Availability of .25-06 with 24" stainless barrel

[wombat13]

I'm starting to think about a rifle for my daughter. I've settled on .25-06 for a number of reasons. It seems most people suggest a 24" barrel for a .25-06 hunting rifle and I prefer stainless for hunting rifles. I'm hoping to get suggestions of available rifles. I've searched the websites for the following companies: Browning, Kimber, Remington, Ruger, Sako, Savage, Tikka, Weatherby/Vanguard, and Winchester. I've found the following that fit the bill:

Browning Stainless Stalker
Kimber Montana
Remington 700 SPS Stainless
Tikka T3x Varmint Stainless

Notably, Ruger and Savage didn't show any .25-06 rifles. Am I missing any options for off-the-shelf rifles fitting my criteria? Is the Kimber too light? My daughter is small, so I want a light rifle but I know it will increase felt recoil.

Thanks.

 

[MattB]

If the rifle is for your daughter alone, you should take a look at the Savage Lady Hunter or the Weatherby Camilla. These are lady/women specific design rifles that fit a woman better than any other rifles from the factory and are lightweight and balanced for women. I bought my wife .243 and .30-06 Savage Lady hunter rifles and she loves them. The .30-06 with full boar loads does kick pretty good but the .243 is perfect for power and recoil in the rifle. The rifles come in at 7.5-7.8lbs with scope/rings (stock wood density is lighter on the .30-06 rifle). I know you wanted stainless as I did for my wife but your daughter will shoot and enjoy her rifle much better if it fits her. You could always get a quote from savage for a Stainless Savage Ladyhunter but it would be more expensive but you could get it in .25-06 as well.

 

[wombat13]

Thanks, Matt. I'm concerned that both the Lady Hunter and the Camilla come with 20" barrels. That is probably fine for the chamberings offered, but seems like it would be much too short for the .25-06.

 

[MattB]

Hmm, might be able to purchase one in .270 win and buy a stainless barrel of 24" in .25-06 and be able to get what you want!

 

[Kman314]

Weatherby makes .25-06 rifles with 24" barrels, and most of their Vanguard line are reasonably priced. I don't see one in SS, but they do have a "Weatherguard" model that should be more rust resistant.

 

[Sunray]

"...I've settled on..." You should re-think you settling on what she's going to shoot and take her shopping.
"...didn't show any .25-06 rifles..." The .25-06 is kind of a niche cartridge. Isn't readily available everywhere.
Your Kimber weighs 5lbs 10 oz. Is kind of light. A 100 grain bullet at 3230 fps recoils at 11.0 ft-lbs. out of an 8 pound rifle. No 5 pound rifles on the recoil chart.
You really do not want a light weight rifle for a small statured person. Increases the felt recoil significantly. Anyway, even though a hunting rifle gets carried a lot more than it gets shot, the felt recoil can scare off a small statured shooter faster than a heavy rifle.
The 7 3/8 lbs. SPS is probably a better idea.

 

[VoodooMountain]

I was looking for a 24" ss 25-06 a couple years ago and found a Ruger 77 which fit the bill. They have now discontinued both the 25-06 and the stainless line in the hawkeye and honestly the rifle is a bit heavy anyway.

If faced with this dilemma today I would either get a savage and rebarrel it with er shaw or get a 270 and some 110gr sierras, or look real hard at a 6.5 chambering. If you can forget the ss and don't mind a 700 the adl that academy sells is about $400, has a 24" barrel, and is quite light.

Also, if you handload you can use faster powders such as varget or h4895 and work up a load that uses about the same amount of powder as a 308 based round. This gives your daughter 257 Roberts performance, as light of recoil as a 243, no blast, and you aren't penalized for a 22" barrel. By the way, this also applies to most 6.5 rounds such as creedmoor or 260.

Due to a surgery a few years ago I am not supposed to shoot rifles with much recoil and so keep recoil on my rifles at about10ft/lbs or below. I can say that most short or long action rounds can meet this criteria if you handload and still be effective up to elk or used long range on deer. I currently shoot 25-06 and 308 and have loads made from mice to meese. Just some food for thought.

Here is a recoil table for some comparison:

http://www.chuckhawks.com/recoil_table.htm

 

[LoonWulf]

or a reduction in catridge size....this is all depending on HER recoil tolerance. My wife if perfectly comfortable shooting full power .458 socom loads, and will hunt with my .300 tho she refuses to fire it off a bench. As a note, i believe savage will do something of a custom order. If they make the parts you can contact them and ask them to build a rifle to your spec, tho i dont think ive seen a .25-06 listed with a 24" barrel.

All that said, perhaps take a look at the 6.5s. If your reloading the 6.5-06 will give you some advantages over the .25-06, and the short 6.5s come very close in trajectory and performance, while reducing recoil in lighter guns a bit.

 

[jmr40]

Not a 25-06 fan, it is highly over rated by guys who only look at muzzle velocity and muzzle energy. You don't kill anything at the muzzle. You can get some impressive speeds at the muzzle, but no one makes decent 25 caliber bullets. They all have poor aerodynamics and shed speed quickly. If you look at the best loads a 243 will shoot 105 gr bullets at the same speed as 25-06 will shoot 115 gr bullets. The 25-06 has more energy inside of 200 yards, but by a small margin. Beyond 200 yards the more aerodynamic 243 bullets not only hit with more energy, but shoot flatter and with less recoil. The .014" difference in bullet diameter is a non-factor.

I'd revise my caliber selection. A 243 is more than adequate for any deer on the planet. If you feel the need for a bigger bullet skip right over the 25's and go to 260 or 6.5 Creedmoor. Now you're able to get a compact rifle that works with a shorter barrel, less weight, less recoil, and better down range performance.

 

[Llama Bob]

Not a 25-06 fan, it is highly over rated by guys who only look at muzzle velocity and muzzle energy. You don't kill anything at the muzzle. You can get some impressive speeds at the muzzle, but no one makes decent 25 caliber bullets. They all have poor aerodynamics and shed speed quickly.

You've been called out on this before, but you continue to spread misinformation. There's nothing wrong with .257 bullets. For example, the 110gr accubond (pretty much the classic hunting bullet) can be shot at 3250 ft/s, and retains enough energy for deer and stays in the bullet's velocity window out to about 700 yards depending on your elevation.

.25-06 remains a popular medium game caliber for a very good reason - it's suitable for most deer, antelope, sheep and goat species, low recoil, extremely flat shooting, and has more reach than you can ethically make use of. The Federal Fusion ammo is cheap, accurate in nearly all guns, and uses a premium bullet. The OP should have no concern about getting one. I would recommend a Montana Rifle Company X2 - the barrel is 26", but I think the weight might serve you well for a youger shooter vs. say the lighter Kimber. The Kimbers are nice rifles though - I have a classic select in .25-06.

 

[wombat13]

"...I've settled on..." You should re-think you settling on what she's going to shoot and take her shopping.
"...didn't show any .25-06 rifles..." The .25-06 is kind of a niche cartridge. Isn't readily available everywhere.
Your Kimber weighs 5lbs 10 oz. Is kind of light. A 100 grain bullet at 3230 fps recoils at 11.0 ft-lbs. out of an 8 pound rifle. No 5 pound rifles on the recoil chart.
You really do not want a light weight rifle for a small statured person. Increases the felt recoil significantly. Anyway, even though a hunting rifle gets carried a lot more than it gets shot, the felt recoil can scare off a small statured shooter faster than a heavy rifle.
The 7 3/8 lbs. SPS is probably a better idea.

Thanks for the comments. I will take her shopping, but there is nowhere around here that is going to let her shoot a rifle before buying, so I don't know what you are suggesting. We have to pick a chambering, that's just how it is. How light would you suggest. Some of the available rifles are over 9 lbs. I think that's too heavy. If under 6 lbs is too light, how light would you go?

 

[wombat13]

Thanks for the comments, but I'm not really interested in any other chamberings right now. I've done my homework on ballistics, powders, bullets, etc. I have other reasons to pick .25-06 as well. Just looking for comments on available rifles and best ideal rifle weight.

 

[joed]

You've been called out on this before, but you continue to spread misinformation. There's nothing wrong with .257 bullets. For example, the 110gr accubond (pretty much the classic hunting bullet) can be shot at 3250 ft/s, and retains enough energy for deer and stays in the bullet's velocity window out to about 700 yards depending on your elevation.

.25-06 remains a popular medium game caliber for a very good reason - it's suitable for most deer, antelope, sheep and goat species, low recoil, extremely flat shooting, and has more reach than you can ethically make use of. The Federal Fusion ammo is cheap, accurate in nearly all guns, and uses a premium bullet. The OP should have no concern about getting one. I would recommend a Montana Rifle Company X2 - the barrel is 26", but I think the weight might serve you well for a youger shooter vs. say the lighter Kimber. The Kimbers are nice rifles though - I have a classic select in .25-06.

I've wondered about jmr40's posting too, any time the .25-06 subject comes up he posts that. Probably the only thing I don't see eye to eye with him on. Granted the .25-06 doesn't have a huge choice of bullets but it does have a reasonable choice of good bullets. I also don't know of many .243s that come from the manufacturer with a twist to stabilize that 105 gr bullet. I can tell you my Winchester Featherweight from 2013 won't.

I own a .243, sure it's a nice cartridge, but it won't do what the .25-06 will.

 

[VoodooMountain]

If you are dead set on the 25-06 with a 24" ss barrel Remington offers the sps in stainless.

The Weatherby will be too heavy for many youths depending on how you hunt but I feel is a better rifle based on the howas I have.

Winchester also has the m70 in stainless

 

[Cannibul]

I'd look really hard at a.260 Rem. Chambers in a short action which shaves a few ounces of total weight. Also a shorter bolt travel. Lots of good 6.5 mm bullets out there.

 

[RevJim]

Go with the Remington 700 SPS. later on, if it just doesn't shoot like you want, you can always have it "Blueprinted, pillar bedded, after market trigger added and a target crown. they respond very well to accurizing. "However", I once had a Mod 700 Classic in 25-06 ( wood stocked) right out of the box shoot very well. it only needed the stock trigger lightened up a bit. I used handloads with the Sierra 117 SBT. Awesome muley load!

 

[joed]

I'd look really hard at a.260 Rem. Chambers in a short action which shaves a few ounces of total weight. Also a shorter bolt travel. Lots of good 6.5 mm bullets out there.

Not to start a flame war or anything but this is why I don't spend much time here anymore. The OP wants a .25-06 yet you'll see posts from others extolling the virtues of the 6.5 mm anytime some other cartridge is mentioned. Weight savings? How many oz? Shorter bolt? 1/2" maybe.

wombat13, my hats off to you on sticking to the cartridge. It is indeed a good one, I've kept mine for 38 years.

 

[Mr. Hill]

The SPS will be a great rifle. And nothing wrong with the .25-06, the deer that fall to it won't give a whit about the numbers.
Edited to add: I know you want a 24" barrel and, to an extent, I agree with that desire; but using a 22" barrel probably won't significantly affect much of anything out to 100 yards or so. So I guess my point is that if you find a rifle you like with a 22" barrel, you should consider buying it and not worry too much about the velocity loss.

 

[Llama Bob]

I've wondered about jmr40's posting too, any time the .25-06 subject comes up he posts that. Probably the only thing I don't see eye to eye with him on. Granted the .25-06 doesn't have a huge choice of bullets but it does have a reasonable choice of good bullets. I also don't know of many .243s that come from the manufacturer with a twist to stabilize that 105 gr bullet. I can tell you my Winchester Featherweight from 2013 won't.

I own a .243, sure it's a nice cartridge, but it won't do what the .25-06 will.

The .257 has bullets in every class I can think of - limited expansion bone breakers like the A-Frame, tipped bonded premiums (scirocco, accubond, interbond), copper premiums (X-bullet, GMX, E-Tip), partitions, generic cup and core bullets with and without tip (interlock, core-lokt), varmint bullets as light as 70 grains, and even a VLD bullet. Availability is excellent. The heavier bullets all have G1 BCs in the .45 range, and driven at 3000 ft/s+ that's way more than enough. There's not any hunting bullet type I use in any other caliber other than stopping solids that isn't available in .257. And I can't imagine what a stopping solid would be used for in .25-06 - maybe putting down a rabid marmot?

I have nothing against the necked down .308 variants and their ballistic twins. But .25-06 covers so much ground, and does it in such a pleasant to shoot way, that I'm quite happy to hunt with it. I think it's one of if not the best caliber for non-ambitious hunting anywhere where long shots may be required. Sure for bigger animals you're going to want a bigger gun. But the bulk of hunting opportunities aren't elk.

 

[rayatphonix]

Wombat, I've got an older Tikka M695 in 25-06. Works very well on southern deer. Barrel is 22.6" though. If you can get past that you'll get a very accurate rifle. I'd recommend you try one if possible.

 

[LoonWulf]

Nothing wrong with sticking with the .25-06, as stated it'll do just about anything one would really ask of a "light medium" game rifle. Ive wanted one for a while but always picked something else at the time. So good on you for choosing a solid round....now we can argue about rifles.

I think the 700 might be the best option of the bunch. Reason being is (again not knowing your daughters build, recoil tolerance, comfortable carry weight) there are a multitude of after market stock and modification options. Its a good gun out of the box, usually, and if you or she finds the need to change stuff it will cost less than any of the others besides savage.

 

[joed]

I've always liked the Remington 700s. My .25-06 is a 700 and I own 2 other 700s chambered in other cartridges. The only other bolt rifles I own are Winchesters which I like equally well. I do own an SPS stainless that has been very good. I did change the stock and trigger on the SPS but for the price it was a good deal. There are a lot of aftermarket items for the Remingtons.

My .25-06 has a 24" barrel and it's my favorite. I prefer a 24" barrel over 26" but that's just me.

 

[JimKirk]

The Tikki T3x Camo Stainless in .25/06 would be a sweet rifle .... it does only have 22.4" barrel .... but my Browning A-Bolt in .25/06 has a 22" and I killed a bunch of deer with it and by reloading I can get some really good velocity ... the Nolser Accubond 110 gr at 3190 fps(chronographed) does really well with deer ....

It may be luck of the draw ... but the A-Bolt(22") yields higher velocity than did the Win 70(24") .... each rifle is different ....

 

[foxtrotter]

I'm starting to think about a rifle for my daughter. I've settled on .25-06 for a number of reasons. It seems most people suggest a 24" barrel for a .25-06 hunting rifle and I prefer stainless for hunting rifles. I'm hoping to get suggestions of available rifles. I've searched the websites for the following companies: Browning, Kimber, Remington, Ruger, Sako, Savage, Tikka, Weatherby/Vanguard, and Winchester. I've found the following that fit the bill:

Browning Stainless Stalker
Kimber Montana
Remington 700 SPS Stainless
Tikka T3x Varmint Stainless

Notably, Ruger and Savage didn't show any .25-06 rifles. Am I missing any options for off-the-shelf rifles fitting my criteria? Is the Kimber too light? My daughter is small, so I want a light rifle but I know it will increase felt recoil.

Thanks.

To quote an old Hot Rod Magazine "Speed costs, how fast ya wanna go?" The 25-06 does require a long barrel to really get going. It loses about 50 FPS for every inch of length reduction. One can get a stainless 26" rifle off the shelf but it is expensive.
Weatherby 5 + 1 25-06 MarkV Ultra Lightweight/Stainless Barrel ...

 

[Lloyd Smale]

the old rem 700 lss guns were good looking and came in a 24 inch 2506 as did the old bdl stainless synthetic.