.25-06 or .260...which is the better performer?

While .270Win is certainly a viable option for someone, the OP didn't ask for this choice. I will briefly state this, though regarding this cartridge, the .25-06, and the .260: For hunting purposes on game selected by the OP, any of them will provide the same result. So why choose a harder recoiling rifle? I wouldn't expect the average hunter to shoot more than 200-250 yards out so the trajectory isn't going to be substantially different between the three. The .260 is the only one that suffers factory ammo availability. Easiest recoiling, IMHO, goes to the .25-06 and that's the one I'd choose.

Now, if we're talking about target, the .270Win is just about the last cartridge I'd consider. If it's so great, then why is it I see absolutely NO rifles chambered in .270Win when going to shooting matches? We're talking about 600+ meters....
 
publius i wouldnt sell it. I really like the gun and the 264 mag. Its got some nostalgia appeal that to me the 7mag doesnt but in the field there about identical. i dont care much for the 270. Its not that its not a good round in the field its just that every wanabe expert on rifles thinks if he has a 270 hes some kind of a rifleman. Also the 270 wasnt in the choises. As wasnt the 06 and 280 which would be my top choises for what hes doing. As to the recoil thing. Give me a break guys. If you can shoot a 260 in a compact gun your probably shooting a rifle that recoils more then most 2506s rifles made. Bottom line is like someone else said were splitting hairs here. All of the guns mentioned would do a good enough job on deer that it isnt worth arguing about. Its more of a matter of personaly preference then it is to performance and my choise for a light short barreled bolt gun would hands down be a 308. My little model 7 308 has shot at least 50 deer and some a bit past 300 yards and loaded with cup and core 150s its never let me down. It wouldnt even be a consideration for me to replace it with a 260 or 708.
 
Last edited:
I said the .270 comment to be kind of tongue in cheek. Too many people get wrapped around the axle when it comes to their favorite cartridges and rifles. Does the .25-06 do anything better than the .260 or vice versa? Sure they do, just not enough to make the results turn out any different when hunting thin skinned animals. You put the bullet in the proper place and I doubt you’ll be able to tell the difference in how the animal reacts between the two.

You can crunch the numbers all you want and it still boils down to the fact they are very similar in performance on the same types of big game. The .260 is a little better choice because of bullets for elk, but the .25-06 is a better choice for varmints for the same reason. There is a lot of overlap in these two cartridges in terms of performance and 100-200 fps isn't going to make any difference.

Here is a quote from another forum, this member’s signature line and it helps to put a lot of things in perspective for me at least especially when talking firearms online.

What I have learned on internet forums:
1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place to get a steak dinner? is…you really want pork chops.

2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps.

3. The laws of physics do not apply to firearms in that there is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges and certain cartridges are so powerful that their kinetic energy can knock a big game animal off its feet but not knock the shooter who fired the cartridge off their feet.

4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified so it can carry at least 5 down.

5. While a floor plate and a detachable box magazine both use mechanical latches, only the floor plate latch is reliable regardless of the fact that almost every modern military rifle in the world uses a detachable box magazine including those chambered in 50 BMG.

6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact that it is the basis of the US Marine Corp M40 sniper rifle for over 40 years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military sniper units and law enforcement agencies than any other rifle.

7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR, and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting game that can shoot back are all PF actions.

8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (despite the fact most safaris take place in the winter) but not in TX or in CA.

9. It is not the size of the ding in the gun's finish that matters but whether or not the ding occurred in the safe or in the field because safe dings are okay but field dings are worse.

10. One (1) in a row is a trend, two (2) of anything is a statistically significant sample, and three (3) similar occurrences of anything is an irrefutable fact.
Click to expand...
 
i guess i base my post on the opinion i have the neither are guns id take elk hunting. What i use them for is deer. If elk was on the agenda id have at least an 06 and probably a mag of some kind. I kind of chuckle at guys that will tell you something like there 260 is just as powerful as a 2506 and then will argue a bit later that the 2506 is equal to the 270 and the 270 is equal to the 06 and the 06 is as good as a 300 mag. Pretty soon by looking at it youd have to say that a 243 is as good on elk as a 340 weatherby. Sorry guys but get over it. the 260 will never be a 2506 and wasnt designed to even compete with it. Its good at what it does just as a 2506 is but they both have there places. I know if im shooting at deer at 400 yards id grab a 2506 hands down over a 260. Now a fair comparison is it against the 7mauser or 708 or even the 243. To run with a 2506 in comparison in a 6.5 you need to step up to a 6.5-o6 Now thats a round with some real potential.
 
Lloyd,

Respectfully - the .260 and the 25-06 are nearly equivalent rounds. The smaller round (25-06) pushes smaller bullets slightly faster, while the larger round (.260) pushes bigger bullets slightly slower.

The difference is around 20 grains of bullet weight, 6 grains of powder, and 200 fps.

In other words, they are equivalent. The .260 does have a higher sectional density, and a better BC.
 
Doyle said:
...My personal need is for a short, light, treestand gun that can still reach out to 300 yds accurately. ...My little .260 fits the bill perfectly for what I do.
Click to expand...

The Rem Model 7 and Kimber 84M also perfectly fit the bill for most spot & stalk hunting and brush hunting. Light, short, easily maneuverable, and accurate for reasonable hunting ranges.

Just about the perfect all-around hunting rifle & cartridge.
 
cant see what the 260 does that the 25-06 doesnt do better.
Click to expand...

Lloyd, I have the utmost respect for you so don't take this the wrong way. I love the .25-06 but it is not as versatile as the .260. I know you may not believe in the 6.5 bullets, but I sure do. Velocity is great and it can get you a long way, but if it is coupled with low bc bullets it will literally only take you so far. If you are wanting to shoot accurate at longer distances you need the wind-resistant high-BC bullets. If you never shoot at distance you can't really know how important wind resistance is. Just because a round can reach way out there because it starts out going really fast does not mean it will be as close to the target as a slower bullet with really high BC. I hunt chucks at longer ranges whenever I get a chance. I have learned how important wind drift is when it comes to trying to hit small targets at 300-400+ yards. Heck, even at 200 yards a bullet can be blown off course and turn a hit into a miss. However, for deer I believe that either caliber will get the job done at pretty much any range that is ethical for either caliber. Also, powder efficiency and bullet selection tip the scale even further toward the .260. In short, I really do think the 6.5 bullets are magical.
 
Longday,

Thanks for summarizing the .260's advantages so succinctly - one of the other benefits is that it is a short action cartridge, so your rifle is accordingly lighter and handier, while maintaining the same barrel length.

The 25-06 is a great cartridge, but the .260 ranks up there as one of the most efficient cartridges period.

I really do think that factory ammo selection is getting better and better for the .260 - I see it taking off and being more popular than 7mm-08 by 2018, and should be easily found in all major sporting stores in the next 4-10 years.
 
Lloyd Smale said:
fullbore i guess my comparison comes from the fact that everyone i know that is using a 260 for the most part uses 120s or 130s. How could a 26 cal bullet have a better sectional density then a .25? If you go up to 140s and especially 160s the 260 wont come close to the real life velcocitys a 2506 will. My #1 2506 will push 120s easily to 3100 fps. I have to doubt if your going to even get close to 3000 with them in a 260 and if you ran most 260 loads over a chrono youd find that 2800 is more realistic. Now if you go to a 140 your going to get better sectional density but your giving up at least another 100 fps and it would take a shot way out of the normal even long range shots on game to make up that 2-300 fps. What the 260 is good at is as a whitetail gun for 250-300 yard shooting at deer in a nice little compact 20 inch gun. If your going to haul around a full sized gun I still stand behind the statement that if far outperforms the 260. I kind of chuckle at guys that think theres something majic about 6.5 bullets. Ive got a 264 and a 7mag and ive shot enough game with both to know that they are indentical in performace at all ranges. Personaly if i wanted to shoot 140s in a light gun id step up to a 708 as it will push them faster then a 260 and you dont have to hunt around all day finding bullets to feed it.
Click to expand...

If you don't, can't or won't reload then handsdown the 25-06 wins and the 25-06 has a much larger choice of factory rifles, but as I said I (me) think that the 260 has a number of advantages even though they are small IMHO there is a number of them that I think would sway the decision of someone wanting a rifle around the size of a 25-06 or 260rem.

1. Short Action so the rifle (same brand/model) will be shorter, lighter and faster.
2. Greater choice of bullets weights with the choice of going up to 160 grain bullets (40 grains over the 25-06) making it (the 260) more versatile.
3. More Hunting and Target bullets ect.
4.Much better sectional density and ballistic coefficient bullets.

I can reload the 123 grain Lapua Scenar at around 2970fps without any pressure signs and the 25-06 you will get around 100fps more but the 260 have much better s/d-b/c so theres really not much in it (I mostly use bullets around 140 grains for hunting and target). According to the recoil calulator the 260 and 25-06 are pretty darn close with the 260 just a little tiny bit better with the same weight bullets-rifles so again there's not much in it. IMHO the 260 makes a great long range hunting and target rifle. I know I must sound like a fanboy and although I love the 260 and talk it up as much as possible I still use a 308 a hell of a lot.
 
Last edited:
choose the rifle for the Game

I have pondered this same question 25/06 versus 260, 7-08 or 308. So what a guy to do? build two rifles. a 25/06 with a 24" barrel and 7-08 with a 20" barrel.

If I could have only one rifle it would be a 260, it would be a great a compromise.

Compromise while good in a marriage, not so good with firearms..,

(for the record I am DIVORCED)
 
I guess like i said i look at it a bit differnt. I have enough rifles in differnt calibers that i dont really look alot at a one size fits all gun. If i did have to go to one gun it would no doubt be an 06 as nothings more versitile. We do alot of crop damage deer shooting and it gives a guy alot of chances to compare performance of differnt rounds and loads. We hunt many differnt fields and what i do is look at the field and how long the shots are. I kind of lump guns into two groups. If shooting will be under 300 yards i take along a 308, 06, 280 257 roberts ect. Now to me the 260 fits in there well. When i know shots will run out to 400 and maybe a bit farther i take a 257 wby, 264mag 7mag or 300 mag of some sort and the only nonmag that fits in this group is my 2506. These choises arent based on paper ballistics or a math formula, there based on watching the acutal field performance of these rounds. Now i wont argue that some of the standard rounds wont get it done or even that some of the mags are overkill but doing crop damage shooting our first consern is putting the animal down where its shot. A little meat damage is preferable to having the animal run out into the crop where we are destroying the farmers crops to recover it or chasing around half the night finding a deer that ran off wounded. I have killed exactly zero deer with the 260. So mayby i should really coment on it but have killed many with the 257 roberts 708 243 ect and they just dont dump deer like the 2506 even at 200 yards and surely not a 400. Im sure you can come up with some math numbers that make me look silly in my opinion but ill go back to my real life experinces everytime. Now change this to regular deer season and youll seldom see me carrying a gun from the second group. 9 times out of 10 if im not hunting with a handgun its a rifle from the first group and in a handly small package. My two favorite rounds for that are probably the 250 sav and 257 roberts and i cant leave out the good old 308.
 
Lloyd, thanks for your response.

As you stated, you have never killed a deer with a .260 - and it is a completely different cartridge than the .243, 7mm-08, 257 Roberts, etc.

Try it - I think you will be VERY surprised.
 
I killed quite a few deer(4) and hogs(24) with my .260 this year... All were DRT shots, except one hog that ran about 10 feet. Ranges from 20-350yds.

I was shooting 140gr Sierra Game King bullets, factory loaded from Federal. After a little bit, I ran out of the Federal's (only had one partial box after sight-in). So I found a couple boxes of Remington 140gr PSP Managed-Recoil ammo (all I could get a hold of without driving for an hour). It performed extremely well also.

For those contemplating buying a .260 Rem as a well-rounded hunting gun, do it. You will not be disappointed.
 
Remington 140gr PSP Managed-Recoil ammo
Click to expand...

That's one of those marketing decisions that make you go "Hmmm?". The .260 is a soft-recoiling round already. Whey do they think they need to offer an even softer recoiling verson?
 
That's one of those marketing decisions that make you go "Hmmm?". The .260 is a soft-recoiling round already. Whey do they think they need to offer an even softer recoiling verson?
Click to expand...

My wife loves to shoot guns but doesn't have much fun when they scare her. The less they kick the more she smiles. So, though the .260 doesn't kick much already, it would probably make my wife happy to have it kick even less.
 
.260 might just be my next hunting caliber. I have been thinking about a NULA in that caliber. I don't have anything under the 7mm-08 other than the 22-250 and rimfire .22's. I am trying to look towards the future when I get really old and can't tote those 8+ pound rifles through the mountains with ease. :)

I know a deer hunter that uses the .260 in a T/C encore for deer and he loves that caliber.
 
Every week that goes by, I hear of someone else buying or thinking of buying a .260 - this cartridge is definitely on the rise in popularity.
 
I love the 260. I have another thread or two on the 260 in here somewhere. I just shot a .271, 4 shot gorup of 140 gr hornady interlocks @ 2800 fps from a model seven.
Reloading is a big consideration though. I can normally find a box or two of anything somewhere around town. I'd have to think that the 25-06 might be easier to track down though. I'd also bet that factory loads in 25-06 are closer to optimum performance than factory 260 loads are.
 
dsnyder,

I wouldn't be so sure about optimum performance (relative to the cartridge's capabilities) - the .260 was only introduced in the mid 1990's, so any rifles chambered for it would be capable of handling modern pressures.

In fact, the .260 is recommended as an alternative to the 6.5x55mm as many factory loads for the 6.5 are underpowered here in the US, while the .260 doesn't have that problem.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top