What's wrong with the 25-06?

[muleythumper]

I am looking for a long range (500 yd. max) deer/caribou/possibly elk cartridge, that will be easy for a young person to shoot. I am not a handloader, so I rely on factory ammo. I like the 260 Rem, but it has very limited factory ammo. What is wrong with the 25-06 to fill this bill?

 

[Ridgerunner665]

Nothing at all wrong with it...but I believe its a little too light for elk at that range.

The 270 would serve you better, still very light recoil...with a little more bullet.

 

[Korhil78]

7mm-08 would do a good job. The 25-06 would do the job as well but you would have to be very careful with the wind and shot placement.

 

[orkan]

The 25-06 is a great deer cartridge.

 

[LightfootE]

I'd like to see some fast twist .25 cal barrels made, along with high BC bullets. I think a 130ish grain vld would be wicked! Out of a .308 size case I think you would reach 2950fps no problem. 25-06 would REALLY be a laser, .25wssm would be sweet, neck down 6.5 creedmoor....perfect.

Back on topic, for larger game I'd go for a load with the barnes tsx. That would be a killer in the 25-06

 

[WildRose]

I am looking for a long range (500 yd. max) deer/caribou/possibly elk cartridge, that will be easy for a young person to shoot. I am not a handloader, so I rely on factory ammo. I like the 260 Rem, but it has very limited factory ammo. What is wrong with the 25-06 to fill this bill?

I'm not sure where you are looking but there's a ton of .260 remington on the market and I see it every where I shop in person or online.

As for what's wrong?

Mainly very limited bullet selection in the .257 cal.

 

[BEEMAN]

I Like my 25-06 AI. As far as bullets I have shot the SST, Berger and tried a few Swift Scirocco's. Only used for deer but it works great, and has very light recoil. I want to do a little more load development this year with the Scirocco's. Was pushing them at 3525 fps and they have a pretty good BC as well.

 

[RMulhern]

It's not a 30/06!

 

[azsugarbear]

I had a Ruger 77 heavy barrel in 25-06 for many years. It was deadly accurate and one that should have remained in the collection. Absolutely deadly on deer with either the 100 gr. or 120 gr. loads. Took a couple of cow elk with it as well. For a youngster, I would limit the 25-06 to deer only. The quarterbore can take elk down, but because it is marginal for elk from a ballistic standpoint, I would reserve that for the arms of an experienced rifleman (IMO).

A better youth cartridge for both deer and elk would be the 7mm-08.

 

[SBruce]

Nothing at all wrong with the 25-06 for deer/antelope sized game out to 500 yds and even further. Alot of factory ammo available, feeds slick in most rifles, and we can push the 115 Nosler or 115 Berger 3000'/sec. or faster. They can be very accurate in good barrels too.

Only possible downside I know of is that there aren't alot of high BC bullets available in 25 cal. But really, BC doesn't have much effect untill we're beyond 500 yds anyway......inside 500 it's all about velocity and the 25-06 has plenty in that department.

 

[Michiganhunter]

@ S Bruce. That's one awesome Muley!!

 

[bubbaed]

I'd like to see some fast twist .25 cal barrels made, along with high BC bullets. I think a 130ish grain vld would be wicked! Out of a .308 size case I think you would reach 2950fps no problem. 25-06 would REALLY be a laser, .25wssm would be sweet, neck down 6.5 creedmoor....perfect.

Back on topic, for larger game I'd go for a load with the barnes tsx. That would be a killer in the 25-06

A necked down 6.5 Creedmoor is the 250 Savage AI!

 

[Zep]

I got a chance to shoot a friends 25-06 last Sunday. I am not sure what weight bullet he was loading but recoil was certainly on the lite side as far as I am concerned. It is a Ruger action, E.R. Shaw barrel, composite stock (forgot manufacturer) and Swaro 4x12 glass. He was getting 2 inch groups at 200 yards, working on loads. Very nice cartridge as far as I am concerned. I can see one in my future especially if I end up out west.

He did say his next project is going to be the 6.5 Creedmore.

 

[Morrison]

I have a couple of 25's that I reload and use exclusively for Antelope in Wyoming. I love the 25-06 for this and I back it up with a 257 Roberts. Both are wonderful cartridges on thin skinned animals, but are not sufficient to work properly on larger thick skinned animals at range. It is my opinion, after shooting Antelope, Deer and Elk that the issue is the ELK. I honestly believe that the smallest thing that you can use on an Elk is the 270 and it has to be loaded correctly to do that. I would load it with 150 Partitions and stay inside 300 yards, you can use 140 Fail Safe if you can find them and possibly get out to 400 yards and of course the Barnes MXR is good as well.

All of this being said, I would suggest a 270 WSM or a 7mm WSM, put a brake on it and you can shoot off of the shelf for all of it. I have both and they work well on all that you are trying to accomplish.

Good Luck.