Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats 25-08 AI

i dont own a 260 to compair the 2 but do have a 6.5 284 and love it. but i do know it is too much gun for coyotes. and havnt shot a deer with it as of yet. i have it set up for long shots and only get it out to hunt beanfield stands. i cant imagine how you could tell the dif between any of the above at hunting ranges.
i do know the 25 cal is much better deer killer than 243..

Degrees of dead? I've never seen one killed deader with a 25...

How many coyotes have you killed with a 6.5X.284?

Not according to the Bumblebee

0.014" kills deer deader? It's all about the bullet, not the diameter.

havnt shot any coyotes with the 6.5 but have shot them with similar. 270- 7-08 among many others. and i found the 25 to be a little to much on coyotes but better than 243 for deer.

aggreed on bullet dia... i just found 243 high sd and high vol didnt drop deer like a slower bullet. we are talking moderat range here. i myself have killed more deer inside 50 yds than outside 200.

I'd take a 223AI over them all inside of 50. The 25 calibers are for big critters.

Never seen velocity as a downside with deer sized critters, just the opposite actually.

Anyone that thinks that a 243 is less then satisfactory for deer would be best served using a 300 wiz bang but put down your Field and Stream mag first.

LOL, it sounds like an interesting cartridge, but with all of the good bullets available in .243 and .264, and the relative lack thereof in .257, I personally wouldn't go there.

22-250AI does ok. Took it on a quick trip to Texas. Some laughed that I was taking a 22 cal. The critters didn't think it was funny...grin

6.5-284 did ok with 140 bergers. Friend used it since I was afraid of being over gunned.


Didn't do very much damage. Hole in hole out and seemed to destroy everything between.

Same 6.5 on tn stuff. Worked the same.

Personally I really like the idea of a 25/08 with a 30° shoulder. Will it do anything better or different to a handful of other cartridges? probably not. But...this is the custom rifle and wildcats subforum, so why not??

As to the assertion there's few choices in the 25cal bullets, Midway lists 52. I would need one or two out of that list to do all I wanted from a 25cal.

FWIW, I've got a Bob and a 260 and love both of them.

I think the assertion had something to do with good bullets; so the question is how you'd define "good" and my answer would be those with high BCs. Not everyone needs high BCs, granted, but if you're going to go to the trouble of wildcatting why limit yourself? Furthermore, the point was made relative to the plenitude of good bullets on both the high and low sides at .243 and .264. Furthermore, the point was made relative to what I'd do personally, which may or may not be of interest to anyone in particular, but the OP was asking for opinions on how it would compare to the .260. You're right about this being the wildcat forum though.

My version:
".25 caliber bullets compared to 6mm bullets....really not even close. Go with a .243."