need help all input welcom

[kennys32]

I have a situation where I can buy my son a coustom made .2506 to deer hunt with from a good friend. the rifle has a glass bedded barrel,mauser action,nice stock with cheek plate, three round clip. Also it has a 3x9 scope on it.[I would replace this with a better one.] My problem with it is that it has a 20 in. barrel ???? I have looked alot on the internet, most of these have a 24---26 in. barrel. I would like to here from you if you have any info about this.I haven't shot it as yet,too much snow this week. Most of our hunting for deer is in the mountains 200 yards or less, however with this cal. I would like for him to be able to use it for varments as well, 2-300 yards.

[ronn]

a short barrel rifle will shoot as accurately as a long barrel rifle for the most part. speed is what you will gain from extra inches. rule of thumb is about 25fps per inch. the only thing i question is the 25-06 it being short. most of the bullets for the 25-06 are longer bullets. rate of twist i believe would be more important. you'll have to shoot it and see how it does. if the $$ is right.....well you can't have to many guns now can ya.

[kennys32]

thanks ronn for your reply,

[Hunting Man]

The shorter barrel may actually make it better suited for your son for the conditions you are hunting in. The barrel may have been cut and re-crowned in its lifetime, maybe your buddy knows? I'd shoot it with a couple of different weight bullets and see how it prints on paper. What I'd be looking for is each set of bullets should have a nice tight group and each bullet weight change will group differently on the paper, oviously you don't want flyers all over the paper for a given bullet. If all goes well then it should make a great rifle for the son. Good luck!

[kennys32]

Hunterman,
Thanks for your reply, the barrel was shortened and re-crowned by the gunsmith that built it.he built it for himself,later he sold it to my friend.if it wasn't for all this snow i'd allready be shooting it.I'll post how it prints on paper when i get to.

[guppy11]

All replies i thought were great. 25fps per inch is not much if it shoots good and it fits the kid and price is good it sounds GOOD to me!

[sir smackabuck]

I say leave it and buy a regular 25-06 if you are shooting this gun with a 20'' barrel you have a gun that has the bang , boom, and hooplah of a 25-06 the ballistics of a .257 roberts. You are goonna loose about 300 fps (approx).As a rule of thumb you loose approximatley 50 fps for every inch of barrel that you loose and if you go from 26'' to 20 ''..... well do the math. You will also have a HUGE muzzle flash from all of that powder that burns outside the barrel. If it is a great deal, then buy and rebarrel it if not. just go buy a different 25-06. IMO

[ronn]

good thing you got 2 thumbs, kennys32. grin

[BruceBruce1959]

If this rifle were going to be used by an adult I'd say go for it but if this is a rifle for your son I would suggest that you just buy him a new .25-06, IF that's the caliber you want him to start with.

The Velocity numbers that have been mentioned here are only approximations, as the actual numbers will vary and would be determined by twist rate, barrel manufacturer, drag friction and wear.

And I do agree with sir smackabuck that the shorter barrel is probably going to be a lot louder with a huge muzzle flash, I don't know how old your son is but it's probably not a good idea to burden him with those sort of elements especially if he's a youngster/youth hunter.

JMO

[ronn]

Originally Posted by BruceBruce1959

If this rifle were going to be used by an adult I'd say go for it but if this is a rifle for your son I would suggest that you just buy him a new .25-06, IF that's the caliber you want him to start with.

The Velocity numbers that have been mentioned here are only approximations, as the actual numbers will vary and would be determined by twist rate, barrel manufacturer, drag friction and wear.

And I do agree with sir smackabuck that the shorter barrel is probably going to be a lot louder with a huge muzzle flash, I don't know how old your son is but it's probably not a good idea to burden him with those sort of elements especially if he's a youngster/youth hunter.

JMO

for sure it'll be loud and for sure you won't get the most out of the caliber that is designed to be fast.
other factors are rate of burn, volume of charge.....just a lot to it.