25-06 or 6.5 Creedmoor

Both will work fine, both be better with a 24" barrel, both will be nice to shoot as opposed to bigger calibre/chamberings.
6.5 maybe has the edge on choice of bullets.
 
Both will work fine, both be better with a 24" barrel, both will be nice to shoot as opposed to bigger calibre/chamberings.
6.5 maybe has the edge on choice of bullets.
Almost identical bullet size, although the 25.06 can only go up to 120 grains. The creedmoor is short action though so you could go down to a 16" barrel which you cant really do with a longer action 25.06.
6.5x55 is another very popular all-rounder in the same category.
 
.25-06 .. my favourite. Fantastic with either 100gn Prohunter (hinds) or 110 gn Accubond. (Stags)
I like my 6.5x55 too, but the .25 is definitely my ‘go to’.
 
If you read all the forums you will be convinced that you need a 6.5 of some description. While I rate them highly, the selection of bullet weights is really not that relevant for a Roe or Red deer rifle. The heavier higher BC 6.5s don’t really matter when shooting deer out 250m. The 25-06 is a great (underestimated) round. It tops out at 120gr, but that won’t make any difference to a red or roe. 100gr, 110gr, 115gr, 117gr and 120gr bullets all work well. I prefer the 100gr bullets for Roe and a little heavier for Reds. In the field, 25-06 just seems to work really well with very rapid kills with most falling where they stand. Meat damage is not excessive either. Good news is that since it is not a 6.5, you can save a bundle when buying the rifle!!
 
I have had 25-06 and 6.5 Lapua (very similar to a Creedmoor). The 25-06 was incredibly flat shooting but runs very fast and needs a very stoutly constructed bullet if you're going to avoid a lot of carcass damage. Bullets have to be bonded or preferably solid copper like the Barnes. Bang flops are impressive. It's good for all red and sika stags and hinds. Arguably a bit much for fallow unless at longer ranges. Too much for roe and muntjac. Very good for foxes under the lamp.

The 6.5 runs much slower with a heavier bullet - or you can rev it up with something lighter. I run a 129g ABLR at 2900 fps and it's perfect for Fallow, red and sika hinds. It's a bit too much for roe and muntjac and good for red and sika stags providing placement is spot on and you're inside about 400 meters and have ballistic turrets. I will be backing it off to 2700 fps and it should be ideal for everything up to fallow and red and sika hinds, but I have a 7mm in the wings for red and sika stags. If home loading the quality of bullets available is much better in 6.5.

The 25-06 is also a bit of a barrel burner compared with the Creedmoor. Expect half the barrel life.

I have chosen the 6.5 route, but it all depends upon what you are shooting most regularly and what you consider to be too much damage.

Hope that helps. There will be lots of other opinions I'm sure!!!
 
.25-06 all day. And this is why.

I know the Creedmoor has its benefits but the '06 has pedigree and is a stonking deer cartridge. I completely agree with the article that I linked that the only reason there isnt more popularity for the '06 is because it never took off for target purposes.
 
No experience of the 6.5 but have been using my 25.06 with Sako Gameheads, 110grain for years on everything from foxes to red stags. Great round, accurate and low recoil.

Had a friend out recently who normally uses a 308. He dropped a buck at 241yards with the 25.06, turned to me and simply said "wow"

Can you try before you buy and see which one feels better to you ?
 
The .25-06 is one of those cartridges that has always appealed to me, but failed to materialise in the safe because logic gets in the way. To much of a sucker for the numbers I guess, rather than pure emotion.

What I mean is this. You hear all this "wow" stuff, like the post above, but when you look at the data behind the wow, its hard to find a reason in the physics to get that excited.

Take a .25-06 firing a 110gr Gamehead at (lets say) 3150fps, could be faster, could be slower. Compared to a .243 Win, that's 10% more bullet weight, at 8% more speed, using around 20-25% more powder. You can modify the variables as much as you like, but the degree of "wow" has never really been backed up by the numbers.

I like the .25-06. My mate Nigel has one in a T3 action with a hand made carbon "Stug" stock and a nice barrel of some description, and a simple old school Zeiss 3-9x plex scope. Its his goto tops rifle, and its accounted for many deer including some properly big Otago red stags. Its unmoderated, lightweight, very well used... with a sharp kick and very loud indeed! A classic configuration, that's how I see it. I do like that rifle.

But its not really got the wow factor that I think misty eyed blokes like to assume. Its a little bit faster, a little bit heavier, a lot louder and rather limited in what you can do with it. Its a bit like the .270 Win, a lot of racket and drama for not a lot difference in performance. The Creedmoor on the other hand is a whole lot more flexible and better behaved. Pretty simple really, the relationship between manners and powder charge!
 
People get confused.

The 25-06 is a traditional round while 65Creed benefits from being the new kid on the block. So if you are buying factory ammo you will/may benefit from relatively better performance for less fuss from the Creed as it has modern bullets and modern powders.

So the usual comments above about more fuss for less performance are actually a reflection of older bullet designs, older powders and cautious loadings, rather than inherent inadequacies of the cartridge itself. If you put modern bullets and powders in a 270 you can get near 7RM performance and it makes a 65Creed look like the underpowered pussy; if you don't 2900fps on a 130gr bullet is nothing to get excited about. I have not used a 25-06 but I would expect it to suffer from the same issues. Nothing wrong with it, still very effective - we are just not seeing its full potential in factory ammo.

Of the two, if I had to choose today I would go 65Creed mainly because you can get good factory ammo and resale value will be better. I would also shoot 120/130gr rather than being up at the 140gr weights - a bit more velocity at the muzzle
 
.25-06 all day. And this is why.

I know the Creedmoor has its benefits but the '06 has pedigree and is a stonking deer cartridge. I completely agree with the article that I linked that the only reason there isnt more popularity for the '06 is because hit never took off for target purposes.

Take your time to read the article Stubear linked. I read it when it was published, but the comments are worth revisiting the page from time to time.
 
The .25-06 is one of those cartridges that has always appealed to me, but failed to materialise in the safe because logic gets in the way. To much of a sucker for the numbers I guess, rather than pure emotion.

What I mean is this. You hear all this "wow" stuff, like the post above, but when you look at the data behind the wow, its hard to find a reason in the physics to get that excited.

Take a .25-06 firing a 110gr Gamehead at (lets say) 3150fps, could be faster, could be slower. Compared to a .243 Win, that's 10% more bullet weight, at 8% more speed, using around 20-25% more powder. You can modify the variables as much as you like, but the degree of "wow" has never really been backed up by the numbers.

I like the .25-06. My mate Nigel has one in a T3 action with a hand made carbon "Stug" stock and a nice barrel of some description, and a simple old school Zeiss 3-9x plex scope. Its his goto tops rifle, and its accounted for many deer including some properly big Otago red stags. Its unmoderated, lightweight, very well used... with a sharp kick and very loud indeed! A classic configuration, that's how I see it. I do like that rifle.

But its not really got the wow factor that I think misty eyed blokes like to assume. Its a little bit faster, a little bit heavier, a lot louder and rather limited in what you can do with it. Its a bit like the .270 Win, a lot of racket and drama for not a lot difference in performance. The Creedmoor on the other hand is a whole lot more flexible and better behaved. Pretty simple really, the relationship between manners and powder charge!

Wait to I tell my wife that I am really a misty eyed bloke !
 
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