25-06 barrel length?

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palmer_mike

palmer_mike

Well-Known Member
I'm currently thinking of getting a 25-06 and the rifle I'm looking at comes in either 20" or 22.5" barrel

im erring of the side of getting the longer barrel, but it might involve a wait as it may be a special order (not investigated this fully yet). In theory would the 20" barrel lose a lot in terms of performance over the 22.5"?

not really worried about the weight or extra length of the longer barrel, just concerned about performance.....
 
IMO,....The .25-06 needs at least 22 inches to get the benefit of the extra powder. 24 inches is better.
A friend of mine, now deceased, had a Browning A-Bolt with a 22 inch barrel. His most accurate load was back off of max, as many are, and it was only going about 2,850 fps. My 24-inch barrel .257 Roberts had its most accurate load with the same weight bullet (different brands) at near max, and 2,800 fps.

So you don't know about any rifle until you try it, but the .270 and .25-06 can lose 35 to 50 fps for each inch below 24. But they may shoot some loads really fast. My 20-inch .270 Mannlicher has some loads making 2,900 and 2,950 fps. Muzzle blast is a lot more than my 24-inch Mauser .270.

But you will find more UK shooters here with experience with shorter barreled .25-06s. In the USA, most of them are 24, and some 26 inches ( like Ruger No. 1-B and Winchester 1885).
 
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A mate shoots a Remington varmint in 25.06 with a 20in barrel with a T8 on it
and when he fires off sticks he says he needs a spotter to see if he's hit the target with the muzzle
flip , I think a bit more barrel length would calm that down no end
 
I have a custom .25-06 with 24" Krueger barrel. & I can watch the bullet strike with a mod no problem ... Not overly flippy.

Paul
 
Having had 2, 25-06 I would say the longer barrel is the better choice. 1 was 20" and the other 22". I never saw a strike from either. Personally I think its a cracking chambering.


Nutty
 
My m695 is 22 and 1/2 inch. Ive got a s5 ase mod on the end of it.
and firing the 117 grain sako game heads. And muzzle flip isnt that bad at all

a little jumpy but I can see the hits. 24 inch barrel would be better. But by the time you put the mod on does the extra fps and weight
justify having one a little more compact and a little slower load for it.

unless your shooting at longer ranges. you wont really see much difference in that extra fps
 
NigelM said:
Go 26" and see how you get on with it. You can always cut some off but it's a bit tough to stick it back on again.
Click to expand...

I would, but the budget is pretty tight on this one. I'm looking at a tikka t3 which comes as 20" or 22 & 7/16". Unfortunately it looks like the longer barrel length is a special order which may take a few months to get. I am currently pretty sure the longer barrel is the way to go though!

if money way no object is buy the sako 75 that's for sale on here at the mo and get it re-barrelled!
 
Palmer_Mike yes your right about the T3 barrel I tried to no avail to get a T3 25-06 with the 22+ barrel and had to settle on the 20.5.
My previous 25-06 had a 23.5 barrel and had on my heart I never found any difference with the performance when I used the T3 20.5 barrel 25-06. A Rifle smith I won't mention told " it will Never shoot bla bla bla " my answer so why do Tikka make and sell so many !!!!!!! Using 120gr Nosler Partition I zeroed mine to print 1/2" high at 100 yrd and it done everything I would/need culling Large numbers of Fallow Red Roe Muntjac CWD and a few Sika.
Even though my T3 was new straight out of the Box I did have to get the Factory thread and Crown sorted which turned the T3 into a Tack Driver if I done my bit.
Enjoy the T3 20.5 barrel 25-06 trust me it will put down sweetly the Biggest of English Red Stag's :thumb:
 
Get the Tikka. 20 inches to 24 or 26 is a difference in any rifle, but 22.5 to 24.0 is just the difference in how tight a chamber or bore is.
 
I think it is the ideal cartridge (best compromise) for the smaller deer right up to red deer.
Good velocities even out of a short barrel. Similar or better performance with a ~4-6" shorter rifle. This might not be such an issue without mod.
Better bullet selection than the 25cal, really good higher BC bullets available.
Less powder than 25-06, recon much higher barrel life.
Short action.
Lapua makes Brass in the meantime.
Very accurate, or easy to load for, in other words not fussy.
~120 up to 175gr makes it more versatile, also more useable for boar.

I would certainly choose a 7-08 over a 25-06.
edi
 
If we are going to derail into suggesting I 7mm-08, I must confess to owning 3 of them ( Winchester M70 Compact, Browning BLR, and Tikka T3 Lite). It is a perfect cartridge for all three of these light rifles. I just loaded up 20 mild rounds of 120-gr Sierras last night, at 2750 fps, about like a .257 Roberts. It will push them at 2,950 FPS out of the Tikka with a normal load, about like a .25-06 (especially with the Ballistic Tip ). Normal loads of 140-gr bullets are still very flat shooting, with less recoil than a .308. It starts to run out of gas a bit after you get to the 160 to 175-gr bullets, but the 150s and 154s perform splendidly, both in ballistics and energy, out to 300+ yards. The 175-gr on boar, moose, bears, etc inside 150 yards is a proven and known entity from the 7x57.
 
I guess the simple fact is I've had a .243 (which I recently sold) and I currently use a .308......
i just have a fancy for something different and 7-08 would seem a bit similar to my current a previous rifles.

i currently use my .308 for everything and it performs well on deer of all sizes (although I don't have reds or boar on my current stalking), I do like the option of having a different rifle to take out though and fairly randomly have developed a hankering for a 25-06.

it would seem to be at least as good as any other similar chambering for what I will use it for and while 7-08 and others would also 'do the job' I fancy a longer case for a change, lol.

Therefore my query was really related to the minimum optimal barrel length to get the best out of the chambering (in a shorter barrel I'd guess I'd b better off with a shorter case and less powder).....
 
palmer_mike said:
I guess the simple fact is I've had a .243 (which I recently sold) and I currently use a .308......
i just have a fancy for something different and 7-08 would seem a bit similar to my current a previous rifles.

i currently use my .308 for everything and it performs well on deer of all sizes (although I don't have reds or boar on my current stalking), I do like the option of having a different rifle to take out though and fairly randomly have developed a hankering for a 25-06.

it would seem to be at least as good as any other similar chambering for what I will use it for and while 7-08 and others would also 'do the job' I fancy a longer case for a change, lol.

Therefore my query was really related to the minimum optimal barrel length to get the best out of the chambering (in a shorter barrel I'd guess I'd b better off with a shorter case and less powder).....
Click to expand...
Like a .257 Roberts..... but you can load the .25-06 with less powder (4895, N140, Varget, RL15 ) and still get velocity and accuracy in the T3. You may find that it shoots the 100-gr bullets better than the 115 to 120 grains (and better and faster than the .243 would).
 
I had a 25-06. In my humble opinion it's a much better calibre than a .243 if you want something to go after the larger deer species with as well as the smaller ones, and it's great on foxes loaded with 85's. I sold it and went 6.5 as I found the 25-06 with it's much lighter bullets needed to fly too fast to impart enough energy and carcass damage was often spectacular unless you used AB's (never tried Barnes back then), especially when you put it through the shoulder rather than the chest. The 6.5 is much more gentle. Mind you I run a 6mm for fox, so don't have to factor that into the equation anymore.

I don't think you can compare a 25-06 with a 7mm08. You can certainly compare a .243 and 25-06, and separately you can compare a 7mm08 with a .308, but there is no overlap in bullet weights between the two groups and I believe there is room for one from each group in your cabinet for different jobs.

In terms of BC the 7mm is the most efficient by far, but it's only relevant if you are shooting more than 300 yards, which for stalking doesn't really matter. And if you really want to use the efficiency of the 7mm bullets for LR shooting where it's a real benefit why put it in a case as small as a 7mm08, why not spark it up a bit to a bigger cartridge and take advantage of the BC or take the benefit of the frontal area increase and energy dump of a .308 at stalking ranges at lower velocity :stir:.

I have a 6-6.5 Lapua for fox (70 grain @3550fps), a 6.5 Lapua for Fallow and below (120 grain @2950fps), I am just playing with a stumpy .308 as a woodland deer/driven boar rifle (168 grain at 2500fps) and a 280AI for the hill and a bit of paper punching at distance (120grain @3300fps for deer or 162 grain @2950fps for LR paper).

Wouldn't argue that any of them are better than any of the others overall, but you wouldn't find me shooting Boar with the 6mm or lamping foxes with the .308. Horses for courses.

And yes I know I could have fewer in the cabinet, but I freely admit I enjoy experimenting with them.
 
.260 could be a good all-round choice in a short barrel. Close to 25-06, but you can use heavier bullets too if wanted. 120-130gr at 2800-2900+fps or, if you want faster, 100gr at 3200+fps. This is possible from a 20-21in barrel, with little muzzle flip.
Am enjoying mine :-D
 
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