25-06 rem thoughts

[silvertip-co]

My good friend in southern Alta Canada is a big 25-06 guy. He has like 5 of them or something. Uses em for everything but grizzlers and most of his shooting is LRH. He's tryng to sway me to the 25-06 as an all around rifle. I been researching it some, studying the ballistics and such. Just thought I would get some input from my respected peers here.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

I have 3 25-06's...they used to be all I hunted deer with, but I finally came back home to the 308 Winchester.

The 25-06 is a flat shooter and it hits hard with the 117 - 120 grain bullets, easily very capable of 500 yard deer...I have done it a few times.

The only problem is bullet selection and commonly available twist rates...if your looking at the 25-06 for LRH...look even harder at the 280 Remington...just my opinion, and its NOTHING negative about the 25-06.

 

[aggie99]

While I can't claim to be a respectable peer, I have been shooting a Ruger #1 in 25-06 for several years now and like it more every time I shoot an animal. The areas of Texas I get to hunt don't offer a lot of LRH opportunities but I have shot several deer at 250-300 yrds with the 25 and was satisfied with the results. I have also shot numerous wild hogs with some pushing the 350# mark. Provided I put the bullet in a good spot the 25-06 has no problem dropping them in there tracks. My reloads with Retumbo under 110 accubonds are getting about 3250 fps and it will be interesting to see how the perform this season. All in all I do't think you could go wrong will a quality 25-06.

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

Great deer and antelope cartridge out to 600 yards with 110g-125g bullets. Easy on the shoulder and great performance. Most are very accurate and there flat shooters. I've used mine on deer and black bear out to 600 yards with no problems what so ever.

For elk I feel its a little underpowered at the longer distances, but if your willing to wait and pick your shots, theres no reason why it wont work out to 400 yards or so on elk with a good bullet.

I shoot steel with mine regularly at 800 yards and it gets there quick and with good accuracy still.

For an "all around" cartridge, I think you'd be better off with something a tad bigger with bigger bullet for elk, but it depends on how much you hunt elk and how far you want to shoot them at.

 

[kraigwy]

I don't shoot a 25-06 but I do shoot a 257 Roberts and had nothing but great results with it. Never shot anything twice with it.

The 25-06 just shoots the same bullet faster, I'd say your friend is good to go.

 

[rdm]

I've had 2. Sendero SF that loved 75gr v-max's @ 3400 fps. Absolutely tore coyotes apart and printed 3 shot 100yd groups in the mid .4s The other a Win M70 sporter. Next year it will get a rebuild with a Laminated thumbhole sporter stock and a 26" light target contour Krieger barrel. It shoots in the .6s if I take care of business. Its my favorite all around cartridge. If you ever shoot one you will probably own 1.

 

[RT2506]

You did not say what game you will be shooting but for deer size game I think the 25-06 is the best caliber bar none for the job. I helped control hunt a big farm in NC for 13 years with my buddy and we had to take 100 deer a year. We learned what killed deer and what did not. We shot deer with about every caliber you could come up with through 45-70 and we both shoot 25-06's as our main deer rifles. The 6.5's from 260 to 264 Mag come in a strong second. My buddy and I both like the 117 Sierra's in the 25-06 best. They just drop a deer in its tracks 99% of the time. You could always do worse like with a 7mm Mag. Worst caliber we found for shooting deer. They run off to far after taking a good hit.

 

[rdm]

RT2506:"You could always do worse like with a 7mm Mag. Worst caliber we found for shooting deer. They run off to far after taking a good hit."


Man oh man, are u fixin to catch flames.

 

[RT2506]

Some people just can't handle the truth. So flame away. I have been there and done that with the 7mm Mag when it comes to deer. Don't get me wrong a 7 mag is a great long range shooter for big bodied animals like elk and BIG deer but when you shoot ten 150 pound average weight deer right through the front shoulders and 9 of them take off like you set their tail on fire and run 100 to 200 yards before they drop something is wrong. We used about every weight bullet from 120's to 160's and had the same results. The best bullet that had the best put them down where they stand was a 154 gr Hornady interlock. With the 25-06 with most any 100 to 120 gr bullet 99% of the time it is DRT. Where I hunt in East NC there are a lot of cut overs around the fields. These cut overs are like a jungle. They are so thick that you can't trail a chalk line through them. If a deer gets into these cut overs after you shoot them you have got your work cut out for you to find them. We do most of our hunting in the late evening from 2 hours before dark and the best deer come out very close to dark. I tell people that I could not carry enough flashlight batteries to hunt with a 7 Mag. the deer would run so far into those cut overs. Give me my 25-06.

 

[rdm]

RT, I totally agree with your comments about the 25-06. It is plenty enough rifle for deer sized game out to what 95% of hunters would call "reasonable range". It sounds like you and I may even be hunting the same area. But you know how these magnum guys are about their rifles. Louder boom = deader game. Just kidding.. I have a 7mm RM and soon will have a 7mm STW and 300 RUM(still waiting on stocks). These rifles will be definite over kill for almost anything I hunt, but I'm not recoil sensitive so WTH.

 

[Guy M]

A few years ago I finally realized that most of my hunting is for deer, at "reasonable" ranges - meaning under 400 yards - and that I really didn't need, or want, a big, booming magnum for the job. The .25-06 has done a fine job for me. Fairly light. Very little recoil. Accurate and lethal. I can ask no more of it than that.

Regards, Guy

 

[Dan]

Ive owned quite a few of them over the years and have been well pleased. My bro in law has a rem 700 sporter that I worked up a load for, it hovers in the low 3 inch range at 500 yards fairly consistently. 3 shot groups btw and kills dear quite nicely with 100 grain noslers and a casefull of H1000 at@ 3350.


I dug up a cpl of old targets from a few years back which is fairly representive of how my 25-06s have shot.

The 5 shot group is @ 200 and the 3 shot is @ 100. Two different guns btw, both rem 700s.

 

[Dan]

Some people just can't handle the truth. So flame away. I have been there and done that with the 7mm Mag when it comes to deer.

Where I hunt in East NC there are a lot of cut overs around the fields. These cut overs are like a jungle. They are so thick that you can't trail a chalk line through them. If a deer gets into these cut overs after you shoot them you have got your work cut out for you to find them. .

Been there done that, used to live in eastern NC and have hunted there a lot more over the years. I also hunted almost exclusively with a 7mag for a few years and never had a deer run far at all.

On the other hand I shot a deer over there with my 30-30 4 times that kept right on trotting. That was after my friend had shot it with a 308.

Point being there is nothing magical about any one cartridge to kill deer. Slow your 7 mag down 150ft or less per second and you have .280 which is nearly identical a .270 ballistically. You saying that those cartridges suck too? A cpl hundred ft a second is only the difference between a deer shot at 20 yds with you mag versus 100 yds.

 

[mo]

I've killed deer with 25-06 and 7mm mag and a bunch of other cartridges. I don't think you can say one is any better then another. Shot placement, and the type bullet is the key!!! When I was 12 I killed two deer with a 22 short while squirrel hunting. Both fail in their tracks. So does that make a 22 short a good deer round? I think not!!! I WOULD NOT do this today, but I can't take back what I did when I was 12....