I do handload and I am 55 years old, killed my first deer at age 11 with my grandpa's .257 Roberts in an old Remington M722 short action. So, I guess I'm HIGHLY biased. LOL However, you couldn't give me 10 BDLs in .25-06 for my .257. I'll never ever sell it. I had it reblued a while back and refinished the stock. I will eventually put another Weaver scope on it, have a Bushnell on it now. It originally had an old Weaver KV that served for years. Still have the scope, it finally gave out and fogged up. LOL
I actually won a BDL in .25-06 at a gun show, was the door prize. Since I already have a .257, I traded that gun for what I really wanted at the time, a stainless Remington M7 in .308 Winchester. That's my favorite hunting rifle now, has a 2x10 Weaver on it, but the old .257 ain't far behind. I still love that old gun. God only knows how many Texas whitetail have fallen to it and it still shoots 3/4 MOA, can shoot a tick off a deer's butt at 100 yards. I've used that old gun to humiliate a few high dollar guns and scopes in club bench rest shoots in the sporting rifle class they were shooting. It wasn't formal bench rest, but I got a kick out of one old boy in the club that is really into his Klinguther/Schmit and Bender stuff. I thoroughly miffed him off to the point he said nothing, stuck his bazillion dollar rigs in his truck and drove home...ROFLMAO!
I handload two favorites with 4831, one using a 100 grain Sierra Game King (3/4 MOA and my favorite deer load) and a Hornady 117 grain interlock (1 moa and very deep penetrating bullet). I push that 100 grainer to 3150 fps and that Hornady 117 to 3050 fps. I don't think a .25 caliber bullet needs to go any faster'n that and it's light recoiling and deadly accurate. The gun is rather light, 22" barrel, short action (fast) and handles GREAT. Nope, I don't need no stinkin' .25-06. I plan to hopefully hand this one down to MY grandkid in the future.
BTW, not long after I inherited that .257, I also inherited my grandpa's old reloading press. I still use those old Pacific dies and press for this caliber. They'll probably last as long as the gun. The old C press weighs as much as a small car. LOL