Wanted a 223, wound up with a 25-06. Oooops!

[papajohn428]

A buddy of mine had me go with him in January to gunshops, so he didn't get hosed on a rifle purchase.  We found him a sweet deal on a used Interarms X in 25-06, and he was tickled to death.  I fired a 3-shot group with it last month that you could cover with a dime, at 200 yards.  Possibly a fluke, but still impressive.

Well, he called me in a panic yesterday, miscalculated his bank balance and was bouncing checks all over town.  Offered me the rifle, along with the 8X32 scope on it, for $300.00.  I told him it wasn't what I was looking for.  He begged and pleaded and threw in dies, brass, and a ton of bullets.  Being the Samaritan I am  :roll: , I relented and bought it all from him.  

I was planning on buying a CZ 527, in 223, at around seven pounds, all up.  This monster weighs about nine and a half.  I stand about four foot seventeen, this rifle might be taller than me.

But I do love the caliber!

Now I'm thinking seriously about scouting some good places to blast some coyotes.  Every time I look at this rifle, I hear the old AT&T theme in my head............."reach out, reach out and touch someone...."

That "someone" just might be a yodel doggie!  

Papajohn the Cross-Country Puppy Zapper

[SAWgunner]

Good choice.  I have never really bought into the whole .223 Bolt gun.  I have an M4...but if I am going to have a precision varmint rifle, I would choose something besides a .223, like my swift.  On the other hand, I have never owned a .25-06, but I want one badly.  Good Pronghorn gun, and a good whitetail gun.  You can do some serious stuff with any '06.

[longwalker]

You did yourself just fine. You will find it heats up faster, due to the increase in powder being burned, But you will also see the down range results. The longest single shot hit I made was on a prairie dog at over 525 yards. As stated above a super Antelope and Deer rifle. I shoot 100 grain Speer SPBT bullets at just over 3200 ft/sec.

As a big game hunter you won't be disappointed. On a Dog Town you will have to take your time between shots.

longwalker

[glshop20]

Sounds good to me.  It might kick a bit more but the possibilities for different uses are much greater.  Varmint to light big game.  Nice and flat shooting and good choice of bullets.  HAVE A BLAST

[Don Fischer]

If I were looking for a precission varmit rifle, I'd get a 222. Don't need all that precision anymore, shooting a sage rat in the lungs is almost as effective as the heart. :roll:

As for the deal on that 25-06, sounds to me like you got screwed! Being the good guy I am, I'll give you back your money and pay for shipping. I have 3 set's of 25-06 dies so sell those to someone else and turn a handsome profit" :wink:

[mod586]

owned one for over 30 years .nasty on woodchucks best shot was afox at close to 400yrds  100gr boatails at3200fps best shooting gun i own you will really like it  also good for deer

[jhm]

Ive got the mark X in 22-250 and if you enjoy the one you have as much as I do mine you will LOVE it, I do use one of my 223s much more often here on the farm though    JIM

[Zachary]

Papajohn,

Given that your .25-06 can cover a dime at 200 yards as you say, I would be more than happy with it.

The .25-06 is probably the max you should use for varmints...coyotes.  Still, with proper bullets, it will work just fine.  Also, given that, when coyote hunting, you will not be shooting ALL the time, you should not be too concerned with the barrel heating up.

My only concern is that, the gun is too heavy for coyote hunting.

Zachary