New barrel for rifle - 30-06 or 25-06

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As some here may (or may not) recall a gunsmith ruined my 30-06 barrel earlier this year on my Savage 116. I am probably going to replace it with a McGowen barrel since this isn’t a high performance rifle and I don’t want to spend a ton on a new barrel.

That said, I am going back and forth on dropping down to a 25-06 barrel. It would give me 2 really good deer rifles with my 243. The 30-06 doesn’t really have a great place in the hunting rifle world - but it does everything, deer to elk. There is just something else that does one or the other better. I have a 7PRC for elk.

I have probably several hundred rounds of 30-06 ammo that is giving me pause.

If you were in my shoes, what would you do?

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If you decide to do 25-06 you could do a faster twist say 1:8 or faster and run some heavier projectiles through it. Great for deer, antelope, prarie dogs. Kiyotes…etc

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Tough choice!

The 25-06 it’s definitely a great round. I love mine. But you’ve already got a 243. You’re getting some redundancy with that gun. Some people like redundancy, some people do not.

The 30-06 is also a bit redundant though with the seven PRC that you own.

How about something else that would be basically right perfectly between the 243 and the 7prc?

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What would you suggest on the .470 bolt face? Not interested in the 270.

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Maybe 280AI? A bit less powerful and less recoil from the 7PRC.

Otherwise 308/7-08/260 .

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I also like the idea of the 280ai, but honestly there is at least as much redundancy between that and the 7prc as the 243 vs 25-06 and more probably.

Ok Jim post us graph :laughing:

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I’d go 25-06. Sounds like it’d be less practical since you have 30-06 ammo, but also would be more exciting to try something new.

You’ll take the 7 prc on an elk hunt, so no need to double up there.

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Well, I will defend the old 30 06.

New bullets really give new life to these rounds. A round that fills in between the ones mentioned would seem to me to be the 3006 loaded with an ELDX 178 or Berger 180, both with .533 BC and higher.
Running 2700-2725 fps they give 1500+ lbs of energy at 500 and hold through 1800+ fps for expansion to 600. Buck the wind well and the drop, especially with a 200 yard zero is fine.
You can push a 168 Beger at 2800 and get good numbers.
Hell, run the numbers on a 208 Hornady and look at what it does downrange. 2550 fps gives you 1500 lbs at 600 yards; 1000 lbs at 900 yards; the wind bucking is excellent. Those numbers fill a nitch.
Having a lot of ammo already to shoot and have chamber formed brass is a plus in todays world of everything costing more, especially when brass is usually at least half the cost of making a round.
Just a thought.
Good luck

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Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I decided to stick with the original plan of replacing the 30-06 barrel. I have about $400 worth of ammo for it and while I wouldn’t have my daugher or a new shooter sit behind that rifle, I have other deer rifles that they can. Additionally, this my first hunting rifle so I am a little sentimental about it.
Maybe someday Hornandy or someone will make ammo for the 25 Creedmor and I’ll get that instead of a 25-06 :slight_smile:

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I have my Remington 700 at McGowen to rebarrel to a 25-06. I got the 1:7.5 twist for heavier bullets. McGowen said it will be December for completion. Really looking forward to getting it back.
Ron

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What are you rebarreling from?

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Sorry, I see left that out. Going from a 30-06 to a 25-06. I got the faster twist so I could reload some of the heavier bullets such as the Hammer bullets.

Ron