Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Why do campfire looneys ignore the 25-06

Last deer i killed with my 25-06 wast 375 yards on the laser range finder , one shot 100 gr Nosler BT buck went maybe 10 yards and piled up. The 25-06 will get it done if you do your part.

The old .25-06 has come to be one of my favorite three calibers..
Had my first one in the 60's.. Owned one .257 Roberts.. Also several 257 Wea. The 06 is the favorite..

Any idea where one could obtain that article?

Like mine just fine.

You guys aren't helping at all! Two things that keep drawing me back to getting another 25-06 (this would be #4, I think) are the low recoil coupled with very flat trajectory. Getting to (actually there) where I really don't care for much recoil but still like to pack a fairly light (7-7.5lb)rifle.
Helps that I typically only hunt deer and shots can be fairly long!

Great old buck!

DesertMuleDeer,

The .25-06 article appeared in HANDLOADER around the middle of 2012, don't remember the exact issue.

Is this what you are looking for?
http://www.bergerbullets.com/articles/john-barsness-a-pair.pdf

Sounds about right? I recall thinking at the time, that you were long overdue for an article on something useful?

Now I'm gonna have to root thru hundreds of pounds of Handloader and Rifle magazines to double check.

Thanks. Have one on the way. This is helpful. Sounds like 4350, magnum and Retumbo are all useful.

Got a Sendero that received the AI treatment, skim bed, action trued, etc & I like it quite well. It is true that a 1-8 and some 125-130 gr. bullets would be nice but within application for that rifle it does very well.

I was told years ago that if you were going to hunt deer in Texas you had to have at least one rifle in the "national cambering of Texas", which of course is the 25-06.

Have had many over the years and have sold/traded many to try new wonder cartridges. Have always kept at least one 25-06 around.

Was at the range yesterday to sight in my newest 25-06. A Kimber Montana. Using handloads developed for my Ruger 1AH it is showing great promise.

Will it kill deer any better than my 257 Roberts or the 20 some other carts I have rifles for? That's not the point for a loony.
And being a loony is why I'm ordering mounts for my new 257 Weatherby.

Next year I may go back to the 7-08 or 7 SAUM, or 250-3000, or...anything but a 270!

?
!

I'm a fan of the Brunette ones that are around 5'5" and weigh 115 lbs.

Shod

I thought the 25-06 was the Texas State Flower.

Doc

The last tag I filled in Kentucky this year was with my new 25-06, using 117 Hornady SPBT. I'd just settled into my box blind, munched on a braunschweiger and pepperoni on Kaiser sandwich when a doe sauntered out into the middle of the pasture. This was a good hour or two before I had expected anything in that field.

The 25-06 did a passable job, no better or worse than my 30-06 at 150 yards. She ran a bit, probably all of about 80 yards in a wide looping arc, back the way she had come. She made it over a fence and collapsed on the other side. The bullet created a .5" exit wound in a nominal broadside shot.

The only thing odd was, in cleaning her out, I found that the lungs and heart had been devastated, but the pressure wave had also breached her diaphragm and involved the stomach. Otherwise the rifle functioned in much the same way as any of my 30-something deer rifles only with a lot less recoil.

Here are the details:
Tagging Out, 2014

Shaman: You can use the winch mounted on the front of your truck to load game in the bed. Build a frame that sits in the forward stake pockets and is high enough over the cab so you can attach a block. Run the cable threw the block and pull up the ramp. You will need a sleeve or 2 so the cable clears the hood and front of the cab if the frame is not high enough.

I'd guess that the 25-06 isn't a bigger hit here at the fire because it is the anti-loonie rifle...

I hunt just enough that most of my rifles get used each year. But in reality, i seldom hunt anything that wouldn't be perfectly well taken with the 25-06.

Mostly, this year, I've carried the little H&R sako .222 for coyotes. It's aboot 1 1/4 lbs lighter, and a dream to shoot. Last shot I missed last week though was a "hail mary" (with the .222) that would have been a real possibility with the 25-06.
Last coyote I connected on (the day before) was killed with the 25-06 at a distance of about 50 feet...

Deer season saw me carry a new to me Winchester 70. I had planned to use it on a moose hunt that was cancelled for a family illness. So I used it for deer instead, and a 180 ballistic tip at 2900 or so does workman-like duty on a a dink whitetail. But the 25-06 would have done as well and carried a bit easier...

I see in some above posts that others use shorter, more efficient .25s, and feel that they are just as effective, on game.
I suspect that they are correct, at least to a certain point. Them and all the fans of the .24s and .26s. I expect that a lot of rifles in those calibers are anti-loonie rifles...

That's a cool idea. This is only the second season for the Hirschewagen AKA "DRV1" (Deer Recovery Vehicle), and it is sort of a work in progress. I was sort of thinking what you're thinking, but was worried about how strong I'd need to build the frame. I was going to hold off until I decide what to do with a ladder/canoe rack that I plan on installing one of these days. In the meanwhile, I bought a separate block and tackle for the back of the truck so I don't have to pull down the one at the meatpole-- total outlay was $10 at Harbor Freight. We used the rig you saw to pull a 250 lb buck in this year the double gang block made it an easy 1-man task and I'm also adding a plywood sled next year to make the whole thing fairly frictionless.

The 25-06 and especially the AI version used to be one of the more talked about and built rifles on this site. It's just fallen out of favor which I conclude is due to the high BC bullet offerings in .243 and .264.

Shaman-
I'd keep your same set up and just buy an inexpensive 12V ATV winch to use instead of the block and tackle. Rig it with alligator clip connectors. Pop the hood, run the wires to the battery and press a button.