Originally Posted by
sns21
I'm in MO so we can use any caliber. I was thinking that with the 15" faster burning powders could be used to get a little better powder burn, but I have not found any handgun load data for a 25-06. I have found some for the 308 however, which I am leaning heavily towards now. It's just a good all around caliber. Thanks for your input guys. One other question, a guy told me he had a 7mm bench rest barrel he'd sell me. This is a short little case, and I didn't know how well it would work on deer, or what ranges. Any info on that would be good too.
Um, you can't just stuff a faster burning powder into the 25-06 case and make it perform like a full length rifle, and you'd be running the risk of blowing yourself up. The .25-06 has a big case with a small bore, and it gets the performance it does by burning large amount of slow powder down a long barrel. Sure, you could use a powder that it on the fast side of the suitable powders for the 25-06, but you'll just use less powder (to keep peak pressure down) and get even less velocity. For a rifle cartridge in a pistol length barrel you're best bet for a good balance of performance and efficiency is probably the 7mm-08 or 308 Win, but I'd stick to the short action cartridges. If you really want a quarter bore, I'd suggest you look into the 250-3000 Savage if they make a barrel chambered in it. I'm betting you could get very close to full rifle performance from it without the high recoil and massive muzzle blast/flash that you'll get from a larger case round.
Either that, or just get a barrel in .454 Casull or .460 S&W Mag and have yourself a real train-stopper!
Mike