Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 25-06 vs .308

I have a Ruger M77 Mkii 25-06 and a Remington 700 AAC-SD. 308. What would be the most efficient cartridge for whitetail size game and long range practice?

Either will be completely fine for whitetail when using a whitetail bullet choice. I would believe the 308 would be better for long range bases on the heavier bullets.

Probably the 308... not a lot of good high BC bullets for the 25-06 and the few that do exist would require a barrel change for a faster twist than the Ruger will have from the factory. A lot more good bullets available for the 308 for long range work. A good 168 grain BTSP Sierra or the newer Nosler 168 gr. competition bullet would be great for long rang work, but if it is for practice for hunting, you should probably be using the same bullets you are planning on hunting with. Consider the 308 with the Nosler 165 Accubonds, or the excellent Barnes TTSX bullets if you can get them to shoot well in your rifle...

Define "efficient"

308 win would be my choice.

Define long range.

A 25-06 with a 115 Ballistic Tip is a pretty flat shooting rig and hell on deer.

No flies on the 308 either.

600yds

Both great cartridges! 25.06 in my experiences "zaps" game in their tracks. 308 was and still used for long range shooting. Bullets for 308 are better suited in my mind for shooting 600 yards. You could always buy a 6.5 Creed 😃. Seriously though both are capable of shooting deer at 600 if your up to the task.

This.

I never found my (sold years ago, dammit!) RU77V in .25-06 in the least inadequate on 23 caribou, over a 3 year period, to or over 500 yards, using 120 gr Speer handloads. A Rifle contributor in 1979 or thereabouts called it "barely adequate" based on a one caribou hunt, just after my experience with it. I haven't read Rifle since.... . With fireformed, neck sized only handloads only, it was MOA, rifle entirely factory standard. With Remington factory ammo, it was about 5 MOA. But this was with two boxes out of the village store- no telling how many years and freeze/thaw cycles it had been in storage there.

One shot bang/flop) kills on all with my handloads, except the first one- and he was dead, I just didn't know it. The first bullet at about 200 yards, entered at the base of his neck and lodged against the opposite hip bone, turning him. The second thru both lungs knocked him flat - bang/flop with all subsequent kills.

The 500 (probably more) yarder also took two bullets - only the first one knocked up snow on the hillside below her belly. The second one with Kentucky windage went through both shoulder blades, with the base of the bullet barely lodged in the far blade. The rifle was sighted in 5 1/2 inches high at 100, so you do the math..

Adequate performance.....

I have never used a .308, but I have used for many years a RU77 in 30-06, with a 17inch barrel, named Stub, thus some drop off in MV. Basically a carbine, years before Ruger came out with one. I use factory ammo, once only, as the chamber is somewhat misshapen. It is a1.25 MOA rifle, after bedding and trigger job. I have killed several animals (sheep and caribou) at ranges between 330 and 400 yards with it (and a number of caribou and moose under that), but limit myself to 400 or under using that rifle. None of those longer range - or few shorter either- shots have been bang-flops, using 165 or 180 grain loads, but they fall over after running around a bit, anyway.

I'm guessing (no chrony data) that the shorter barrel and factory ammo roughly equates .308 velocity. Maybe even less, especially if you hand load.

I have killed a lot of game with .30-06 bullets, in several rifles - I can't recall any that were not CNS placement that were bang-flops, except a ewe sheep at 200 yards that my son took, using the Stub, with 180 gr. Corelokts.

If you are looking for bang flops, based on my experience, I'd recommend the .25.

Target shooting can be done with anything, at any range. Pick your poison. Can't help you there - I don't do it....

I'd sell the 2506 and get yourself a high quality optic (assuming you haven't one already) for the .308 that is LR capable (turrets, christmas tree reticle, etc). And then lay in a serious supply of slippery bullets, powder and primers. I hunted the [bleep] out of a couple of 2506s when I was younger, and if a sub-400 yard shot on game is called for, then hey, the 2506 will do it. But if you want to crank out hits at extended range, the 308 is the route I'd go. Why? EVERYONE has one. It's ubiquitous, much like a good 22lr. Everyone knows it can do it, and the info is out there in spades to get you into the ballpark. The 2506, not so much. You can put in the work to make the 2506 fit the role you are asking, or you can spend a couple hours reading/loading and be in that ballpark in an afternoon. Why swim upstream when you don't have too?

Kaiser Norton

I also have a Ruger M77 mkii in a .300 Win Mag. I mite use it for bigger game.

Got both, use both, love both !

However, 300 yards is a long poke in my area of operations.

Same here actually. Most of my most of the shots around where I hunt are 50-150yds. I did shoot a doe with this 25-06 at 400yds one time. 75% of the deer I have shot have been with a 55-65gr bullet from a .223. I shot a nice buck one year in the neck at 200yds and dropped him in his tracks. I'll probably end up selling this .308 because I dont shoot it anymore and the recoil is a little much for me...

I use & shoot my T/C Pro Hunter 25-06 more now, but really only because our hunting weather, does not agree with my Savage M99, .308 !

Have both. Love both. 115 gr BT's and 165 gr Gamekings

Wind you mean?

600 ain't much for target shooting, it's only NRA Midrange.
A 175gr .308 match bullet will handle that just fine, as will a 155gr match. Some of the guys used to use 190s and some now use 200+gr for F-TR, but unless you are talking competition, that isn't necessary.

I've never run numbers on the .25s, but assuming you have the twist for it, I'll bet the 115 Berger .25s would do just fine. It's BC is very comparable to the 155.5 Berger Fullbore. It looks like the '06 has 200fps on the 308 to boot.

Cabin fever must be getting to everyone...

I would say the worst 2 rifles that passed through my hands were 25-06. I do not want another.
I've just started collecting parts for a 308, my first.