.25-06, sako or tikka

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bob-lee

bob-lee

Member
Evening gents,

hoping for a bit of advice please. I've got a variation to buy a .25-06 to use for foxing and stalking but am not sure about which rifle make to go for.

The sako appeals as it is a damned good looking rifle and feels like a quality product, unfortunately they only do .25-06 with 22" barrels. The tikka (varmint & super varmint) come with 24" barrels but does not 'feel' as good as the sako though the 500 quid saving makes up for this!!

i was wondering if anyone had experience of either of these rifles in this caliber and could share their experience please?

Will the 2 inches make a huge difference? The mrs thinks so but that's a different story.....

​is there a huge difference in accuracy between sako and tikka in this calibre?

to give you an idea of the type of rifle I'm used to I am selling a Remington .243 that has been re barrelled by Callum Fergusson and has a McMillan stock and jewell trigger so I like em accurate and well made!

thanks for any help and advice.
 
I have a Sako 75 in 25-06 and accuracy is not a problem, nothing I have pulled the trigger on has complained yet....... ;)!!

Jäger SA had a nice and cheap Tikka in classifieds recently that would be worth looking at. My 75 S/S is for sale to fund a new scope but is on hold for a keeper meantime. If he changes his mind it may go on here although I might just keep it and find the cash elsewhere!
 
Bob

I'm not sure on which to get. There was a Remington in .25-06 on sale on here for a while. I've gone from Ruger to Sako/Mannlicher to Remington/Remington clone so I'm not really qualified to answer your question. I like the flexibility the 'Remington' approach gives you in terms of stocks, triggers, etc. I suspect a Remington 243 that Callum has worked on will be a hard act to follow.

Good luck.

​JCS
 
i would go for the tikka stainless laminate it looks and feels lovely. cheaper then the sako also.
longer barrel will give you more fps. and they say the 25/06 is better with longer barrel due to the amount of powder it burns but with today's modern fast burning powders that isn't a problem.

unless your going to use it for long range shooting as well the extra length isn't going to give you advantage for normal deer and fox ranges.
i would much prefer to have a more compact and better balanced rifle
 
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I've had a 26" custom remmy and 2 separate 22" r93's. longer does give much more velocity but I shot more with the blasers. It really depends on what you like to carry. Good killing calibre.
 
Thanks for your help guys, very useful.

realistically I think the longest shot I take with it will be the odd fox or crow at about 300m, won't be doing anything on the range. Web searches suck for this calibre, every single American with a rifle has a contradictory and shouty opinion on barrels for a .25-06!
 
I have had 2 Tikka t3's, one 22/250 and one 25/06. I had no accuracy problem with either of them for the money very good indeed. The only issue i found with my 25/06 was the retaining clip on the trigger that holds the safety lever in place fell off regular, it is a headless pin (with no grove) but they use a circlip to hold it in place!!!! Losing 2" of barrel lenght is not going to make much difference at ethical shooting distances. Again, very good rifles for the money.
 
Thanks! That's exactly what I was thinking regarding shooting distance. It's called stalking for a reason after all.
 
I have a t3 varmint in .25-06, i had the barrel shortened to 20", recrowned and threaded (they didnt factory thread them back in the day) its a great rifle but plenty heavy enought with a t8 on it. Its fine for most things, I dont shoot out to the 300mtrs you talk about but i havent ever been left wanting when shooting foxes out to 180mtrs.

I had the shortening done as t8s and at the time very expensive wildcats were the only mods avialable and they made it very front heavy, by shortening it the rifle is slightly easier to handle and its not as long when in the woods.
 
A friend and I have recently had this debate and gone in different directions. I bought a sako 75 and he bought the tikka varmint. There is no difference in accuracy, but the sako is better quality. There is very little difference in speed with the extra barrel length of the varmint but would have to get him to check his range notes to confirm the exact difference but it was so unremarkable that I didn't really note it. I had said to him that I thought the longer barrel with a moderator would be very ungainly, but he has put an ASE compact on it and actually with a heavy Nightforce to balance out, it doesn't feel too bad. The main intention is for stalking red deer in Scotland so the mostly for use prone where the barrel length isn't such an issue. I still prefer my sako though!
 
I've used my .25-06 for the last 13 years to great effect. There's nothing in the UK a 100gn bullet won't take easily whether it's a fox or red stag - and out to quite a range too when necessary.

A good friend used a keepers .25-06 Sako 85 some years ago and decided that would be the rifle he'd next buy...it wasn't long after before he got one. He's been delighted with it since buying it 4 years ago and cannot see it being anything other than his primary rifle. Looks good, easy to carry and built to last.
Me, I'd buy the Finnlite version- but that's just me, with an aversion to carrying unnecessary weight. ATB
 
I also have a 25-06 as I wanted something that would go up (big deer) and down (fox) I can say I haven't been disappointed with the calibre but the bullet head has been the problem, so my advice is to choose carefully.
I wont buy another calibre...... until I need to!
Ade
 
Ade C said:
I also have a 25-06 as I wanted something that would go up (big deer) and down (fox) I can say I haven't been disappointed with the calibre but the bullet head has been the problem, so my advice is to choose carefully. I wont buy another calibre...... until I need to! Ade
Click to expand...

Hi Ade, I'm curious to know in what way your choice of bullet has been a problem and what you've chosen to use to resolve the issue. Cheers, ATB
 
Have a look at browning x bolt stainless fluted stalker mate I got one in 22-2250

looks great
wee bit lighter than sako which my mate has

and had had no worries on accuracy shoots straight out the box

​and great price too
 
Gents,

Thank you all for your advice. Taking all of the comments on board, having read several web sites and having spoken to Callum Fergusson I have decided to buy a sako 85 stainless synthetic.

At normal deer and foxing distances the extra velocity provided by the longer barrel will not be enough to counter the buggeration factor of rattling a longer rifle off the landy door! Plus I'm just a wee lad so the added weight of the varmint would probably finish me!!

Thank you all for your help.
 
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