How much difference? I am absolutely in love with the .25's. I own both shells. The 25-06 is a 112 Savage that will do under .5" with any grain handload and at any listed max. velocity. She is hot. The .257 is also very respectable, going at or under 1" with the 115 BST at 3350 FPS. I really can't lose, as both are super winners. Want to hear from others.

I have only had the privilege of the 25-06. Yeah, its a great one.

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Ya know, I had a 25-'06 for about 2 years, then sold it to buy a 6.5JDJ barrel for my Contender. The 25 is a very good caliber and the '06 case is obviously one of the most important in American cartridge history. However, the reason I parted with it, rather easily, is that the 25-'06 is a very good varmint gun and a very good deer gun. That's right...I sold it because it's great at both, even more so than that king of dual-purpose calibers, the .243Win.

Problem is, I have a .243 for varmints and a .270 for deer. If you have a 220 Swift, 22-250 or even 243 for long-range prairie dogs, and a (insert your flat-shooting centerfire 26, 27, 28 or 30 caliber cartridge here) for deer, the 25-'06 is superfluous...unnecessary, even! It burns more powder than you really need for woodchucks and does not do anything "better" than a whole multitude of dedicated deer guns. I suppose if I had pick just one gun (perish the thought!) for both varmints and deer, the 25-'06 would be on my top-3 list of cartridges, but I've never been one for self-denial.

Maybe if a person felt compelled to have a DEDICATED pronghorn gun, the 25-'06 would be the perfect caliber?

I always thought the 25-06 was the dual-purpose caliber king. The 243 is good for varmints...but the 25 is better. Same for deer.

That probably makes alot of sense.....the 25-06 being unecessary if you have a 22-250 and 30-06. I have all three, but I sure like that "unecessary" one. I don;t think it's as good a varmint gun as the 22-250, and it's not quite up to all the big game like the 30-06, but I have it in a Ruger #1V and I like it!

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Stretch ®

"If you are a reloader and you don't know Lee, you don't know Jack" - Floydster

DON'T BE SCARED©

I have the .257 Wrby and she's a scorcher, but if I did it over again I'd have a .22-250 and a .30-06 or similar so there'd be no useage cross over. I do have a .30-06, but the .257 Wrby with heavy bullets is more than adequate for the game that the .30-06 will take leaving out the largest of elk and moose. I guess I could always stick with 75 and 87gr bullets in the .257??????????

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We sleep peaceably in our beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on our behalf. -George Orwell

No personal experience with this myself but....a close friend says when out on the prairie dog towns and the wind picks up a bit or the ranges get to the extremes they put the 22-250's and the like away and get out the 25-06's. And wasn't the 25-06 also considered good enough for elk way back in the day before the "large x huge" "supermanglem' " calibers came along? Seems like the '06 sure has lost a lot of power over the years and is sub-standard by definition today.

I have a few 25-06's myself and can't wait till I get the next one! Sure I have lots of calibers that crossover and it isn't as much a "which do I need" to use as it is a "which do I feel like using today" situation. You can do all sorts of things with just one rifle in the so called "right" caliber but what fun would that be??

Back to the original question sort of...I can't really see a big difference for 99.99% of the shooters out there between the '06 and the Weatherby...unless you factor in the cost of ammo. I have taken many coyotes and large Wi. whitetails with my 25-06's and I doubt any other rifle would have killed any quicker or any more dead.

If you can afford to blast away with Weatherby ammo go for it. If on a bit tighter budget like myself the '06 will never do you wrong. And as our good friend Mr. Gump says...that's all I got to say 'bout that.

I have often wondered about the evolution of critters that has made them so much harder to kill than they were just 50 years ago. I blame this all on the editors of gun magazines and the word, " if ". If you listen to what's written today, you'd barely be able to dust the hide of an elk unless you're using a 350 Destroyer or some other cartridge with a case as big around as your...let's say wrist. If you buy this latest Rumchester SSSSM you'll surely kill things much deader than that piece of junk they convinced you to buy last year.

While we're on the topic of "if", isn't that what pretty much makes this forum go? "If" you had to choose between a 25, or a 25 that goes a wee bit faster, which would it be? If you could only have one rifle, if you use this primer or that powder, if you sight in 4" high at 100 yards, if you practice at 1000 yards can you "hunt" at that range, if you are bored and spend an hour reading posts on this forum?

I say, "IF" the gun you happen to own and shoot does what you need it to do, why then, it's certainly the gun for you! If you don't agree with the gun/cartridge someone else hunts with, or how they do it, well opinions are like...a certain body part that I can't recall right now, but everybody has one and they often stink. As long as we all understand this, and show respect and courtesy for one another, and are thoughtful in what we post, this will continue to be a great forum for all things gun, God and gossip.

Well... I've learned a whole lot more about guns and bullets in the past year thanks to this forum and a few others. I think my answer to this question would be:

The one that delivers the bullet at the speeds/energy required for proper bullet function at the ranges I expect to shoot at targets. A bullet going too fast (like at short ranges) can cause bullet failure if the bullet itsn't up for for it, for example, just like too slow at long range (not enough power and the bullet doesn't expand).

When my craving for a quarter-bore got out of hand I dragged out the ballistic tables and chose the Weatherby in the Vanguard Sporter package. I already handload so ammo prices and availability wouldnt get in my way for the love to shoot.

That first season (just 2mos after purchase) I took an 8pt at a measured 400yds (give or take 5yds). When that buck high-kicked my love for that round just soared.

Here is my load:
Wby cases
Sierra GameKing 100gr
CCI250 primer
Re22 71gr
neck size only

Sighted in +2.8" @100m the drop was only 4-5" at that range. All I had to do was steady my hold and down it went.

*****disclaimer*****
You wont hear me disrespecting the 25-06. I merely prefer the Weatherby round.

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"Salvation is of the Lord" Jonah 2:9

That's a hot load. You should be doing around 3550 fps with that load. Yeah, they're flat shooters alright! My Vanguard has a B&C Medalist stock and 2.8-10X44 Simmons Aetec.

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We sleep peaceably in our beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on our behalf. -George Orwell

You won't hear me bad mouthing the 257 Weatherby either. It really isn't the cost issue for me. It is more to do with the rifles I prefer are not chambered in the 257. If they were , I would probably have one.

Another thing is that the '06 does anything I need to do for the hunting situations I am in. If it isn't enough...well then there is the 30-06,7 Mag,338,or the 350 Mag for back-up! If it's going to be too much then there is the 22 mag,221 Fireball,223,or so on and so on... The one thing you have to love is the huge variety to choose from.

Broom,
And yes this forum is one of the best to sit and talk about every caliber under the sun!! About why this one is better vs that one , etc. I don't care if it's been talked about a hundred times already...I'll read them all and if I think I may have some helpfull input I'll talk about it all day with you or anyone who cares to listen!!

I havent chronied the load but had guessed about the same. No pressure signs at this point and it's the ceiling....no further.

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"Salvation is of the Lord" Jonah 2:9

I shoot a 25-06 and think the world of it. The Wtby has a slight ballistic advantage, but ammo for the 25-06 is a lot easier to find at a local Walmart if you run out of handloads. I would like a .257 wildcat, something like a 257 STW, but for now the old 25-06 will do anything I need it to.

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MattM

one quick question for reloaders..will 3006 an 2506 case re use which ever way you want to go..if so that be my choice. keep the operation simple as possible..

The short answer is "yes", but I wouldn't really recommend it as the excessive working of the brass, especially at the critical neck and shoulder areas, would reduce case life by quite a bit. Also, one of the least-mentioned benefits of reloading is that you have brass that is customized for your action, by having been fired in it. Swapping brass back n' forth between a 25 and 30 caliber would negate that advantage.

Besides, both types of brass are readily available as components, so there's little need to form one from the other.

Slim ,I found some .270 brass at a local range, I necked it down to .25 cal. It worked just find. Q

Yeah if you wanted to resize a pile of brass you may have found cheap or just have lying around you could use it no problem. I wouldn't go back and forth with it like what was already said. You could interchange all of the 30-06 family as long as you keep an eye on the necks if you go from one extreme to another...like 35 Whelen down to a 25. A 270 or 280 would be so close I personally wouldn't get too worried about it.

And I have noticed the 25 brass is a little harder to come by nowadays and more expensive vs. some of the others like the 270.

25 brass is1.5 times the cost of 270 in aust.used 270 withot neck probs.i think the 25/06 has plenty of grunt,but i know its nice to look at the weatherby and think "now thats flat shooting".i really think that people over estimate how many rounds they put through a rifle,as it takes a long time to shoot the last1000 or so rounds after you tune your rifle. like both guns but lean towards the 25/06.--p.s. i think the weatherby shines with the 100gr@3500'/sec.-what are your thoughts?

Ditto on the .270win comment. Saw a bag of 50 at WalMart for 20.00.

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"Salvation is of the Lord" Jonah 2:9