longdayjake
Member
They have 75 grain bullets that you can push up to 3,800fps reliably. But I have never seen any 130 grainers.
Popularity of the .25/06
- Thread starter Shawnee
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They have 75 grain bullets that you can push up to 3,800fps reliably. But I have never seen any 130 grainers.
Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow
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90, 100, 117, and 120 are the common weights. I think someone makes an 87 grainer, too. It's very hard to find bullets less than 87 or more than 120. Oddly enough, there does not seem to be many (any?) 110 grainers made. The "standard" seems to be the 100 grainer - it goes as fast as an 85 grainer from a .243, and IIRC about as fast as a 130 from a .270 win.
longdayjake
Member
A quick trip to Sportsman's Wharehouse I found some of 75 grains 85, 87, 90, 100, 110, 120. I bet that the reason 130's arent made is a barrel twist issue. Also, it is supposed to be a wildcat cartride. It may not shoot a 130 very fast or as well as a .30-06 can shoot. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't love to try to.
Shawnee
member
The 25/06 is sorta wasteful of powder but I don't know how many people would think that so important - maybe a few, maybe a lot.
I'm more inclined to think it's reputation has been hurt by the bullets commonly recommended for it.... another victim of Gunzine Lore.
Always when the scribes address the .25/06 they rush like lemmings to the 117-gr. and (later) the 120gr. Perhaps they do that to emphasize that the .25/06 offers a lot more than the .250 Savage or the .257 Roberts (or the .243/6mms) and also that maybe it can crowd into coveted .257 Weatherby territory.
Predictably - many new owners of the .25/06 probably shunned the excellent 87-gr. and 100-gr. bullets and decided they would use the 117/120 pills for deer - after all - more is always better - right ? I'd be willing to bet the .25 caliber 87-grainers are miserably slow-movers in the bullet/ammo world.
But maybe that approach fixed something that wasn't broken. Even the .250 Savage can toss the 87-grainer at 3000fps - that's how it got the "3000" in its' name - and it was a major favorite because doing so proved very lethal to deer. The .257 Roberts will do a smidgeon or two better and it, too, has a well-deserved reputation for great results in the deer parlors.
Of course no gun scribbler could ever wax praiseful of the use of the 87-grainer in the .25/06 because hunters would have just (rightfully) asked "WHY" - the .250 Savage and the Quarter-Bob aren't broken - who needs more thunder ?" And today with the eloquent .243 available to everyone - trying to justify the .25/06 with just deer hunting is a lost cause for sure.
So the .25/06 (and its' heavier-weight bullets) must be heralded as a "bigger-than-deer" caliber. Unfortunately - as others have pointed out - the .25/06 has to do all its' upward stretching in the shadows of the 7mm/08, the .270, the .260, the Swede and the 7x57 - and that puts it in a one-caliber race for 6th place.
Also as others have mentioned - for all the silly, mindless yapping about the "one caliber that does it all" - almost no one really wants that. So even though the .25/06 really is a viable "varmints-to-elk" caliber - that simply isn't what most hunters/shooters want.
As good as it is - or can be - it may be the .25/06 will always be a step-child - one of those cartridges that has sort of a "cult" following but never reaches the Kentucky Derby.
I'm more inclined to think it's reputation has been hurt by the bullets commonly recommended for it.... another victim of Gunzine Lore.
Always when the scribes address the .25/06 they rush like lemmings to the 117-gr. and (later) the 120gr. Perhaps they do that to emphasize that the .25/06 offers a lot more than the .250 Savage or the .257 Roberts (or the .243/6mms) and also that maybe it can crowd into coveted .257 Weatherby territory.
Predictably - many new owners of the .25/06 probably shunned the excellent 87-gr. and 100-gr. bullets and decided they would use the 117/120 pills for deer - after all - more is always better - right ? I'd be willing to bet the .25 caliber 87-grainers are miserably slow-movers in the bullet/ammo world.
But maybe that approach fixed something that wasn't broken. Even the .250 Savage can toss the 87-grainer at 3000fps - that's how it got the "3000" in its' name - and it was a major favorite because doing so proved very lethal to deer. The .257 Roberts will do a smidgeon or two better and it, too, has a well-deserved reputation for great results in the deer parlors.
Of course no gun scribbler could ever wax praiseful of the use of the 87-grainer in the .25/06 because hunters would have just (rightfully) asked "WHY" - the .250 Savage and the Quarter-Bob aren't broken - who needs more thunder ?" And today with the eloquent .243 available to everyone - trying to justify the .25/06 with just deer hunting is a lost cause for sure.
So the .25/06 (and its' heavier-weight bullets) must be heralded as a "bigger-than-deer" caliber. Unfortunately - as others have pointed out - the .25/06 has to do all its' upward stretching in the shadows of the 7mm/08, the .270, the .260, the Swede and the 7x57 - and that puts it in a one-caliber race for 6th place.
Also as others have mentioned - for all the silly, mindless yapping about the "one caliber that does it all" - almost no one really wants that. So even though the .25/06 really is a viable "varmints-to-elk" caliber - that simply isn't what most hunters/shooters want.
As good as it is - or can be - it may be the .25/06 will always be a step-child - one of those cartridges that has sort of a "cult" following but never reaches the Kentucky Derby.
longdayjake
Member
Shawnee, good post. However, I personally have seen quite the surge of the .25-06 in popularity. When I first got mine everyone that I ever talked to about it squinted their eyes and said "whats a .25-06?" More recently almost everyone I talk to about it says, "hey, thats a great gun!" I have seen several articles in the various gun mags that praise it. Almost everyone I talk to these days can only base their opinion of the gun on what they read in a magazine though. I personally think that the popularity of the .25-06 depends on the "gun media" just as it seems our politics do. Though as a gun culture we often use the term "sheeple" to refer to those that flock to the lies and ideology of the mainstream media and whatever the most popular celebrity says, I have seen the same "flocking" of gun enthusiasts toward calibers and various firearm models simply because of all of the things said in gun mags. I know this isn't true of everyone, but there must be a reason for everyone's opinion when many have no actual experience at all.
brasskeeper
Member
Bullet selection and 120gr is the max
30-06 starts at 120 and goes up to 220
30-06 starts at 120 and goes up to 220
BigBuckMaster
member
what i mean by it aint good nuff, is i cant use it for elk or mooses or (the name gives me chills) my fav place, AFRICA
MachIVshooter
Member
Available .257" bullet weights are 75, 80, 85, 87, 90, 100, 110, 115, 117 & 120. Everything from basic spitzers to Bergerr VLD, CT Failsafe, and the classic Sierra Gameking. The 115''s, 117's & 120's have higher B.C. and S.D than a 130 gr. .277".
Lighter .257" bullets are available, but they were designed for the .25-20 & .25-35, and will blow up at .25-06 velocities.
I see no reason why one must omit the .25-06 from their collection just because they want more than one "do-it-all" rifle. What's wrong with a .22-250 for varmints, a .25-06 for Antelope & deer and a .30-06 or 7mm RM for Elk/Moose? I guess I'm just missing something here where it makes more sense to have a less powerful deer rifle (.243, etc) just because you have a larger gun (7mm/.30/.338) for elk.
I dunno. I guess I just like a supreme deer slayer that has a super-flat trajectory with minimal recoil.
Ridgerunner665
Member
The 270 Winchester...
qajaq59
Member
Thanks Shawnee. It will give me a bit more to read.
Shawnee
member
Hi MachIV...
I'm not sayin the .25/06 is a poor caliber - it's a fine one. It's popularity is what sags and I think it could well be because people who don't handload are faced with a very disappointing selection of bullets and if they go for any of the 80gr. - 100gr. loads they are looking at over $30/box even at places like Midway. I don't know what WallyWorld charges but I bet they carry mostly 117/120-grainers and those aren't varmint bullets.
I'm not sayin the .25/06 is a poor caliber - it's a fine one. It's popularity is what sags and I think it could well be because people who don't handload are faced with a very disappointing selection of bullets and if they go for any of the 80gr. - 100gr. loads they are looking at over $30/box even at places like Midway. I don't know what WallyWorld charges but I bet they carry mostly 117/120-grainers and those aren't varmint bullets.
the last message hit it right there
Not only that, when you have other calibers such as 30-06, 7 mag, 223. It just doesn't fit in. Besides the 30-06 and the 7 mag does a better job on deer. the 223 does just fine on varmints.
The 25-06 is more expensive then the 7 mag on bullets unless you hand load.
steve
Not only that, when you have other calibers such as 30-06, 7 mag, 223. It just doesn't fit in. Besides the 30-06 and the 7 mag does a better job on deer. the 223 does just fine on varmints.
The 25-06 is more expensive then the 7 mag on bullets unless you hand load.
steve
TCB in TN
Member
Picking a hunting cal is about the trade offs. With the 25-06 it just has to many things going against it. For deer hunting the .243 is more common, has cheaper ammo, with a greater over the counter variety, and the performance is fairly close, for bullets in the same size range. Further more (and this is for you Shawnee) the .243 has a lesser recoil, not a lot but a noticeable amount.
Then when you compare it to the 30-06 (its daddy) it has lesser recoil, but again the ammo is less common and more expensive, it is not capable of handling the same range of bullets (commercially from 110's up to 220's) meaning that it is less likely to be good for as many applications.
In general I like the 25-06 and if I find a real good deal on another one I would gladly pick it up, but to go out and specifically buy one over the 30-06, .308, .243, or .270 just doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
Then when you compare it to the 30-06 (its daddy) it has lesser recoil, but again the ammo is less common and more expensive, it is not capable of handling the same range of bullets (commercially from 110's up to 220's) meaning that it is less likely to be good for as many applications.
In general I like the 25-06 and if I find a real good deal on another one I would gladly pick it up, but to go out and specifically buy one over the 30-06, .308, .243, or .270 just doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
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