Does anyone here like quarter-bores?

[Ridgewalker]

My first centerfire rifle was a Centurion Mauser in 257 Roberts. Excellent little rifle! Purchased at Leonard Brothers department store in Ft Worth, TX. Sadly I had to sell it to pay my tuition and never owned another 25 since. Still, I have a passion for the 25s.

 

[MS 9x56]

Once you have one you never want to be without one.

 

[supergrizzly]

As a young man in my twentys, I was mentored in all things gun related by an old time gunsmith who was a Korean war vet. He always spoke the quarter bore bible ( he built dozens of .257 Roberts and 250/3000s) but being young and knowing everything, I spent my time building .30 cals and magnums of all sorts. He eventually forced me to build a 250/3000 by giving me a Winchester Model 70 barrel, a 93 Mauser action and a beautiful tiger tail maple stock that someone had cracked in half at the magazine box. They had forgotten glass bedding release agent and used the barrel to try and leverage the action out of the stock. He gave me all of this for $10 and then spent a couple of hours showing me how to meticulously fix the stock in a way that you could not see the Acraglass joint as it blended with the grain perfectly. He was a master of making things work and not throwing anything out. After I completed the gun, it looked fantastic and shot very well but I made the mistake of showing it to my auto mechanic who went bonkers over it and made me a ridiculous offer. I regret selling that slim little beauty but a few years later I found the tang safety Ruger in .308 and knew exactly what I was going to do with it. As dissapointed as my old friend was when I sold it, I am sure he smiled wide up there when that Ruger was finished.

 

[fourfive8]

Does my Win mod 94 in 25-35 count

Yes it does! I forgot, I used to have one in addition to a few 25-20s. It was a Win 94 take down. I've had more than one Winchester lever take down rifle in various calibers and for whatever reason, luck I guess, each one was very accurate. Kind of counterintuitive, but true. My 25-35 was no exception- very accurate! But I never could figure out why Winchester even came up with the 25-35. Maybe an early attempt at a caliber for those wascally varmints

 

[Nevada Mike]

I have two 25's... a Dakota 76 in .257 Roberts, and a Ruger No.1 in 25-'06. Nice rifles with great accuracy, killing ability, and nearly zero recoil.

The Dakota .257R ...

 

[MS 9x56]

A rifle as nice looking as that should come with iron sights. One of the reasons I buy used guns with wood stocks and iron sights. I for one miss them and do still use them.

 

[Nevada Mike]

A rifle as nice looking as that should come with iron sights. One of the reasons I buy used guns with wood stocks and iron sights. I for one miss them and do still use them.

I guess I am old fashioned... or just old. In my gun room I have only ONE rifle with a plastic stock - a Remington 700 SPS in 22-250. I painted it in camo for coyote hunting. All the rest are wood and blued steel.

I have iron sights on my rifles that have QD mounted scopes.

 

[BeeMaa]

Can I count my 375H&H as 3 - quarter bores?

 

[Bonk]

A few years ago I bought a Ruger All Weather 25-06 on a whim. It was BNIB and I paid $579 for it. At the time that model rifle was selling for $800+ in more popular calibers. It's matte stainless and synthetic stocked and I bought it simply because it was a bargain. I had no idea what a bargain it was. It turned out to be a death ray on whitetail deer. Something about the combination of caliber, bullet weight and velocity causes deer to be DRT. If I do my part it'll put Hornady American Whitetail 117gr ammo into a sub .5 MOA hole. It's by far my most accurate rifle and I'll never part with it. Amazing rifle in an amazing caliber. IMO 25-06 is the perfect deer/antelope caliber. I think I would be equally as happy with a .257 Bob too. I have no interest in the Weatherby.

 

[One Day...]

The .257 Wby / 100 gr TTSX in Africa

I experienced 100% one-shot-kill, dead-on-the-spot reliability on 17 animals, up to and including Roan (largest African antelope except for Eland).

I did not recover a single 100 gr TTSX bullet. All went through and exited through quarter-sized holes. I must admit that I was really amazed at the killing power of the .25 caliber 100 gr TTSX in the .257 Wby. There might be something to this speed thing after all...

I would not shoot a Roan or a Sable, or a Wildebeest purposefully through the shoulder bone with a .257 Wby 100 gr TTSX. It could work, but I am not sure, and this is a bet I will not take. But clearly for behind the shoulder double lung and heart shot, the cartridge will do the job on animals up to 650 lbs., and likely more.

Both my Mark V and Blaser R8 barrel shoot sub MOA groups with the two Weatherby factory loads I use: 100 gr TTSX "gold box" load to hunt, and 1/2 price 100 gr Hornady Interlock "silver box" load to practice on steel plates.

The link to the report covering my fist safari with the .257 Wby is:

SOUTH AFRICA: A Return To Huntershill Safaris - Even Better Than Last Year!

As many of you know, I had gone to Huntershill in August 2018 for a plains game 12 days / 14 animals hunt. At the time I was just a client, and I had a fantastic time. I posted a report on the hunt on AH...

www.africahunting.com

Considering that a 180 gr .308/.30/.300 Nosler Partition that penetrates deeply with the rear core only (the front one disintegrates in the first couple inches of penetration) only penetrates with 180 gr x 60% weight retention = 108 gr, I am forever on the edge of using nothing else but the .257 Wby 100 gr TTSX on plains game...

In truth, I still take the .300 Wby barrel for the R8 on certain hunts, because a 165 gr TTSX from it will take anything from any angle. The day I can finally afford an Ethiopia Highlands Mountain Nyala, or an Himalaya Tahr, or a Nepal Blue Sheep, or a Kyrgyzstan Marco Polo, etc. even through the .257 Wby will kill them dead-on-the-spot with 90% of the shots, I will still pack the .300 Wby barrel to give myself the opportunity to take those other tough 10% of the shots quartering in or away through hip or shoulder...

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

A few years ago I bought a Ruger All Weather 25-06 on a whim. It was BNIB and I paid $579 for it. At the time that model rifle was selling for $800+ in more popular calibers. It's matte stainless and synthetic stocked and I bought it simply because it was a bargain. I had no idea what a bargain it was. It turned out to be a death ray on whitetail deer. Something about the combination of caliber, bullet weight and velocity causes deer to be DRT. If I do my part it'll put Hornady American Whitetail 117gr ammo into a sub .5 MOA hole. It's by far my most accurate rifle and I'll never part with it. Amazing rifle in an amazing caliber. IMO 25-06 is the perfect deer/antelope caliber. I think I would be equally as happy with a .257 Bob too. I have no interest in the Weatherby.

@Bonk
The 25-06 isn't far behind the Weatherby and give more than double the barrel life. A 117grain SST at 3,100fps or a 100gn TTSX at 3,400fps out of the 25-06 makes for one fine looong range deer rifle.
Bob

 

[Ray B]

At one time I did virtually all of my big game hunting with either a 1/4 or a 3/8 bore rifle. The 1/4 was a 257 Robts, the 3/8 was a 375 H&H. There wasn't much that one or the other couldn't do.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

I feel like a bastard son in this crowd, but Ive been a 250-3000 fan for as long as I can remember and Im 87 now...My 1899 take down is my old standby, shot deer and elk with it, also had a rem 722 in 257 Rots some time ago and liked it as well..and inbetween a dozen 99Fs and EGs and a couple of Mausers in 250-3000...

I own a couple 99's in .250-3000 Savage as well as several in .300 Savage and .303 Savage. Definitely cool calibers and a great firearm. Have never killed a deer with one, but might need to try this year.

 

[BeeMaa]

The .257 Wby / 100 gr TTSX in Africa

I experienced 100% one-shot-kill, dead-on-the-spot reliability on 17 animals, up to and including Roan (largest African antelope except for Eland).

I did not recover a single 100 gr TTSX bullet. All went through and exited through quarter-sized holes. I must admit that I was really amazed at the killing power of the .25 caliber 100 gr TTSX in the .257 Wby. There might be something to this speed thing after all...

I would not shoot a Roan or a Sable, or a Wildebeest purposefully through the shoulder bone with a .257 Wby 100 gr TTSX. It could work, but I am not sure, and this is a bet I will not take. But clearly for behind the shoulder double lung and heart shot, the cartridge will do the job on animals up to 650 lbs., and likely more.

Both my Mark V and Blaser R8 barrel shoot sub MOA groups with the two Weatherby factory loads I use: 100 gr TTSX "gold box" load to hunt, and 1/2 price 100 gr Hornady Interlock "silver box" load to practice on steel plates.

The link to the report covering my fist safari with the .257 Wby is:

SOUTH AFRICA: A Return To Huntershill Safaris - Even Better Than Last Year!

As many of you know, I had gone to Huntershill in August 2018 for a plains game 12 days / 14 animals hunt. At the time I was just a client, and I had a fantastic time. I posted a report on the hunt on AH...

www.africahunting.com

Considering that a 180 gr .308/.30/.300 Nosler Partition that penetrates deeply with the rear core only (the front one disintegrates in the first couple inches of penetration) only penetrates with 180 gr x 60% weight retention = 108 gr, I am forever on the edge of using nothing else but the .257 Wby 100 gr TTSX on plains game...

In truth, I still take the .300 Wby barrel for the R8 on certain hunts, because a 165 gr TTSX from it will take anything from any angle. The day I can finally afford an Ethiopia Highlands Mountain Nyala, or an Himalaya Tahr, or a Nepal Blue Sheep, or a Kyrgyzstan Marco Polo, etc. even through the .257 Wby will kill them dead-on-the-spot with 90% of the shots, I will still pack the .300 Wby barrel to give myself the opportunity to take those other tough 10% of the shots quartering in or away through hip or shoulder...

Have to get you registered at OVIS for a International Capra Grand Slam!

 

[F. Vaccaro]

I had a Browning High Wall .25-06 for several years, it’d get a ground squirrel several feet up in the air. Traded it, it sure was accurate.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I had a Browning High Wall .25-06 for several years, it’d get a ground squirrel several feet up in the air. Traded it, it sure was accurate.

@F. Vaccaro
I hope you traded it for something exceptional. That is one rifle I have wanted for a long long time. Still looking.
Bob

 

[F. Vaccaro]

@F. Vaccaro
I hope you traded it for something exceptional. That is one rifle I have wanted for a long long time. Still looking.
Bob

A Ruger #1 .375 H&H Mag.

 

[MS 9x56]

@F. Vaccaro
I hope you traded it for something exceptional. That is one rifle I have wanted for a long long time. Still looking.
Bob

High walls are pretty rare in any caliber but I imagine in 25-06 they must be rare as hens teeth. I hope you find your grail gun Bob. I wonder if they have made any in 35 Whelen?

 

[Nevada Mike]

Maybe Bob needs a switch barrel high wall - 25-'06 and 35-'06. Cover all the bases.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

A Ruger #1 .375 H&H Mag.

@F. Vaccaro
Mate you should have kept it and bought the Ruger. You would have have 2 rifles that would cover ALL your hunting needs worldwide.
Bob.