6.5mm - 25cal = .007"

I know this will be a bit subjective based on individual preferences and experiences but, in the end aren't there 25cal calibers like the 25-06, .257Roberts improved, 25wssm, etc., that meet or exceed the ballistic performance of many 6.5mm loads?

I bring this up because I see the 6.5mm as nearly a twin of the 25cal, and more worthy of ballistic comparison to each other vs comparison to the 270 and 7mm near twins.
Traditional twist rate and Bullet design / weight. I'm a fan of the 257 Roberts and the 270 WSM
 
If there had been a 6.5-06 at the time the 270 was introduced, there would not be a .270 win today. I had a 270 win as my first deer rifle. I built a 6.5-270 a few years ago and it is my favorite rifle now. The 277 caliber has always been an odd duck. 25 cal is a bit small. The Swedes have been shooting through moose a hundred years with the 6.5x55.
 
I have both 25's and 6.5's. The Ackley book on wildcats had a .25 quick twist cartridge the featured a 1-7 twist barrel and 160 grain bullets back in 1954, I believe. When 1-8 twist barrels virtually did not exist, how the wildcatter ended up with a 1-7 back then is a mystery.
A few thousandths of an inch in bore diameter can be incredible. Back in the 60's Remington sprung the 7mm mag on the public and could not meet the demand. The difference between .264 and .284 was apparent to most hunters at the time and barrel life of the 7mm could be proven to be better. The real reason Remington was so successful is they put their research into the bullets and the Corelokt was excellent for its time. The .264 Win mag languished, by comparison. Nowadays with all the superior 6.5 bullets available, the .264 magnum is a much better cartridge than it ever was back in the 1950's.
 
I am not sure what peoples' definition of bullet limitation but for the 120 and up, I have 131 BJ (if you have them/can still get them), 134 Hornady, 133/135 Bergers, 120/130/145 Black Hole, 135/140/163 Chinchagas (they can go up to 180). There are plenty more for under 130s in both leaded and lead-free bullets.
Can't agree with you any more!!!!
 
Difference is bullets available. For no particular reason the market has chosen even cals over odd cals (20,22,24,26,28,30 -vs- 19,21,23,25,27,29).

It actually seems strange to me that odd cals, and most cartridges, have not condensed to the relative few covering all else.
Truly, we need no more than a handful of cartridges and cals to cover everything we do.
you are correct, however. when did need have anything to do with it? we love diversity!
 
I have both 25's and 6.5's. The Ackley book on wildcats had a .25 quick twist cartridge the featured a 1-7 twist barrel and 160 grain bullets back in 1954, I believe. When 1-8 twist barrels virtually did not exist, how the wildcatter ended up with a 1-7 back then is a mystery.
A few thousandths of an inch in bore diameter can be incredible. Back in the 60's Remington sprung the 7mm mag on the public and could not meet the demand. The difference between .264 and .284 was apparent to most hunters at the time and barrel life of the 7mm could be proven to be better. The real reason Remington was so successful is they put their research into the bullets and the Corelokt was excellent for its time. The .264 Win mag languished, by comparison. Nowadays with all the superior 6.5 bullets available, the .264 magnum is a much better cartridge than it ever was back in the 1950's.
There were some bad arse wildcatters back then.

Both my .257 WBY and .264 WM has 1:7" built to explore the heavy bullet offerings.
 
Yup, I agree
The 131 Blackjack WILL shoot flatter and faster out of my 25 sst than anyone else's 140 will out of my 6.5 sst though!
don't know anything about the blackjack , I will be looking it up. but. does it outperform the 26 nosler?
 
I have read all the posts on this one and had to grin from ear to ear reading some of the comments, so I figured what the heck, I would give my 2 cents too. I own a custom 257AI built on a WWII Mauser action, a custom AR variant of a 6.5 Creed, and an off the shelf 260 Rem carbine. All 3 shoot sub-minute of angle and at 100 yds less than a 1/4" groups. I bought the 257AI for hunting in Europe and small Tx Hill Country deer as a good friend had a 257AI Winchester Featherweight that was both deadly and very accurate. Between the 3 guns I have killed well over a hundred wild pigs (many at night), dozens of Roe Deer, and other critters. I like the right tool for the job so any bigger game I use one of my 7mm or 300s. Anything past 600 yds the same thing. I feel that if we are going to hunt we owe the critters one shot clean kills. With the exception of hunting in Africa I have seldom had any critter go far after being hit. So where am I going with this? To me all 3 calibers are very similar in both recoil and terminal performance. I prefer my 257AI because I have a sentimental attachment to it and have experienced amazing hits. I hit one Roe deer quartered away from me going into a rib. He dropped on the spot and was literally field dressed due to the broken rib slicing his belly open and no single organ still in tact. At up to 600yd I don't see any real performance or accuracy differences between the 257 vs the other 2 guns. That having been said, I have switched over the Remington 260 over the other 2. The main reason is as I get older I like carrying the lightweight rifle over distances. Also it is a relatively cheap gun (compared to my customs) so I don't mind the abuse it gets in the field nearly as much. It is also easier to bring up on the fly if I need to get off a fast shot. In summation, I think all 3 are similar and will get the done. As seen in this post, you can argue one over the other and go back and forth but in the end unless you are getting down to true ballistic technical data all 3 are close and will get the job done so go buy all 3 like I did and pick your favorite, LOL.
 
And if Remington would have come out with a 6.5-06 in 1970 instead of the 25-06, we wouldn't even be talking about this!:D
Remington has a history of flopping with their cartridge design. 6mm & 280 being prime examples. With a little more forethought the 260 would have been well intrenched and the 6.5C would still be a cartridge for matches only.
 
If I were starting from scratch, I'd pick 25 cal over 6mm or 6.5 for a short action cartridge. If you compare using modern bullets, there are advantages on both ends of the ballistic spectrum - in velocity and in BC. Here's a quick comparison for reference:

Screenshot 2024-03-29 151422.jpg


I used conservative velocities here, at 5000ft elevation, 50 degrees, 60% humidity, 30.01Hg

It requires a 3000 fps MV (6.5 PRC speeds) from the 6.5 to have similar energy to the 135 Hyb in 25 Creedmoor.
 
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