Consensus on 25-06 these days?

hansol

hansol

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Hey there,

Just wondering what the general consensus is on this cartridge these days? (Tried searching the forum, but the stupid search function doesn't accept "25/06", "25-06", or any other combination, so it makes it tough.)

I'm looking at getting one of these for a varmint/sheep rifle, as my 375 covers all the rest of my hunting needs, but was wondering what someone other than Chuck Hawks thought of the calibre... (man that guy is strange sometimes).

Anyways, if anyone owns one of these or has fired one or whatever, feel free to chime in. I'm especially interested in hearing how it performs on coyotes and wolves.

Regards -Cameron
 
good flat shooting cartridge with minimal recoil, will kill deer as good but no better than any cartridge between 243 & 280, given good bullets that wont blow up
 
Under appreciated, under utilized, and over performing.

Stick enough barrel on the rifle (24"+) some tough bullets like a partiton or TSX, and watch stuff die.

Personally I've killed 1 bull elk, 4 moose, and too many deer to count (100gr)

Ideal for elk, nope, but at 225yds it messed up the lungs and exited, elk went about 60yds, and died.

All 4 moose died within a few steps of where they were shot.
 
Will kill deer efficiently, pretty close to ideal for prairie deer IMHO. Deadly on coyotes and wolves, as long as you don't want the fur or are good with needle and thread. I've used mine to kill several deer, no complaints. The one coyote I killed with it was nearly torn in half. I use .222 or .22 hornet for fur hunting.
 
Longwalker said:
Will kill deer efficiently, pretty close to ideal for prairie deer IMHO. Deadly on coyotes and wolves, as long as you don't want the fur or are good with needle and thread. I've used mine to kill several deer, no complaints. The one coyote I killed with it was nearly torn in half. I use .222 or .22 hornet for fur hunting.
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I hear ya, on the coyote, a 120 grainer near removed the critters head with a neck shot:redface:
 
this is a great cal for deer and elk as well as moose great long range gun yu can load them down for yotes and hot for big stuff thy do work very well DUTCH
 
You can't go wrong with a 25-06 so long as you have enough barrel 24 in or better. This cartridge is going to be around for a long time.

Cheers
 
I've never owned one, but it's one that is on my "some day" list. It would be a great round for deer / sheep sized game, and also seems like it would be a great long range coyote rifle.
 
I have a Tikka 695 in 25-06 great gun.

Used it for coyote and deer. but now I have a 22-250 for coyote so the 25-06 is my primary deer gun now.

Fantastic deer gun loaded with 115-120grn bullets.
 
I have owned a couple and regretted that I let them go. I wish now, there were more choices in rifles. As good as any 270 or 280.
 
I got one for me and my dad to try out as it has been a caliber of curiosity for us. I got a older (1975) Rem 700 BDL Varminter with under 120 rounds fired looked newer than my 8 year old gun. We shot 3 deer with it two fell DRT the other one went about 25yds with a double lung shot. The other two were front shoulder heart shots. Shots ranged from 50yds to 275yds. After a poll on the site here I was shooting 115gr Federal Partition load and it was grouping around 1 to 11/2 at 100 (good enough for hunting) The real surprise was it grouped under an inch with the 85gr federal balistic tip load (coyotes). But in the end it didn't offer anything that are .270's didn't already do (figured that going in but always wanted to try one) and we are already set up to load the .270 so the .25-06 will likely go down the road but I have to wonder if I bought the .25-06 before the .270 I would likely have no use for the .270 the round impressed both me and my dad and in real life hunting situations it worked just fine.
 
5 deer with a 120gr Hornady HP at 3000 fps. Never did recover a bullet . Through and through , even on a stem to stern shot! I now own a 257 WBY , 200 fps faster but I don't see any difference on game when hit. Good cartridge, I might get a Tikka in one......
I didn't really see much difference between it with a 120 gr bullet and the 270 with a 130 gr bullet. Under rated cartridge.
 
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I own a M70 with a 24" Gaillard bbl, and shooting 87gr TNTs it is deadly accurate (sub 1/2 MOA). Also loaded some 110gr Accubond but haven't drawn blood yet, though that will surely change when I head up to the Queen Charlottes this upcoming Feb.
 
I had a tikka t3 ss that I see is for sale again on the EE, thing was incredibly accurate and I had not even fine tuned loads for it...hello I still have some brass and bullets somewhere ..hmmmm
 
Thanks for all the input so far guys! Sounds like she is a real good calibre.

Glad to hear that a 25/06 is a good thumper for deer. Like I said earlier, I'm not really worried about taking anything bigger than a sheep with it, as I purpose-built my 375 Taylor to handle everything from whitetail to moose and grizz. That being said, I would like to use the 25/06 as a sheep rifle eventually, as I don't think the 375 is up for that. But as you guys pointed out, if it can take a deer, I'm sure it can handle sheep.

So it does a number on coyotes eh? Any recommendations on loads that don't shred the hides too badly? I'm not looking to get rich by varmint hunting; mostly just want to extend my hunting seasons. But I would like to have a pelt or two on the floor, so any loads that don't explode the yotes would be good.

Also compared to a 243 or 308 or whatever, what is the recoil like? And is this an expensive load to reload for?

Cheers -Cameron
 
25-06 is a great caliber it is really hard on coyote but good for everything else up to Mule Deer. I personally wouldn't shoot a elk with it but I know other do. And as for that a**hole chuck hawk he thinks he knows everything.
 
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