Caribou Gear

One gun to do it all .25 sst (Sherman short tactical)

All the guys trying to defend the 6.5 are cracking me up. Nothing wrong with that round. Also nothing wrong with shooting something else. 🤣
 
FlatlanderAZ said:
All the guys trying to defend the 6.5 are cracking me up. Nothing wrong with that round. Also nothing wrong with shooting something else. 🤣
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It’s not a round, it’s a diameter. A 6.5-06 is for all practical purposes identical to a 25-06, EXCEPT there are 3 or 4 times as many bullet options. Same can be said of any .257” cartridge.
 
ImBillT said:
It’s not a round, it’s a diameter. A 6.5-06 is for all practical purposes identical to a 25-06, EXCEPT there are 3 or 4 times as many bullet options. Same can be said of any .257” cartridge.
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I have both the 25-06 and the 6.5x06 and here's a huge difference. Generally the heaviest bullet you can get in the 25-06 is a 120gr bullet. yea there's heavier custom bullet's that will create different problems for you. I use 117gr bullet's in my 25-06 and they work very very well. but in my 6.5x06 if I wanted to use a 120gr bullet I can drive it faster than the 25-06 can! But I don't care to shoot that light a bullet in the 6.5x06 and much prefer the 140gr bullet. Three dead elk with three shots can't be all bad! if you spend your time worrying about SD ect, the number's on the 25 cal 120gr will be better than the 6.5 cal 120 gr but for reasonable shooting the difference won't mean much. What does mean much is the heavier 140gr bullet over the 120 gr bullet. Two things penetrate, velocity and weight! Where the monolithic bullet's come in is you shoot a much lighter bullet quite a bit faster that normally doesn't shed any weight. A 120gr monolithic bullet the shoots through and doesn't lose any weight weight's 120gr. Nosler says their accubond is designed to maintain 70% of it's weight, same as the partition. A 140gr lead core bullet shooting through weight's 140gr going in and 98grs coming out. The monolithic bullet will penetrate deeper for no other reason than it retains weight. But here's the catch both bullet's shoot through, the lead bullet does more damage inside but still with equal shot's the animal is just as dead! Have no clue how much a monolithic bullet will penetrate but bullet's that shoot through in most shots can be had for a lot less money and do the same job.
 
FlatlanderAZ said:
So apparently diameters are rectangular or triangles or hexagons or some shape other than round?
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Quoting a guy who said there was nothing wrong with “that round” in reference to a 6.5. He clearly meant cartridge, and 6.5 is not a cartridge.
 
Don Fischer said:
I have both the 25-06 and the 6.5x06 and here's a huge difference. Generally the heaviest bullet you can get in the 25-06 is a 120gr bullet. yea there's heavier custom bullet's that will create different problems for you. I use 117gr bullet's in my 25-06 and they work very very well. but in my 6.5x06 if I wanted to use a 120gr bullet I can drive it faster than the 25-06 can! But I don't care to shoot that light a bullet in the 6.5x06 and much prefer the 140gr bullet. Three dead elk with three shots can't be all bad! if you spend your time worrying about SD ect, the number's on the 25 cal 120gr will be better than the 6.5 cal 120 gr but for reasonable shooting the difference won't mean much. What does mean much is the heavier 140gr bullet over the 120 gr bullet. Two things penetrate, velocity and weight! Where the monolithic bullet's come in is you shoot a much lighter bullet quite a bit faster that normally doesn't shed any weight. A 120gr monolithic bullet the shoots through and doesn't lose any weight weight's 120gr. Nosler says their accubond is designed to maintain 70% of it's weight, same as the partition. A 140gr lead core bullet shooting through weight's 140gr going in and 98grs coming out. The monolithic bullet will penetrate deeper for no other reason than it retains weight. But here's the catch both bullet's shoot through, the lead bullet does more damage inside but still with equal shot's the animal is just as dead! Have no clue how much a monolithic bullet will penetrate but bullet's that shoot through in most shots can be had for a lot less money and do the same job.
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You’re proving my point on the bullet options. The two cartridges are practically identical except for bullet options. The 6.5 has a lot more bullet options.

In this situation you should compare same SDs, not same weights. A 121gr .264” bullet has the same SD as a 115gr .257” bullet, AND muzzle velocity is approximately the same. If you’d shoot an animal with a 115gr bullet from a 25-06, you should have no issue shooting the same animal with a 120gr bullet of similar design from a 6.5-06. If you’d should one with a 120gr bullet from a 25-06, then you should have no issue using a 130gr bullet of the same design from a 6.5-06. The 130gr .264” bullet will have a slightly increased SD, and almost identical muzzle velocity. If you’d use a 131gr in a 25-06, you should have no trouble using a 140gr in the 6.5-06.

There is no real difference between the two cartridges. The difference is bullet options. There are light to medium weight .264” bullets that match all of the widely available .257” bullets, BUT there are heavy .264” bullets that have no .257” counter parts, AND there are more options in .264” even in the weight ranges that .257” bullets cover. That’s the difference! The difference in results from the two bore diameters is minimal. The difference in bullet choices from the two bore diameters is tremendous! .264” wins hands down.
 
ImBillT said:
Quoting a guy who said there was nothing wrong with “that round” in reference to a 6.5. He clearly meant cartridge, and 6.5 is not a cartridge.
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Bill, you quoted me. If I meant cartridge I would have said cartridge. I’m cracking up at all the 6.5 guys (yes, you’re one of them) who get all defensive when someone chooses anything other than a 6.5 diameter bullet.

In this case I chose the .25 SST cartridge because it provides exceptional KE at a very low recoil. For my needs, with 3 kids who are very small framed and recoil sensitive, the advantage of being able to provide fantastic performance at such low recoil out weighs the selection of bullets available. I know a few other people who already have great results with this caliber so I don’t need 40 bullets to choose from.

Also, it seems a few folks believe every .25 is a .25-06. I would suggest those folks do a little more research.

Finally, I chose .25 over 6.5 because I wanted something unique. This is unique and will meet all of our typical needs and then some. If I ever make it to Alaska for moose or Africa for Cape buffalo I will take my Win Mag, for everything else this will do just fine.
 
Mustangs Rule said:
Your "all" must be incredibly small to choose this cartridge.
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Driving a 131gr bullet at close to 3,300fps is not something to sneeze at.

With proper bullet construction, the 25 caliber kills effectively on animals far above what one would think.
While i don't have Brown or Grizly bears in PA, after having a run in with a 400lb Black bear last year, i don't feel under gunned with my 257 Roberts, or 257 Roberts AI.

People have been taking elk with the 257 Roberts for a long time.
 
When I built a new rifle, I made it for a 25-06 for a reason. For about 10 years I hunted a property where we got 50 antlerless tags a year. We also shot deer on nuisance permits all summer. I’ve never been a record keeper but a conservative estimate is around 200 deer. Add in year round wild pigs. I used everything from a 22 Mag to a 45/70. The most impressive killer was a 25-06 with 115-120 grain bullets. It’s a good combo of high velocity and good sectional density, without much recoil. The boutique cartridges aren’t my thing, but a fast twist height velocity.257 should be an impressive killer.
 
FlatlanderAZ said:
I outlined it “all” in the OP. Everything from Javelina to Elk.
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My "all" is in line with Towsend Whelen,,and his 35 Whelen and then some.

I took mine on two foragaging trips to Alaska,,,$20 bought me a non-res small game license. So back to my "All".

I wanted a rifle that did absilutely as much as possible. Take an elk or even a moose with a back angling shot,,,with confidence. I wanted a rifle I could shoot forever with light loads of 38 cal pistol bullets. Something to hunt rabbits with or shoot the head off a grouse in a tree.

Somehthing so user friendly new shooters could comfortablly learn with.

The custom shot loads I made with the 38 cal Speer plastic shells work ok in a 1/16 twist. I took a lot of quail and grouse with them. out to maybe 20 yards,

If needed they are good snake shot too.

I wanted a no excuses serious rifle I could wander around grizzly bear country with, in Alaska or where I lived and hunted in NW Wyoming, up in the high country where I would see grizz scat everywhere.

I wanted a "do it all rifle" that I could load with .357 pistol bullets and have it function as a self defense firearm.

I wanted a "do all rifle" that I could easliy switch back and forth between a scope and iron sights.

And last, I wanted a "do it all rifle" in a battle proven action,,,,hard to beat the mauser action.
 
Mustangs Rule said:
My "all" is in line with Towsend Whelen,,and his 35 Whelen and then some.

I took mine on two foragaging trips to Alaska,,,$20 bought me a non-res small game license. So back to my "All".

I wanted a rifle that did absilutely as much as possible. Take an elk or even a moose with a back angling shot,,,with confidence. I wanted a rifle I could shoot forever with light loads of 38 cal pistol bullets. Something to hunt rabbits with or shoot the head off a grouse in a tree.

Somehthing so user friendly new shooters could comfortablly learn with.

The custom shot loads I made with the 38 cal Speer plastic shells work ok in a 1/16 twist. I took a lot of quail and grouse with them. out to maybe 20 yards,

If needed they are good snake shot too.

I wanted a no excuses serious rifle I could wander around grizzly bear country with, in Alaska or where I lived and hunted in NW Wyoming, up in the high country where I would see grizz scat everywhere.

I wanted a "do it all rifle" that I could load with .357 pistol bullets and have it function as a self defense firearm.

I wanted a "do all rifle" that I could easliy switch back and forth between a scope and iron sights.

And last, I wanted a "do it all rifle" in a battle proven action,,,,hard to beat the mauser action.
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Your do all would be about as useful as a club for what the op wants to do. Everybody has a different set of criteria. mtmuley
 
mtmuley said:
Your do all would be about as useful as a club for what the op wants to do. Everybody has a different set of criteria. mtmuley
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Going back not terribly far in the past your comment would have much more merit. I can understand that.

Now with the use of 35 Whelen 180 grain Barnes TTSX Boat tail bullets breaking 3,000'/sec, or with a 35 Whelen 200 Grain TTSX-BT with BC of .360 breaking 2800'/sec. the game has really changed.

They are both easily 350, even 400 yard cabable now, with velocities which still easily permit full exapansion (around 2,000'/sec) and with the remaining energy (around 1,500'/sec) needed for elk. The drop for both of these bullets at 400 yards is around 29 to 31 inchs and at 300 yards about 13 inches and in the 20-21 inch range at 350 yards.

Both of these bullets are designed to expand fully down to the 1,400'/sec velocity. by the way.

I have over the past several years gone to lighter rifles,,,a 280AI Kimber at 5 3/4 pounds. At 73 I needed to lighten the load where-ever possible for hunting steep country.

I will present to you a hunting situation I repeated over not all that long ago

I lived and hunted in NW Wyoming. My favorite fall hunting was for antelope and being a resident I could easily get severel tags.

The best place to hunt them was in the high mountain meadows,,,where they had a great diet, they tasted so much better than those on the sage flats,,,,and of course I was dancing daily around grizz dung.

I have had two Whelens. both could keep three shot groups in a 3-3.5 inch circle at 300 yards, bullet drop as stated about was about 13 inchs for this distance.

I gather that you are hunter of considerabler experiennce. I can easily grant you that. Considering that antelope, deer, elk, grouse and grizz were in good numbers,,,what "all around rifle" would you take for such true wilderness hunts, "my club" or the rifle discussd here.

MR.
 
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