Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Popularity of the 25-06

If you shoot factory ammo, 25-06 ammo is more often found on retail shelves than factory ammo for any other .257" bore cartridge.

I really like the 25 WSSM, but haven't a single box of factory ammo on retail shelves for at least four or five years.

Winchester/Olin made a run of 25 WSSM ammo last year, but it appears to have been snapped up by scalpers as soon as it hit the shelf.

You are probably still on WANTED posters in some Post Offices for highway robbery for that deal. I would be jealous if I hadn't picked up an old tang safety in a Roberts a couple of years ago in the same caliber. Even if I had to pay a little bit more!

Never ran into anyone using one at the range or hunting, but I'm sure some must be using them. A few 257 wbys though including mine.

Many moons ago (circa 1981 or so) while shopping for my first deer rifle with my Dad, I overheard a customer ask a clerk what a particular rifle on the rack was chambered for. The clerk replied, "That's a .25-06." I had never heard of such a cartridge but vividly remember it being a one of the early heavy barreled Ruger 77 Varmints. We were shopping for a .243 and that is what I got that Christmas, but after that day in the store, I researched the .25-06 as best I could and swore I'd have one some day. Roughly 10 years later, I bought a Browning A-Bolt Stainless Stalker so chambered. It has been sudden death on most of the deer I have shot with it and it is still one of the most accurate rifles I own.

pretty popular here in NW Missouri. I own one and have owned other.

A hunting buddy hunts with one with great success. Other than him, I don't know a soul that hunts with one.

I've had a few now and once again bought another. Didn't even make it to another season without having one. By far my favourite cartridge and I've used it one deer up to moose. It just seems to kill animals fast.

I have a good friend who has taken pretty much every animal British Columbia has to offer with the 25-06, including a grizzly.

Several family members have them. Since I have rifles chambered in cartridges on either side caliber wise(.243 and 6.5x55) I've never felt a need for one. As others have stated you see them around here fairly often.

I have a friend that hunts Kansas every year. He liked my Howa 25-06 so much, I got him one and worked up a load for him. This last year he took two big bucks and a doe. All were running shots, one of which was a head shot.

I have a 700 SS DBM and it is one of my all time favorites. Lot of punch for little recoil.

I've been shooting along side big game hunters at ranges of various sorts here in Kalifornia since 1958. Saw the coming of the .308 and it's family, and of the 7mm - .300 Magnums.
When the .25-06 arrived, it took off. I suspect it is far more popular than many thought it would be.
Most of the early rifles were built with magnum contour heavier barrels. I suspect that made for better shooting. The lack of magnum class recoil also helped I'm sure. The fact that it shot very flat to ranges where most couldn't hit anything helped as well.
I've never owned one, but I have owned and hunted the .240 Wby and the wildcat .25-284. Both killed surprisingly well with Nosler Partition or TTSX bullets.
The funny thing is that even guys that hunt in heavy cover use them. Never heard anyone complain about it. E

We have LOTS of antelope in Wyoming and the 25-06 is pretty popular here for them, and for deer also. I know a handful of folks that kill their elk with 25-06s too.

The 25-06 has fallen out of favor a bit because everyone is now convinced a .550+ BC bullet is needed to cleanly kill a deer...even at normal hunting ranges. Laughable!

Anyway, I love the 25-06 for it's versatility. Shoots fast and flat. Has available bullet weights ranging from 75-120 grains and furthermore, generates very little recoil.
Great cartridge!

I've always had good luck with the 115 partition but I would love to see a Hornady ELD-X for the 25-06 just for chits and giggles....

It's a flat shooting fast caliber with mild recoil that hits the target hard and kills deer like lighting. I'm surprised that more people don't use it or it could be they do and I just don't know it. It is without a doubt my favorite deer cartridge of all time. [/quote]

My take on it with caribou as well. Should never have sold that sucker! (Thought I needed to sell it to afford a "moose gun"..Dumass!

23 bang-flops in a row over a couple years. The first one took a bullet at the base of the neck, lodged against the opposite hip bone. Not a premium! He was dead and didn't know it, the second broadside thru the lungs knocked him flat.. The next 23 were one-shot bang flops thru the lungs or neck.

The rifle was a factory standard Ruger 77V with fiddleback walnut from forend to butt plate.

30 years later, I'm still kicking my ass. OK 35 years.

FL and south GA. I know three guys who love it. Two of them are factory ammo guys, one is a handloader. All three will probably always have at least one. All three are very good deer hunters. All three also own a .270.

I know of at least one feller that thought a TC Encore pistol chambered .25'06 was a good idea. I had the misfortune to be next to him at the range one day. The barrel looked custom, 14" or so and ported. I vacated my seat when he was shooting it and resumed my load testing when he set it aside to cool down. Did then, and still do, think it was one of the most bone-headed wastes of a cartridge and money I'd ever seen.

Never seen a soul use one. In Michigan, it's either a 30-30 or 30-06.

I used a buddies in Texas to kill a pig. That is it.

Though, if I needed a new deer rifle, it would be 264, followed by 25-06.

I see more 25-06's than .280's. It's popular around here. I've had a few in Remmy 700's, all tack driving deer killers. Love to build one someday...
Win 70 Classic Action
PacNor dupe FWT contour 24"
MCM Featherweight Edge - Brown or Gray with a red pad
PT&G Bottom metal
Talley LW
Leupold 6x
Nosler 115gr Partitions

I haven't met anyone with one in the PA woods where I hunt. Most guys in our camp use the 30 cal old standbys. But I started carrying a 25-06 this year and wish I would have picked one up years ago. With the 100gr ttsx it will handle all the hunting I will ever do.

Other than myself, I can think of three other guys I know who've used them over the years. Right now I have a .25-06 AI.