hey raktrak, handloads or factory? And 115 ballistic tip what brand? Thanks.
I bought a .25-06 for a deer rifle, and wish I'd gone with .260 or 6.5x55 instead. Still, it's a good round, and not different enough to justify the change just yet. When I get some extra money, I'll sell this one and buy another in 6.5x55 - this is in part an effort at caliber simplification, since I already reload for milsurps in 6.5x55mm. But when you really look at the ballistic numbers, the .25-06 is a little hard to justify, since an 85 gr .243 does everything a 100 gr .25-06 will do, with less recoil (except a measly 15 grs). But a 6.5mm rifle, OTOH, is a significant step up. A .25-06 would be great choice if you only have ONE rifle. If you have several, it seems less appealing, as it's a jack of all trades, master of none -- except for long range plains shooting perhaps, but this does not apply to me where I live, where it's largely wooded, and a .243 will work fine out to 250-300 yards, with 85-100 grainers, and if it's bigger deer, then a 6.5mm round at 140 gr is a *significant* step up in bullet weight, unlike .25-06. So yeah, it's a beanfield rifle, but so is a .243. Now *IF* I had the skill to hit something at 400 yards plus, AND *IF* I was heading out to plains for mule deer or antelope, then it's probably be my first choice. But neither of those 2 things are liable to happen soon. So I should have run with a 6.5mm gun, or for that matter a 7-08 or .308. But I like the reduced recoil and better BCs of the smaller/mid-range bullets. Seems to me like .260/6.5x55 hits the sweet spot for deer/antelope.
