26-06 vs 25-06 Ackley vs 6.5-06

[#publiclands]

How does the 25-06 or 25-06 ackley with a fast twist barrel shooting the heavy 135 grain bullets, compare to the 6.5-06?

 

[amassi]

They’re essentially the same, would just come down to what components you had or could source
The 135 Berger .257 has a slightly higher bc than the
140 .264 elite hunter
The 25-06 has a very slight wind advantage a whoppin .2 mils @1000.


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[#publiclands]

Im kinda leaning towards the 25-06 ackley… brass is easy to source, grant bullets might be hard to find, dies should be easy to get, and you can still shoot factory 25-06 if you had to with reasonable accuracy….

Would you recommend 25-06 over the 6.5-06? Even better the 25-06 ackley over the 6.5-06?

 

[amassi]

I would ackley which ever you choose to limit case stretch.
I recommend both, they’re great cartridges

If I were going to Wildcat a long action standard cartridge it would be a 6.5-280ai for brass quality and availability.
You already have the ackley shoulder so just a simple neck down with 280ai bushing dies( readily available) load and shoot


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[#publiclands]

True …

 

[gerry35]

With either the 25-06 or 25-06 AI you can shoot factory ammo which is a plus compared the the 6.5's mentioned. Sounds like you're leaning that way already anyway. No wrong choices with any of them, good luck!

 

[B23]

For me, it would depend on what rifles I already had. If I already had a 6.5 something or other then adding a 25 cal of some sort to shoot the 133-135 gr bullets would be an option for me but if I didn't, I don't think I'd ever take a 25 cal over a 6.5/.264. Nothing against the 25's but IMO the 6.5's have a much better bullet selection and is the more versatile caliber of the two.

If you want 6.5-06 or the like performance, and, you want the option for really good shooting factory ammo I would seriously consider the 6.5 PRC.

 

[eLightfoot]

25-06 will have slightly less recoil shooting bullets of equal bc with a tad more speed. It’s splitting hairs but I have a bias towards the .257 cal. I am of the opinion that it is the best all around bore diameter for long range deer hunting with a .473 cartridge.

 

[#publiclands]

the only .257 bore I have is a 250 savage in a Savage 1899. Sweet gun but doesn’t leave the safe much and probably won’t be dragged through the hills.

I really didn’t consider the 25-06 until they started coming out with the heavier bullets. I have a first gen savage 110 and have been wanting to rebarrel so am considering a 25-06 ackley fast twist or a 6.5-06.

Yeah bullet selection is better with the 6.5-06 but I think that the heavier bullets in the .257 will be more available as they become more popular. Plus I could always just shoot factory 120s in the 25-06 build if I wanted or had to … can’t do that with the 6.5-06 with factory loads.

I figured that the two would be close with the 25-06 ackley possibly having a slight velocity and ballistics advantage.

I don’t think that there are any stout .25 heavy bullets out yet other than the Hornady. I’m not a huge fan of the bergers on game as they appear to be very fragmentile but I’ve also never used a lot of them other than for target and for shooting coyotes out of my .204 and 222.

 

[FLS]

The .257 120gr Swift A frame is as “stout” as it gets. It’s got the BC of a brick but will shoot thru about anything in NA, if that is your desire.

 

[#publiclands]

The .257 120gr Swift A frame is as “stout” as it gets. It’s got the BC of a brick but will shoot thru about anything in NA, if that is your desire.

Yes they are stout bullets and hard to beat but I was referring to the heavier 135 grain bullets. I believe that their are mainly long range match bullets so far in the the 130 grain plus department.

 

[FLS]

The Berger 115 VLD Hunting bullets have worked really well on deer and a couple of antelope out of my 25-06. Prior to that I used 117 Sierras, 115 Noslers BTs, and 110 ELDX and 110 Tipped Game Kings. All of them worked really well.
The heaviest animal I’ve shot with a 25-06 is a 200 ish pound feral hog with a 115 Nosler BT. He only went a few feet after being hit. unless you shoot a lot of game bigger than deer beyond 5-600 yds, I don’t think a standard twist 25-06 would ever hold you back. I have no experience with the heavier bullets, so I can’t speak to their effectiveness.

 

[B23]

I believe Nosler makes a 25 cal 120gr Partition, at least they used to, and Partitions, though not particularly sleek in the BC department, have always been a bullet that retains a lot of its weight.

 

[#publiclands]

I believe that you are correct. Partitions are another stout bullet.

Swift SCIROCCO’s would be a good choice for another stout bullet. I don’t think that they make them in a 120 though but there BC should be way better than partitions or A frames. I have always had a hard time to get these to shoot well in the two other calibers I tried them with. They were never sub moa accurate but hunting accurate and deadly on critters though.

 

[thewileyone]

Eventually .257 will catch up and get a decent bullet selection. Until then 6.5 is about as good as it gets.


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[willfrye027]

133 Berger’s, 135 Berger’s, now 134 ELDM are all viable options. 3000-3100fps in the non ackley. Do the math and it has more effective range than anybody really needs, 1800fps well beyond 1000 yards.

And the 135 Berger’s kill very well. I’m sure the 133s and 134eldm will too.

 

[B23]

133 Berger’s, 135 Berger’s, now 134 ELDM are all viable options. 3000-3100fps in the non ackley. Do the math and it has more effective range than anybody really needs, 1800fps well beyond 1000 yards.

And the 135 Berger’s kill very well. I’m sure the 133s and 134eldm will too.

I was running the numbers yesterday playing with different 6.5 bullets (Berger 140 & 156) and the new .257 134 ELD-M, both at what a 6.5 and 25 SAUM would launch them at and the only place the 140 & 156 beat the 134 was the 6.5 140 had a tiny bit more energy out to about 650yds then the 134's started to pull ahead and the 6.5 156 held 100-150 ft./lb more energy out to 1000 over those 134's but in trajectory and drift the 134 ELD-M was the winner.

Comparing the numbers, anything someone would shoot with a 140 or 156 6.5 should do equally as well with the Berger 133/135 or Hornady 134.

I've never really been much of a quarter bore fan but these new heavy for caliber 25cal bullets are making me want to build a 25 SAUM. Hmmm, wonder if Hornady has any plans to make a 135-ish A-Tip bullet......

 

[B23]

Eventually .257 will catch up and get a decent bullet selection. Until then 6.5 is about as good as it gets.

Probably one of the biggest things holding the 25 cals back is nobody makes a 25 caliber factory rifle with enough twist rate to shoot any of these new heavy for caliber .257 bullets.

Weatherby with their 257 Wby mag has all that case capacity which would be ideal for launching the 133-135's but they're still using a 10tw barrel. Something like a 25 PRC off of either the 6.5PRC case or its bigger brother the 7PRC or a 25 SAUM would be appealing but they'll need to build them with fast enough twist barrels so guys can shoot these new heavies.

 

[#publiclands]

Agreed …. I’m hoping for the Sciroccos in the 135grain. They should have an awesome BC plus they are a plenty stout hunting bullet … kinda best of both worlds

 

[thewileyone]

Probably one of the biggest things holding the 25 cals back is nobody makes a 25 caliber factory rifle with enough twist rate to shoot any of these new heavy for caliber .257 bullets.

Weatherby with their 257 Wby mag has all that case capacity which would be ideal for launching the 133-135's but they're still using a 10tw barrel. Something like a 25 PRC off of either the 6.5PRC case or its bigger brother the 7PRC or a 25 SAUM would be appealing but they'll need to build them with fast enough twist barrels so guys can shoot these new heavies.

The factory rifles are setup to handle factory loads from when the cartridge was developed. 22 calibers are in the same boat. I’d love a factory 22-250 that’d shoot high bc 70-80’s grain bullet instead of 50-55 grain…

That’s what keep the gunsmiths busy!


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