“The .25/06 is the Rodney Dangerfield of cartridges, it simply can’t get any respect,” says Capturing Editor John Snow in a latest dialog we had concerning the quarter-bore wildcat that Remington introduced into official manufacturing in 1969. It’s an outdated cartridge with a cult-like following that makes up for its lack of numbers with ardour to spare. Is their devotion merely a matter of nostalgia, or is there one thing extra to the .25/06?
The Spell of the .25/06
It was with keen anticipation that I received my first elk tag as a 12-year-old child in Colorado. I borrowed a .25/06 that belonged to my buddy’s dad, and it was the primary big-game rifle I ever shot. I vividly bear in mind capturing it in an outdated dug-out gravel pit alongside a rural nation highway with my dad—regardless that I by no means did get an elk with it. It appeared that each hunter and farmer talked concerning the .25/06 with a humble reverence.
I bear in mind bull elk and antelope that my uncle Tracy would kill along with his Ruger .25/06 when he traveled again to Colorado. He lived in Alaska and had loads of tales of journey involving this rifle. He’d usually inform the story of a grizzly bear that was killed nearly immediately from one shot along with his .25/06—it was the quickest he’d ever seen a grizzly expire.
In one other story, he was within the Brooks Vary with some mates when a wolf ran by way of camp. After everybody had given up on capturing on the operating wolf, he pulled a single .25/06 cartridge from his pocket, kissed it, slid it into the chamber, and dropped the wolf at over 800 paces. He finally gave that rifle to my cousin (his nephew), and I as soon as watched him shoot a coyote between the eyes at over 300 yards. My uncle nonetheless loves the .25/06, and even swindled me out of mine—however that’s one other story altogether.
The Flat-Capturing .25/06
I grew up on the sting of two eras—simply earlier than laser rangefinders and customized dials had been widespread. You sighted your rifle two or three inches excessive at 100 yards, and if a deer or coyote was actually far off, you held simply over its again. That’s except you had been capturing a .25/06 in fact—then you definately held dead-on. When saving for my first big-game rifle, I used to be torn between two rifles within the native turnstile—a Remington Mannequin 710 .30/06, and a stainless-steel Ruger .25/06. The Remington was cheaper, and my resolve was weak, however I do nonetheless want I had gotten the .25.
Not that way back, most point-blank vary was the secret for the typical hunter, and that’s the place the .25/06 shines. Excessive B.C., heavy-for-caliber bullets weren’t extensively standard till comparatively lately, and the .25/06 got here from an period the place pace was the important thing to going lengthy. With out simply adjustable scopes to compensate for bullet drop, the sooner and flatter a bullet might be pushed, the simpler it was to shoot at longer distances. There have been many nice wildcats and manufacturing cartridges, however the .25/06 earned itself a spot within the hearts of many western big-game hunters.
Finally, I purchased my very own .25/06—a Remington M700—in 2006. I’d been in Alaska for a number of years and was absolutely enthralled with Dall sheep looking. I believed the .25/06 would make a hell of a sheep rifle, and I used to be proper. I killed 6 rams in a row with that .25/06, in addition to a number of bears, moose, deer, and a giant mountain goat.
Is the Creedmoor actually any higher?
The tip of my practically unique use of that rifle paradoxically coincided with the primary manufacturing looking rifle chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor that I may discover again in 2013, a Ruger Hawkeye. It was additionally concerning the time I began utilizing customized dials on most of my scopes. As a aggressive shooter, I acknowledged a number of the advantages that the 6.5 CM brings to the desk. I used to be additionally simply itching to strive one thing new. That’s actually it. I feel for the typical hunter, the .25/06 continues to be higher in some methods.
If the .25/06 is under-appreciated, the 6.5 CM is definitely over-appreciated, proper? In any case, it’s not simply quarter-bore shooters who will knock the 6.5 CM. In any case, everybody who doesn’t shoot it appears to need bash the 6.5 CM. A few of the criticism across the 6.5 CM is simply foolish. Simply spend a while capturing the 6.5 CM or the 6.5 PRC (which is gaining reputation shortly) after which change again to capturing .308’s and .30/06’s. You’ll really feel such as you’re throwing bricks downrange—and your shoulder will really feel it too.
Nevertheless, that’s not likely the case with the .25/06 in relation to sensible looking conditions for most people. Positive, the 6.5 CM finally pulls away from the .25/06 in a couple of methods, however at distances which can be past moral for many hunters. The .25/06 has at all times been quick and lethal, and lots of shooters who weren’t introduced up with it don’t know what they’re lacking. It consumes extra powder than the 6.5 CM however is quicker and flatter throughout most sensible looking distances.
The .25/06 Can Nonetheless Cling, and Excel
For large recreation, an excellent bullet that may maintain collectively is significant, and with the .25/06 my favourite was at all times the Nosler 110-grain Accubond. The 117-grain Hornady SST was a detailed second. The 110-grain Accubond continues to be probably the greatest decisions on the market, and the .25/06 can drive it at practically 3,300 ft per second—though 3,085 might be a extra life like common for many rifles. My favourite bullet for the 6.5 CM is the Hornady 143-grain ELDX, and a handload at 2,675 fps for my Winchester XPR has killed extra sheep and caribou than local weather change.
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The 143-grain 6.5mm bullet has a a lot larger B.C., however the pace of a 110-grain Accubond at 3,085 fps provides the .25/06 a flatter trajectory to 1,000 yards. It additionally has a better velocity out to about 550 yards. It nonetheless hangs onto a 2,000-fps velocity at 500 yards—farther than most hunters ought to ever be capturing at recreation anyway—and wind deflection is simply barely extra. It’s debatable that the typical deer hunter whose pictures are at affordable distances is better-off selecting the .25/06 over the 6.5 CM by the numbers. It additionally doesn’t damage that ammo for the .25/06 was nonetheless on many retailer cabinets all through your complete pandemic.
A Cartridge is a Cartridge
It’s unimaginable to say whether or not the .25/06 is conclusively probably the most under-appreciated cartridge of our time, however I really feel that virtually anybody who actually provides it an opportunity can be impressed by what the innocuous cartridge will do. Being caught between the bullet picks of the 6mm and 6.5mm cartridges doesn’t do the .25/06 any favors. I additionally know that there are some quarter bores on the market which can be sooner, nevertheless it’s not at all times about being the quickest. The .25/06 Remington received hearts by being a easy, quick, correct, and light-recoiling cartridge. It nonetheless is, and it may definitely use some extra respect.
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