Hunting & Fishing .25-06

Re: .25-06

I have one, its a great deer gun and with 110gr Nosler Accubonds every deer has been dead right there. I never shot a fox with it but I imagine it would be far from fur friendly, on yotes you end up with a pile of goo and they are twice the size of a fox.

Ron
 
Re: .25-06

i only got onto this cal during the week i was i had narrowed my choice down to .308/6.5, but on thinkin of what i want the rifle for the 2 aforementioned is just too much gun, also considering what i want it for what would be a good twist rate?
 
Re: .25-06

In mine it's a 1-10 twist, thats pretty common and will handle the 75gr bullets all the way up to 110gr bullets, I never shoot anything heavier that 110gr. I'm guessing it will handle the 115, 117, and 120 if pushed hard enough but I never tried them. I use the 110gr Accubonds for deer and 85gr varmint Ballistic tips for dogs, this is all out of a custom barreled T/C Encore. This is strictly a hunting gun so I like the light weight and compact size.
 
Re: .25-06

My rifle is a Sako hunter with a S&B 2.5x10x56 scope.I have had it for 25 plus years and it is well used but it still shoots lights out.Im not sure about the twist but it shoots federal 117 grain great

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Re: .25-06

Brother Bill, bless his soul, left me an R700 .25-06 BDL heavy barrel in his will. A friend is playing with it right now getting it back up to speed for me; says the Rem 120gr Core-Lokt factory load packs a buncha recoil. The deer that can shrug that off hasn't been invented yet. I've seen a 120gr Nosler BT out of a .260 vaporize a 'Chuck and can only imagine that a 90gr softpoint from the .25-'06 might even trigger the formation of a Black Hole....
 
Re: .25-06

Love the rnd also... Killed many yotes and deer with the 25-06. One loves 100g Nos. BT and have another that lover 85's. Can't really go wrong with one and my only camplaint is that they are case stretching suckers,,, need to trim after 5 or so firings. Mr. Ackley fixed that problem for us.
 
Re: .25-06

Like a lot of significantly overbore chamberings, it's not at its best as a match cartridge. When I had the gun for a few months back in the late 90's, I never could find a load that would shoot all that well; and I didn't want to wash it out doing load development, so I sent it back to Bill before I did it any harm.

Now, it's 'mine' (technically, I'm holding it in stewardship for the next generation...), and the obligation exists to get it driving tacks again.

More (I'm sure...) to follow.

Greg
 
Re: .25-06

Have a 25-06 and don't believe you can go wrong with it. Mine shoots 75 gr V-Max well. For Varmints I use Nosler 85 gr BT. VERY Explosive. Rifle also shoots Sierra 100 Spitzers very well. My deer load is 115 Nosler BT and I use H4831 SC for the powder. Luck to you on this caliber and I don't think you will be disapointed in the caliber at all.
 
Re: .25-06

My cousin has a game farm here in SA and he only uses his 25-06AI on all the animals he hunts. He takes between 100 and 150 bucks a year ranging form springbuck (about 65lbs) to eland (about 1500 lbs). He kills varmints with it and uses it as his competition gun as well.

He shoots 100gr SMK's @ 3400fps and I have not seen him miss a lot in the 20 odd years we have been hunting together. He swears by this rifle.

I have seen him make some amazing shots at running game and at wounded game at ranges that you would not believe.
 
Re: .25-06

25-06 is a great round. I Have been sending stuff to the Chef for years with the 4 I play with.
Where you got to watch is your application,same as any other cal. really. It is definately in the high velocity class and you have mentioned 2 different applications,Fox for pelt and big game. This is 2 different bulletts in my world. The pelt bullet must zip through with minimal damage.While I have lodged 75 v max in a bobcat with little damage,most of the time in groundhog sized critters they come compleately unglued with that bullett. As for big game I have had excellent luck with almost all the premium bulletts at 100+ grains.
It is very versitile but do your homework and match the bullet to the application and you can have a true winner at both.
 
Re: .25-06

Sorry Greg I did not know him, I googled him and saw he hunted quite a bit in SA. I have only met a couple of American hunters as we do not cater specifically for overseas clients.

The 25-06 is not really a well known cartridge in SA. Due to the restrictive gun laws we tend to stick to the more popular calibers eg .308 30-06 .243 .270 etc. My cousin had a 25-06 built on a Ruger action with a 28inch shillen bbl (once again we mostly have to use what we can get rather than what we want).
I was sceptical about the 25's ability at first, but after the first hunt I fell in love with it. I have shot everything from our wild pigs to Kudu with it and the 100gr. SMK's really hammers game.

The 25-06 is showing up more at the competitions held by our hunting organizations as it is a forgiving round when your range estimation is not 100%. ( We shoot at lifesize targets at unknown distances from 100-350 meters, no rangefinders allowed). All the top guys are now shooting the 25-06 or .243.
 
Re: .25-06

Wow! 1500 lb eland... That's quite a testimonial. Makes my 250 pound mule deer seem mighty small!

Interesting comments, but it's obvious that there are quite a few very satisfied users of this fine cartridge!

Regards, Guy
 
Re: .25-06

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How about elk? I helped this fine young man take his first bull. He took this bull with one shot at 250 yards with his 25/06 shooting a 115gr Trophy Bonded Bearclaw. Broadside lung shot...he went less than 50 yards.