.25-06 or .243

[fasteddy06]

I am looking into a new rifle and I want something that can shoot fairly long ranges and is accurate. I hunt with and '06 but it kicks to much for extended shooting. I wanted somthing that can handle deer at medium ranges along with coyotes. The two calibers that i have come down to are the .243 and the 25-06. I was wondering what yalls opinions and experiences are with either of these calibers. The cost and avalibility of ammo are also a concern. If there is any other calibers that i am overlooking please feel free to fill me in. Any suggestions and opions are welcomed.

[hunt4fun1]

Hey bro....welcome to the SHF!
Glad to have you with us.

I had a buddy on my lease shoot 2 does this year with a .243 and lost em both. He says he got good vitals on both.....who knows?
I shoot a 7mm Rem Mag. Some say it's an over kill but what I shoot falls where it stands. I use that round because I am likely to encounter hogs where I hunt and I like the meat. The 7 will drop em like someone cut off their legs.
There are alot of hunters here that enjoy the .243 as a deer rifle but I like a bigger round.
As far as the .25-06 for a varmit gun, there's not a much better round. I have a buddy that drives tacks with his and I have shot many yote with his -06.

Now, the projectile will have alot to do with your success, of course. For a varmit, you'll want rapid expansion and for deer, you'll want something to penetrate before it expands.

[noonebil]

Shot a buch @ about 100 yrds this fall. Deer fell in it's tracks. Grew up shooting this caliber & love it. Never shot a 25-06 but I hear it's good too. Probably just personal preference should decide.

[BT]

to me they are nearly the same. not deer gtuns but will work for deer if every things right.

if it were me and it was going to be primarly a deer gun the 25 would get the nod because it handles heaver bullets.

so its the better deer gun in my opinion.

if ammo concierns are a big problem and you ammo suply is like mine here you can find about 20 boxes of ammo for the 243 for every one box of 25-06.
some other posibilty you may wont to look at are 6mm rem 240 weatherby for the smaller cals.

if its a low recoil deer gun you are looking for primarly there are a few more opptions 7x57 "7mm mouser" 260 rem 7-08rem. pop to mind.

if the 06 recoil is the only problem a packmire or limb saver reicol pad will drop the recoil about 25% or so.

hope this helps

[deerslayer11]

I have both here and like the 25-06 better. I do love my .260 though.

[gulfcoasthunter]

I have killed alot of deer with my 243 in last 4 years, most droped in their tracks, none ran more than 50yrds. The only one I lost wasn't the guns fault but poor tracking by me. I found the deer a few weeks later about 40yrds from where I shot him in some thick stuff. Didn't leave much blood and I just walked past him several time looking for him.

[benhuntin]

I have a Rugar #1 25-06 and love it. Alot more knockdown power than a .243. Both are good guns though. I would pick the 25-06.

[rjk187]

from what i hear the 25-06 is good in open areas. my uncle was using his a few years ago and shot at a deer and hit a branch right in front of the deers chest, where in most cases with a larger caliber rifle it would have still killed the deer, but the 25-06 shell shot of course and missed the deer completely so IMO open fields its good but pine thinckets like the ones i hunt here in georgia not so much.

[deerslayer11]

A miss is a miss. Hitting a small limb will throw anything from an arrow to a 12GA slug off. Ive seen deer standing still and branches between us swinging after shots with about every gun I own... When hunting in the thick stuff its a gamble.

[BlueNorther]

You're so right DS.I missed a cow moose 3 times at less than 75 yards away.Those 175gr bullets from the 7 mm just zinged off the aspen shoots she was standing in .I couldn't see the shoots in my scope and was wondering why the bitch wasn't going down

[rjk187]

I agree with both of you. I have had it happen while using my .270. I guess I was putting all the blame on the gun because I like the .243 it was my first gun and what i killed my first deer with so really just tryin to make it shine by putting down the 25-06

[Brithunter]

Hi All,

I have neither and would have a .243 out of choice, the 243 is too finiky in my mind, soem will shoot 100grn bullets others well forget it if you want to hit a target

Thought about a 25-06 once but that's as far as it went, now the bullets deflecting off brush is a strange one. I always thought this happened but whilst sighting in my 7x57 Mauser chambered BSA rifle, I noticed that the Hornady 139 BTSP bullets were going through a lot of brush behind the target board. They went through several saplings and trees to imbed them selves in the bank on the oposite side of the gully. The poor hazel tree behind the board and a holly are all shot up, you can see the line of flight quite clearly and it's in a straight line not what I expected at all, in fact I was quite shocked another thing I noticed was that the soft point bullets did not expand in the wood just drilled right on through it, now I know they expand in flesh as I have a recovered one here which is about a perfect mushroom.

[rjk187]

thats the bullets we use and my uncle has shot thru thick brush a dropped plenty of deer but i dunno i guess there is alot that play into it