270 Winchester, 6.5-06, or 25-06 Fast Twist Deer Rifle

[mercerbear]

Sooooo stuck on this, I have a stock, a trigger, and a 06 length action, looking to install a fast twist 26" barrel for long range shooting and deer. I have a custom 300 for elk works, and a 35 Whelen for a timber rifle, looking at 3 long range options, no I do not want a 6.5 CM or PRC ! not interested, but have an associate with a long range 270 win with the new 170 grain berger. Handloads are mid 2900 fps (very impressive!) and he also has a 25-06 fast twist shooting the new 133 grain Bergers at 3000 fps. The ballistics are quite amazing with these slippery bullets, brass is available and standard, even the 6.5-06 is easy enough to work with.......stuck on cartridge selection. Thoughts? and hoping for gents who have these rifles.

I vote 25-06 since you already have a 30 bore to cover whatever you feel the quarter bore might be undersized to drop.

 

[epoletna]

One possibility you haven't apparently considered is to sell the parts you have and make do with the rifles you already have.

Did I say that? I'm gonna lose my posting privileges if I keep talking like that.

On the other hand, my experience with 6.5-06 was not particularly good. I had one built and never could get it to shoot worth a darn.

Finally re-chambered it to 6.5 Creedmoor.

Dang! Did I just say that? I'm in even more trouble now!

 

[xsn10s]

Finally re-chambered it to 6.5 Creedmoor.

Dang! Did I just say that? I'm in even more trouble now!

 

[Muddyboots]

So @Calvin45, you forgot to mention .270TH already? A .270Win in 700LA, 27",1:8tw, 5R, throated for 156HH @ 3200fps with RL26? Best of all worlds, fast medium weight Hammer Hunter bullet, laser? I feel left out now.

 

[JMW67]

Have you given any thought to a 6.5-280 Ackley a simple neck down and shoot

 

[wyrshunter1]

Just Deer? Take the 25-06 or do it up right in an Ackley and never look back. Shoot whichever load gives you the best accuracy but its honestly hard to beat anything in the 100 grain range for deer zeroed at 250 or 300. The .270 with 130s if you like hamberger. Can't go wrong with the .243.

Everything else is great but overkill on powder and kick if its a deer specialist. The 25-06 barely kicks, is easy to load for, easy to neck down off of cheap 30-06 brass, and provides a 0-400 yard laser that keeps things simple and allows for ranging mistakes.

At the further distances the drop differences either favor the speed of the light 25-06 bullets over your high BC stuff or are negligible until the 700 yard or so threshold. The 115s or 120s will make your Creedmore cry up to 1000 yards.

I don't disagree with the guys talking about the 6.5s, 6.8 exc. and their high BCs at all. They will work just fine too and if you are looking to hit the 1000 yard club, and worry about wind then go with them or just Ackley the 25-06 get a fast twist, and use the heavy Berger 133s and you will outperform just about anything in the 6.5s and 6.8s not named Weatherby (and the .257 Weatherby will beat those).

 

[Montucky Roamer]

I would 2nd this. If you twist the .25-06 to 7.5 or 8 and it doesn't like the Berger 133 or they go "extinct," then what? Nothing else you can fund will likely survive or shoot well due to the fast twist/velocity combination. 6.5 long action makes sense except for brass availability or the difficulty in forming it and/or finding dies and time to do so. 6.5x284 is readily available, but it can be a chore to find bottom metal/action lengths ideal for handling the in-between case size. If you can beat this issue out first, then it is about as perfect as you can get for deer and mule deer. Good for elk, too. But the 8 or 8.5 twist .270 will handle all of your 140 - 175gr pills well, there's plenty of brass and bullets, it's a better choice for the large species, and factory ammo is handy, which it isn't for the other choices. The ONLY issue I've run into in planning to build one is finding a barrel available twisted accordingly without a several-month wait. The barrel makers are behind the times or don't want to change their programming, so anything you find ready to ship will be 1:10. Same with the .25cal except there are a few offering 7.5 twists to buy now, but like only 1 with an 8 twist handy. Everything is still a 1:10 on the shelves. Not sure why the barrel makers are lagging behind the rest of the industry here, but they are the rate-limiting step of the process for sure when it comes to .270 and .25 bores. You won't go wrong with any of your choices, but you need to see what parts and components are available for each to fully decide. An 8 twist 6.5x284 in standard long action MIGHT be your path of least resistance to getting bullets on paper the fastest and easiest.

25 Cal bullets have been easy to find lately, the easiest, and you simply buy enough to shoot out the barrel and never worry about bullet availability. And he has the larger species covered. Low recoil Lazer spells 257 or even 243 caliber bullets to me.

 

[338RUM&7MMREMMAG]

I would say 25/06. I have recently been kicking around a .257WBY since it is stupid fast, could be used from ground hogs to deer and I don't have a Weatherby. But you stated 25/06 and that would be easier on the pocketbook when loading and fit your action.

 

[wyrshunter1]

I would 2nd this. If you twist the .25-06 to 7.5 or 8 and it doesn't like the Berger 133 or they go "extinct," then what? Nothing else you can fund will likely survive or shoot well due to the fast twist/velocity combination. 6.5 long action makes sense except for brass availability or the difficulty in forming it and/or finding dies and time to do so. 6.5x284 is readily available, but it can be a chore to find bottom metal/action lengths ideal for handling the in-between case size. If you can beat this issue out first, then it is about as perfect as you can get for deer and mule deer. Good for elk, too. But the 8 or 8.5 twist .270 will handle all of your 140 - 175gr pills well, there's plenty of brass and bullets, it's a better choice for the large species, and factory ammo is handy, which it isn't for the other choices. The ONLY issue I've run into in planning to build one is finding a barrel available twisted accordingly without a several-month wait. The barrel makers are behind the times or don't want to change their programming, so anything you find ready to ship will be 1:10. Same with the .25cal except there are a few offering 7.5 twists to buy now, but like only 1 with an 8 twist handy. Everything is still a 1:10 on the shelves. Not sure why the barrel makers are lagging behind the rest of the industry here, but they are the rate-limiting step of the process for sure when it comes to .270 and .25 bores. You won't go wrong with any of your choices, but you need to see what parts and components are available for each to fully decide. An 8 twist 6.5x284 in standard long action MIGHT be your path of least resistance to getting bullets on paper the fastest and easiest.

Just curious if anyone has any experience with a .257 caliber with high twists and lighter bullets. The sparse information seems to indicate that accuracy doesn't suffer much but maybe velocity a bit which is expected. I have a 25-06 AI barrel ordered in the 1:7 twist so I'm just curious about whether its going to give me problems with the 100s or even the 115s. The velocity factor to me isn't a big deal because I would still expect at least 25-06 1:10 velocities with the A.I. I would think.

 

[Muddyboots]

Sigh, no love for fast twist .270's. Far different animal than 1:10 twist. With component scarcity, .270 brass seems to be there. RL26 is magic pixie dust for it getting unreal performance out of 170 Bergers, 156HH, 140BD2 which has crazy high BC. Nosler 150ABLR, 165ABLR and 170BT are all great deer long range bullets. Hammer keeps adding to the .270 bullet collection from 117-156 for 1:8, Cutting Edge, Bulldozers. The fast twist 1:8 .270 provides a lot of options to shoot light laser or heavier higher BC.

 

[sxssixteen]

Discounting those calibers that include bullets with higher ballistic coefficients, of the three named I would recommend the 270 winchester. Its advantages include well designed (and proven) bullets, heavier bullets that those available in 25 and 26 calibers, readily available manufactured brass, a long history of load developments, excellent accuracy potential, and controllable recoil.

 

[Mike Matteson]

Take a look the 280AI dimensions from the base to the shoulder. A 270 case from base to shoulder is 1.949". The 280AI case from base to shoulder is 2.0966". The 280AI case is .1476" longer to the shoulder longer. That about 5/32 longer. For easy math about 1/8+ longer to the shoulder. You are trying to push a heavier bullet down the tube. So you are able to add a little more powder. If you are going to have to build a reamer, why short yourself?

 

[Montucky Roamer]

Just curious if anyone has any experience with a .257 caliber with high twists and lighter bullets. The sparse information seems to indicate that accuracy doesn't suffer much but maybe velocity a bit which is expected. I have a 25-06 AI barrel ordered in the 1:7 twist so I'm just curious about whether its going to give me problems with the 100s or even the 115s. The velocity factor to me isn't a big deal because I would still expect at least 25-06 1:10 velocities with the A.I. I would think.

I'm sure it's perfectly fine shooting lighter out of a fast twist. It works well in every other caliber. 257 will be no different. Yes...I know there are problems at the extremes but this ain't that.

 

[Calvin45]

So @Calvin45, you forgot to mention .270TH already? A .270Win in 700LA, 27",1:8tw, 5R, throated for 156HH @ 3200fps with RL26? Best of all worlds, fast medium weight Hammer Hunter bullet, laser? I feel left out now.

My condolences

It's just science tho. It's the 21st day of the 4th month. 21+4=25. As in 25 caliber. If the op holds off on deciding for two more days you'll be okay.