Thoughts on .25-06?

Hey Brad...I'll chrony my 25-284 next time out and let you know what I find. It's a 23", so we ain't off much.

I've got a bunch of 100s now, and think I just found a good excuse to try 80s.


You got the batcave putting yours together, or did you go with someone else?
 
It'll be the batcave again. The donor rifle is my 22" 243 and it's going with me to Oklahoma on a coyote hunt in 2 weeks. I'm sending it to him as soon as I get back, otherwise it would already be there.

I'm really thinking hard on gunning the 80gr TTSX's in my 25-284.
 
Last year when I was looking for a 25-06, I wanted a long barrel, to maximize velocity. I ended up buying a Weatherby Vanguard that has a 24" bbl. Would have preferred a 26" tube, but no one makes such a rifle.
I do like the idea of getting 25-06 velocities with a short action rifle, by going with a 25-284. I have a standard 284 rifle, and love that case. Something about short action rifles that float my boat.
A side note here; I dedicated my 25-06 to shooting heavy weight bullets, 115-120 grainers, and it flat shoots them well...
I have four 257 Roberts rifles, two standard 250-3000's and one 250 AI, all shooting light weight bullets. And I wanted one for the heavy weight bullets. I love the BC of that 120 grain Speer, and the Sierra..
 
Originally Posted By: BuckeyeSpecialstomper:

You never answered the question: Do you reload?

And now my question: Do you understand the metric system vs. American standard?

Do you own a reloading manual?

Can we establish your frame of reference/knowledge so others can have an idea what you need to learn? Thanks.... sorry for the my absence. I dont reload. I never have seen it done but i do understand the mesuring systems.
 
Originally Posted By: Three 44sStomper,

You need to tell us what you want from the rifle.

Deer ....... coyotes .......... PD's ??????

A combo of the above?

My coyote hunting started with a .243 bolt gun .... sporter barrel. Sold it and bought a tang safety varmint barreled Liberty Ruger 77. Still have it. Killed tons of "dogs".

I needed a "tractor gun" ..... sold a Savage 99 in .250 (mistake letting it go) and bought a Remy 760 in 6mm .... it got stolen ...... and finally ended up with a .22-250 in Rem. 788. Trigger sucked and I sprang for a Canjar single set.

After much frustration, I found that the quality of the bullet can make or break terminal performance of the .22-250 on coyotes.

My best I tried ...... the Nosler 55 Ballistic tip. (I am sure the V-max would have been very good as well.

NOW, after nearly 40 years handloading and banging around after 'otes ...... I just built a Savage 110 up in .25-06 with a Stainless bull 26" barrel.

I have not hunted with it yet.

But my perception thus far is that with a big heavy barrel like my Ruger .243, this .25-06 does not recoil like I thought it would. I am sure that a sporter barrel would be much different. But I also own a .270 in a Ruger tang safety and it's light barrel wallops you much more than my .25-06 does thus far.

Now I will tell you when it comes to coyotes only and shots under 350 yds ...... a .243 will leave you not wanting.

The poorest bullet in a .243 leaves coyotes dead right there ....... simply put, coytotes don't argue with them.

The reason I want a .25-06 is that I have GREAT long range potential ....... all the distance the "law will allow" and then some ...... LOL!

And it's been years in the making for me to start to work at those great ranges as I am real fussy about "edumucated dogs".

The last four years, I have been using a CZ 527 American in .223. This is a very nice and light rifle and the cartrige is REAL THRIFTY on powder. But it does leave for some pretty good death runs. Got a couple of AR's in .223 thrown in for spice as well.

Death run IRK ME.

I can't tell you what my favorite cartridge is ...... I love them all but if I was just starting out all over again, the .243 would be REAL ....... REAL hard to pass up!

Three 44s Well I have access to all kinds of hunting. Prairie dogs rabbits deer and coyotes. I want one gun to "do it all"
 
The 2506 will do it all, Ive even killed buffalo with mine. Like Don said, youll go hungry if you wanna eat rabbits though. The last rabbit I shot with the 85gr BT was nothing left. It sounded like someone took two large rocks and smacked them together when the bullet hit the bunny.
 
Originally Posted By: Martyn4802Last year when I was looking for a 25-06, I wanted a long barrel, to maximize velocity. I ended up buying a Weatherby Vanguard that has a 24" bbl. Would have preferred a 26" tube, but no one makes such a rifle.


You mean no one makes a bolt action. A lot of conversation here about action lengths and barrel lengths all solved with an Encore. I'll shoot my 26" Encore in 25-06 with anybody.
 
Originally Posted By: bakerboyOriginally Posted By: Martyn4802Last year when I was looking for a 25-06, I wanted a long barrel, to maximize velocity. I ended up buying a Weatherby Vanguard that has a 24" bbl. Would have preferred a 26" tube, but no one makes such a rifle.


You mean no one makes a bolt action. A lot of conversation here about action lengths and barrel lengths all solved with an Encore. I'll shoot my 26" Encore in 25-06 with anybody.

the encore is an awesum rifle! my brother has one in 25-06 and its a joy to shoot! There are a couple 26' barreled guns out there, the tc encore, ruger no.1, and h&r ultra varmint are all 26" bareled single shots. the ruger mk2 target is a bolt action repeater that also features a 26" barrel. good luck, their all great guns!
 
From stomper:
[/quote] Well I have access to all kinds of hunting. Prairie dogs rabbits deer and coyotes. I want one gun to "do it all" [/quote]

I think either round game elk to axis, as well as all wolf sized and under
predators....that's why I say go look at the guns and bullets take
one home............but without hand loading you gonna have trouble
skinning those rabbits......
Hummm.... rabbits and the .243/25-06....never done it.....
If you want to eat 'em I'd say forget it., but I never hunted them
with one so I couldn't say....If what it does to ground hoggs is any
indication you don't want to go there........I usually use
a 12 or 20 ga. ....forget any rifle if you use dogs...JMO...
Hey stomper just let us know what you go with. (IMWTK).Thanks.

Does everyone agree it's a toss up.and to just get what you want?
 
Both are great cartridges.

Ive had 4 25-06's in the last 10 years and 2 243's.

I've shot everything from squirrels to elk with my 25-06 and everything in between you can hunt in ORegon. Made 1 shot kills on deer and coyotes out to 500-600 yards regularly with 115g nbt's at 3200fps.

I think if you want 1 caliber to do both great, take the 25-06 and dont look back. There accurate, flat shooting, little recoil, and hit a lot harder then most think. 90% of the animals I've shot with my 25's just drop DRT to shoulder shots.

I think if you just want a dedicated coyote rifle though, you cant beat the 243. With 55's at 3900-4000 they shoot amazingly flat and knock the snot out of coyotes out to 400 yards or so.

The 243 is an ok deer cartridge out to 300-400 yards I'll give it that, but not much more.

It does also have the advantage of the 105amax and those type bullets to get you out to 1K relatively easy. With the 25-06 you only got the 115g vld and your burning 10-15g more powder.

25-06 was my first rifle I started getting into LR shooting with. Its been my favorite cartridge for the last 10 years and I always said I'd never be without one. However I sold my rem 700 24" shilen barreled 25-06 last night. It was 1 sweet shooter, 100g nbt's at 3500 and 115g nbt's at 3250 both into .5 MOA.

I like to have a rifle for a specific purpose. 243 IMO is one of the best coyote calibers out there hands down. My stevens 243 shoots .5-.75" with reloads and a trigger job. I find myself taking that over my 25-06 90% of the time now. ALso for my long range deer hunting, my 7mm RM is just a lot better choice for me and my type of hunting, so the 25-06 had to go.

However, if I was limited to only having 1 rifle caliber, it would probly be a 25-06. With the right bullets, it will take squirrels to elk out to 500 yards in the right hands.
 


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