Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting 25-06 question

Terrific as a mule deer, pronghorn & coyote rifle!

I generally handload, and have taken game from 20 - 400+ yards, typically with one shot.

Mine is a Rem 700 CDL, with a 6x Leupold. Pretty much perfect setup for the hunting I enjoy.

What surprised me, after I got my .25-06, was learning how many people I know who use the cartridge for elk!

Regards, Guy

I love my 25-06. I've loaded some 110 grain Accubonds that I hope to try out this year. If I were shooting factory ammo, I would look for one that was loaded with a Nosler Partition or Accubond.

My .25-06 is a Ruger M77 with a Leupold FXIII 6x. Has the Magnum contour barrel as I call it. A little heavy sometimes but shoots well. Neck sized loads make up for the loose chamber. Best load is Sierra 100gr BTHP Match. For Coyotes,Groundhogs and Whitetails. Occasional hog.

I have a Savage 111 that I picked up in Montana one year the day after Thanksgiving. For some reason I’ve always felt there was some kind of a mystique to it from the time Remington brought it out.

I have only shot one deer with it, a smallish whitetail doe, at about 35 yds with the Remington 100 gr Core Lokt factory load. She ran about 40 yds and tipped over just inside the treeline.

I have the goods to start handloading for it one of these days.

It is a dandy cartridge, in my opinion.

My question is, why would you use the lousy bc 100-grain bullets for deer, instead of using the bullets that really make it shine-the 117-120-grain weights? Far less blood-shot meat with the heavier bullets and no question about penetration.

Just my thoughts, anyway. I load for a buddy's and I put 120s in it at just over 2900fps and it does real well.

I dusted off my 25.06 this last deer season and shot a deer with it last Saturday. It dropped quicker than anything I have used/seen on game! I'm running a 115 Ballistic Tip with 51.0 grain of Reloader 22 and it puts game on the ground, did I mention quickly! I have yet to used factory ammo but positive it will work. Little recoil, if you can call it "recoil" and just plain kills well. That is not a deer I wouldn't use it on. I also have shot a few pigs with it and has the same effect.

Esox - that 115 Ballistic Tip is a terrific hunting bullet!

I launch it at 3120 fps via Retumbo with excellent accuracy.

Guy

The BC on the 100gr Nosler E-Tip is listed at .409, which is not far off from most 117-120gr offerings. And it can make 3,300fps+ in most 25-06 rifles. It offers a nice blend of BC, speed, and projectile integrity. Not much bloodshot either, in my experience, although I will admit it is not the most awesome performer for a lung-shooter. Can't have it all....

Every cartridge is more of a handloaders cartridge to me.

Do you handload or shoot factory fodder?

Good factory ammo out there. Federal Premium, or Winchester with a 115 Ballistic Silvertip.

If handloading run 115 Partitions, 117 Gameking or Prohunter depending whether your rifle likes boattails or flat base bullets or the same with Speer, 120 flat base or boattail.
Hornady 117 BTSP not a bad deer killer either.

Here's an odd wound my 25-06 made on a 75 yards S.W. Idaho coyote .
100gr. NBT .
Hit barely quatering away on the other shoulder , it broke so many bones in the chest that I could mash it flat had I tried .
The stock "was" an HS Precision sporter thumbhole , great for shooting off stick why predator calling but just didn't like it. Scope 6.5x20-50 Conquest -now on my 280AI 700 , rifle has a 4.5x14-44 Conquest now.





Same coyote .




130-140lb. sow killed at the lease just north of panama city beach ,Fl. great eating size and not "too" bad to drag.
Stock now a B&C and 4x12-50 Leupold VXR.
The odd color is from a TX. Boars night light green and red lens.
A couple of big wild dogs were barking and growling at me while I was skinning this hog from about 100 yards away in the darkness . I tried luring them in by barking at them to no avail.




Had this 25-06 for around 37 years , when I go to my grave somebody will get one heck of a rifle !

I used H4831 and 100 gr Ballistic tips in mine . Very accurate until the barrel was junk at about 4500 rounds.
The .25-06 and the old 75 gr Sierra hps were the most devastating thing I ever used on eastern Groundhogs. I used to find parts and pieces around holes.....

I've shot a 25/06 since about 1980. I shot Rem. Core-Lokt 120 gr. in the M77. I used it exclusively until in the early 90's when I changed it out for a Ruger 77UL in a 270 only because it was so much lighter and it fit my style of hunting better as I liked to get away from the crowds with an old Amacker climber on 1 shoulder and the 77 UL over the other. But when Marlin came out with the Model 7 in the 25/06 with the shorter barrel and lighter weight than the old 77, I had to try it after reading all of the reviews on it. It is my go to deer rifle for the last several years.

I can say this, I had wanted a 270 from childhood reading O'Connors stories and his loving the 270. But for me, I have had a good bit higher % of deer fall right where they were shot with the little '06 than the 270. I love the cartridge, and with all the different bullets and companies who load this cartridge, I have no need to buy higher priced cartridges than the 120 Core-Lokt. It will do a number on the deer without messing up a lot of meat and both my rifles have shot them very well.

One last thought. I don't remember ever shooting a deer with it that I did not see its reaction when I shot which is important to me. And with all the people that recommend a 7/08 for a child or lady to shoot just starting out, I say let them shoot the 25/06. Felt recoil is much lighter than the '08's I have shot and it is hard to get any better than DRT which the majority of the deer I have shot with mine have expired. Just my thoughts-

I shoot a bunch of different rifles and cartridges for deer, but if I had to pick only one, it would be the 25-06. It is the perfect combination of trajectory, accuracy, and power for our big open country Saskatchewan deer, both Whitetial and Mule deer.
I prefer 120 grain bullets for better penetration and less meat destruction than the 100s. My Sako flings them at 3000 fps with 4831. No complaints. I have not tried the 100 grain monumental bullets, but bet they would be a winner.

I will be using the 25-06 in the field for the first time this coming week. Picked up a Montana x2 and am extremely happy with the low recoil and excellent accuracy with Barnes 100ttsx. Hoping to test bullet performance Monday, opening day of rifle season here in PA.

Best of luck!

I've taken more deer with my Rem 700 25-06 than any other rifle I own. I've had a 25-06 in my safe for over 40 years and it is hard to not like this caliber even though I now own a number of other calibers that work equally well on deer-sized game.

Everyone loves the 25/06...could this be the EXTREMELY rare consensus on the 'fire??

The more I use it the more I'm impressed and have a hard time using larger calibers since it does all I want and more!

Lots of good .25 bullets out there, so it's really just a matter of having fun at the bench and finding out what shoots well in your rifle. In my wife's rifle (Ruger 77 Hawkeye) it's the 110 gr. Accubond. Good accuracy and she's had great results with it on deer.

Bought a couple boxes of Swift 100gr Scirocco's when they came out in .257 Diameter. Never have worked up a load for them. My guess is that they would work well at .25-06 velocities. Anyone try them?