Thoughts of another rifle for hunting

I'll talk you into a new rifle. Who wants to re-zero between deer and elk season? That's at least twice a year, no thanks. With the kids in school and what not, I don't have time for that. You'll wear out your barrel faster. You need a backup rifle anyway, I always bring two rifles on a big game hunt and I've used my backup before too. Spice up your shooting life by working up new loads, new rifle etc.

If I was going to do a dedicated coues rig... 257 Roy or 270 WSM would probably be my front runners. 7mm WSM would be sweet. 284 Win would be cool. 25-06 would do just fine. Really anything between .257-.284" would be great, might as well get what you want. You hand load so find something that intrigues you and have at it. It's hard enough finding those little suckers and getting within range, you might as well shoot them with exactly what you want to shoot them with.

SOLD!

Lennyjoe said:

What about the 6.5 Creedmore?

Click to expand...

Doesn't have anything over the 260 except cost per round.

Some other things to consider.
You can make 25-06 brass from 30-06 brass
They use the same primers
You can keep the same shell holder in your press and your hand primer.
No need to adjust your case trimmer from one to the other.

Or just stick with your universal .30-06.

If you want another rifle you could do a lot worse than a
25-06. It is accurate, and joy to own and shoot.
I have owned quite a few throughout the years.
It is also very loud and has a considerable muzzle blast.

If you are wandering if the 30-06 is up to challenge for your task
I would say yes and as much or more so than the 25-06.
If you reload you can do a lot more with the 30-06 than the 25-06.
you can load down to a 25 with the 30 but you can’t load up to what
the 30 can do with the 25.

If (there is that word again) you want a new rifle and want to open up
a new world of shooting I would say go with the afore mentioned
7mm Magnum. This way you have a new gun and it will encompass
what the 30-06 will do and then some.

Personally and from my experience I would stay with the 30-06.
All of the ifs are because it is you and not me.

Just my opinion.

Good hunting Good shooting.

I've used a multitude of cartridges on these couse deer, all have done a fine job. Last year we had .243 win, .270 win. and the 7 mag. All 3 of the above have enabled us to take extreme shots with confidence.

One particular aspect to consider when hunting couse, is that they are small, and often the shot you may get at a respectable one will be at extended distances, 300 yds. plus. That said a flat shooting rig is nice to have if you are set up for that kind of shooting, which includes a range finder, knowing where your rifle shoots at various distances, and a chrony to help with the ballistic calculations.

GS

Of course we have a duty to enable our fellow hunter, yes you need another flatter shooting gun.

Very interesting thread. I would never try to dissuade a man from buying another rifle... In England I hunt deer between muntjac and red stags. A lowland red stag is a very big animal... 35 stone... I use one rifle and one load for them all .30-06 and hornady 165 INTERLOCK. or geco 170 factory loads. Because the deer might be smaller there is no need to go to a smaller bullet. The heavy controlled expansion bullet will not suddenly start to expand explosively. If I was shooting out to 500 yards I would get a decent laser. Down load strelok and practise.

Well, I'm not going to sell my other two game rifles just because i hardly every use 'em anymore. My .308 Remington M7 stainless is my go to rifle for deer and hogs. I think if I got a chance to go to the mountains to hunt elk, I'd probably rely on it, too, rather than take my 7 mag. Reason is, that little Remington is a LOT lighter to carry in rough country for an old man that's out of shape than that rather heavy Savage 110. And, out to 250-300 yards, I don't think it'd lack umph with a good load and it's 3/4 MOA accurate, so I can put the bullet where it counts. The 7 is accurate, just a heavy beast to carry around.

Anyway, yeah, I think the OP needs another rifle, whatever turns him on. One is never enough.

I would keep the .30-06 and load 165 grain bullets for both deer and elk.

The "flatter" .25-06 isn't really much flatter.
According to Remington's ballistics calculator a factory 165 grain Accutip from a .30-06 drops 46.2 inches at 500 yds, with a 200 yd zero.
The .25-06 with a 115 grain bullet drops 42.5 inches. That is a miniscule difference when considering what goes into a shot at that range.

With today's premium bullets the 15 grain difference doesn't matter nearly as much as it used to when expansion was unreliable and heavier bullets were needed for larger game.
Now a 165 grain NP, Barnes TSX, Swift A-frame or a few other premium bullets offer better penetration than the 180-200 grain bullets from years past.

Experiment with a few of those and use the one your gun shoots the most accurately for both species.

HOWEVER, if you're just looking for an excuse to buy a new rifle (which I am all the time) then by all means do it. You can't have too many.
If you're wanting flat shooting the .270 WSM only drops 28.5" at 500 with the 200 yd zero. I would zero it 3" high at 100 which would put you about dead nuts on at 300 and would decrease that drop even more at 500.
Then your main concern would be getting the correct range.

Well.... if your just trying to talk yourself into another rifle you might take a look at the Winchester model 70 in a 270 short mag (WSM). That is a fast flat shooting gun with plenty of knock down power. Pretty affordable too.

Since we are talking about spending your money... For a little more I also like the Weatherby Vanguard 25-06.

Just a matter of practice and a good scope shooting at 4-500 yards. That 30-06 will do what you want to do.

Arkansas Paul
2 minutes apart... Same Idea

See Post #33.