.243 vs 25-06

[Groach 7]

Right i am on the verge of putting in for a centre fire rifle as i have now had my FAC for 6 months and feel it is worth a shot. Now i was having a snoop around the rfd today and they have got a second hand mauser in 25-06 i forget the model and the bonus is it is left handed which as am i. Now o know little of this calibre but does it have and advantages or disadvantages over .243? as in difficulty for land clearance availability of ammo and so on? any advice kindly received,

 

George

[andyf 144]

Well:

The .243 is well understood by most everybody, and I think it would be a good starting point for a 'new' centrefire rifle user like you.

The 25-06 is also an excellent cartridge but it is not served well in UK by factory ammo, you will really have to reload if you get one

and I guess that's a long way off for yourself?

A .243 is spot on as it's a recognised Fox and Deer round so the generic Firearms Liaison Officers will be 'comfortable' with it.

Anyway for the record, the famous 30.06 has 'morphed' into several variants, take the same case and swage it down to .270 and you have the .270 Winchester

(my favourite, I have one), or carry on swaging to .25 calibre and (guess what) you have the 25.06.

So there you go, get a .243 it will kill anything you are ever likely to come across, and providing you have the land to shoot over you will get an fac variation without

any problem.

Good hunting!

AndyF

[danw 1,748]

I shoot 25 06 and in the past have owned .243 I prefer the 25 and could argue it's case but I have to reload to get the load and ammo costs to my liking Andyf is spot on in his post start with .243 the plod will prefer it and it is a well understood cartridge which is well served with ammo and rifle choice

[yorric 0]

I think both are great rounds shooting nice & flat trajectories with similar accuracy. The main differences are bullet weight and case capacity.

The .243 goes from 60 to 105 grains and the 25-06 starts at 75 grains and goes up to about 120 grains. So if you are going to shoot only small deer & foxes, the .243 is fine and if you will mostly shoot skia or reds you would be better served by the 25-06.

The .243 case is short and only needs about 60% as much powder as the 25-06 so it is cheaper to reload.

Also being shorter the .243 rifle will usually have a shorter action and be quicker to cycle.

Remember the bigger the bullet the bigger the recoil so you may find you can shoot the best groups with a .243, although if you fit a moderator rifle barrel flip is greatly reduced and you are less likely to flinch and spoil your accuracy.

[Peter 0]

I don't think you will be disappointed with either. I stalk all my deer with a 243win if you put the bullet in the right place they fall over. As has been mentioned by others it will be a lot easier to get factory ammo for 243. Finally selection of bullet head is more important than calibre for any recognised calibre.

Edited March 9, 2010 by Peter

[danebrewer10 6]

to my understanding the .25-06 is just a hot .243 which can shoot heavier bullets... so perhaps better for longer ranges where flatter shooting rifles may be required....

 

DB