25-06 or 257WBY

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I've got a 25-06 AI. Beautiful rifle, and the only non-factory caliber I own.

But, I'm still not sure if I should not have gone .257 wby.

Accuracy is great, and I push 100's at 3550 fps, but part of me just wonders if I should have skipped the whole AI thing and gone with something that doesn't need fire forming...
 
Dogleg said:
My .257s idle along 200 fps faster than my 25-06. It costs 6 cents more for powder per cartridge or 3 cents a hun like they say kinda say in those MoneyMart commercials.That's pretty cheap speed donchathink? Over 1000 rounds it comes a enormous 60 bucks.
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I have to agree, I also found the 257 Roy to be very accurate with the 100gr and up, I have struggled to find a load for my 25-06 it seems fussy.
 
john-brennan said:
I have to agree, I also found the 257 Roy to be very accurate with the 100gr and up, I have struggled to find a load for my 25-06 it seems fussy.
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For me, my experience with the 25-06 has been the exact opposite. With virtually the first handloads I put through it, I got accuracy beyond my expectations. I did extend the C.O.A.L. as much as possible to minimize the freebore but beyond that, the load I used and started out with was right out of the Sierra manual. I've posted this previously, witnessed by my shooting partner, pardon the homemade target.

25-06Test-1.jpg


After seeing how well a pair of Savage rifles my Daughter and Son In Law got in 22-250 perform, I thought I'd go for something similar. I did put decent glass on it, a Leupold VX III, 6.5-20 Long Range with Varmint reticle. No complaints. A fairly inexpensive rifle, a Savage 112BVSS, but it does perform.

Model112BVSSSavage25-06.jpg
 
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If it was me I'd go with the 25-06 over the .257 Wby. Main reason would be the cartridge would be easier to find in most places and cheaper to shoot.
 
Dogleg said:
For pure accuracy those darned old Sierras seldom disappoint. Even in fussy guns.
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:)Right you are:), from some of my experiences with them. In a number of calibers, Sierra has been one of my 'go to' bullets of preference, not only from the accuracy results but also the performance I've experienced in the field on game. Another example that's worked well for me is the 200ge SBT in my 308 NM.

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Accuracy and knock down power, with Sierra, have never been in question for me but in a number of calibers, I'm changing over to Barnes TTSX, primarily to minimize the meat loss due to lead fragmentation. As my Daughter once commented, "you're a meat hunter", ;)and she's correct.
 
Taken my fair share of both muleys and whitetails with a 25.06 over the years.

Always used Federal Premium 117 gr. Sierra Gamekings.

More one shot, DRT kills on deer with this caliber and ammo than anything else I've ever used, including 30.06 and .300 Win. And I mean flattened right where they stand!

Don't know why it is, but for deer the 25.06 seems to be just about as perfect a caliber as one could ever want.

Unless one is into rolling their own ammo, I can't see any real advantage to an AI version. 100 ft/sec or thereabouts just ain't gonna make a wit of difference on any buck out to 350 yds...and it certainly ain't gonna make it any better at 400 yds.

.257 Roy certainly is a deadly performer, and has its own mystique...especially when it comes to the price of ammo to feed it. If you intend to hunt elk, too, then there's an argument...albeit marginally so...for the Weatherby.

IMHO.
 
The .257 Roberts AI should run about 100fps slower than the 25-06 on about 10gr less powder. I guess I'll find out when all the parts arrive.
 
KDX said:
The .257 Roberts AI should run about 100fps slower than the 25-06 on about 10gr less powder.
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You should be able to match the 25/06 with the 257AI if you need more velocity.

I was going to chamber mine in 257AI or 25/06, but just went std 257Roberts with the thought I might open it up later. Never did. Probably won't.

.
 
I have a .257 Weatherby because I've always wanted one, great gun for whacking deer out of a tree stand at long (to ma) range, but for a "carry" gun, I'd rather a lighter, shorter barreled .25-06. Cheaper to shoot and less kick to boot. If you're a reloader it's less of an issue (100gr TSX at 3550fps is AWESOME).
 
These questions always remind me of the good old 308 vs 30/06 vs 300 mag. More speed means more expensive. If you handload it doesn't really matter and if this is a hunting rifle it's not like your going to be shooting 5k rounds per year, so again the difference in price is insignificant imo. I have a 257 wby. It's fast, hits hard and makes lights out on what I shoot with it.

Only you can answer this question. If you want faster it costs more, more powder, less barrel life etc. If you shoot 100 rounds a year for hunting and you take care of a your barrel your still talking easy 10 years of barrel life. If you want to buy ammo at crappy tire then it's a 25/06. If you handload I'd go 257 wby. That's just me though.

Cheers
 
If I was going to build a new rifle then I would look at either the Bob or Wby 257's or 25-06AI. But since I went with a factory Sako 75 I had no choice but to go with the 25-06rem. The 100gr TTSX and/or 110gr Accubond make the quarter bore an excellent choice for a medium game hunting rifle in any of these chamberings.
 
Johnn Peterson said:
For me, my experience with the 25-06 has been the exact opposite. With virtually the first handloads I put through it, I got accuracy beyond my expectations. I did extend the C.O.A.L. as much as possible to minimize the freebore but beyond that, the load I used and started out with was right out of the Sierra manual. I've posted this previously, witnessed by my shooting partner, pardon the homemade target.

25-06Test-1.jpg


After seeing how well a pair of Savage rifles my Daughter and Son In Law got in 22-250 perform, I thought I'd go for something similar. I did put decent glass on it, a Leupold VX III, 6.5-20 Long Range with Varmint reticle. No complaints. A fairly inexpensive rifle, a Savage 112BVSS, but it does perform.

Model112BVSSSavage25-06.jpg
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I would have accepted MOA groups anytime while I had a 25-06 it was a MKII SS Ruger and it would not shoot under 2'' groups no matter what I used. At the same time my brother rebarreled a 30-06 that shot great groups, to a 25-06 and had the same problem it would not shoot under 1.5'' groups and only did that with one load so I jumped ship and through a barrel on a old 7RM and had a 257 Roy that shoot .5'' with 3 different loads and never looked back.
 
john-brennan said:
I would have accepted MOA groups anytime while I had a 25-06 it was a MKII SS Ruger and it would not shoot under 2'' groups no matter what I used. At the same time my brother rebarreled a 30-06 that shot great groups, to a 25-06 and had the same problem it would not shoot under 1.5'' groups and only did that with one load so I jumped ship and through a barrel on a old 7RM and had a 257 Roy that shoot .5'' with 3 different loads and never looked back.
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At one time I did have a Ruger No. 1 in 25-06 that I couldn't seem to get to group the way I thought it should but that ended up being caused by a small forend preasure problem. Correcting that did bring the group down to just under 1" from what it had been, slightly over 2". Accuracy with the No. 1 did improve but it never did match my Savage. Again, I did put decent glass on it but for the dollar value of the Savage, it does shoot well.

Shortly after I got it and while on a trip to the Edmonton area, I stopped in for my traditional component shopping trips to P&d. I picked up a selection of different bullets in a variety of weights in preparation for some load testing. Accuracy wise I've always had good results with Sierra SBT's and the first bullets I ran through the Savage was the 117gr. With the accuracy I got, I have yet to even try any of the others.
 
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Both great .25s.

I like cartridges off the old .30-06, so the .25-06 is interesting and to my generation, was known for years as a long range, small to medium deer family(pronghorn anteloe etc) Rifle.

The Weatherby earned a name for itself long ago for its lightning one shot kills with factory ammunition on Deer sized game way out there, but thats largely forgotten these days. Weatherby used its killing prowess( and the 7mmWeatherby) to justify his Hydrostatic shock theory, where a High velocity Rifle round can destroy tissue and immobilize the CNS as much by bullet RPM/velocity at impact, as just the actual energy numbers alone that most would rate more or less killing power by.
I'd say get Roys kid and never look back. .257Weatherby. A legend. And a barrel burner???????:) I did see a quote where accuracy and velocity were both reduced badly in a .257 being fired continuosly for 120 rounds without relenting. You will never shoot your hunting Rifle like this I am sure.:canadaFlag:
 
I thank you all for your input. It seems to be a toss up between the 2. I guess I have to decide on range of shots. I am not a long range hunter, but I think where I plan to use it shots can be as far as 400 yards over the wheat fields. I like the really the 25-06 but would the 257 WBY. give me any significant advantage over the 25-06 at 400 yards.
 
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