The 25-06 Remington rifle cartridge originally was a wildcat cartridge first introduced by A.O.Niedner in 1920 based on the 30-06 Springfield cartridge case necked down to accept .257″ diameter bullets.
It was adopted by Remington and introduced to the shooting public in a Remington model 700 bolt action rifle in 1969.
The 25-06 Remington is a true dual purpose cartridge, it can be used for varmints sending a 85 grain bullet out the muzzle at 3,500 feet per second, making this a very good, flat shooting varmint and predator round or it can be used as a big game cartridge sending 115 grain bullets out the muzzle at speeds of 3,100 feet per second.
It has sufficient power out to the 400 yard mark for thin skinned deer sized game animals.
The 25-06 Remington with the power it offers down range will also recoil somewhat to the shooters shoulder with heavier bullet loads, however, bullets in the 100 grain weight range recoil is less and also works well for a nice combination load for deer, predators, and varmints which is quite pleasant to shoot.
While much has been written about the 25-06 Remington cartridge, it truly is a great North American, dual purpose, varmint, and big game cartridge.
If you were looking to buy a new rifle just to hunt in North America and you were going to hunt pronghorn antelope, mule deer, white-tail deer, hogs with the occasional elk thrown in, for the most part, the flat shooting 25-06 Remington offers plenty of range and energy for that.
For elk, leg and shoulder bones should be avoided and shots kept under 200 yards. If you were going to hunt varmints and predators at long range, the 25-06 Remington has a flat enough bullet trajectory with plenty of bullet energy for that as well.
25-06 Ammunition:
| 25-06 Remington Factory Ammunition: Recoil Energy Based On Rifle Weight Of 8.5 Pounds. Bullet Velocity Based On Rifle Barrel Length Of 24 Inches: |
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| 25-06 Remington Rifle Cartridge Manufacturer |
Bullet Weight Grains |
Bullet Ballistic Coefficient |
Muzzle Velocity Fps. |
Muzzle Energy Ft. lbs. |
Recoil Energy Ft. lbs. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal | 85 | .329 | 3,550 | 2,378 | 11.94 |
| Winchester | 90 | .259 | 3,440 | 2,364 | 12.31 |
| Federal | 100 | .394 | 3,220 | 2,302 | 13.07 |
| Winchester | 110 | .420 | 3,100 | 2,347 | 13.79 |
| Winchester | 115 | .446 | 3,060 | 2,392 | 14.43 |
| Hornady | 117 | .390 | 3,110 | 2,512 | 15.10 |
| Federal | 120 | .468 | 2,980 | 2,366 | 14.91 |
25-06 Ballistics:
| 25-06 Ballistics: | |||||||
| Rifle barrel length: 24 Inches. Ammunition: Winchester 90 grain Positive Expanding Point bullet. Bullet diameter: .257 inch. Bullet weight: 90 grains. Bullet ballistic coefficient: .259. Rifle zero: 195 yards, 1″ mid-range rise. |
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| Range | Muzzle | 50 yds. | 100 yds. | 200 yds. | 300 yds. | 400 yds. | 500 yds. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bullet Velocity: | 3,440 fps. | 3,236 fps. | 3,043 fps. | 2,680 fps. | 2,345 fps. | 2,035 fps. | 1,750 fps. |
| Bullet Energy: | 2,365 ft.lbs. | 2,093 ft.lbs. | 1,850 ft.lbs. | 1,435 ft.lbs. | 1,099 ft.lbs. | 827 ft.lbs. | 612 ft.lbs. |
| Bullet Drop: | – 1.8″ | 0 | + 0.9″ | – 0.1″ | – 6.1″ | – 18.4″ | – 39.2″ |
| 25-06 Remington Ballistics: | |||||||
| Rifle barrel length: 24 Inches. Ammunition: Winchester 115 grain Ballistic Silvertip bullet. Bullet diameter: .257 inch. Bullet weight: 115 grains. Bullet ballistic coefficient: .446. Rifle zero: 225 yards, 2″ mid-range rise. |
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| Range | Muzzle | 50 yds. | 100 yds. | 200 yds. | 300 yds. | 400 yds. | 500 yds. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bullet Velocity: | 3,060 fps. | 2,951 fps. | 2,845 fps. | 2,640 fps. | 2,444 fps. | 2,256 fps. | 2,077 fps. |
| Bullet Energy: | 2,391 ft.lbs. | 2,223 ft.lbs. | 2,066 ft.lbs. | 1,779 ft.lbs. | 1,525 ft.lbs. | 1,300 ft.lbs. | 1,102 ft.lbs. |
| Bullet Drop: | – 1.8″ | + 0.5″ | + 1.7″ | + 1.0″ | – 4.8″ | – 16.4″ | – 34.9″ |
25-06 Remington Reloading:
Bullet Diameter: .257 Inch.
Maximum Case Length: 2.494 Inches.
Trimmed Case Length: 2.484 Inches.
Primer Size: Large Rifle.
Maximum Cartridge Overall Length: 3.250 Inches.
For more rifle ballistics information, please check out our in depth chart covering many different center fire rifle cartridges.