out there. Will they live on to be reloaded, sure, But the downfall of any commercial cartridge is having to reload b/c of poor factory accuracy and performance. The wssm's fit a guy like you a lot better than your average factory load shooter or begining hunter because of that.
 
rowney,

didn't you read any of the articles on why its a 325 instead of a 338?

They basically said they couldn't get equal performance from a 338 wsm but could top the 8mm mag and almost equal the 338 with a 325.

The semi-custom makers (kimber etc) have already picked up the 325 so it definetly generated some interest.

My next rifle is probably going to be a 325 wsm (kimber montana).
 
I just recently bought a 25-06 and am very impressed with the accuracy of this round/rifle combo, Savage 110FP.I haven't gotten a chance to use it on game yet. Its also been one of the easiest of my rifles to load for. I also have a 243win and a 243wssm both shoot great even the 243wssm which is my second most accurate rifle and I have not had any feeding problems ever. Their is definetly a bigger selection of factory 243win ammo but around here 243wssm and 25-06 are both pretty poor. The local Gander Mountain has 5 boxes of 243win to every box of any wssm or 25-06. Plus the 243win is available in a bigger selection of bullet weights at our local Gander which is not BTW one of the better stocked sporting goods stores IMHO. I'm a big 6mm fan but if I was looking for a rifle for long range varmints and to also use on deer I would have to go with my 25-06.
 
And if your reloading friend leaves the country, you'll probably have better luck finding 25-06 rounds in the stores.

I think the Win Shorts are here to stay---too much money invested and too many rifles sold to pull it back. But whether or not they're here in 30 or 50 years, like the 25-06 has been already----is anyone's guess. Of course, you could also start reloading and get hooked on that too.
 
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