Need 25-06 info

A

archie1980

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Hello all!

I'm thinking about selling my 30-06 in favor of a 25-06. I mostly hunt deer, hopefully moose someday (if my name can ever get drawn!!!), and maybe bear in the near future. Can someone familiar with the 25 give me the gist of this cartridge? Pros and cons, and comparison with the 30?

Thanks!
 
thirty-o-six will do more than a two five, so i ask why? i would choose the twenty five over the thirty if deer were my game and long range was the norm however the difference would be academic at best. is it the rifle you like because caliber will not make a difference. if you allready have a thirty-o-six, use it and don't worry about the extra fifty yards the two five will give you. plus the thirty is more effective on moose. i have shot moose with both and the thirty-o-six is the better of the two.
 
I'm wondering could you give a quick reason why your thinking of dumping the 30. the 25 is a great deer cartridge a 117 120 gr bullet will be a tank driver on deer, bear yeah I think it would be good as well but for moose I just don't think it has enough to be reliable for moose. I'm not saying you can't kill a moose with one hell my grand father and his brother killed one with 22 shorts. If recoil is why your thinking of the change there's better cartridges. 270 ,7mm-08 .......
 
I guess my main reason would be that the 30 is everywhere...I know that there's a reason for this, but I just like to be different. It just seems to be overkill. I thought about the 270 also, but was reading a few articles stating that the 25 is better.. I realize that we could argue all day about which is better, but I just figured I'd ask...
 
I have a Ruger #1 in 25-06, and it is by far my most accurate and reliable rifle. Amazing performance on deer with the right bullet, but I do think bullet selection is a bit more important than with larger bore sizes. My only experience with bullet failure came with my .25, so I'm much more careful in choosing loads now. I have used it on moose, but as others will agree, it's not the best choice. As with any bigger game animal, moose and bear don't always cooperate and give nice standing broadside shots. I'm not patient enough and don't have unlimited hunting time to wait for the absolute perfect shot. That is where the big difference in the .25 and .30 comes to play. Good loads in a .30 will allow you to take that 175 yard quartering away shot on a moose or take a fat thick skinned fall black bear. All in all, I do love my .25-06, low recoil accurate good penetration with proper bullets and awesome on deer sized and smaller game. Doubles as a good coyote rifle too. But and this is a big but, if you only own one rifle and want to hunt many different species with it, I can't recommend the .25 for that. I think you'll be limiting yourself too much.
 
The 25-06 is what I mostly use here on Ont. I have taken plenty of deer, and four moose with it, and only recovered two bullets. It kills every bit as good as anything I have ever used before, so I see no need for anything larger.
 
I use a .25 for moose and elk and deer. I have never had to use more than one shot and have yet to recover a bullet. I hand load and only use Barnes X and now Barnes TSX. Premium bullets are the only way to go if you choose the .25.
My 2 cents.
 
I've shot deer with both the .25-06 and .30-06 and could'nt tell the difference. Ditto for the ones shot with a .270, .280, and 7x57,and the .308 for that matter. I have all of these rifles in the safe the biggest deer hunting dilema is deciding which one to take out in the morning.
 
Saw my son kill a 3x3 bull elk at 400 yards with a 25-06+120gr HP Hornady and it ran 30 yards and laid down .Entry and exist hole.Handloads of course.Harold ***also a black bear chest to hoop ..a yard of penetration same bullet
 
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archie1980 said:
Hello all!

I'm thinking about selling my 30-06 in favor of a 25-06. I mostly hunt deer, hopefully moose someday (if my name can ever get drawn!!!), and maybe bear in the near future. Can someone familiar with the 25 give me the gist of this cartridge? Pros and cons, and comparison with the 30?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

To answer your question:

The 25-06 is a great, flat shooting, light recoiling calibre. It is flat shooting due to its velocities (2900fps with 120gr, and faster with lighter). It's a great antelope/sheep/deer rifle, but I've seen guys use it for elk and moose. It burns quite a bit of powder for a "small" caliber, but that may or may not be an issue. For bears, I'd take something bigger, just because you may have to follow the critter into deep bush, and I'd prefer a bigger calibre in that scenario.

The only downsides I've heard is that at close ranges, the meat damage is quite severe. Also, you may want to run premium bullets if you are expecting close-range shots (inside 100m), just to eliminate the chance that the bullet might disintegrate due to its fast velocities.

Compared to the 30-06, it's faster, but that's about it. Bullet choices are limited in the .25, whereas the .30 cals have a huge selection. I myself prefer big bullets/low velocity vs. light bullet/fast velocity, so from my perspective, I prefer the 30-06 for hunting. For target shooting/varminting/shooting wolves though, I love the 25-06. 400m point blank range, easy on the shoulder, and easy to find cheap brass for reloading.
 
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I have a 25-06 and I love it, I would use it with no hesitation for deer, maybe black bear over bait where I can pick my shots, antelope, mule deer, and cariboo. For elk and moose I think I might feel a little undergunned, I am positive I could do it with premium bullets and good shot placement, but when there are so many other more capable rounds out there that don't recoil that much more, why take a chance?
 
hansol said:
The only downsides I've heard is that at close ranges, the meat damage is quite severe. Also, you may want to run premium bullets if you are expecting close-range shots (inside 100m), just to eliminate the chance that the bullet might disintegrate due to its fast velocities.
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X2 on the "high velocity = excessive meat damage" comment.

Here in NB most deer are shot at less than 100yds, so the extra velocity advantage of a 25/06 is wasted.

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