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.

[BILLY D.]

fabs

body mass is the story here. big guys tend to absorb all the recoil while us skinny guys just fly all over the place. our bodies don't have the mass to stop the recoil.

probably not a good way to explain the theory. it's the best i can do.

[Evan03]

220
22 250
2506
270
3006


these are my go to calibers. all in ruger rifles other than rem 700 270

they are all acuret with handloads and kill very well.

as to 2506. this has become my go rifle for most all my hunting and varmiting. i load 100gr nos bts as my all around varmit hunting load. even used it to take my deer this year at moderate range. range was just shy of 200yds. and was a one shot fall in yer tracks kinda deal.
i also play with 75gr vmaxes 90gr X and 75 gr sierras. im useing a mix batch of rl19 h4350 and imr4381 to run these bullets. always useing magnum primers..

the 220 i use on varmits coyote size and smaller same with 22/250.

the 270 is used very little now. the 3006 is for bigger game like elk and bear.

300yds is about as far is id take deer with the 2506. that would depend on what bullet and all

[Andy L]

I know Im way behind on this thread, but if anyone cares, heres my take....

I have a 25-06 and a 300 Win. Both are very good deer rifles. I struggled a bit with the 25-06 as far as performance of a deer bullet, I wont get into that, but when I went back to the KISS theory, its fantastic. For a light kicker, its one heck of a deer cartridge.

My old 300 Win has laid down a train car load of deer since I got it 20 yrs ago or so. Its a Ruger M77, the old style with the tang safety, wood stock. I have no idea how to count how many I have killed with it. Long shots, chip shots, bean fields or heavy brush, it will perform. I just feed it 150gr Core Lokts and let her eat. Unless you hit a bone, not much meat damage, kills em dead. I love it. All of it but the recoil. Now, I dont notice it in hunting situations, but 10 rounds off a bench is the most I have ever shot it at one time, and I was done. Glad it was sighted. Thats part of the reason I got the 25-06. The 300 comes out of the safe, gets fired 2-3 times to check the zero, does its job on whatever game Im after for a couple days to a couple weeks, gets cleaned and goes back in the safe til next year. Shes a workhorse for sure.

Kinda like your thinkin Fabs. But if we go on the big buck hunt together, I may pack the old 300 along. I know whatever I want to shoot, no matter the distance, is most likely dead with it. I havent quite got that confidence with the 25 yet. Maybe soon, but not yet.

I got two safes in my room filled with rifles, growing every year. When I first got married, I had this 300 Win, a Marlin Semi-Auto 22lr and a Mossberg 500A 12ga 3". Im not too sure Im any better off now, as far as hunting goes, than I was when I got married.

JMHO

Andy