Looking at a new antelope rifle...

[Kotimaki]

Im looking into setting up an antelope rifle for the girlfriend. I have handled a couple HOWA rifles and like what I see. Im thinking a 1500 hogue 25/06. Does anyone here have experience with this one? My biggest concern is if Ill have enough magazine length to load berger vlds for it? I will have to order it so just testing a round for fit isnt an option?

 

[1_pointer]

I'd be looking at a 243 or 6.5 Creedmoor. Shorter action, less powder, and either should fit well with VLDs.

That said, I don't think you'll have problems fitting a 25/06 in one with VLDs.

 

[Don Fischer]

25-06 might work well or a 243. But, if it's for her and not you, why don't you let her choose the rifle?

 

[Kotimaki]

25-06 might work well or a 243. But, if it's for her and not you, why don't you let her choose the rifle?

I want to stick with a caliber that I currently reload for....

 

[nrpate05]

I don't have experience with the combo but have owned a Howa 1500 and it is a great gun. Nothing fancy, but they shoot well, especially if you're a reloader. They are on the heavy side, but that's not necessarily a concern for antelope hunting. .25-06 is probably the best antelope round available. Not sure on fitment issues, but I would imagine it won't be an issue.

 

[Brian in Montana]

Im looking into setting up an antelope rifle for the girlfriend. I have handled a couple HOWA rifles and like what I see. Im thinking a 1500 hogue 25/06. Does anyone here have experience with this one? My biggest concern is if Ill have enough magazine length to load berger vlds for it? I will have to order it so just testing a round for fit isnt an option?

I had one in that make and caliber years ago. It was a very accurate little rifle. I wound up selling it to buy my wife a lefty (she's left-eye dominant and had recently discovered she could shoot much better left handed).

25-06 is an excellent choice for antelope. Very flat-shooting and well-suited for medium sized game. Not a hard kicker either. I never shot anything with mine bigger than a WT deer, but my opinion is you're making a good choice.

 

[JohnCushman]

I have a Savage 25-06 specifically for antelope. I load Nosler 117 grain ballistic tips in it. It's a great rifle all around. Very fast and flat shooting with hardly any recoil. I especially like it as a dual purpose to pop coyotes at long distance while hunting antelope. As we all know, no matter what we're hunting, when you see a coyote, it becomes a coyote hunt. But, I can't say enough good things about the cartridge. I usually bring it as a back up rifle for deer hunts.

 

[BrentD]

If you went with a single shot, you would not have to concern yourself with issues like magazine length. A pronghorn/deer rifle seems like a great place to have singleshot. Perhaps I am a bit biased about that...

 

[VikingsGuy]

I have a 25-06 howa 1500 barreled action (taken from a Weatherby Vanguard S2) in a H&S precision stock for my go to antelope rifle - I love it. I like the 24" barrel (not a big fan of 25-06 out of a 20" or 22" barrel as you give up some of the speed that makes the 25-06 sweet and for newer hunters as muzzle flash can be a bit much). But the combination of the relatively heavy howa 1500 barreled action and fairly heavy H&S stock it is not a light mountain rifle (about 9 lbs with scope, rings and sling).

 

[FLS]

25-06 is a fine deer and antelope cartridge. Shoots flat and hits hard with modest recoil. It’s capable of much bigger game with the right bullet. I’ve been shooting one for 20+ years.

 

[Scott85]

Ya'll need to stop talking about how capable the 25-06 is, I was looking for a deer/antelope gun and I had my heart set on a 257 wby but I might have to rethink that a little.

 

[VikingsGuy]

My biggest concern is if Ill have enough magazine length to load berger vlds for it? I will have to order it so just testing a round for fit isnt an option?

Mine is hinged floor plate and the resulting internal mag space definitely gives you more room to chase the lands than a dropbox mag (ya Tikka, I am looking at you), but I can't speak to berger vlds in particular as I handload TTSX only for this gun.

 

[N2TRKYS]

I don’t have any experience with the rifle, but I love my 25-06. It shoots everything well. I’m currently shooting 110 grain Accubonds and it does very well on whitetail deer. I couldn’t imagine it not doing wonders on an antelope.

 

[noharleyyet]

Ya'll need to stop talking about how capable the 25-06 is, I was looking for a deer/antelope gun and I had my heart set on a 257 wby but I might have to rethink that a little.

Both capable...both a pleasure to operate.

 

[Kotimaki]

Mine is hinged floor plate and the resulting internal mag space definitely gives you more room to chase the lands than a dropbox mag (ya Tikka, I am looking at you), but I can't speak to berger vlds in particular as I handload TTSX only for this gun.

OAL on the berger and ttsx are very close , but the shape is different.... have you got some room left in the magwell?

 

[VikingsGuy]

OAL on the berger and ttsx are very close , but the shape is different.... have you got some room left in the magwell?

The optimize load ended up 0.045” off the lands (0.050 is the normal starting point for TTSX bullets with some other rifles shooting better closer to 0.080) and there was some room for longer but didn’t really measure as it was working. I did test down to 0.025 off lands and it loaded fine, but wasn’t best option so never paid much more attention.

 

[clark33]

I'm in the same boat and am seriously considering a 6mm creedmoor, I had one in a Ruger Precision Rifle and it was incredibly accurate. Just need one a tad lighter for hunting purposes. Shoots the 103gr ELD X right around 3,000fps and has very minimal recoil. Fun caliber to shoot.

 

[N2TRKYS]

I'm in the same boat and am seriously considering a 6mm creedmoor, I had one in a Ruger Precision Rifle and it was incredibly accurate. Just need one a tad lighter for hunting purposes. Shoots the 103gr ELD X right around 3,000fps and has very minimal recoil. Fun caliber to shoot.

I've got a Remington Model Seven SS in 7-08 with a 20" barrel that's very handy and will sling 120 grain NBTs 3000 fps.

 

[oleefish2]

I have 2 25-06 and love them. My uncle got first one in the early 60s and so my family have used them for ever. We use 87gr for varmints, 100gr for antelope and deer and 117 for deer and elk.

 

[ImBillT]

It’s a shame that there aren’t better .25cal bullets, and/or that the 6.5-06 isn’t more available. The 25-06 is a great cartridge.