Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 240 Weatherby or 25-06 Rem for Coyotes, Deer, Pronghorn ?

I see a step in terms of big big game like elk but not for the small big game like deer/lopes etc.

And, I'm with you in terms of some aps I prefer a lead bullet also. I could easily live my life with Horn sp's, NBT's and Hot Cores.

Dober

Mark,
I don't see much use for a 120 grain buillet in the .25/06 except for elk and possibly black bear, and that is just me.

John

I hear you, though we've used the 120 Speer quite a bit on all game small and large and of course when directed properly it worked...grin

In the 25's (25/06 and 257 Wby) and the 100 Horn with 7828 always did quite well for us. And elk were no exception.

Dober

Mark,
The problem with the 100gn Hornady is, that it concludes argument.

John

Never used a .240 Wby on anything - but the .25-06 is a firecracker on coyotes & mule deer!

I have been the 240 weatherby route and it is no doubt a hot-rod. The brass isnt worth a schit. 2outa 3 split necks and i decided 6-06 would be better. Ended up having my smith buddy build a 6-284 and its a shootin biotch. Still wanta build a 6-06 just havent got around 2it. 25-06 in the mix also and it works great.

Very well said my friend

Dober

I've killed a few elk with the .25-'06 using 100-grain Hornady Interlockeds and they went nothing but straight down ... dead.

In truth, after having killed quite a few head of big game, from antelope to elk, with the 100-grain Interlockeds, I personally do not see the need for any heavier bullet. All the heavier bullet gets you is a compromised trajectory and heavier recoil. As far as penetrating better or killing deader, 'taint there.

Here is a photo of my bride of 47 years with a buck she whacked with the 100-grain Hornady. Ol' Deadeye shot him behind the ear at 250-ish and he tumbled to the bottom of the canyon.

Bloody hands are happy hands

Steve

Great pic!

Dober

I've never used the 240weatherby, and only have accounted for 4 head of game just this season with my 25-06AI, but I'm loving it! Can't believe it took me this long to get around to building a .25 cal rifle. I've only shot the 100NBT's so far but I can't see anything wrong with them at all. This rifle just seems to flatten critters. Rachel notched the first kill with the rifle on her pronghorn buck at 416yds and he never moved at the shot. We were shooting down on him and it entered high and exited low without great bullet performance. #2 was my pronghorn buck at 460yds and it was a repeat, he simple folded at the shot. It was a cross canyon shot and we were level with him, it entered the near shoulder and exited the off, with very little wasted meat.

I was not suprised at the performance at distance with the pronghorn's but was a little worried about the 100NBT up close. Turns out the worrying was all for naught. #3 was a good whiteatail buck last week at 80yds, he was running does at an angle away and I swung and put one in him and he too pretty much just hit the dirt. Shot entered at about the 4th rib and shredded the lungs and lodged in the off shoulder. #4 was another whitetail last night at about 175yds that was quartered towards and it too simply folded at the shot. Shot entered right in the near shoulder, destroyed lungs, liver, then proceeded to exit in front of offside rear leg.

We still have deer tags left and quite a bit of hunting to do, but I almost can't wait for that to come to an end so I can start doing some coyote hunting that rifle. I think it's gonna be bad....for the coyotes. (grin).

Like I mentioned I have no exp w/the 240weatherby. My fastest 6mm I have a lot of exp with is the 243AI. But if I had to vote I'd likely go 6-06 if I had to go wtih a LA 6mm. But if I wasn't tied to the 6mm then I'd likely go 25-06. Although a 6-06 running 105 Amax's/VLD's would be a heck of a rifle.

I ran one of my 25-06AI brass into my 243AI neck die and seated a 105VLD and the 6-06AI with that long bullet looks pretty damn good just sitting still. Maybe when this 25-06AI tube is gone it'll get a 6-06 or 6-06AI tube. So many cartridges and so little time.....

Laffin......y'all gonna wear out that 25-06AI barrel killin stuff!.....good on ya...good on y'all!

25-06 definately. Mainly because of component availabilty. I haven't seen 240 Weatherby factory ammo east of Tennessee in years. That's another factor too.

Thanks, Tom

The internet is your friend!

A .240 Wby owner needs to be a handloader, for sure.

DF

The problem w/that is: S&H isn't cheap ON TOP of expensive ammo.

There are some interesting posts from the naysayers here earlier on about forming 240 cases from 06 brass.
It is an aknowledged fact that the 240 originated when Roy swaged 30/06 military brass to the new shape.


I had a 240 years ago and made all my brass from 270 cases using a base die I machined out of an old die and never had a problem.

Mike,

Welcome to the Campfire!

I only reported the fact that running .25-06 cases into my Redding .240 die didn't result in useable brass. Roy Weatherby might well have used slightly tighter forming dies. I'm also sure that some die company could make a .240 die that would do the job.

Mike,

I tried that and with my dies, I couldn't get the belt short enough to chamber. The .240 case made from .270 was too long and had to be trimmed. The shoulders weren't fully formed and would look better after the first firing.

I agree with John. With the right die set up, that could be done. Even with a big press, such an operation takes a lot of "elbow grease". It also takes a good coating of Imperial die wax. Forget the usual case lube stuff.

.240 Wby cases are expensive, but IMHO, not so expensive as to warrent all that work. And .240 cases formed from .270 brass look rough. Mine had a ring of pealed brass that I had to grind off the leading edge of the newly formed belt.

Now, with my .257 Wby, making brass from new 7mm Rem Mag cases was a breeze. Old brass is work hardended and twice as hard to form. The formed cases, BTW, were slightly shorter than SAAMI specs and the shoulders were fully formed with one pass thru the .257 Wby FL sizing die. I never bought Wby brass for my .257, just W/W 7mm RM brass. Reportedly W/W brass is harder than Norma/Wby and the primer pockets last longer but I never had the factory stuff to compare.

DF

Thanks for the welcome John, I used to come on here a fair bit, but it has been a while so I guess my old posts have evaporated into the ether.
You and Dirtfarmer are both right in that the factory FLS dies wont form the body properly but it is really easy to make a die for this.
The effort required with the propper die isnt all that great, and the use of a lube like wool fat reduces the apparent effort a lot over the sizing die wax.
I wouldnt bother going to these lengths to get cases usually, but if you think 240 cases are dear and hard to get in the US, buying them in Australia is nothing short of painful.

Mike,

Do you shorten a regular FL sizing die to form .240 cases from 25-06 or similar?

What's the story on this lube?

DF