25-06

[Alberta Bigbore]

Would love to hear and learn what those with experience have to say about the 25-06. Not looking into turning this into a 25-06 vs 270 vs.....debate.

For some reason it's calling my name. I've owned a few 270win... 270wsm.. and others but....can't explain a sudden urge for a 25-06.

Been trying to do some searching on it.. alot pops up with American sites that talk it down.. or say it's not an ethical elk cartridge. Just a deer or long range varmint round.

Please feel free to leave your knowledge and experiences... max ranges on game .. bullets used.. etc on this thread. And yes.. aware of shot placement


And also.. how would the 25-06 preform out of a 22 inch barrel on a rem 700 mountain SS?

This rifle would be used mainly for whitetails and mulies.. but maybe bear or elk in a pinch
Looking forward to your experience.

Thanks.

[rottie]

I use a 25-06 as a go to gun. Loaded with a 115 to 120 grain bullet it works well on just about anything we have in Alberta. I have used it on moose with great results

A good 100 grain bullet is a nice deer / antelope choice and a lighter 87 works wonders for coyotes

It is a fast cartridge, recoil is mild , making it a very pleasant round to shoot accurately , its also a nice cartridge for new hunters to learn on, recoil doesn't bother as much

How can you tell I really like it :)

[catnthehat]

I killed a few deer with the 25/06 and although they did the old DRT I did not see a big difference in a lot of other cartridges I have used over the years .
It is a fun cartridge to shoot however .

The Hornady 120 grain HPBT was designed to kill elk out of the 25/06 BTW, that was told to me by Gail Hornady himself .
I shot my animals with that bullet for that reason and loaded for a friend who shot an elk and two moose with his :)
Cat

[Opa]

Over the years that I have owned my 25.06, I have taken coyotes, wolves, bear, deer, elk, & moose, using 110 gr. Accubonds & 115 gr. Partitions, and have never lost an animal. One elk & one moose went more than 50 yds. after being shot, however they were ill enough that they laid down quickly, allowing me to finish the job. Everything else DRT. Bullet deflected slightly off a branch in both situations.

Mine is a Browning A-Bolt with a 22" barrel, sporting a Zeiss HD5, 2x10x42, with Rapid Z 600 reticle on it. When I bought it 25 yrs. ago, it had a Denver, Colo. made Redfield 2x7 Widefield on it. Love the beast, as it has never let me down. While I wouldn't recommend it as a go to elk or moose gun, it does well in a pinch. Fantastic deer, antelope or bear rifle!!! Just not a "bush gun" in that sense of the word.

Did I indicate that I love the little bugger??

[t.tinsmith]

I agree, a very nice chambering to shoot.I have taken bull elk & moose with it and nosler partitions.I always remember a bull moose that completely collapsed with a 120 partition , at about 250 yards or so.It was like lightening struck it and has been burned into my memory. It was at dusk ,6 miles or so from the truck on a steep, dirty side hill. The 25/06 & 120 grain partition is outstanding imo.

[Dick284]

I still have mine albeit it doesn't get the use it deserves(might have to do something about that this November)
I had mine custom re barrelled by none other than Ron Smith himself with one of his fine gain twist barrels, measuring 25" in length. This barrel has a final twist of 1 turn in 11.5", so using bullets heavier than 100 grains wasn't in the cards. I also bit hard on the coated bullet trend of the late 1990's with this rifle, and to date the rifle has never seen a plain bullet. I had originally built this rifle with long range coyote hunting on my mind, and 85 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets were the first bullets I loaded up over a very stout load of IMR 4831 which yielded velocities more respectful of the .257 Wby than the 25'06. As coyote medicine the load was lights out, coyotes died from 50 yds to nearly 500 yds very quickly, with everyone having an exit wound you could put the toe of your Sorel's into.:sign0176: this devestating exiting would lead me to using this same load and bullet to great success on a trophy antelope in 2008.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b28/Dick284/08goat.jpg (http://s16.photobucket.com/user/Dick284/media/08goat.jpg.html)
I then started tinkering with various bonifide hunting bullets. Original 90 grain Barnes X bullets did ok and I took a good whitetail buck at a measured 345 yds with one, he was face on and on the hit he went maybe 30 yds bobbing and stumbling all the way. I was somewhat disappointed with the Barnes offerings as their long bearing surface jacked up pressures prematurely I felt. Next up was the 100 grain Nosler Partition bullet. A very stiff load of RL 22 punched those home moly coated pills out at 3440fps, and a tremendous run of better than average deer, cow moose and one un expected 5x5 bull elk fell to this load.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b28/Dick284/ef9.jpg (http://s16.photobucket.com/user/Dick284/media/ef9.jpg.html)

In my eternal quest to experiment with bullets and loads I fell for the new and improved Barnes TSX bullets, of 100 grain weight. Impact plating them with molybdenum disulphide was easy and a duplicate 3440fps was reached with RL22. This load floored a few nice bucks with authority.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b28/Dick284/IMG_0161.jpg (http://s16.photobucket.com/user/Dick284/media/IMG_0161.jpg.html)
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b28/Dick284/2005buck2.jpg (http://s16.photobucket.com/user/Dick284/media/2005buck2.jpg.html)
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b28/Dick284/06buck1.jpg
(http://s16.photobucket.com/user/Dick284/media/06buck1.jpg.html)

I tried the 115grain Partition offering, but found it to be not as accurate as the 100 grain Partition, this I attributed to the slow rate of twist in my rifle.

My take on the 25'06 is its one of those cartridges that excels when you've got enough barrel length to really exploit the fact it needs slow burn rate powders, because, let's face it, the thing is badly overbore. Barrel life is not that of a .308 Winchester, but neither is it as bad of a throats burner as a .257 Wby. Although the borescope shows my barrel is beyond its best days for throat life, now.

[bobinthesky]

Long barrels and slow powder are best for this cartridge, I've got a 25 inch Krieger on mine and it always meets or exceeds the book velocities for any given bullet and the accuracy is very good.
If you don't have a fast quarter bore then you most definitely need one!

[GrandSlam]

It's my current go to for deer. Dropped a nice spiker last year at about 250yds. He went maybe 10 ft and dropped. Used the 115gr BT over Retumbo. Going to use it again this year.

[Wireone]

It really needs a 24 inch + barrel. Had one in a fiñnlight=
Loud 257Rob.

[58thecat]

Reloaded for a fella many years ago, 120gr hornady's, don't remember the recipe but bench rested 5 all cluttered in an inch at 100, saw a few large bodied mule deer hit the earth right around the 300 mark. It was a beautiful Remington that really performed. He swore by it and was very effective with it.

[elkhunter11]

The 25-06 is an ideal cartridge for deer, pronghorn and similar sized game. Two hunting partners used their 25-06 rifles , while I used my 257wby, for several years to hunt deer, and ever the occasional elk or moose. I like the 110gr Accubond for deer, and the 100gr TTSX for larger game.

[Xbolt7mm]

Mine is a browning xbolt and I love that gun, I feed it 120 partitions exclusively. Six animals 120 yards to 265 yards all neck shots. I would never purposefully take it on an elk or moose hunt unless it is a back up gun, because i have better suited calibers/cartridges for larger animals but I always smile when it comes off the rack.

[Newview01]

I shot two deer with a 25-06 X bolt I bought off of an AO member, I love it. Seemed to cause a ton of damage.

[Flight01]

Have a 25/06 project gun. Shot a bear last year at SFA yards. Sat up in the grass in front of me.:scared0015:

Definitely did the job. But I was close enough a 25-20 would have done the trick with ease.

I like the idea of the 25/06 and am hoping to tune this package and make it a viable 400 yard deer gun. With 120's I wouldn't hesitate on moose , elk and bear inside 200yards. Over all a great low recoil rifle that packs a decent punch.
Those that use them love them

[Reel Time Rut Outdoors]

Grew up with one in an old Remington bdl. Worked great on whatever I used it on. Bought I'm guessing the same one you are looking at from the same place. Looking forward to getting it.

[Fowl91]

Had a Sako A7 25-06 22" barrel that was a pleasure to shoot. Very accurate with 85gr Nosler BTs and very effective on coyotes. Also shot an Elk and a Whitetail using a 115gr Partition, neither went very far.

[Don_Parsons]

Lots of different bullets too choose from these days, for the 25/06 that will harvest many critter here in North America.

We're lucky now days too have bullets that perform well in all firearms for critters we choose to harvest.

Lots of good info on this with long range hunting and shooting forum as well as External Ballisticstudies.com and other forums of feed back coming in from game harvesters from around the world.

Pal Don

[petew]

25-06 is a cal. I have always wanted. When I do get one it will be on a diet of partitions.

[heybert]

harv will pipe in soon about the 25-06. He got an awesome moose last year with his.

[Flight01]

Do tell

[heybert]

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=267727

Hope you don't min d harv3589

[Alberta Bigbore]

Thx for all the excellent info people. I had decided on a great deal i couldn't pass up on a rem700 Mountain SS in 270win. I think a 2506 will still be in the future .

[harv3589]

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=267727

Hope you don't min d harv3589

Don't mind at all...love my 25-06 and use it for all big game. I have it in a Sako 85 Finnlight...115gr partitions

[stob]

used the 25-06 & 250 savage on deer one year and not impressed ... friends have them and love them,, using them for moose and elk ... i have found the 6mm's and 6.5mm's out perform the quarter bores on paper and in the field ... my .02

[Smokinyotes]

used the 25-06 & 250 savage on deer one year and not impressed ... friends have them and love them,, using them for moose and elk ... i have found the 6mm's and 6.5mm's out perform the quarter bores on paper and in the field ... my .02

Just curious as to the problems you had? Not quite sure how a .243 can out perform a .257 on elk or moose.

[aardvaark]

I've used the 25-06 for about 15 years now. I've had a lot of fun with it. Exclusively with reloads. All kinds of them.

Most successful were Nosler Part and Accubond with the Accu's more accurate and slower.

Fails: I had 3 instances where the bullet passed thro and didn't open up - twice with Berger VLD Hunting and once with a BTSP don't remember what brand that was; either a Sierra or Hornady or Speer. First one was the BTSP - several years ago when Mulie does were 3-for-1 tags in 527. 2 does were lined up perfect for a bullet to pass thro both engine rooms for a double lung each. The closest doe took off running, no blood trail. I know it went thro cuz of the splatter on the inlet side of the 2nd. The 2nd doe went about 5 feet and the bullet went right thro her too. Never found the first doe cuz the whole area was so very obliterated with tracks plus she went into thick brush.
2nd was a 4x4 wt buck. Again double lung. Hit a rib on the way out and left a light blood trail for a half mile and then found him piled up. Confirmed the double lung hit. No ribs hit on the way in and very small hole thro both sides of both lungs. Arguably not a fail cuz the deer was recovered.
3rd was a wt doe with what was intended as a double lung, and I'm pretty sure it was. The doe took off on her back legs like they do when hit in the lungs. No blood trail. But the pass-thro got her fawn on the other side of her. Never found her either cuz it was late and, again, the area was covered in tracks and she went into thick cover.
Both lost does went into heavy brush, in snow, at or near dark. All possible attempts were made to track and recover.

But many, many deer fell to that gun. Including a pass-thro both sides on a 6x6 bull elk. Any of the above fails could have happened with another caliber and same bullet/same bullet placement I think. Nothing to do with the 25-06.

Because of these 3 fails all on lung shots, I now prefer to shoot deer either high in the shoulder or head/neck shots. I think deer's hides are just too thin to reliably open a bullet unless you hit a rib on the way in. True, a shoulder shot will ruin a few rib steaks, but then they go down right there, no tracking, no lost animals.

Conclusion: I love my 25-06. It's my go-to gun for deer without a doubt. Currently my preferred round is the Accubond. BTW its in a Tikka M695 21" barrel. I like the idea someone else above had to get Ron Smith to rebarrel it with a longer barrel and the progressive twist he does. Maybe even get him to 'wildcat' it a bit by reducing the taper, pushing the shoulder ahead, changing the shoulder angle - all for giving it more case capacity.

My personal peeve: I don't get why some of the bullet manufacturers don't make a heavier bullet for this round - like maybe a 130gr?

[Ranger CS]

I guided an avid sheep hunter back in the seventies who shot nothing but a custom built 25-06. He had completed one grand slam and was working on his second. He also took an elk or two over the years without difficulty. My wife has shot a 25-06 for many years and has shot deer, antelope, goat, sheep, elk and moose with it. As with any caliber but particularly with the small bores, bullet placement is very important in putting them down and keeping them down.

[Reel Time Rut Outdoors]

Just picked up my 25-06 in the Mountain SS, its a nice rifle, like how the weight is distributed, either way I'm sure you will enjoy it

[58thecat]

Don't mind at all...love my 25-06 and use it for all big game. I have it in a Sako 85 Finnlight...115gr partitions

Beauty combination and the bull never new what hit him...