.25-06 barrel length

[sharper]

Hi all

I have posted a comment regarding this on my post above the .25-06 opinions...but thought I’d put it here as to hopefully reach a bigger audience and get more opinions.

So, after much struggle and phone calls I may have found a .25-06 In my rifle of choice, in left hand !! It sounds too good to be true, and it maybe is !? The barrel is 20” which is great for me as I prefer that...but...I’v read so many threads saying the .25-06 is only going to perform well with a longer barrel...24/26” ? Now, a lot of these threads were American where they don’t use moderators (I shall be using a good mod) and a lot of threads say they extra barrel length helps reduce recoil, a 20” barrel will be snappy/kicky without a mod...but by the time I get a big old mod on there surely that will calm any recoil/flip ? The other down side seems to be velocity...people say around 50fps loss in velocity per inch from a 26” barrel...so with a 20” barrel I may not hit the 3000fps mark with a 100gr round ? Is this correct !? Surely it would be okay otherwise a good manufacturer wouldn’t offer it ? I just don’t want to go spend a lot of money on a rifle that will never perform well because the barrel isn’t right for the caliber ! I hope I’m worrying about nothing....thanks in advance for any advice and help,

Regards, Benny

 

[biffo]

I had my 25-06 cut down a couple of inches to accommodate a moderator and whilst I had to obviously re zero , I’ve not noticed any real loss in overall performance. If I remember correctly the chrono was running at just under 3000 fps with 100gr BT, maybe 2900 or so. It still does the job on all deer species at all sensible ranges !

 

[takbok]

@sharper a 20" barrel will be perfect, and much handier than a longer barrel, especially with a moderator added. I wouldn't have any hesitation in buying it.

You shouldn't have a problem with recoil regardless of barrel length and will still get great performance. People make far too much fuss over barrel length.

Just my opinion.

 

[cooperjb1308]

Mine is around 20 inches and I think works just fine, still knocks over everything I’ve pointed it at and is a lot easier to lug around

 

[HDShark]

Long action - long barrel. You're just castrating it by going short, ruining the whole point of the cartridge in the first place imo.Waste of powder. If you want a short barrel, get a 243/308 etc.

 

[Sinistral]

Well I've just looked up Guntrader, and actually found a lefthand .25-06 (the only one of around twenty, a pretty scarce species). This one may not be your prospective purchase of course, but should it be then my feeling is that's very expensive for a runout model in an unpopular calibre.

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The reason 20" barrels are in vogue from Sako/Tikka is only because they're threaded for mods. Unthreaded (as their lefthand models once were) and all mine are from choice, come in standard length 22" - 25". Most of the other .25-06's on GT are full-length barrels, new Ruger in 25-06 are extra long. The moderator won't compensate for the reduction in velocity. and using a mod you'll end up with a 24" barrel so where's the gain?

Opinion on the internet seems to agree that a short barrel hobbles this calibre, but there's more than enough power for UK scale deer.
A 100gr at 2900-3000fps is no more than .243 level all the same.

25-06 barrel length?

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...

www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk

.25 06 with SHORT barrel...

Hi Guy's. I recently had my .25 sent into get a Suppressor here in Nz. I left it up to the gunsmith to decide how much to cut the barrel down.... Came back pretty short! Now at 18.5 inches without suppressor and 22 inches with it on. Now by most accounts this is rather short for a .25...

www.longrangehunting.com

 

[Ronin]

The shorter barrel will work and you will not lose that much velocity - you will have a flame at the muzzle if you do not use a mod and I would choose a mod with stainless first baffle to avoid or at least abate flame cutting

 

[Uncas]

And with that case capacity which is overbore, I bet with such a short barrel
you will go through mods like billy oh.

 

[Heym SR20]

The general consensus on overbore high velocity rifles is / or was that you need a longer barrel and slower powder to get efficient burn and build up the speed.

Cartridges such as the 25-06 were developed when powders such as the IMR 4831, 4350 were all that were used / available. These originally had been developed in WW2 as propellants for 20mm cannons etc.

Nowadays there a number of newer propellants on the market - double base powders etc all of which provide more energy with lower pressures.

RWS have launched a range of cartridges for short barrel rifles - notably in 308, 30-06 and 300 Win Mag that allow normal velocities to be achieved but with short barrels with moderators.

Feck knows which powders or loads are being used but may be worth exploring.

And we have lots of new bullets now to play with as well, so old theories are rather being torn up.

 

[croslanda]

I've used a 25.06 for a good number of years and tried most configurations and come to the conclusion that this calbre is most effective in long barrels, say 24'' plus, 26'' being optimum. It's a calibre developed to be fast and flat, why would you not want to load it to its potential? Save yourself some money and get a 6.5 or .308, which are easily available in all configurations along with ammo and easier to sell.

My current configuration is a Sako A7 Roughtec action fitted with a 26.5 '' Brux barrel in 1:9 twist and a Stalon mod. It is a heavy lump but suits me as most of my shooting is high seat/hide or bonnet. The original barrel was 26" but only lasted 3 years before being shot out as I use RS double base powders to get the maximum out of it. Which brings me to ammo, you really need to homeload to get the best out of this calbre.

The faster twists help stabilize the long high BC and copper bullets and using RS 70 powder I am getting 1/4 moa groups with 110 gr Hornady ELDX (3300fps) and 100gr Barnes TSX (3500fps). I tend to shoot over large fields and most kills are over 200yds, it can make a mess on smaller species but they are dead. It's easily capable of 600 yd+ rabbits.

I wouldn't want anything else, I love it, but it's not necessary to be a successful stalker, most other "softer"calibres are perfectly adequate and do the job very well and are cheaper to run.

 

[scrumbag]

Well, if you don't like it, shoot the barrel out and then put a longer tube on it

 

[long_range_rob]

My Finnlight is 20”. I’ve never had anything complain

 

[Flash9919]

Agree that longer is definitely better with the 2506 but you will easily achieve 3000fps with 100grn bullets if you load them yourself. But….if you plan on shooting at night with nv then a short barrel will be a proper PITA, you may well hear the ’plop/thud’ but will blinded by muzzle flash after every shot.