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

I am quite frankly surprised at the number of folks using the 25-06 in the Idaho panhandle here. Maybe I've just consecutively bumped into all of them or the number is greater than I thought. How about your neck of the woods?

One of my three all time favorites!! Used it when it was still a wildcat! Now it seems to be over shadowed by other rounds. Killed piles of game and varmints with this caliber!

My favorite WT cartridge.

There's not very many 25.06's around here but it is my favorite caliber and I've been using one for about 25yrs. 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.

One of my favorites for sure .

75gr. v-max to 117gr. SST and a few in between , it works great .

I'm surprised by how few use it around here seems like the perfect medium game cartridge.

I use the .257 AI it's Ballistic twin and LOVE it.

I think a lot of guys here see the 25-06 as an "out west" cartridge vs the .30-06, .308, or .270 as "woods cartridges". Don't ask me why...

It's popularity is on the rise as well as the various 6.5's. People are realizing you don't need a .30-06.

No doubt the 25-06 has a following and for good reason too. However, I've had two or three of them rebarreled to a smaller cartridge, such as the 257 Roberts.

Besides me and guys who I've loaned my Marlin XL7 to, I've yet to see anyone afield or at the range with another 25-06 in eastern Nebraska. That said, I have run across 25-06 shooters in CO, KS, western NE, and SD, but not many of them.

Nobody ever knew (thought) it sucked until the recent advent of long range hunting.

I don't recall ever seeing anybody with a 25-06 here in the deep south . Most people who hunt here have magnumitus -if it doesn't sound macho they won't own it , 7mag , 300mag etc. ammo same story .
Although a few lads know about a 270 .

Lots of ex-military around here -their choice 223 , 6.8 semi-autos & 308 bolt gun usually heavy barrel .
25-06 -nope ..

In the 40+ years I've hunted in CA, I've never met anyone that uses a 25/06. I have a Remington model 700 BDL in 25/06. Usually the hunters here use a 308, 30/06, 243 or a 30/30.

My favorite cartridge is a 257 Roberts AI. Primarily because the rifle is an ultra light and a pleasure to carry in the woods. My 25/06 is very heavy! And too cumbersome to hunt with.

Out here, most people are once a year hunters. They don't practice or go to the range. I'm different, I constantly go to the range and practice. And I do consider the 25/06 an outstanding cartridge.

It's really popular here in Texas. It's a good combo of speed and light recoil, which works well for our smaller deer.

+1 It's a fairly popular round in Texas.

I don't own one because I like hunting with a 22" barrel rifles and usually the 25-06's have 24" barrels because they are basically magnums without the belt. I feel like if you lop the barrel to 22" your defeating the purpose for a 25-06.

with all that said I still want a cartridge that is way more over the top and overbore.... a 257 wby.

I have a 1st year production 700 ADL in 25-06 with over 3000 rounds down the pipe. It's dropped it's fair share of whitetails, mule deer and even my first two elk. It, or it's sister rifle in the same caliber, go out every time I go after whitetail or 'yotes and the like.

All kinds of 25cal rifles in my safe and friend's safes. 25-06, 25-06AI, and 257Wby in mine. I know several people who shoot all of those and also the 25WSSM. I've got 3 friends that use the WSSM regularly.

i have noticed a good number of 25-06s for sale on GB for a good bit less than same manufacturer models offered in 260, 7mm08 or 308.

I had one, wifey took it away from me. It's a heavy barrel Rem 700.

I have two 25-06s with a 22" barrels, a Marlin XL7 and a RAR-Predator, and one with 24" barrel, a Remington 700 SPS. All three are accurate shooters and when shooting the same load over a chrony the 22" barrels run about 60 fps slower. I can live with a small loss of velocity, but the muzzle blast seems more pronounced in the 22" barrels.

For a sub-$300 rifle, the Marlin has proven to shoot whatever you squeeze the trigger on very well. I loaned it to a friend and suggested that he buy the factory ammo that is was already zeroed in with, but he opted for the least expensive factory ammo that he could find, the PP 90 grain hollow-points for about $14 per box of 20. HGe rezeroed the rifle with them and he and his son went on to punch their tags with that rifle and ammo combo.

The only reason I don't have a .25-06 is I sold a .22-250 with a burned out barrel at a gun show to finance one but literally bumped into a guy with a like-new .257 Roberts on his should with a 'For Sale' flag on it. Got the Ruger M77 and the Leupold M8-4x scope for $400, only $150 more than what I got for the .22-260.

The Roberts quickly became my favorite rifle. I think a .25-06 would have as well.