You shoot a lot of whitetail at 650 yards? You're maybe 1 in 10,000. Most are probably shot under 100. What is so efficient about having a heavier longer rifle with more recoil when you're shooting a small critter 100 yards away? Illogical. Argue until your face is blue, but I'm not buying it. If you want a rifle that will shoot further than any other or have the highest velocity, there's many that are better than a Roberts or a 25-06. But better in that respect isn't even close to being better in other respects.
I don�t hunt whitetail at all, let alone 650 yards, but that is completely irrelevant. Nor do I run a .25-06, also irrelevant. I�m speaking strictly about the facts of external ballistics, which are that a .25-06 provides a ballistic advantage in starting and retained velocity/energy, etc. Whether that is important to any given individual is up to that particular person. As stated before, my Roberts is my favorite rifle. That doesn�t make it a .25-06 or give it magical powers that overcome rather basic physics.
What you are talking about (�better in other respects�) is a qualitative assessment based not on external ballistic facts but on personal priorities. (A short action Is not necessarily �better� as some like myself prefer a long action for the Roberts. Burning less powder is not an advantage to someone that wants the extra velocity, etc.)
