Following the discussion the other day on a 25-06 rifle with a 19 inch barrel most seems to agree that its way too short.
http://forums.accuratereloadin...6711043/m/9771006511

So my question is...: what’s the minimum sensible barrel length for a 25-06 ?

I went with a 26" on my gunsmiths recommedation to get the max potential from the cartridge. I plan on just using it for a pronghorn, target rifle, with the occasional prairie dog and coyote thrown in. As long as I'm hunting open country then a 26" barrel shouldn't be any hinderance. I don't think I would want to go less than 24" on the barrel as a .25-06 is known for its velocity and I want to squeeze as much as possible out of it.

What taylorce1 said +1. 24" is good, 22" you begin to comprimise, 26" you are optimizing.

I would not go shorter than 24" with the 25-06 unless it was on a rifle that was just too good to pass up.

There is no "line in the sand".

The longer the barrel, the more velocity and less muzzle blast; the shorter the barrel the opposite is true.

Barrel lengths should be somewhat proportional to the speed of the powders optimal for the cartridge. Cartridges like the .25-06 do best with powders ranging from the 4831s to slower. Powders in this burning range are somewhat handicapped with barrels less than 24".

On the other hand, with a .222 using 4198 or something similar, there is very little difference in the velocities I get from my 24" sporter and my 20" Mannicher; and the muzzle blast is still tolerable with the small cartridge and fast-burning powders in the shorter barrel.

Bottom line: With a .25-06 you are best off with the longest barrel that your hunting style and the balance of your rifle will tolerate.

muzzle blast can be controlled, somewhat, by powder selection

velocity is rule of thumb 25fps per inch, WITH THE SAME LOAD that is optomized for longer barrels

using win748, h335, rel12, or other "shade faster" powders will result in less vel loss

as said, there'a no real line in the sand as everything is a compromise. there's nothing that says a 25-06 "won't work" with a 19 inch tube, just like there's no rule that says the same bore with, for instance, a necked down 38special case (or any other small case) "won't work" with a 26 inch tube. it just doesn't make sence to combine such oposite ends of the spectrum and get any where near the round's potential for delivering decent performamnce from a variety of bullet weights. the smaller the bore diameter gets, the more critical this becomes.
given similar bore diameters,an easy way to look at it is considering case size.....'06 size case on a .25 bore...(just about as much case as can be used with a .25)....slow powders and just about max barrel length.... even the roberts case can very easily use a 26 inch tube.
the problems compound when a when a mismatch of case size and barrel length results in having to use faster powders or less powder to reduce muzzleblast, then you are giving up velocity because of the short tube and the reduced powder charge.

quote:

what’s the minimum sensible barrel length for a 25-06 ?

I used a Mauser carbine with a 18.5" barrel for prairie dogs once.

It shot 75 grain V-Max bullets with amazing effectiveness on the "dogs".

18.5" is about as short as I'd like a .25-06 to be but most would prefer something 22" and more.