The Forgotten 6.5mm :.25 06 Remington

There was a period when the.25-06 Remington cartridge was considered to be one of the best Goldilocks-sized medium-bore rifles. It’s a versatile cartridge that boasts a flat trajectory, light recoil and enough power to hunt anything but grizzlys. It has fallen into obscurity despite this and it is unlikely to return. It has been replaced by newer cartridges for a variety of reasons. If you happen to find a vintage rifle chambered in.25-06 here’s some information you should know. Hollowpoint.2506 Remington from PPU. The.2506 Remington was originally a wildcat cartridge designed by Charles Newton in 1912. It was created by necking down the.3006 to.257 (6mm) in order to increase velocity and reduce recoil. Western Cartridge Company marketed it as.256 Newton, which was later acquired by Winchester. It was a favorite among enthusiasts, but the lack of slow-burning cartridges caused supply problems. As a result, this cartridge never really caught on, and it was no longer produced by 1938. It wasn’t till 1969 that Remington made it a real woman, as it had been an obscure wildcat cartridge for the previous decade. The 6.5mm family is known for its high ballistic coefficient and flat-trajectory projects, as it’s an aerodynamic sweet spot. The.25 06 has been traditionally held to be very precise, with groups of one MOA or less being relatively easy to achieve using factory rifles from the mid-20th century. It was a bullet with a mild recoil that printed smaller groups at moderate ranges than similar cartridges. It also had a better energy and velocity retention than.30-caliber Bullets. This led Remington to standardize this cartridge in 1969, and include it in their Model 700 bolt action rifle. On paper, the.2506 Remington cartridge’s ballistics are impressive. But that’s not all there is to it. The most common factory loadings of.25-06 are 75- to 120 grain bullets. 100-, 120-, and 117-grain loads are the most popular. Here’s a ballistic trajectory chart for Hornady’s 117 grain InterLock BTSP American Whitetail.25.06 load (advertised G1 BC 0.391) for 1,500 yards using the Shooter’s Calculator. All tables were calculated assuming a 1.5-inch sightsight, a 10mph 90-degree crosswind and zero corrections for the atmosphere. It is not a long range powerhouse but it has a higher velocity and energy at 700 yard than a.357 magnum at the muzzle. Modern projectiles with higher BC and modern powders improve it a bit. Here is the same trajectory chart for HSM’s Trophy Gold, 115-grain load using a Berger VLD Hunting Bullet (G1 BC 0.483). This is impressive for a cartridge with less than 13 foot pounds of recoil. There’s more to this story. In the olden days, people zeroed rifles to extend the maximum distance that the shooter did not need to hold the gun over or under. If you haven’t heard of it before, it involves setting your zero to the point where the point of impact will be within a certain distance from the target, usually 2 to 4 inches. This is done out to a known range. You can then aim at any target within that distance by simply placing the reticle. You can calibrate a rifle to hit within 3″ at 300 yards if you calibrate it for +/-3 inches. The.25-06 excels in this area. Here is the trajectory table for HSM load recalculated to its MPBR assuming +/-3 inches. Pull the trigger and place the reticle anywhere within 300 yards. POI will be within 3 inches of the POA. At 400 yards you only have to hold back by 12 inches. If you are hunting deer, you only need to place the reticle just a few inches above its back. This increases the probability of a hit. The.270 Winchester was a formidable competitor to the.25-06 Remington, a cartridge which enjoyed factory support much earlier and increased popularity. Although it has a slightly higher kick (up 17 foot-pounds), the.270 is still considered to be the Western hunting cartridge of choice. The.270 Winchester cartridge uses heavier projectiles and a larger diameter (technically, 6.8mm). This makes comparison a bit tricky. Velocity is similar, but the.270 has an edge in energy. This is the trajectory table for the 140-grain Hornady American Whitetail JSP, with a G1 BC of 0.486, using a zero at 100 yards. As you can see, the supersonic range is slightly longer, but there’s only a 50-yard difference in energy. There’s also a very small advantage in wind deflection and elevation. Here is a trajectory chart for the Winchester AccuBond Long Range 150-grain load with a G1 BC value of 0.591. The bullet’s supersonic range is about 1,500 yards. It retains 1,000 foot pounds of energy up to 850 yards. The ballistics table shows that the.25-06 Remington cartridge is an excellent mid-range medium game cartridge. It has been used to take down almost every type of North American (and some African) game, and it is easy to shoot out to 400 yards without much effort or recoil. There are some real shortcomings compared to other calibers. It’s a cartridge with a long action, and seating bullets that are long and high BC is problematic because it extends the cartridge overall length (COL) past what most bolt-action magazine can accommodate. Semi-autos are a non-starter. 6.5mm Creedmoor or.260 Remington do not have these problems and can still do everything the.25-06 Remington can. GrabAGun lists 39.25.06 Remington rifles from 6 manufacturers. Savage makes 16 of them, including 10 Axis rifles. Only 11 of the 39 total are in stock. MidwayUSA lists 23 different.25 – 06 loads, but only 4 are currently in stock. The least expensive is Hornady American Whitetail at $30 for a box of 20. This is not a bad price. Remington only produces two loads: a 100-grain load and a 120-grain load, and they are only available in the CoreLokt line. They aren’t wasting their most modern bullets. There is some support, but not much, for.25.06. There are plenty of guns and ammunition, but the pickings are thin. Old hunting cartridges and hunting rifles have a certain charm, but it costs money and time to enjoy it. There’s nothing wrong if you have a vintage rifle in.2506 that you love or find one. You can shoot it, hunt with it, and enjoy it. The above ballistic analyses demonstrate that it is still a very capable rifle with a lot to give. If you’re just starting out and want a rifle to use for practical purposes, what should you do? Currently, other cartridges are more readily available and do the same thing, but better. They’re also more versatile. The 6.5mm Creedmoor is ballistically superior than.25-06 while having a similar recoil (about 13 to 12 foot-pounds). The 6.5mm Creedmoor cartridge is also available in bolt-actions and semi-autos, has a ridiculous amount of commercial support, and is much cheaper. The.243 Winchester, 7mm-08, and possibly.260 Remington and.270 Winchester would also be better choices, as well as arguably the.260 Remington and 6mm Creedmoor. The.2506 is slowly fading away and those who love it should enjoy it as long as they can. Raise Your Ammo Intelligence: Improve your shooting precision with our 62-MOA Targets. They are perfect for handguns and rifles. Crafted in collaboration with Storm Tactical for accuracy and versatility.Subscribe to the Gun Digest email newsletter and get your downloadable target pack sent straight to your inbox. Stay up to date with the latest information on firearms.