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Simple question. If your primary game is desert mule deer (on the small side), would you choose a .243 or a .25-06? I know there are other rounds, but if I get another long-action round, it'll be a 25-06. If I get a short-action round, I'm pretty much set between 24 and 25 caliber (and I want a tried and true cartridge, not one of the newer rounds). I reload, so no concerns as to bullet selection. So out of the two, which would you choose and why? gd | ||
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The .25 cal would be my choice given these two, as the Nosler 110 grain Accubond is the Lords gift to this caliber. And the .25-06 is alot more rifle.  Member NRA, SCI- Life #358 28+ years now! DRSS, double owner-shooter since 1983, O/U .30-06 Browning Continental set. | |||
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Of the two, 25-06. (Me personally, .257 Roberts - but we're pretty much splitting hairs at this point...) The 110 AB should be plenty good for all your needs. Regards, Robert ****************************** H4350! It stays crunchy in milk longer! | |||
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make it three.....of the choices the .25-06 is a tad bit more.....and I agree fully that the 110 accubond might be the way to go.....I'm getting some for the .257 Roberts and it's not much different than the .25-06 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." Winston Churchill | |||
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25-06, I love a 243 but a 25-06 if your game is mostly deer is the way to go. | |||
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I'd take the 25-06 simply because it shoots a little flatter and hits a bit harder at the extended ranges desert mule deer are often taken at. But I doubt any deer could tell the difference between the two...  Bobby Μολὼν λαβέ The most important thing in life is not what we do but how and why we do it. - Nana Mouskouri | |||
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 25-06  rogerOld age is a high price to pay for maturity!!! Some never pay and some pay and never reap the reward. Wisdom comes with age! Sometimes age comes alone.. | |||
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As I see it the .243 is a fantastic long range varmint round that will serve acceptably for deer within reasonable limits. The .25-06 is a fantastic deer round that will serve acceptably as a long range varminter (and elk rifle as well but that's another argument  ). Never shot the 110 AB so I can't comment but from what the guy's are saying it must be a great bullet. That doesn't however mean your new .25-06 will think so. They like what they like! I shot a few Montana mulies (big) and a few antelope (small) with my long range chuck rifle in .25-06 using the 100 grain Sierra SPBT and they were all bang-flop shots. Totally off the topic but the farthest I've ever shot a rock chuck was with that rifle and bullet, 679 Leica'd yards. 3 ft of air, 3 somersaults and parts and particles flying. As memory serves I've got about 7 or 8 boxes of .25 cal 100 grain Nosler Partitions I need to part company with now that I sold that .25-06. Both rounds mentioned are great and both will work but I'm with the .25-06 block. "If a man buys a rifle at a gun show and his wife doesn't know it"...Did he really buy a rifle? Firearm Philosophy 101. montdoug | |||
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+1 for the 25-06. Lou **************** NRA Life Benefactor Member | |||
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i know its not within the parameters but what about a 6.5 rem mag? its a short action and its been around longer than me? | |||
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I would pick the .243. It does a fine job on deer, as mentioned. But, the main reason is that you can find a Pre'64 Model 70 chambered for same. | |||
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Another vote for the 25-06, | |||
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Gidday GD, 25-06 unless you get a really good deal on the 243. They will both do the job you you want done so pick the rifle you want in either calibre and you should be happy. Happy Hunting Hamish | |||
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+1 for the 25-06 no doubt about that...I have had both calibres, but shortly after I bought the .243 I sold it... but I will keep my 25-06 forever ! | |||
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Thanks for the replies. Very good advice, and I was leaning towards the 25-06 anyway (just didn't want to skew the results of my little survey ). Plus, I've already got a good varmint rifle, so no need for double duty. I'm going to check out a few shops this weekend, and see what's available. I'll keep you updated on my search. gd | |||
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I got this load from another member on the board,he was shooting a rem and I shot the tika.Groups looked about the same except he had 4 and I only shot 3. You may want to give it a try when you get the 25/06.  | |||
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The 25-06 is about as close to a perfect Mule Deer rifle as I can think of..I have never owned one, but I have seen them used many, many times and shot a couple of antelope and maybe a deer with a borrowed one, and its an awesome caliber IMO. I have a couple of friends that are ranchers and thats their only elk rifles.. In my youth I used the 25-35, 250 Savage and 257 Roberts on Mule Deer and elk. I really like the 25 calibers, but the calibers I used on elk sure do limit your chances if you use them properly..... Guess the reason I never had a 25-06 of my own is that I always opted for the .270..Maybe thats something I need to change. It's one of the few calibers I have not owned at one time or another. Anybody got a good mauser barrel in 257 caliber, I have a nice G33/40 action just waiting to be worked over..but I have a 284 cal. barrel for it..oh well maybe next time or maybe I can find a trade on barrels, mine is a Lothar Walther. Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
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Every person is a summary of his own experiences, so my choice is strictly personal. I have had both factory and custom rifles in both chamberings, over a period of about 60 years. My experiences with the .243 on medium game have been universally unsatisfactory. My experiences with the .25-06 have been very satisfactory except for the first deer I shot with one (in 1959). It was a "Texas heart-shot" and the striking velocity was high enough that the Sierra 117 gr. SPBT simply exploded. and penetrated less than 4". We finally got the deer, but it was a day later, over a mile away, and the deer had soured in the August sun, losing all the meat and resulting in a purposeless, unacceptable death of a nice animal. I changed to better bullets, and had no problems with the .25-06 ever again. I still have rifles in both cartridges, but my current .243s are a dedicated varmint rifle, and a competitive "free rifle". My .25-06s are both medium game rifles, so that's where I stand (and sit, and stalk). AM NOT suggesting anyone else should make the same choice. Bullet availability, rifle weight, length of shot, and too many other things enter in for me to recommend what would be best for anyone else. | |||
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You are picking on 2 good rounds. The 25-06 is just made as a small deer round. First gun I purchaced with "my money" was a 25-06 in a ruger 77 tang safty. It shot well and kill a bunch of deer with it. Shoots flat and no recoil, go 25-06! DRSS Member | |||
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The 25-06 is the way to go. | |||
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+ another 1 Founder....the OTPG | |||
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Ditto | |||
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25-06. I've seen too many deer that were well hit with decent bullets from a .243 that ran off like a scalded cat. One was DRT but the other five ran like hell. If the area hunted hadn't been fairly open, a couple of those deer might not have been found due to either too little or no blood trail. Probably my choice of bulelt would be the 120 gr. Speer Hot-core. My Ruger #1B shoots that bullet into nice tight clusters. Paul B. | |||
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I'd go with the 25-06. I've got a 270 that I've used on deer for about 10 years. Now I have a 25-06 that I'll use this season. My kids have killed deer with the 243. They'll all do the job. The 25-06 has the highest velocity and the best sectional density (most likely) if you use a heavy bullet like the 117 grain and a longish barrel like a 24 inch. My 25-06 is a winchester 70 sporter that's a tack driver. One shot well placed on a desert mule deer with any 25-06 should bring home the bacon. | |||
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 Similar experience with a 25-06 IMP but a well placed bullet. 33" spread. Hot day. Found him 7 hrs. later, still alive.+1-- with these fast rifles good bullet selection is a must. rogerOld age is a high price to pay for maturity!!! Some never pay and some pay and never reap the reward. Wisdom comes with age! Sometimes age comes alone.. | |||
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Thanks everyone! I appreciate your experiences as well. I've seen a lot of bad results from the .243, but it's all about shot placement, and bullet design (and if you don't put the bullet where it's supposed to go, you won't get good results even with big bores). I was leaning towards the extra pop that the 25-06 has, and I'm glad to hear you all back that up. I'm gonna look around, and see what I can find in the way of rifles... Just terrible, but it's gotta be done.   gd | |||
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If it's bigger than a coyote, forget about the .243. If you're wanting a short action, don't forget about the 7-08 or .260. | |||
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I have seen several nice deer taken with a .243. I would prefer a 308, 30-06, 45-70....but the .243 will work. | |||
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If it was spoken by GOD tonight, that GHD could only have one rifle(GOD forbid!!) it would be a 25-06 of some sort!! Varmints to Elk, it will do the job!! 75 grain VMAXS or 87 grain VMaxs or 85 grain Nosler BT's for the vermin and 110 Accubonds or 117 Sierra's or 120 Hornady's and you may throw in the 100 or 115 Nosler BT's for the deer sized VERMIN(deers is vermin ain't they???) and the 25-06 is GOD'S gift to rifledom!! Once you shoot a 25-06 you'll never go back!! I like the 6mmRemington also, but it is a different beast! Not for the meat hunting folks unless they like to track game! And the 6mm is SUPERIOR to the .243 Win!! Remington should have learned their lesson with the .244REM/.243win game of the fifties! DIDN'T!! Then they had the R&D done on the REMINGTON SAUM's and were so predicated to release the Remington golly whopper RUM's that they did it and let Winchester release their WSM's ahead of the SAUM's and the rest is history!! The RSAUM will never(even Remington isn't chambering for it!!!)get the audience exceptence of the WSM line of cartridges!! But be thankful that REMINGTON had the foresight to accept the 25 Neidner and make it a factory round!! Long live the 25-06!! GHD Groundhog Devastation(GHD) | |||
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Another vote for the 25-06, load a 100 grain barnes at around 3300fps and you have about as good as you can get. However a 243 is not to be laughed at, out about 300 yards it is death on a stick to a deer, after that its punch starts to wane where the 25 just starts to get its second wind.. (When I was a kid my father used to tell me that God hated a coward, I finally realized he has even less use for a fool.) | |||
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I love my .243, but for your hunting I'd choose the 25-06. Red C. Everything I say is fully substantiated by my own opinion. | |||
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I love the .25-06 for mule deer, or whitetails, or pronghorns. I've killed a bunch of all of them with mine and 100 grain Nosler BTs and IMR 4831 powder. I pull trigger, it goes boom and animals hit the ground. I've never had one go more than three hops. It kills like chain lightning. My dad told me once that if you're gonna kill a rattler with a chainsaw, use the top of the bar. | |||
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I consider the 25-06 to be considerably more effective on deer than a 243. Several of my relatives use 243s and my grandad used a 257 Roberts. It seems as though he got more dramatic kills than the 243 users did. He used generic Remington factory loads with great success. | |||
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Personly if those are my two cals to pick from. I would go for 243 in a nice light mountain rifle configuration. MM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.../watch?v=qVQc386js7g www.setfreesoldiers.com www.soldiermade.com Montana Maddness Set Free Ministries MT. 7 days with out meat makes one Weak! | |||
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Was that load with Reloader-22 Reloader Powder? I was just wondering, I just bought a Tikka 25-06 & I just searched for favorite loads & ran across this. Thanks. | |||
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As you say, it comes down to action length. Both 243 and 25-06 will do a fine job on deer if the hunter does his job (shot placement). I've hunted with both and wouldn't give a quarter for any difference in effectiveness on game between them. | |||
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Hands down the .25-06 Remington. Heavier bullets than the .243 and bigger caliber. | |||
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If you place the shot, it won't matter which one you use. | |||
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I'm sure that's only true because he's never seen a groundhog struck by a speer 110gr driven FAR faster than it shoulda been out of a 7mmMag.  It redefines a varmint shooters favorite word: "Splatter!"  that aside of the six or seven 100gr Nosler partitions I stuck into deer from various angles from a 25-06 I never managed to recover one as they ALL made exit holes. The fact that I KNOW they made exit holes tells me all I needed to know. My advice? 25-06 obviously. Don't get me wrong, I like the 243Win, I think it's what every idiot that jabbers endlessly about "fast twist" 223rem rifles really wants, they just don't know it. AD If I provoke you into thinking then I've done my good deed for the day! Those who manage to provoke themselves into other activities have only themselves to blame. *We Band of 45-70er's* 35 year Life Member of the NRA NRA Life Member since 1984 | |||
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To me a 25-06 doesn't do anything that a .270 doesn't do better. My grandson,son in law and I have all used the .243 for several years and it does a great job. I read over and over that they are marginal at best and require a premium bullet. I use the 100 grain bulk packed Winchester(cheap)bullet and put it where it should go better have a sharp knife handy. My grandson now uses a .308----not that he needed bigger, but I had a Win 88 that I gave him. He just got an 8 point white tail couple days ago and actually his results with the .308 were about the same as he was getting with .243. | |||
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