25-06 or 270?

[chriswillis87]

Looking at geting rid of my 270win i want to replace it with something a little better down the track, but im not sure if i will get another 270 or try a 25-06. What do you think would be a better gun. I want it for shooting Australian medium game deer etc.

 

[bowslngr]

Toss a coin, Chris. I prefer the 25-06 due to its slightly lighter recoil, but I think either is ideal for your intended uses.

Jeff

 

[k80skeet]

I have both. They both have their place. I like my 25-06 with 115-120gr bullets for deer sized game. It shoot very well at 600 yds 5in groups. I don't think you would be disappointed with one. The only problem with 25 caliber is they don't make a lot of different bullets for it.

 

[Rem06]

why not settle in between with a 260Rem? I have shot a .30-06 for many years(it is a .30-06AI now) and then 2 wonderful .25-06"s.then went to a more efficient round 6.5x47Lapua.

 

[McKinneyMike]

I am torn between the 260 or just rebarreling my 25-06 rifle (possibly a 25-06AI). The 260 has a wealth of great bullets to choose from with better BC, but I love my 25-06 too. If I think that I want extreme 500 yard+ accuracy, I would lean towards the 260. or one of its other brethren (6.5-284, the Swedes, etc).

 

[k80skeet]

Be careful of the 6.5 X 284 I love the caliber it works great all except the short barrel life. I have installed 4 barrels on my rifle and they all started to go bad after 600 rounds for long range shooting. I think I will go to a 284 Winchester when this barrel goes south. It should give me over 1500 rounds before it goes south and that is almost 3 times as many as the 6.5 X 284. It is not the cost of the barrels it all the time you are down waiting to get it done usually 4 to 6 months from the time you order the barrel and get it then to have the barrel blank chambered threaded a installed.

 

[Matt Pitchon]

Real world ballistics of the 270 and 25-06 aren't very different. The other common element they share is a lack of variety in bullets. A 6.5 has much greater bullet selection than either. The three major 6.5 chamberings are 6.5x284, 6.5x55, and 260Rem. The 6.5x284 is a barrel burners, but you can down load. Because of the fat case, magazines may only hold 3 rounds. The 6.5x55 has great brass, and in my opinion, the right powder capacity, but requires a long action. The 260Rem has slightly less case capacity, and match grade brass is not available, but works in a short action, with most magazines holding 4 to 5 rounds. With the newer powders (RL-17) my guess is you could get almost as much velocity out of the 260Rem as with the others.

 

[SS427]

Bullet selection on both is limited. Both are long action. Based on that I like the .270 better because you can load it down with 100 grain bullets for varmints or load it up with 150 Partition bullets for elk. The .270 is a little more versatile in that respect. It is an American classic caliber too.

 

[Erik Cortina]

Let's not forget the 6.5 X 47 Lapua. Great ballistics, little recoil, great barrel life, and can load the 140 gr. bullets to magazine lenght with no problems in a short action! Plus great Lapua brass available for it!

-Erik

 

[cliffy]

Let's not forget the 6mm, .243 Winchester. What massive beastie can resist the subtle, if firm charm of a 100 grain Speer Grand Slam @ 3100 fps! Of course, a .270 Winchester has a potent charm of its own with 130 grain fare. If I omitted the .25/06, I laughingly appologuise, since I simply cannot warm up to this betwixt caliber choice. A .260 Remington simply stiffles the speed of a hyper .243 Winchester, whilst a .270 Winchester stiffles nothing powerwise downrange. It's all in the handloading, although lost afield, what is the likely fare one could readily purchase at a local gas station? A .25/06 . . . I think not. Cliffy

 

[McKinneyMike]

Let's not forget the 6mm, .243 Winchester. What massive beastie can resist the subtle, if firm charm of a 100 grain Speer Grand Slam @ 3100 fps! Of course, a .270 Winchester has a potent charm of its own with 130 grain fare. If I omitted the .25/06, I laughingly appologuise, since I simply cannot warm up to this betwixt caliber choice. A .260 Remington simply stiffles the speed of a hyper .243 Winchester, whilst a .270 Winchester stiffles nothing powerwise downrange. It's all in the handloading, although lost afield, what is the likely fare one could readily purchase at a local gas station? A .25/06 . . . I think not. Cliffy

And still the quarterbore is popular and I for one love its versatility. No other round is quite its equal ;D

 

[newby]

I would stick to the 270.barrel life is better and so is end zone performance.I do believe that either a 130grn or 150 grn will put your animal down,I have fired 4500 rds through mine, biggest animal that fell to it was an eland cow.Good shooting. Peter

 

[30378]

Base your decision on whether you would ever hunt anything where you would want to shoot a bullet heavier than 120gr. 120gr or under go with the 25-06. Over go with something else. Make no mistake, the 25-06 is a fantastic caliber.

 

[wapiti25]

The 6.5-06 or 6.5-270(longer neck) are right there and they feed good out of the magazine.

 

[BradY]

If your shooting deer in australia im pretty sure the cal must be 270 win at minimum. Why not go for a 284 win... neck up lapua brass and shoot 110gr vmax for varmints and something around the 150-180gr weight for deer.

 

[McKinneyMike]

With that wide range of bullets I would think accuracy would suffer at some point as the barrel is not optimal twist rate for all bullet weights, but that is just my experience.

 

[BradY]

Ah yes but there is a difference required in hunting accuracy and varmint accuracy. In deer the vital zone is alot larger than that of a fox or rabbit

 

[McKinneyMike]

Very true

 

[Bulseyetom]

I have shot a 270 since 1973 and a 25-06 since around 1995 and if I had to choose just one, it would be the 270. Everyone claims the lack of bullets in 25 and 277 caliber but I disagree. I have shot 90 grain Sierra HP's for ground squirrels in my 270 when I didn't have a 22-250. I have killed deer with 110 grain Triple Shocks like they were a bolt of lightning. I have shot deer with 130 grain bullets of every make. After literal thousands of rounds, the old Model 70 still shoots the 110 grain Triple Shocks around .5 moa. Along came a Browning 78 in 25-06 in the late 90's and I had a new favorite. I have killed deer and hogs with the 100 grain bullets as good as any I ever shot with the 270 Winchester. I only shot 100 grain bullets until I decided to try the Nosler 110 Accubond. Now I only shoot that bullet. Both guns are light recoiling and are a pleasure to shoot off of the bench. 120 grain bullets shoot good in the 25-06 but I have never used them for hunting as I have had such great results with the lighter bullets. So there you go, in my opinion it is like trying to figure out which twin sister to ask to the prom. You can't go wrong with either one. Tom

 

[cliffy]

Love opinions from experienced shooters! My choices are .223 Remington, .243 Winchester, and .270 Winchester, a great wealth of bullet choices is available in each caliber. I tend to stick to popular calibers that will be around for decades to come. Some newer calibers come and go, but most STANDARDS remain eternal. .25/06 IS a great caliber, but will it attain undying standardship? Only time will tell regarding .25s, yet positively attested to via the fabulous .257 Roberts. I always fear weird wildcats that die-out quickly, as brass becomes scarce even quicker. Stockpiling is not my favorite hobby, since shooting lots of rounds is . . . Is .30 T/C a forever caliber? More questions than answers. Cliffy