I am getting a pistol barrel for my encore and have narrowed it down to the 25-06 and the 7mm-08. I was wondering what you all thought of these two? Which one would offer the least recoil and the flattest trajectory? I will be using it mainly on whitetail. I live in Indiana which is a slug gun only state but pistols in rifle calibers over 243 are legal. I am looking to use the pistol on shots that would otherwise be out of slug gun range. My reloading book shows real similar velocities but I am just curious what the major differences are in these two calibers any help would be appreciated

Thats a tough one. Both of them are very accurate, should be similar in recoil and excellent deer rounds. Seeing as how you have a reloading manual, you probably reload. So, I'd go with whichever one would be the least expensive to reload(if there's any diffence) Either one will serve you well on deer. Good luck.

I would go with the 7-08 ( I did) because there is pistol data for it.

Remember the ear plugs ,either will be LOUD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Or learn to say what ?
Because the ringing in your ears will last days. LOL

IMO the 25-06 will not be as efucent as the 7-08
I use a 120 gr Nosler BT at 2650 fps , I get ( if I do my part) sub 1.25" groups at 100 yds off sand bags.

It is a true 200 deer round.

IMO the 7-08 would be the better round .
But I have never been very impressed with the 25-06's I have owned.

In a pistol, would go with 7mm-08....rifle 25-06

I have a 15" 7mm-08 and a 26" 25-06 for my Encore! With a 25-06 the longer the barrel the better,the 7mm-08 will do the job with a 15"...

I would choose the 7MM-08 in a hunting handgun. The 25-06 is an overbore cartridge and the 7MM-08 is not. The 25-06 needs a longer barrel to achieve velocity. If you take 12" or 15" barrels as an example and fire 120 gr. bullets out of each the 7MM-08 will have greater velocity. Change the barrel lengths to 24" and the 25-06 wins hands down. The velocities you will achieve should allow you to use any of the 120 or 130 gr. out of the 7MM-08 with good success. If you were to ever try elk or the like the 7MM-08 loaded with a controlled expansion 140 gr. bullet will take them as long as the range isn't too long.

mine is in the 7mm-08 and i love it 15" barrel and a 4X leupold scope, like was mentioined earlier

In my opinion the 25-06 is a better round

In a pistol, think 7mm-08 much better round than a 25-06