.25-06

**smitch320** · 04-11-2021, 09:14 PM

I’m wanting to put together a .25-06. I’d like to keep it at $2000 or thereabout. I want a wood gun I can shoot for the rest of my life.

What does the brain trust recommend? Rifle and glass...

**Steelin' Ducks** · 04-11-2021, 09:18 PM

Definitely suppressed.

**Gregory** · 04-12-2021, 05:55 AM

Griffin can put together something really nice.

**teal74** · 04-12-2021, 06:00 AM

Not in that price range.

**Tha Dick** · 04-12-2021, 06:00 AM

You lost me on the wood, but I would go with the highest model of Swarovski glass I could afford. If you're not planning on shooting long range the rifle build will not matter that much. I'd spend most of the budget on glass and get a factory built rifle that struck my fancy.

**smitch320** · 04-12-2021, 06:16 AM

Originally Posted by Tha Dick

You lost me on the wood, but I would go with the highest model of Swarovski glass I could afford. If you're not planning on shooting long range the rifle build will not matter that much. I'd spend most of the budget on glass and get a factory built rifle that struck my fancy.

That sounds about right, my terminology is off a little. More or less just want a quality rifle off the shelf and some good glass

**FLS** · 04-12-2021, 07:03 AM

If you have a donor action you can do it for that. I’m waiting on one to be finished. 700 action trued, switching trigger to Trigger Tech, installing a #3 Bartlein barrel, putting it in an HS Precision ADL stock. Pure hunting rifle no tacticool bullshit. Steve Roe at Apache Custom in N Wilkesboro NC is doing it.
I had the action.
I bought the barrel from Grizzly Machine for $350
I bought the Trigger Tech Special from Red Hawk Rifles on sale for 159.00
I bought the HS stock on sale for $300
He’s charging me $1300 to true the action, install and chamber the barrel, Cerakote the metal, and bed the stock. I’ve got a couple of his rifles and I’d put them up against anybody’s work.
Glass not included.

**jwterry3** · 04-12-2021, 07:15 AM

I did the exact same search in 2015......

Bought a Tikka Stainless 25-06...dropped it in a aftermarket stock...and put a Swaro on it......it is deadly.

**Tha Dick** · 04-12-2021, 05:37 PM

Originally Posted by jwterry3

I did the exact same search in 2015......

Bought a Tikka Stainless 25-06...dropped it in a aftermarket stock...and put a Swaro on it......it is deadly.

See, it works

**Saltydog235** · 04-12-2021, 08:12 AM

Buy a Sako, buy a scope but get a bigger budget. Or buy a Tikka, buy a scope but get a bigger budget. Or buy a Cooper, save some more money and get a scope later.

**Tater** · 04-12-2021, 08:29 AM

Buy a box of Core Lokts and a gun to shoot em.

Rubberhead* · 04-12-2021, 08:40 AM

I love a gun with a real wood stock. If I ever get a big bore (.338 or larger) I'll get one in stainless and composite so I can use it anywhere (Alaska, actually). For a .25-06 why not get a nice oil-finished stock and blued steel? That being said, LR's walnut and stainless .30-06 gets more second glances and questions than any other $500 rifle on the market...in the middle in the picture.

**CWPINST** · 04-12-2021, 11:02 AM

What weight rifle are you looking for it to be? For barrels I would stay with Bartlein or Kreiger. Contour depends on your weight parameters. For an action, stay with a Model 700 or one of the clones. Lots of stock options out there. Just make sure it is properly bedded......i.e. pillar bedded in Marine-Tex. A wood stock can be very pretty but you can have some movement with it. Call Ronnie Long of Long Rifles. He was one of the best Machinist at SRS. He builds some of the top HBR rifles in the country.

**Duck cutter** · 04-12-2021, 12:22 PM

My .25-06 is a browning x-bolt. Others will tell you there are better rifles out there and I don’t disagree but I’ve been 100% pleased with mine. With the exception of a muzzle brake mine is straight factory. Admittedly, a brake is an odd thing on a .25 caliber rifle but there was an undeniable difference in increased accuracy afterwards. The gun went from 3 shots in an inch at 100yds to putting 3 bullets in the same hole at 100yds. Hornady has been my go-to ammunition and I’ve had just as much success with the American whitetail ammo as the SST (both are 117gr and group identical)

Mine is due for a glass upgrade in a year or so. I bought a new Henry single shot .308 3yrs ago and have better glass on it but it will never the replace the quarter bore, I’ve had much better success with it and most shots are DRT. I understand 100% that shot placement is more critical to DRT shots than caliber but having confidence in your rifle is a factor in making that shot placement

**wskinner** · 04-12-2021, 05:26 PM

Originally Posted by Duck cutter

My .25-06 is a browning x-bolt. Others will tell you there are better rifles out there and I don’t disagree but I’ve been 100% pleased with mine. With the exception of a muzzle brake mine is straight factory. Admittedly, a brake is an odd thing on a .25 caliber rifle but there was an undeniable difference in increased accuracy afterwards. The gun went from 3 shots in an inch at 100yds to putting 3 bullets in the same hole at 100yds. Hornady has been my go-to ammunition and I’ve had just as much success with the American whitetail ammo as the SST (both are 117gr and group identical)

Mine is due for a glass upgrade in a year or so. I bought a new Henry single shot .308 3yrs ago and have better glass on it but it will never the replace the quarter bore, I’ve had much better success with it and most shots are DRT. I understand 100% that shot placement is more critical to DRT shots than caliber but having confidence in your rifle is a factor in making that shot placement

The brake removed the recoil and now you don’t flinch in anticipation. It’s understandable considering you shoot thousands of .22 rounds a year, so when you shoot a big boy gun you get a little nervous. Italics

**Duck cutter** · 04-12-2021, 08:17 PM

Originally Posted by wskinner

The brake removed the recoil and now you don’t flinch in anticipation. It’s understandable considering you shoot thousands of .22 rounds a year, so when you shoot a big boy gun you get a little nervous. Italics

Lol,

In all seriousness I was surprised at the results. My uncle was a .25-06 shooter until the day he died,and had a coworker that I really respected his opinion on just about everything that shot one exclusively as well. Anyhow, I took a few targets to work one evening to show to Bubba ( yea, I know the mental image that comes with that name but the man was an extremely talent welder, machinist, and maintenance man) from where I had been sighting it in. The gun shot decent groups as it was, 1” MOA but he wasn’t impressed. Told me a brake would tighten them up, Bubba said he had put muzzle brakes on more than a few guns over the years and it had always tightened the grouping. He had brakes on a few .243’s even. I was hesitant to do it as the caliber had such mild recoil I was convinced it wouldn’t make a difference. He made me an offer “put a muzzle brake on it, see what it does to the grouping and if you don’t like it I’ll buy it back from you and give you what you paid for it so you can band a brand new one again” I thought he was kidding until he put his hand out to shake on it.
Anyway, I had nothing to lose, took it to a local gunsmith in town for the work, sighted it back in and never gave Bubba the chance to buy it