25-06,270,7mm,300mag..not a nickles worth of difference

[Chopaka81]

...so keep on deer hunting and enjoying your 25/06 but don't expect the same results on an elk or something as large.

J E CUSTOM

Amen!

Reading the original post, clearly indicates that the ranges employed were less than 450 yds. I would agree at those ranges the -06 based cartridges do very well - on deer.

There is something about ELK - sometimes they will bang-flop with a single 100gr 243 round. Other times they will 3 or 4 rds from a 30-06 180gr load and go a 100 yds or more. These days, hunting elk on public land, you can end up with 2 or more hunters shootng and arguing over who's elk it is. Here in WA it happens every year.

There is a lot to be said for the high velocity, high impact hydro-static shock theory that Roy Weatherby advocated. Then again, in my professional employment, I have made alot of money off guys who have tried to redefine the laws of pyshics and declare them null and void.

 

[Fiftydriver]

As already mentioned, there is no question what the 25-06 can do out to 1/4 mile on deer size game and much farther then that on smaller game such as pronghorns or yotes.

I have taken several rockchucks out to 800 yards with a single shot from my old Ruger M77 25-06 using 100 gr Ballistic Tips. That rifle drove the 100 gr BTs to 3430 fps with a max load using Rl-22, definately upper end.

That said, when the wind churns up, making first shot kills is very difficult at ranges much past 400 yards. In fact my 6-284 with 107 gr SMK loaded to 3450 fps was dramatically easier to hit with then the 25-06, why, simply because of higher BC numbers and in the real windy world, that makes a serious difference as far as putting your bullet on the mark at long range.

While 400-500 yards is certainly a decent shot, its not a difficult one with todays rifles and most on here would say that a properly loaded 243, 260, 7mm08 would easily kill deer size game out to 500 yards with no problems at all which is certainly true.

I would agree. At these moderate ranges, pretty much any modern high intensity chambering in a quality rifle with a good bullet can easily harvest deer size game out to 400-500 yards.

What seperates the smaller rounds from the larger ones is simply two things, yards and size of game targeted. Deer at 500 yards are one thing, an 800 lb bull elk at 800 yards is quite another.

In this application, the 25-06 is totally out of its element and with so many MUCH better suited chamberings available, there is no reason to try to make a conventional 25-06 into a +500 yards big game rifle.

Use it in its design role and you will never he unhappy, push the 1/4 bore past its design role and eventually, you will have a very sad story to tell, pure and simple.

That does not take anything away from the 25-06, we just have to realize what we have and what its best used for and all will be well. Use the 25-06 for deer hunting, if you want to hunt at much longer ranges, use the 300 or if you want to hunt elk at +400 yards, I would always recommend the 300 over the 25.

Just my opinion.

 

[NONYA]

often see alot of tech,data for different calibers.. BC , sectional density, velocity ect... one supposedly better than the other ect.. On paper i suppose it's true, or possibly ultra long range. But my experience over the years , and countless deer shot by myself ,my sons , my daughter, brothers ect.. has been that there really isn't a nickles worth of difference between calibers when it comes to killing deer. i have seen my daughter drop two good sized whitetails in there tracks, i mean , bang ,flop with a 22-250 (yea i know it is to light for deer) but she waited for a good shot put the bullet right where she needed to. I have also seen her drop whitetails on the spot with her 243 one at a lazered 330 something yards. I have shot many , many deer at ranges of 40 yds to 450 yds with 30-06, most with a 7mm rem mag and 300 mag and the last 8 or so with a 25-06 i have come to the conclusion that the 25-06 kills just as good if not better than the mags, though they look better on paper.I have shot many deer with the mags that go straight down but the 25-06 puts them down just as fast, i mean not even flinch, flat disappear in the scope down. So my experience is there is not a nickles worth of difference between calibers between 25-06 to 300 mag in the field. Anybody else find it that way? would like to hear more about the 25-06, i am very , very pleased with it's performance on deer. It get's the job done without alot of the rip, roar of the mags.

There is NO comparison,you havnt shot much game at long range have you?

 

[Dust270WSM]

I agree the 25-06 is a good cartridge. However, after owning one for two years and losing my first deer I went back to my .270. The 25 is a great deer gun from 250yds and closer. In my experience any further and you better have a good track dog. The only deer that went straight down was in the neck about 125yds. I recently purchased a .308 and I can't wait to see what it will do. The 25-06 shot .18 moa with 117 gr. sierra boattail. Highly recommened for varmints and deer close range, but not past 250.

 

[elkaholic]

I purchased one of the first factory 25-06's out in 1969, a 700 rem BDL I killed in excess of 50 head of game over many years including deer, bear AND elk. I am in full agreement that the 25 will put deer down as fast as anything! I will note, however , that much of the reason, say over the 300 mag, is due to bullet construction. The same reason the bergers kill quickly. When I hunted elk with the 25 I used a nosler partition with very good results out to 400 yds or more. I am still shooting that rifle barreled in 6.5 sherman (my own design) As with anything "common sense is the rule" NO MAGIC! If you shot the same deer with a thin skinned 300 mag bullet in the 150 gr. class, believe me, he would drop just as fast! If you used a solid copper design straight through the ribs, he might take a couple more steps. WHATEVER IT'S WORTH....Rich

 

[Guy M]

Going back to the original post: "I have shot many deer with the mags that go straight down but the 25-06 puts them down just as fast, i mean not even flinch, flat disappear in the scope down. So my experience is there is not a nickles worth of difference between calibers between 25-06 to 300 mag in the field. Anybody else find it that way?"

I've seen the same basic thing with my hunting pards when we're hunting at "normal" ranges. The little guns like my .25-06 and the 6mm Rem that my son uses have actually made more instant kills than the guys with the .30-06 & even the fellow who totes a .350 Rem mag. It's more about shot placement and bullet construction I think, rather than sheer power when it comes to dropping deer on the spot. Actually I can't remember a mule deer that didn't drop instantly when hit with either our 6mm or the .25-06 during decades of hunting...

Really, really hard to beat "instant" death, no matter how much power a fellow is messing with.

On the other hand, stretch the range, and the little .24 & .25 cal 100 - 120 gr bullets don't perform as well. That's where the big cases, hurling big bullets come into their own I believe.

Regards, Guy

 

[shade mt]

i guess i need to once again emphasize the yardage.... under 450 yds on DEER sized game .... not elk ... and the 300 mag is my favorite rifle... but at modest range it kills no quicker than the smaller 25-06.... AND... NONYA... it depends on what you call long range? ... out to 450yds i have shot more deer in various states, at the age of 44, than most could ever hope to in a lifetime.. heck my 24 year old son probably has... not bragging.. but i know what i am talking about.. and... under 450 yds... put the shot where it needs to be... with a quality bullet... there seems to be no noticable difference... down is down my friend.

 

[shade mt]

oh,, and for what it's worth.. last year i shot a buck in a neighboring state at 95 steps... the gun???... a .50 cal. muzzleloader shooting a patched round ball in front of 70 grains of black powder... just for kicks... check out the velocity and energy at 100 yds for that.... the buck made it two short hops and down..... that load friends has wayyyyy less velocity and energy at 100 yds than a 25-06 , 270, 7mm-08 ect... has at the ranges were talking about.

 

[yobuck]

just curious shade mtn. are you from snyder co. pa.?

 

[theodore]

Huge difference in my opinion. A 300 win mag ruined all of the meat from neck down guts with a rediculously large exit hole on a blacktail buck. The exiting side of the deer shoulder bones were gone. It was dissappointing to lose that much meat especially most of the back strap was ruined.

Yet every one here is right. Any of those mentioned calibers will put big game down with good shot placement.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

Interestingly enough, since this thread started, I found a good deal on a Sendero 25-06. I've been looking at the ballistics of this cartridge and I am fairly certain I can get 3200 fps with a 115 grain, .453 BC bullet and possibly 3300 fps out of my long throated 26 inch Sendero. IME, that would make it a 700-800 yd deer rifle and antelope rifle and a real sweet shooter.

Will use the 300 RUM for elk.

I am liking the idea of this 25-06

 

[shade mt]

yobuck... i am actually from juniata county. Where are you from?
seems i could be getting misunderstood here. I am not saying a 25-06 has as much power as a 300 mag ,,sure their is a big difference in power, but what i am saying is at moderate range it kills just as quickly, if i shoot a deer in the shoulder with my 300 mag and it drops on the spot , and i shoot a deer with a 25-06 and it drops on the spot, dead is dead regardless of how much damage was done or meat loss ( actually i have found the 25-06 to be hard on meat at less than 200yds) nor would i choose a 25-06 for marginal shots. i once shot a nice buck at right around 300 yds on a power line he ran straight across and never stopped till he was just inside the woods, and then he was walking straight away, i put the crosshairs of my 300 win on the base of his tail and squeezed the trigger i found him piled up right where he stood the bullet went in the right ham and exited the left shouder, i would not have taken the shot with my 25-06 yet a broadside shot at that range would have resulted in a dead buck regardless of caliber... thus with a good shot and a good bullet " not a nickles worth of difference"

 

[MontanaRifleman]

oh,, and for what it's worth.. last year i shot a buck in a neighboring state at 95 steps... the gun???... a .50 cal. muzzleloader shooting a patched round ball in front of 70 grains of black powder... just for kicks... check out the velocity and energy at 100 yds for that.... the buck made it two short hops and down..... that load friends has wayyyyy less velocity and energy at 100 yds than a 25-06 , 270, 7mm-08 ect... has at the ranges were talking about.

A .50 cal round ball also makes a big hole. You dont have to worry about the bullet expanding because it is already expanded. That bullet also wieghs wayyyyyy more than a 110 -120 gr 257 bullet and although the velocity is less the weight makes up for it giving it better momentum which is what pushes a bullet through an animal. Forget the energy. Energy dont mean didly. Momentum is the best measure of the force of a bullet.

But hey, I'm with ya on the 26-06... up to 700-800 yds, depending on the MV of the bullet. But If I step out the door looking for elk, I'll be carrying a 30 cal rifle if I have one.

-MR

 

[theodore]

seems i could be getting misunderstood here. I am not saying a 25-06 has as much power as a 300 mag ,,sure their is a big difference in power, but what i am saying is at moderate range it kills just as quickly,....

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