Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 257 Weatherby vs. 25-06

This thread is just for perfomance between the two calibers. There is no price involved here. Why would you prefer one caliber over the other? This is a very open/broad topic. Opinions are highly aprecciated.

The .257 is the winner in in sheer speed. I for one do not like belted cases, so I always choose the .25-06. I form brass from my friends .270 Win brass, so essentially it is free. Weatherby brass and factory loads are outrageous. So, skinflint that I am I would choose the .25-06 every time.

Well, I own one of aech and I like them both equally for different reasons. Recoil is mild in both but powder usage is high in the 257.........You won't go wrong with either.

Hunted with both and the Roberts. The extra boom and recoil are not worth the flatter trajectory at my deer hunting ranges.

stumpy

Depends on the barrel length.
I have a match grade 26 inch barrel on my .25/06 and it gets similar velocities to a .257 Bee I am loading for with a 24 inch barrel.

JW

If given the choice, I would choose the 25-06!

Within all normal hunting distances on any game hunted with either, the 25-06 will be just as effective on game despite its slower velocities. Some may disagree based on the downrange energy #s, but in reality within 400-450 yards or so, deer, antelope, or any other medium sized game won`t know the difference.

Factory ammo expense is higher for the 257 Wby.
Brass is more money.
Reduced barrel life for the 257 Wby.
Many don`t prefer the belted cases.

Vs the 25-06, the 257 Wby is strictly a speed demon with slightly flatter trajectories. Given "most" hunting situations, the 25-06 is an adequate flat shooter with more than enough downrange energy for medium sized game.

I`ll take the 25-06 for overall better balance, lower expense, better barrel life and if needed, I would just move in a little closer on the hunts.

This is kinda like comparing a 300 Win to the 300 RUM. Given the hunter doing his part, the 300 Win will be able to do anything that a 300 RUM can do.

Unless the shots are properly placed on game, velocity and energy #s on paper are meaningless.

I have owned 3 25-06's and currently have one 257 Wby. It seems that all 3 25-06's were a bit finicky during load development, but the 257 was pretty dang easy. I eventually got 2 of the 3 to shoot, but they really gave me fits for awhile. The 3 were a Rem 700 Classic, Ruger M-77 Mk2, and a Browning A-Bolt. The Browning was by far the easiest of the 3. No flies on the 25-06, and maybe others have not had the problems I had, but I will stick with the 257 Wby.

My go-to rifle is a 25-06 Improved. It is plenty gun.

mY 06 Improved...aka the .270. Sorry guys I just couldn't resist

Dober

a year ago i was looking at a .25 build... i've had fun with a couple of ROYs, but,...
i had a 30-06 action on hand as the donor...

my struggle was between the BOB abd the .25-06...
i've always jones'd for a BOB, but in the end i let the footrace decide...

if asked, on any given day, i'd answer that i still want a BOB...
i've got one coyote season done with the 25-06 though, and classified adds for various BOBS don't seem to effect me as much as before....

i guess i kinda take the view that there's a BOB of sorts in the 06 case.....

I weighed these two very closely a couple years ago and finally decided not to [bleep] around, if you want the most out of the .25 .....go with the Roy! Thats what I did.

i almost never choose a rifle based on it's chambering...
i had a rifle that i was familiar with and real comfortable with. just happened to choose the fastest .25 i could chamber for without major alterations...

25-06AI would be BETTER.

That's my thinking as well. I'm not a speed freak but for me, a quarter bore built to carry the mail begs to be driven as fast as possible while still maintaining a semblance of accuracy.

Does anyone enter a race to not run as fast they can?

The choice of a Rifle cartridge is not solely based on "speed" - in other words the choice of a Rifle caliber is not a "race".
I have chosen the 25/06 Remington over the 257 Weatherby Magnum several times during the last 3 decades - do to its longer barrel life, its cheaper munitions, better accuracy in factory arms, the 25/06 is way cheaper to reload as well AND I have seen MANY Elk that were killed by the 25/06 Remington.
Less muzzle blast, less recoil and being quicker to re-sell also entered into my decisions!
ONE trip to the custom Riflesmith for re-barreling of the 257 Weatherby Magnum scares about $500.00 worth of crap out of me!
I will never wear out a 25/06 Remington Rifles barrel.
Yep the 257 Weatherby shoots a little flatter and a little faster but the gain with it is simply NOT worth the various down sides to it, in my estimation.
I currently own two Hunting (Varmint Hunting) Rifles in Weatherby calibers - so I am NOT anti-Weatherby at all.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Thats well put!

I have a .257 Wby, but I built it because of the boltface on the donor action. Otherwise I would have done the 25-06. You are using about 17 gr more powder for about 200 fps more velocity. And the Roy only really starts to shine in 26" barrels.

So much as I like my .25 Roy, it is pretty specialized and not without drawbacks.

I like 'em both, but the one I go to... time and again... is the 257 Wby. I won't try to rationalize that, and don't really need to given the legion of 257 Wby Mag fans. There's just something about it...

My friends and I put together five semi custom 257 Weatherbys with our specs on the reamer and aftermarket barrels. Two rifles have 28 inch barrels and they are something to behold when shooting at deer at long ranges. All five of these rifles shoot the Berger 115 VLDs and they work wonderfully on our coues wt. So far my rifle has taken two bucks at 400 and 525 yds. They aren't bad for the occasional jackrabbit or coyote either. The 257 Weatherby was made for the west and its wide open spaces. The 25-06 is a good round but IMO the 257 is a great round.