im looking at the Weatherby Vanguard 25-06 at Academy for $400, whats everyone's opinion on the gun, i have never owned anything other than a 308, will be used for deer and varmint hunting. So whats the goods and bad about this gun.http://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_10051_126444_-1__?N=39632024

Great Texas deer caliber. Will work great on vermin too. Go for it.

good caliber, good gun too

What kind of range should i expect out of this gun, with factory loads

Very flat shooting... Seen someone pop coyotes with one at 400-500 yards several times.

Favorite caliber by far.
If you can shoot accurately, 600 yards is not out of the question at all.

One of the best all around calibers in my opinion. I love my remmy 700 bdl.

great round. I almost bought that gun this year. Ended up with 7mm mag. The best price I found was 350 at sports authority. Don't know it it was a sale or what.

Its a near-perfect round for Texas hunting. Should you decide one day to venture to the Rockies or Alaska, you might want to go bigger. Or if you shoot a lot of prairie dogs, you might want to go smaller.

But, all-in-all, you can't beat the .25-06!

I've been thinking about getting a Vanguard Series II after reading about it's guaranteed shooting accuracy. But recently, I noticed an article in the current (December) issue of Field and Stream that gave it some of the lowest marks for accuracy of any of the guns tested (1.714" average group).

For what it's worth, the F&S tests gave the highest cost/performance marks to the Marlin X7, which carries a much lower retail price (About $330) than the VG Series II (About $490).

The X7 also created the smallest, one-time group of any of the guns tested at just .200 inches. It's average group size was a very respectable .713 inches

One of my favorite all around calibers.

Owned a Rem 700 BDL since 1970 or 71 and wouldn't trade it for any gun on the market. Uesd it on deer to prairie dogs.

X2

Nice to shoot. Flat shooting. Does the job on anything In Texas.

.25-06 works great, low recoil too.

I have same gun but it is almost 30 years old, would not trade it for the world. It is a great gun....buy it

Im a Remington 700 fan myself, but if you like the Weatherby, I say buy it, the 25-06 is one of the best calibers ever produced for reasons others have already listed. I'm looking to buy one from Academy myself in the Rem 700 for $379.

X2

Awesome round. I took my 6x6 elk with one years ago.

I have a Marlin XL7 and it is by far my favorite. It is much cheaper and still comes with some of the more expensives gun's features. It has the "true-fire" trigger, basically the same as the accu-trigger, and a really good shoulder pad.

I have been hunting with one for 41 years. It has been more than enough gun for whitetails, mulies and pronghorns. Mine was built on a 03-A3 action. Couldn't be happier.

I absolutely love mine. Flat shooting, low recoil, and can is great gun from long range varmints to larger deer and even elk with the right load. Such a range of ammo is available more than most other calibers. As everyone has said.

The only drawback I've found is that most 25-06 guns are very picky about ammo. You might have to try a lot of loads before you find what your gun likes. Also, switching loads from a light varmit load to a 115-120 grain deer load usually means you have to re-sight in for every load.

I know a couple of guys with the caliber and they all report the same issue. You can get to drive tacks with a 115gr, but then when you switch to a 80 gr varmit, the gun will be off more than just the expected ballistics difference, especially at longer distances.

In comparison, my .308 shoots a lot of different ammo almost identically with 165-168 gr - even with different bullets, and when a switch to a 150 or up to 180-185gr, then gun still is dead on except for the expected rise or drop. I was able to carry a couple different loads with me in Africa and just chamber the round for the animal and know pretty much where the round would go.

Haven't been able to do that with the 25-06, and I think that is because the rounds are so fast. But maybe that's just me or my gun.

I'd suggest you go for the caliber and get a Savage w/a 26 in bbl. for the addl. velocity and it will point a little better being nose heavy..most do not hunt from their hind legs any more
and don't need carbine type light weapons to shoot from a rest in
a deer blind..and the add'l 1 to 3 lbs for the heavier weapons doesn't even bother my old bones..DD

I have loaded that 100 grain up to over 3400 and dropped deer
like a cannon had hit them. Set my coat on fire on the hood of my car shooting a target. great shell.

Bought a savage 25-06 and put a custom trigger in and its a tack driver! really love the caliber.