deer gun

[splitshot]

     i am looking for a left handed bolt deer gun.  right now i am leaning toward a 25-06 or a 260 rem.  mike w

[Balladeer]

Good luck. I hope you find what you're looking for.

[sakoshooter]

Being a left handed rifle shooter I can relate to your dilema as there aren't too many LH rifles made these days. Remington makes LH guns. So does Savage. Sako Tikka is made LH also.
My opinion on the 25.06 and .260 is that they are both on the small side for big mule deer with less than an ideal shot. Both shoot fairly light bullets even though there are numerous super premium bullets available today. I'd recommend a 30.06 or .270 for a good all around deer gun and the 30.06 can make a good elk gun with heavier bullets. Not trying to bust any bubbles, just my 2cts worth. Best of luck shopping.

[Bob33]

Sakoshooter, I agree with your assessment of .25 caliber on elk.  I think it's a good enough deer cartridge with the right bullet.  I shot a .25-06 for many years.  With premium bullets you should do fine.  After all, it's the same cartridge case as the 270 and 30-06; just shoots a smaller, lighter bullet a bit faster.

[high country]

I sent a 100gr tsx at 3500fps on a 400yd journey. the last 3 feet of its trip were spent smashing through a roosevelt elks lungs ribs and humerous. I wish I could have found the bullet to ask it if it new it was 30-65 grains lighter then an optimal bullet. I can say from my own expieriences that the .257 100gr tsx is bad medicine.

I also put a few good sized bucks on the ground with that gun. I never shot it twice at anything.

[carpsniperg2]

The 25-06 is a great choice. It can take anything around here. A good quality bullet, is a must on the smaller Cal's. The 260 ammo can be a little harder to find. There is a pretty good supply of 25-06 ammo out there. If you reload, then its very easy to get ammo for both

[sakoshooter]

Sakoshooter, I agree with your assessment of .25 caliber on elk.  I think it's a good enough deer cartridge with the right bullet.  I shot a .25-06 for many years.  With premium bullets you should do fine.  After all, it's the same cartridge case as the 270 and 30-06; just shoots a smaller, lighter bullet a bit faster.

Agreed. My problem with the 25.06 is mostly with the bullets available in that caliber factory loaded. Handloading can give many more possiblities. Most bullets in this caliber as you know are very thin jacketed so deep penetration will not be a factor especially if bones come into play. Plus, if you want to shoot a lighter bullet faster, it can be done very easily with either the .270 or the 30.06 and still be able to hunt with heavier bullets. Not so with a 25 caliber. If I had a 25.06, I'd probably use it with heavy for caliber bullets. If I was looking to buy a rifle, I'd look at a bit more gun. This of course would allow for a bit more bullet.
I like an exit hole and better yet, enough hydrostatic shock from a super premium bullet to drop the deer right where it stands or within a few yards. Blood trailing a wounded buck with only an entrance hole from small bullet is not fun. Been there - done that.

[high country]

in all honesty the animals I have killed with the 25's at high speed have been the fastest to hit the ground. the 100tsx and 85-87gr spitzers for dogs......that was my all around fave for a long time. I had trouble with the 120's in my 2 25-06 rugers and my roy I never even tried after the 100tsx.

[sakoshooter]

The Barnes TSX is a good example of a super premium bullet and the weight you're using is also an excellent choice. I watched my brother shoot a decent sized 3x4 muley 3 times with his .243 with 85 gr spitzers before he was able to put his tag on it. I had recommended a bullet closer to 100 grs but he said those were all he could find in WI before flying out here to hunt w/me.

[JimmyHoffa]

Are you planning to shoot for the body (chest cavity) or the neck or head?  For body shots on deer, I think those calibers will be fine, I'll agree with some of the others that it may be on the light side for elk....but it isn't like .243 light.  I think everyone has seen some kind of gun perform less than optimally.  I'll add that I watched a buck get hit 5 times this year with a .308 (good placement) and it wasn't doing much.  Also watched that same .308 have to put multiple shots into a bear.   If you are shooting for the neck/head, I think those calibers are great.  Less chance of developing a flinch, flat trajectories, and known to be accurate. I wouldn't want much bigger for head/neck shots.

[high country]

one thing to remember, not every animal is gonna take a dirt nap at the shot....especially bears. I was on a hunt this year where I watched a cow soak up 3 180 tsx's to the chest and nary a flinch. she was dead with any of those hits......just did not know it yet. our state is one of the if not the most stringent on equipment requirements. were the 243 inadequate for elk the book would reflect it. older guys can recall the requirements on pistols, they were unnecessary and were removed. as americans we havea bazillion choices for critter getter rounds and gun platforms, what we seem to lack is the memory when all animals were killed with a 30-30 using poor powders. or the fact that the euro crowd killed most of its elk and moose class game with swede class rigs. the last 5 or so years of my hunting career have been spent using different cartridges on deer/elk. what I am coming up with is pretty generic, but pretty repetitive.

speed kills and seems to do more tissue damage. big bullets going slow kills and does less tissue damage. 26-2800 seems to be where most all cup and core bulles really work well and give a good comprimise of the big slow and small fast. I am pretty sure I have expierience on both ends of this one as I killed a big whitetail with a 429 jsp with an impact velo of about 900fps, and have taken elk with the speed demon 257wby with impact velos up to 3300fps. no bullet, gun , cartridge or scope is gonna make a bad hit good, and anyone that tells you so is seriously lacking expierience or ethics.

[Gutpile]

Being a left handed rifle shooter I can relate to your dilema as there aren't too many LH rifles made these days. Remington makes LH guns. So does Savage. Sako Tikka is made LH also.
My opinion on the 25.06 and .260 is that they are both on the small side for big mule deer with less than an ideal shot. Both shoot fairly light bullets even though there are numerous super premium bullets available today. I'd recommend a 30.06 or .270 for a good all around deer gun and the 30.06 can make a good elk gun with heavier bullets. Not trying to bust any bubbles, just my 2cts worth. Best of luck shopping.

The .260 is too light for deer? That is just plain incorrect. The .260 is the perfect deer cartridge other than the fact that it's ammo selection sucks. I've seen that cartridge take deer, bear and antelope from 20 yards to 300 yards and it is second to none. The BC is outstanding and it's Sectional density makes it an absolute killer due to the long for caliber bullets. Read anything you want from anybody well versed on guns and no one will say it's too light for deer.

[high country]

I can speak from expierience on the 6.5's.....260 included, they are the MOST underrated in the spectrum of rifles. for some reason the mfr's build bullets of extremely high sd and given the velocity window of all of them shy of the 264wim mag they are prefectly sped to the design of the bullets available. if one is a handloader and a rifle loon, he likely has at least one 6.5 (260) and it likely shoots well with little recoil.

[Gutpile]

I have 3. 

[sakoshooter]

It would seem that the main criteria of this conversation is to use the right bullet. This being said and done, I can agree to the use of the 25.06 etc.
I grew up in the days of the 30-30. Most of the group used them. We also tracked most of those wounded deer, sometimes for hours to find them. Fewer and more ethical hunters allowed for tracking. Now days if your buck limps by someone else, it'll get shot and tagged.
We also hunted much later in the year and snow makes tracking much easier than does orange, red and brown leaves.
With that said, today there are many super premium bullets available which make small calibers perform like their bigger brothers. Velocity does do a lot of damage compared to a big slow bullet but big slow bullets were never brought up in this conversation. My 30.06 shoots a 150 gr Swift Scirroco at 3025 fps and a 165 gr Trophy Bonded Bear Claw at 2842 fps.  The 180 gr Bear Claw flys at 2775 fps. Just a couple of examples. I don't consider them slow.
My advice no matter what caliber gun you shoot would be to use bonded core bullets or solid copper bullets. Weight retention translates into penetration with retained velocity. Lots of hydrostatic shock, tissue damage and probably an exit wound and dead animal close at hand.