Very flat shooting rifle and i would like any advice on bullit choices and powders. I shot a couple of 25 this past week and I'am really impressed.

One powder 7828 and two bullets 100 NBT and a 100 TSX is all you need know. One other super bullet is the 100 Horn, add 7828 to it presto you're in biz.

Dober

I agree with Dober but my rifle liked RL19 best. 7828 is a great choice also but my rifle wouldn't shoot as well. 100gr TSXs are a very nice bullet like a hammer to deer and very fur friendly on yotes. HAPPY HUNTING

I have been loading with 4350 using the 100gr TSX. It is magnificent to say the least.

I have also loaded 75gr Speer, and Hornady for coyotes. They are just as accurate as the 100 grain bullets. I was surprised about that, but they are one holers in my rifle.

I do beleieve if I were looking for the last few FPS in Velocity I would be using 7828 as well. However, I use 4350 for my 30/06 so it's just easier for me to use the same powder for the 25/06. 4350 is also better for the lighter 75gr bullets. There is probably less then 100fps difference in max loads between 7828 and 4350 with the 100grain TSX. 7828 is a great poweder though for building maximum velocity accurate loads.

Ooops I almost forgot

the pro's, you'll love the 25/06 a ton and you'll use it a ton.

Con's the other rigs in your cabinet will get jealous....grins

Seriously it is one of the most user friendly and capable rounds I've ever worked with. Not much in this world I wouldn't take on with one I was intimate with.

Dober

Here's my load

TC Encore 26 inch barrel in 25-06 Rem.
Remingtom Brass full length sized
CCI 200 Large Rifle Primer
117 gr Sierra Gameking bullet O.A.L 3.130"
50.5 gr Reloader 22 (Max load per Sierra 5TH Ed Manual)


I'm quite satisfied with the load performance, sub MOA at 100 yds. As for bullet performance, I shot a deer at 40 yards in shoulder right behind front leg, quarter size exit hole. No sign of jacket/core separation. Deer dropped in it's tracks just like on TV.

I have owned one for years, there are no cons that I am aware of...

The pros are,
that if you shoot good premium bullets out of it - you will drop animals that are much too big for what 25 caliber cartridges are supposed to be able to kill quickly.

The cons are - when everyone else hears about it - you'll have to put up with them telling you that you are hunting with a "borderline" "marginal" or "inadequate" cartridge.

You just know that that lady guide from Hanceville, in B.C.'s Chilcotin country, is just asking for trouble finishing more than 50 grizzlies with that puny round. Sooner or later, all of the moose she kills every year with the same rifle are going to wise up and figure out how inadequate her rifle is too.

There are cons to the 25-06? News to me.

I have a T/C Pro Hunter in 25-06. My load is 54.0 of H-4831SC in WW cases using the 120 gr. Hornady HP. Chronographed velocity is 3094 and groups are running under .65 for 3 shots. Whats not to like.

Doc

The only sort of 'con' is that in the same action size that is needed to house a 25/06 you can also have a 257WBY. Kinda like wow, I coulda had a V-8.

I love my 25-06 and it was my go to rifle until my kids got old enough to hunt. My daughter started with it, now using a 7mm-08. My oldest son was next, he is now in love with my 8X57 Classic. My yougnest son has latched on to it pretty hard and I may not get it back. I had the stock cut to 13" for them and added a recoil pad. Recoil is almost nill with full power loads. Mine loves 56.0 grs of IMR4831 over just about any 100gr pill and will drop them into 1/2" cluster with boreing regularity.

cK

If you don't mind a lot of extra recoil compared to a 25-06, then by all means get the Weatherby, I'm sure there must be a person somewheres who will be able to notice it's about an inch or two flatter than the 25-06 at a quarter mile.

Me - if I want 30-06 type recoil - I'd rather shoot a 30-06.

Been there - done that. That's why the 25-06 is my favourite quarter bore.

I really doubt there's can be a "con" to the .25-06 Rem. Seems like the near perfect rifle for game up to sheep, maybe elk with the right bullet. I really do not think an elk is going to discern its heart/lungs destroyed with this round as opposed to any other. But I don't know for sure, because I don't own one. But I would like to!

I get an honest 3400 with 100 grn tsx and H4350 with a 26 inch barrel.

I have one that I swear the deer run into. It is my go to on the last day and I can honestly say, it never fails. Try the 120 gr horn hp.

What is not to like about the little 06? Very easy to load for, very light recoil, very much performance. I think of the 2506 as a non magnum magnum. It really performs well on all the deer size game I have shot. Burns a lot less powder than a Roy, not that I am running down the Roy, the 06 just is a lot cheaper to shoot.

My favorite load for the 25 is 55.3 gr of rl22 with the TSX, this yields 3470 f/s and true sub inch groups out of a 26" Pac Nor.

My practice and coyote load is 51 gr. of IMR 4350 for about 3400 f/s and about the same accuracy as the TSX load.

FWIW My son shot a nice whitetail buck this year from 125 yds, with the ballistic tips, right behind the rib and it exited the front of the neck leaving a grapefriut sized hole. That bullet traveled through alot of deer before it came out. The 2506 is a potent little cartridge.

The only con that I have run into is the Mrs took a liking to mine...I then had to buy another rifle or two. I guess that may not be a con after all. Mine likes rl 22 and 100 gr Barnes just fine.

Seriously, if you are going to use it on 200 pound dressed whitetails you really should use a premium bullet. I had some less than stellar performance from factory WW power points and Rem Corelokts.

No cons for the 25-06, its the real deal for varmints and deer and will do an elk in a pinch in open country on broadside shots. I liked the 120 gr. Noslers for big game when I shot that caliber but today there are a lot of good bullets like North Forks, Woodleighs, and the old corelokt ain;t bad.

Nothin' says "Dead Coyote" like a 25-06.

CK

I have two 25-06's both like IMR 4831 and 100 grain bullets. There's no flys on the 25-06.

My last two mulies were both with a .25-06 Rem 700. Used the Barnes 100 gr TSX over 53 gr H4350 for 3340 fps. Please use all due caution working up to this fine load. It shoots MOA @ 300 yards from the factory built Remington Sporter. Both deer were one-shot, instant kills.

Very easy shooting rifle. So pleasant to shoot and so effective on game, I find myself wondering why I have those three bigger, harder-kicking hunting rifles in my inventory.

Try one, I think you'll like it. Regards, Guy

I run RE-15 and 75 gr V-MAX's for yotes. For deer I'm still shooting up my factory corelokt 100 grainers. Flopped an 8 point opening morning this year and shot a doe on the opener last year.
Am still experimenting a little with it but so far works as well as larger calibers have in the past and is alot of fun to shoot, especially the Hornadys on coyotes.

56gr of RL22 and a 110gr Accubond! Nasty!

Actually, a .257 Weatherby will indeed shoot noticeably flatter than a .25-06 at 400+ yards--but not by much. At 400 a 100-grain bullet will be about 3" flatter out of the Wby.

But so what? This doesn't mean the .25-06 isn't great, and some of us believe in owning them all.

One really nice deal about the .25-06 is factory ammo. Yeah, I can hear a bunch of you out there going "huh"? Well, the Remington factory stuff usually shoots pretty darn well, and gets the same ballistics that .257 Roberts loonies have to push hard for in handloads. The various Core-Lokt bullets work darn well. In fact, in my own Ruger No. 1 the 115 Core-Lokt Ultra load shoots just about as well as most handloads--that is to say, well under an inch.

Here is my take on the .2506.
Pros - Light recoil, flat shooting, accurate, hits deer sized animals quite hard, ample factory ammuntion offerings, chambered by alot of manufacturers.

Cons- do not, and I repeat, DO NOT inadvertantly land your bullet anywhere near the shoulder blades or the spinal column (at least with Remington corelokts), especially at close range (under 50 yds). Unless you like to eat bone chips, that is. Don't ask me how I know this.

Kaiser Norton

Thanks for info!!!

So how is this different than with a 270win,30-06,or dozens of other cartridges?

Our family loves bone chips, you prolly ain't cookin'em right.

the 25-06 is probably THE anti loony rifle...

most of the guys that i know who own one are one rifle hunters....

Hmmm, 'pros' and 'cons'. To me it's just a matter of the same old trade-offs that necking up or down always involves. You get a bit more of some 'things' (that might be good or bad) and a bit less of some others (that might also be good or bad). It really comes down to 'fine tuning' the particular compromises to one's own particular circumstances. I ended up choosing .270 Win over .30-06 and many of the exact same reasons I based my decision on could be extended to argue for 'necking down' a bit further to the .25-06. I will say that IMHO, the .25-06 is about as far 'down' as I would consider taking the .30-06 case. Again, IMHO a 6mm-06 is pushing things and a .22-06 would be really wild (I'm sure I'll hear from the 6-06 fans now - wonder if there are really any .22-06 wildcats out there).

As far as there being any 22/06's out there, ah yes there is. I recall right they call it the 22 Weeney

Tis a smokin yote round I hear.

Dober

I can't think of any "cons", only "pros". I've said this many times before, but, I could easily get by with a .25/06 as my only rifle.

These days, there is very little that has not been done in wildcating. I read an article a while back about the 378 Wby family. It goes beyond the .30-378 and .338-378 Wby rounds. I believe it was in the 1960s that someone necked that thing down to .22 Cal. Overbore to say the least. I can't remember the velocity, but it was insane. Only a FMJ would stay in one piece as it left the barrel. I want to say the velocity was above 5 grand, but can't be sure.

Stick with the .25-06 Rem. Very few rounds cover as many bases with such low recoil. A lot of elk, let alone deer and antelope get killed every year by it.

PDS - mine too.

Shot my first deer with the 25 yesterday with a 100 TSX. Was impressed with the internal damage. Deer went 3 jumps.

Robert Hutton necked down the .378 Wea to .22, put 108grs of unspecified powder in the case and it hit 7200fps! The barrel burned out after just a few shots. It was called the "Eargensphlitten Loudenboomer".

I know a farmer in PA who has used the same rifle for the
last 30 years on whitetail deer and groundhogs, a Remington
40X in 25-06.

See my post in the deer hunting section about gs custom bullets and whitetail deer.

I have been using the .25-06 for about 17 years and it kills things right now. The 75g VMax flat fly and they are hell on coyotes, crows, groundhogs, etc. The 100/110/115g bullets may be the best whitetail medicine ever invented in my opinion. My friend that uses a .30-06 for whitetails saw me kill a couple of deer in years past and says that he has never seen anything kill so quickly.

I love this round- flat trajectory, dead right there terminal performance, and light recoil. What's not to like?

Just piked up my first 25-06 a 700 Classic a few weeks ago. I had found such a good deal I was almost going to consider it a project gun. Went out last week and put a few rounds down the range. I will never do anything to this rifle it shoot way to good.
DD

Lot's of info, thanks everyone. I also like the 25-06 because its more than the 243 and 6mm as far as bullit weight and is very flat at 200 yds. Less recoil although at 290 lbs it doesn't bother me. I just felt that the 25-06 is a good all around rifle that provides NEEDS I have and the 7mm08 does the same.

I could never find much to critize the 25-06 about. For a deer/varmit rifle it seems to do it all well. Long action and long barrel could be considered "cons", but it didn't keep me from being very successful with my #1 on deer, hogs and coyotes.

stumpy

I've owned 5 over the last 30 years and will always have one or two around.

Excellent cartridge for most people and their needs. Haven't taken on elk with one as I've never carried one during the season, but I've taken dozens of deer with this cartridge and my son an even dozen. With the proper bullet and placement, I would expect more than acceptable results up to elk sized game

Many use the 4831's and 4350's....good powders for this cartridge and have been for many years. New powders out there these days that some haven't tried, but are just as accurate and don't take a back seat to these other venerable powders in the velocity dept., RL22 is just such a powder.

I currently use the 110AB, but used the 120gr. NP for many, many years with great success. My last two 25's didn't like them so well, so I tried the 110AB's and found another great combination.

The TSX's sound much too effective and accurate in their lighter offerings not to take a serious look at as well.............

Oh yeah....no cons except you'll always want another one......always.

Good luck.

I could list lots of pros, but most have been covered.

About the only con I can think of is that they can go through barrels kinda fast...

The pros outweight the cons by big margin - like an elephant on a seesaw with a mouse...IMHO.

DJ

Only con for the .25-06 I know of is that I ain't got but one of 'em......

And +++1 on the dead coyotes!!

I'am soon going to have a new 700 remy in 25-06 24 inch barrel and can't wait to sight her in!!!!

Maybe I missed this part earlier and my bad if I did, but what scope you gonna mount on your new rifle?

3x9x50 Nikon!!!!!!

If you own one you can shoot like a pro, if you are a con it is against the law for you to own one.

I just ran up on a nice, new or as new Ruger 77 in .25-06, magnum sized rifle, gloss blue, walnut, iron sights, for about $500, IIRC. If someone is looking for one, PM me.