oldelkhunter

Who has had both?

redsox3624

not me.

if you are going to get one my vote is for the 25-06.

Virginia7

Well, I haven't owned both, but I did once have a Ruger 77, 25-06. A good friend of mine has/had a Wthby. 257 (he trades guns so often I can't keep up).
If I were to get one or the other I think I'd go for the 25-06 again. Ammo is more readily available, and its' quick enough. Available in more rifles too, but then I also
like the little Ruger Ultra-Light in 257Roberts.

James B

I have had both. The Weatherby has about 200-300 fps edge on the 25-06 but in the real world, I could not see a lot of difference in performance. I like the 25-06 a bit better

Wolf killer

I have owned both. The Weatherby was a Accumark that would at best soot 1.5" groups. I sold it.
The 25-06 is a Ruger M-77. This rifle will shoot 1"- to sub 1"- groups all day.

clearanceman

I have only had the 25-06, I really like this round for whitetails.

RedAllison

I had a 25/06 several years ago. It was a good little rifle but I wasn't overly impressed with the time it took deer to fall with it. I believ I was shooting 115gn Federal BTs. And while I haven't owned one yet, I have played with and been around several 257 Wbys. quite extensively. With a stout handload and premium bullets like Barnes X bullets the 257 is a real lightning bolt. I also realize that you can stoke up the 25/06 with equal bullets as well. But as with every other caliber, when you are comparing 30/06 cased variants to 300H&H based variants its the magnums that begin to outpace and shine when you begin shooting heavier bullets in each respective caliber.

When you get over 115grns in a 25/06 it begins to loose some of its luster too the 257. A 200 fps difference is on the threshold of "becoming worthy of consideration" and a 300fps gain is flatout worth a try. Remember that to double a bullets energy you dont have to double the velocity. You only have to increase the velocity by appx 1/3. Being purely hypothetical, if a 100grn bullet fired from a 25/06 @ 3k fps could be increased to 4k fps (a friends Lazzeroni Scramjet gets AWFULLY close!) the energy would be doubled. Now increase that 3fps bullet too 3300 fps. Thats appx a 30% increase in energy. Or if that bullet was producing 2k ft#s of energy @ 3k it would now be producing 2600 ft#s. Thats a credible increase IMHO.

But realistically the 25/06 is a real favorite among guys gunning for deer at long distances without the desire to get a magnum (personally I would rather have a 270 for the same conditions but I like more power than just enough!). Where the 257 pleads its case is when driving heavier bullets plenty fast and when really juiced with premium bullets of 117-120 grains you CAN look at taking larger game with it (again, not my ideal elk round, but tell Roy Weatherby that the many elk he killed with it were just figments of his imagination!).

Whats wrong with having one of each for no more reason than, "farts n giggles"?
RA

Mykey

I've never had a 257 weatherby but i would love to own one. I do have a 25.06 and wouldn't take nothing for it. I've killed countless deer with it and can honestly say that every deer i've shot with it fell right there with the exception of one that i hit a little far back and he only went 20yds. I've always used 120gr bullets in mine but i have some 115 & 117grainers that i'm going to try in the off season just for the fun of it. I don't think one could go wrong with either.

clearanceman

In my experience, some people dislike the 25-06 on principle until they try it. Then they really like it. I was one of those people. Now that I have one, I really like it.

oldelkhunter

Hmm sounds like a split vote. My only hangup with the 257 is Norma Brass and spending double the amount that normal brass costs . Although in the long run if the gun is a shooter and it will be(remington custom ) not a big deal. I have also considered building a 257 WSM and using necked down 270WSM brass.