25-06 Questions

kmeyer

kmeyer

Member
I'm looking for some opinions from those of you who have experience with the 25-06 as I'm thinking of picking one up in a 26 inch barrel. I do reload and would pick up the dies for it as well.

It would be a combo gun for me for coyotes and small deer(ie whitetail/antelope). I've read that the 90-100 grain Barnes Triple X or Rem Core Lokt do not expand much and therefore are fur friendly on the yotes while still enough for deer. 75 grain VMax is brutal on fur.

I've also read from others that the 25-06 will pretty much destroy fur regardless of recipe. I've never shot a Bobcat, but of course hope to someday. I may just keep using my 223 for Predators and get the 25-06 for larger game, but it would be nice to have a do it all rig. I think what it comes down to is, I would like to save the pelts if possible on coyotes/bobcat.

Any input from fellow PM 25-06er's? Thanks...
 

I think Robinhood is right about the 25-06 not being a good fur saver. The Barnes TSX bullets can still leave some nasty wounds depending on where it hits. I haven't used the 25-06 and TSX for predators but I think I have enough experience with those bullets in larger calibers to be able to draw some fairly accurate predictions.

You may find one coyote with a small exit wound and yet another with a larger wound. If a trophy bobcat is your quest then there is no way I would recommend using a 25-06. Even my 6x45 is sometimes a little tough on cats.

The 25-06 is a great deer and antelope cartridge and while I currently use a 100 gr. Speer SP, the TSX should be a fine bullet for those animals.

Sometimes it's hard to choose a single cartridge for everything.

 
Originally Posted By: 6mm06Sometimes it's hard to choose a single cartridge for

I do not feel there can be any one chambering to cover all like most want. The 25-06 is a wonderful deer round and would work well for coyotes, just not for saving fur.
 
My hunting partner uses a Stevens 200 25-06 for one of his coyote guns. When he was shooting factory ammo, the 117 gr hornady SST superformance was surprisingly decent on fur. He only shot about 5 of them with it before he started reloading. 2 of them shot in the chest were just jello inside and could not find an exit. The others had pretty manageable exits. Its a small sample group though so it coulda went the other way quick. He started reloading and is now running the 75 gr vmax and the 70 gr blitzking.....it is a very different story on fur friendliness. Very very messy. The 25-06 hits them like a damm freight train.
 
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Originally Posted By: Robinhood2125-06 + saving pelts = probably not...

^ What he said.

I have cut rabbits in half with my 25-06, shooting 85 gr. Nosler BTs. I can only imagine what a 75 gr. VMAX would do.
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As for Barnes TSX/TTSX being "fur friendly", MAYBE, as long as you don't hit bone going in. I shot a decent whitetail buck a couple of years back, and hit high on the front leg, with a 100 gr. TTSX, at a severe downward angle. It looked like a grenade went off on that shoulder. Fortunately, I caught the shoulder high enough to take out the close side lung, but it took some tracking to recover a northern whitetail buck, with one working lung, and a heart still pumping. The first shot was supposed to be a vitals shot, but just as I pulled the trigger, the buck launched after a hot doe...Liver/guts looked like a grenade went off in there, too. And even on that soft tissue hit, I had a nasty exit hole.

I too, would not use a 25-06 Rem. and fur friendly in the same sentence.

I bought my 25-06 Rem. a number of years ago, with the same thoughts of a "do-all" rifle. I soon learned it would do all, but with maximum carnage. Great deer/antelope rifle, and if one wants impressive red mist, a great predator/varmint rifle. If one wants fur, I would look at a different cartridge.

Squeeze
 
I just shot a doe with mine last week, using Hornady American Whitetail 117gr. These are a soft point type bullet...shot was approx 50yds....it blew out both front leg joints and also went through the heart. There surprisingly was not that much of a hole, i expected much worse. It wasnt pretty internally, but from a hide saving standpoint it was decent. I imagine with a lighter bullet and not hitting bone other than ribs it would do okay on a coyote. Def wouldnt be my 1st choice for a coyote rifle. But if you reload i think its possible.
 
You won't find fur friendly there. I shot 1 coyote with 100gr tsx outnof a weatherby. Only 200-250 fps faster. Blew the heck out of it. Maybe if you loaded it down for yotes, then what's the point of the 25 06?
 
Not fur friendly but, my .25 with 75 gr V Max bullets was a lazer. The Sierra 90 grain Blitz king( #1616) I think,is also iffy. I think I like the 90 gr. better
 
Thanks guys for all the info! It always helps when there a consensus and this more than qualifies. I still think I am going to pick it up though and maybe use it on some deer or a future hog hunt. For the yotes, I'll stick with my .223 for now.
 
I have had a 25-06 for about 12yrs now and would never try to take a cat with any of the bullets that are made. Don't get me wrong it is a hammer on coyotes with NBT and is a great deer gun. But if you are saving pelts I would look for something else. I picked mine up to use on coyotes and don't care about the pelts most are not worth that much here in Iowa. A one gun fits all is not obtainable.
 
I have used with 75 grain vmax and 100 grain match I try to do front chest shots only but will admit you learn to sew with this caliber ! As some have mentioned maybe a a solid copper round ! I do like how the 100 gr match can buck wind for those long shots that a few yotes that might stand 4-500 yards out and laugh at you.It will happen once in awhile.

My loads are [beeep] on brass but what is cool is the cheaper 06 brass can be turned into 25-06 easily !
 
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Well I haven't shot any yotes with my Stevens 200 , 25-06 but I have it in inventory for my long range predator hunting needs. I am not a fur hunter. I selected a 25-06 because the ballistic performance meets my needs out to 350 yards and the recoil is very manageable. So far I have only killed wild pigs with mine but it has been a great performer. I am using 117 grain SST's with 53 grains of H4831sc . Maybe not your typical predator load but for me a good universal hunting load . This has become one of my most used guns because of performance and versatility. The 25-06 is a hand loaders proposition in my opinion. Although there are a number of factory loadings offered they are not readily available. I think you will be very happy with a gun in this caliber .

Currently I use a 22 Hornet or 223 for yotes most of the time. I almost always have the 25-06 in the truck just in case I'm hunting a big cut-over or field. If you get one you will enjoy it.
 
Owned a Rem 700 in .25-06 for 36 years, it's a great cartridge. I've mostly shot 85gr to 90 gr bullets out of mine as I use the rifle for groundhogs in Ohio. Never seen a rifle hit harder then this cartridge when used on groundhogs. Of all my rifles this one is my favorite.

If you don't want to damage the fur shoot the Sierra 87 gr spitzer #1610. I usually find one hole and a dead groundhog when shooting this one. Every groundhog I've ever shot was an instant kill. Can't say how it performs on anything else but has been excellent on groundhogs.

The Nosler 85 gr has been a good performer too. Recently switched to the newer Sierra 90 gr Blitzking but haven't shot anything with it yet.

I tried 75 gr bullets for 2 seasons but was disappointed with the performance. Seems like the 75 gr just loses steam on long shots. The 100 gr bullets are a good choice for all around use.
 
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