25.06 Folks

[Country Bumpkin]

How many 25.06 folks do we have here?

What animals do you hunt with it?

What's the largest animal you have taken with it?

Would you do it again?

What bullet were you using?

I'm considering building one off a donor 700 LA. Bartlein #3 finished at 24". Hoping to get good deer-sized accuracy out to 400.

Am I crazy? Wow did I just open Pandora's box . . .

 

[Plinker147]

I've killed whitetail and mule deer, elk (cows), bear, Barbary sheep, and oryx with my 25-06. Furthest shot was 450 at a coues deer. All with 115 gr ballistic tips at 3000ish fps.

Would I use it for larger game again, no because I have better options now. It was the only rifle I had thru my college years.

It's a great deer/antelope cartridge out to 500-600 yards. Runs out of energy too much for my taste at 600. Great youth rifle too, my boy dropped his elk and deer with it last year one shot each dropped in their tracks.

It will will a great choice for the use you stated. Only bad thing about it is it limited if you decided you wanted to hunt bigger critters or further distances.

 

[jgal72]

Love my 25.06. Its a deer hammer using nosler 110 grain accubonds. Farthest deer kill was 430 yards. Deer dropped like it was hit by lightning. Also use it for groundhogs with nolser 85 grain BT. Yes I would do it again!

 

[MudRunner2005]

.25-06 AI 40º here... Love it. Should have built one a decade ago, but I bought a .257 Wby instead. Having owned both, give me the .25-06 AI any day.

Mine is a custom build...

Blueprinted 700 action, 26" fluted Sendero 1:10 barrel, recessed target crown, hand-lapped bore, polished chamber, vintage BDL varmint stock, glass bedded, floated, reworked old wide-shoe Walker trigger, EGW HD 0 MOA base, TPS TSR rings, Zeiss 6.5-20x50. Varmint hunting machine.

Before & after fire-forming to the AI chamber.

 

[Edd]

I have a Model 700C 25-06. A friend of mine gave it to me about 1980. I haven't used it for anything other than Deer and Antelope. I used a 115 gr Barnes X bullet for one Mule Deer. Other than that one Deer, I have used Nosler 100 gr Partitions.

 

[Country Bumpkin]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Exactly as I had expected.

I have a custom 300 WM that shoots 185 Bergers like a champ (Defiance, Bartlein 5r Fluted, Jewell, Manners EH1, Leupold VX6 . . . she's a shooter).

You guys nailed it, I want something that my Wife and children can use for Mulies, Whitetails and Antelope. My hunting buddy used a 25.06 for nearly a decade on elk, black bears and mulies and never had an issue. I certainly wouldn't use a 25 over my 300 WM for Deer and Bear, but it would be nice to have a lightweight deer rifle for carrying. We go in quite a ways for deer, wouldn't hurt to lose a few lbs on my shoulder . . .

Anybody else, there's got to be more folks out there that love their 25-06's.

 

[N2TRKYS]

I love my 25-06. It's a Remington 700 BDL DM stainless. I had been using 120 grain CoreLokts for years shooting whitetails and hogs. I recently started reloading. I am now shooting 110 grain Accubonds with great accuracy. I haven't shot a deer with them, yet. I hope they perform well.

FWIW, Shooters Pro Shop has 110 grain Accubonds in stock right now.

 

[Pa Grizz]

I had to get one when a friend of mine told me he was going to put a bullet in a mule deer's ear at 300 yards with a 25 mph wind.He did.I have taken whitetail,mule deer,groundhogs,coyotes and black bear.At I used b-tip,but I am shooting Berger now .Factory 700c. Two inch groups at 500 meters with the Berger

 

[MagnumManiac]

I have a 25-06, one of my faves for more then 20 years.
Have shot hog deer, fallow deer, rusa deer, red deer and sambar deer with 115gr Partitions or 110gr Accubonds.
Also use it on rabbits, goats, pigs and foxes.

RE25 and Retumbo have been the best powders for me.

Cheers.
gun)

 

[stx]

.25-06 ai 40º here... Love it. Should have built one a decade ago, but i bought a .257 wby instead. Having owned both, give me the .25-06 ai any day.

Mine is a custom build...

Blueprinted 700 action, 26" fluted sendero 1:10 barrel, recessed target crown, hand-lapped bore, polished chamber, vintage bdl varmint stock, glass bedded, floated, reworked old wide-shoe walker trigger, egw hd 0 moa base, tps tsr rings, zeiss 6.5-20x50. Varmint hunting machine.

before & after fire-forming to the ai chamber.

very nice!

 

[stx]

I have a couple....a Sako deluxe made in the 70s and a 700 BDL that I've had probably 35 years or more that was my truck gun when I still lived on the ranch. The BDL has killed 100s and 100s of coyotes and too many deer and hogs to count! I shoot 100 gr TSXs in the BDL @ 3225 fps and 115 gr VLDs in the Sako @ 3150 fps....both are "killing machines" out to 400 yds. It's a Great Cartridge and very accurate!

 

[Dosh]

I love my 25-06. It's a Remington 700 BDL DM stainless. I had been using 120 grain CoreLokts for years shooting whitetails and hogs. I recently started reloading. I am now shooting 110 grain Accubonds with great accuracy. I haven't shot a deer with them, yet. I hope they perform well.

FWIW, Shooters Pro Shop has 110 grain Accubonds in stock right now.

I have a 25-06, one of my faves for more then 20 years.
Have shot hog deer, fallow deer, rusa deer, red deer and sambar deer with 115gr Partitions or 110gr Accubonds.
Also use it on rabbits, goats, pigs and foxes.

RE25 and Retumbo have been the best powders for me.

Cheers.
gun)

+1 on the Retumbo. Loading it for my friend's Savage 25-06 with 115 VLD Bergers. Very accurate. He uses it for antelope and Coues deer.

 

[MudRunner2005]

very nice!

Thanks man.

Sometimes you just have to go different than the norm. While fire-forming brass, I had a guy at the range that was in awe of how it shot (at the time he didn't know they were fire-forming loads). Just for fun he setup a quarter at 100 yards on the backstop at the range. My fire-forming cases usually shot around 3/4"-1", and I told him just before I shot that they were only fire-forming loads so they were't dailed-in and my scope wasn't dialed-in perfectly. Nailed it my 2nd shot. He was quite shocked. He setup another one and with my .308 Win (proven loads that shoot average of .25x"), I nailed it on the 1st shot. He said, "Man, you should be shooting BR comps..." I just laughed and said, "Nah, I'm just a hunter and reloading enthusiast, and my .25-06 AI was just my coyote gun, and my .308 Win was just ONE of my range toys." His jaw hit the bench.

 

[MudRunner2005]

+1 on the Retumbo. Loading it for my friend's Savage 25-06 with 115 VLD Bergers. Very accurate. He uses it for antelope and Coues deer.

Try 7828 SSC with the 115 VLD's (it's what I shoot). You'll hit the pressure-wall quicker, but you'll gain some more FPS of MV.