25-06

[L. Cooper]

Drew.

Just some thoughts on this decision, and before I say this, I want to be clear that I have a .300 Win. and use it whenever I think its level of power might be useful.

To get the most of a magnum case you need at least 24 inches of barrel. In a full length action, the resulting gun is longer than I like. I do find long rifles to be more difficult to carry in heavy bush. But the ballistic advantages are sometimes worth the price. You pay less with a single shot action.

The .300 is very loud. I do not like to shoot it without hearing protection at all. When I'm hunting, I do not use protection, and I believe it is loud enough to be bad for me. Sometimes the ballistic advantages are worth it.

I would never put a muzzle brake on any rifle I will ever shoot without hearing protection. If the recoil is more than you can ignore without a muzzle brake (and the .300 Win in a light rifle approaches my limits of tolerance) don't use that round. Hearing is more important than the ballistic advantages. Besides, the ballistic advantages are not all that great for many applications. There is nothing you can do to an antelope that cannot be done with a .25-06, and done with much less hearing loss.

The moose, however, is another story. That is where I think the disadvantages of the .300 are worth the ballistic advantage, and I think you have hit the wall on the light bullet weights of rounds like the .25-06.

If you will really hunt moose often, your choice is made for you, but if moose hunting is really only a future possibility, I would not put up with all the fuss and bother of any of the magnum rounds.