Well, now you've done it! You're talking about my name, so I can't sit still without joining in! Ha, Ha!!
Years ago I happened upon a local gunsmith while groundhog hunting on this particular farm. He too had permission to hunt there. I was shooting a Remington 22-250 with 52 gr hollow point match bullets. He had a 6mm-06. I asked "what the heck is that?" While we were talking, a groundhog popped up at a little over 200 yards away. His wife was the shooter. Lying prone, she commenced to make that groundhog airborn. It turned a complete flip. I still remember the gunsmith's (George) words as he turned to me and smiled and said "it does that almost every time." We continued to talk and another groundhog stood up, again about 200 yards or so. This time I was the shooter, my first time with a 6mm-06. I was hooked after that, not that it killed any better than my 250 at that distance, I mean, dead is dead, but rather the energy it delivered to the target was so much greater as to be impressive. The groundhog did a complete somersault. That 85 gr. bullet turned it every which way but loose. I learned about the distances he was shooting groundhogs, with consistency, vs the distance my 250 would do, and from that moment on, I had to have one.
To make a long story short, I had him rebarrel a Sendero to the 6mm-06. I had a 26" stainless, fluted Krieger installed, action blueprinted and scope rings lapped. I have no regrets. After the first 35 rounds of "break in", all 3-shot groups I have fired at 100 yards have been 5/8" and under, with most going under 1/2". I am using a 75 gr. V-Max and IMR 4350 for 3621 fps. I can boost the speed up, but I like the accuracy where it is now, and so I just stopped there. All these loads are "fireforming" loads. My gunsmith friend altered 6mm Lee Collet dies and that is what I load with. It's a simple matter to neck down 25-06 brass to 6mm.
I have only shot groundhogs with the 6mm-06 and nothing else, so as to performance on other game, I can't say. The gunsmith told me that there has been numerous mule deer, antelope and a few elk taken with the cartridge. He has barreled over 200 rifles in that caliber alone and has a lot of reports from the owners about the performance of the cartridge. My next trip to Wyoming will see the 6mm-06 going along.
It's not a "do everything" cartridge; none that I know of is. Rather, it's just one more unique cartridge that's a lot of fun and included in that long list of other fine ones. When used for it's purpose and with reasonable expectations, I believe it to be an excellent long range varmint cartridge. It delivers a lot of whallop to the target with heavier bullets than the 22 calibers.
I too love the 25 caliber. I have a 25-06 that is the most accurate "out-of-the-box" gun I have ever owned. 1/2" groups are the norm with 100 gr. bullets. It has accounted for five antelope, a whitetail, two turkeys, and several groundhogs and crows. For my purpose, I consider it an excellent deer-sized cartridge. But for groundhogs and such at great distances, the 6mm-06 shines.
Good Shooting To All.
