Clearanceman, I also have the Handi in 223. I was very satisfied with it right out of the box. I' ve been using Black Hills ammo w/ 50 grain V-max bullets. Mounted a Leupold straight 12x50. Can shoot .585 groups at 100 yds. The only problem is the trigger is alittle on the heavy side (5.5 lbs.). I plan on sending it in for another barrel this winter. Possibly a barrel in 280. At that time I' ll get a trigger job done on it. Hopefully down to 2.5 lbs. Let me know how the 25-06 works out for you. That might be another barrel of choice for me.