First deer rifle, thinking 25-06
- Thread starter Tomex
- Start date
waterboy68
New member
I picked up one from Academy last year in .243 and it seems to be a good shooter. I'm using handloads, but it will group under an inch easily if I do my part. Decent gun for the price I suppose. The trigger may not be the best, (It's really not bad) but it's certainly better than alot of guns I've had. The stock isn't anything special, but it is solid and fits me well. I was planning on painting it anyway so I wasn't really worried about how it looked. Hard to tell in the picture, but this one has a dark green stock.
Still haven't painted it yet.
I have worked up some 100gr loads to try as well, but it's just been too damn hot here to go shooting lately.
Still haven't painted it yet.
I have worked up some 100gr loads to try as well, but it's just been too damn hot here to go shooting lately.
Nico Testosteros
New member
Check out the CDNN catalog. I believe they have a Howa for $339 or so in .25-'06.
I am a gunsmith and I have made, sold, seen used, and used the 25-06 for almost 40 years. It's one of the best deer calibers made. The only caution I'll give in hunting deer with it is simply to NOT use bullets that are too thinly jacketed.
The 25-06 is a bit over bore and very very fast. It's not called a "Magnum" but from the standpoint of a cartridge engineer, it absolutely is a magnum.
It requites good bullets to work to its potential. Avoid bullets of any weight that do not hold together on impact. Just because a bullet is 120 grains is not a guarantee that it’s going to stand up to the impact at 200 yards of closer.
I have friends that I was hunting with Waaaaaaaay back when I was a very young teenager who used 25-06, and I also have guided hunters now for over 40 years, and I have seen them used on big western Mule deer, Whitetails, and some on black bear and even elk.
Many .257” bullets have been in production since the 2 most popular 25s were the 250 Savage and the 257 Roberts. They have not beefed those bullets up in 60 years. They are fine for shells that throw them at slower speeds, but just are not up to the task of a close range shot on a deer at 25-06 velocity. Sure…..they will kill, but they often don’t penetrate as well as we’d like and the meat destruction is awful.
I own a 25-06 I made for a very dear friend of mine, Bob Ellis. I made 14 rifles for Bob over the years I knew him, and he was a fineman, a true friend and game shot the likes of which most men only dream about being. He died a few years ago and he left it to me. Bob was a real rifleman and I made rifles for him from 223s to 338s. The one he liked most at the end years of his life was the 25-06.
He got too old to go after elk, but was a deer and antelope hunter right to the end. He left me his favorite rifle when he died and I treat it as an old friend would have wanted me to. I hunt with it now and then, and I know what it’s capable of. Bob used that rifle to kill about 10 head of game when I was hunting with him, and i have killed 8 deer and antelope myself with it.
The bullets I have used, and seen used that make the 25-06 all it can be are the Nosler Partitions, Barnes X and Triple shocks, 120 grain Remington Core-Lockts, Swift, and all the new bonded core bullets.
For varmints (nd anything you don’t want to keep the fur from,)the 100 grain Remington is good, but they will blow up in a coyote. In Bob’s old rifle and in most other 25-06s I have tried them in, they hold under MOA, but they will not hold together on a deer. If you want to kill varmints however, they are cheap, accurate and will cut a small coyote or fox almost in half.
Ok….I have rambled on long enough.
I hope this help you, and happy hunting.
The 25-06 is a bit over bore and very very fast. It's not called a "Magnum" but from the standpoint of a cartridge engineer, it absolutely is a magnum.
It requites good bullets to work to its potential. Avoid bullets of any weight that do not hold together on impact. Just because a bullet is 120 grains is not a guarantee that it’s going to stand up to the impact at 200 yards of closer.
I have friends that I was hunting with Waaaaaaaay back when I was a very young teenager who used 25-06, and I also have guided hunters now for over 40 years, and I have seen them used on big western Mule deer, Whitetails, and some on black bear and even elk.
Many .257” bullets have been in production since the 2 most popular 25s were the 250 Savage and the 257 Roberts. They have not beefed those bullets up in 60 years. They are fine for shells that throw them at slower speeds, but just are not up to the task of a close range shot on a deer at 25-06 velocity. Sure…..they will kill, but they often don’t penetrate as well as we’d like and the meat destruction is awful.
I own a 25-06 I made for a very dear friend of mine, Bob Ellis. I made 14 rifles for Bob over the years I knew him, and he was a fineman, a true friend and game shot the likes of which most men only dream about being. He died a few years ago and he left it to me. Bob was a real rifleman and I made rifles for him from 223s to 338s. The one he liked most at the end years of his life was the 25-06.
He got too old to go after elk, but was a deer and antelope hunter right to the end. He left me his favorite rifle when he died and I treat it as an old friend would have wanted me to. I hunt with it now and then, and I know what it’s capable of. Bob used that rifle to kill about 10 head of game when I was hunting with him, and i have killed 8 deer and antelope myself with it.
The bullets I have used, and seen used that make the 25-06 all it can be are the Nosler Partitions, Barnes X and Triple shocks, 120 grain Remington Core-Lockts, Swift, and all the new bonded core bullets.
For varmints (nd anything you don’t want to keep the fur from,)the 100 grain Remington is good, but they will blow up in a coyote. In Bob’s old rifle and in most other 25-06s I have tried them in, they hold under MOA, but they will not hold together on a deer. If you want to kill varmints however, they are cheap, accurate and will cut a small coyote or fox almost in half.
Ok….I have rambled on long enough.
I hope this help you, and happy hunting.
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
For all that I'm not a fan of the .25-'06, I surely have no argument whatsoever with Wyosmith. 
But care in bullet selection is for sure important.
I wouldn't jump into this thread except that for most Texas deer, a .243 is plenty of gun. In general, the only reason I'd downrate a .30-30 is that there is always that chance for a shot beyond the typical utility of a .30-30--in the more open parts of the state, compared to, say, the east Texas wooded country.
Central and western Texas? The .25-'06 would work quite well.
But care in bullet selection is for sure important.I wouldn't jump into this thread except that for most Texas deer, a .243 is plenty of gun. In general, the only reason I'd downrate a .30-30 is that there is always that chance for a shot beyond the typical utility of a .30-30--in the more open parts of the state, compared to, say, the east Texas wooded country.
Central and western Texas? The .25-'06 would work quite well.
ndking1126
New member
.25-06 is an excellent round. The only downside is price of off-the-shelf ammo. If you plan on shooting less than a box or two per year then I doubt price would be an issue. Having said that, there are many great options for deer from .243 on up to .30-06 if you wanted to. If I thought there was a chance I would run across some of those really big Texas deer and have a 200-300 (or longer) yard shot, I would want something bigger than a .243 though. .25-06 would be my minimum in that situation.
Vanguard/Howa's are great rifles for the money. Can't go wrong with them. You could also compare them to a similiarly priced savage and see which one feels better.
Vanguard/Howa's are great rifles for the money. Can't go wrong with them. You could also compare them to a similiarly priced savage and see which one feels better.
I'm using both Sierra 100 grain BTSP and Remington 100gr flat base Corelokt in the 25/06 with good results on deer and coyote. Don't expect to get full penetration on bigger deer with these bullets but most go down in their tracks or a short distance so not much need for trailing with chest shots. Coyotes are simply hammered to the ground in my experience. With the number of deer tags we can get here in MO, I can get a lot of experience with multiple deer rifles and I like the 25/06 a lot. It's a little destructive for meat deer but the reach is worth the loss.
I use a Savage 110 that I rebarreled myself which is very accurate with the above mentioned bullets or a Savage 110 FP with the factory heavy barrel which is a one hole 3 shot grouper with Remington factory 100 PSP Corelokt.
I use a Savage 110 that I rebarreled myself which is very accurate with the above mentioned bullets or a Savage 110 FP with the factory heavy barrel which is a one hole 3 shot grouper with Remington factory 100 PSP Corelokt.
I lusted for a .25-06 as a combination varmint-deer cartridge, long before it was a factory round, but never succumbed to it's magic.
The .25-06 is a great round, though the .270 Win doesn't tend to blow up as easily on deer at close range. The 130 grain .270 bullet holds energy a bit better at the longer ranges and can rival magnums when handloaded with great bullets. Factory ammo is much more available for it and costs considerably less. Core-Locts shoot accurately and work well in many rifles.
Another rifle to consider is the TC Venture.
The .25-06 is a great round, though the .270 Win doesn't tend to blow up as easily on deer at close range. The 130 grain .270 bullet holds energy a bit better at the longer ranges and can rival magnums when handloaded with great bullets. Factory ammo is much more available for it and costs considerably less. Core-Locts shoot accurately and work well in many rifles.
Another rifle to consider is the TC Venture.