Opinions on a Coues Rifle

[Guest akaspecials]

I currently have a Remington 700 chambered in 30-06 as my only hunting rifle. I have wanted a varmit gun and a coues gun for a while and have stumbled across an amazing deal on a Ruger M77 Hawkeye chambered in 25-06. I believe this gun will fill both of those needs with different loads.

 

Being an archery guy though I don’t know much about rifles. Is the M77 Hawkeye in 25-06 a decent rifle for a coues/varmit set up? If I decided to move into long range hunting (I don’t ever see shooting over 600 or 700 yards), would this gun be sufficient? My current plan would be to outfit it with a Vortex Diamondback 4x12x40 or Viper 6.5-20 x50. I may look at the Viper HS or PTS depending on how much I decide I want to spend. Anyone have opinions on the difference between those optics?

 

I’m not looking build the perfect gun, but I was just curious if the gun would be worth it since it’s at such a great price. Any opinions are welcomed. Thanks in advance!

[Scooter]

Great deer gun, and it will kill varmints deader than dead- but the hides will probably suffer from that .257 round cooking 3000+. As for 600-700 yards??? Yes, it will travel that far and have enough oomph to knock a deer down- but I don't know enough about handloading for that specific caliber to tell you for sure. All I can tell you is that there are lots of environmental factors working against a relatively light bullet in the 25-06. It was originally designed to get a better BC with mild recoil over the 30-06. That being said- the availability of .257 75gr bullets sounds like a very attractive option for handling coyote-sized critters pushing 3200fps. Then you could go bigger with a 117gr for the deer...

[firstcoueswas80]

That will work wonders. 75 grain Vmax's work great gor predators/varmints and then the 110 Accubond or 100 TTSX are GREAT deer/elk bullets

[Coues Sniper]

110 Accubond or 100 TTSX are GREAT deer/elk bullets

I wouldn't call 100 grain ANYTHING a "great" elk bullet. Coues yes, gotta disagree with you on elk.

[firstcoueswas80]

Ever seen an elk fall to a 100 grain ttsx? I have.........

[Coues Sniper]

I'm sure they've fallen to less, but a GREAT elk bullet it's not

[PRDATR]

Great deer and antelope round. Too much for varmints and if you respect Elk it is way undergunned for them. Stick some 180 in the 30.06 and use that.

A 22-250 will kill an Elk under the right conditions but you already have a 30.06 so I'd say look at a 22 caliber for varmints.

[Antmo23]

Heck, they have 55 gr varmint rounds in a sabot for your 30-06, I say stick with what you got, just play with the loads.

[Scooter]

I have yet to see a human being who has the money and time to get those stupid 55gr 30-06 sabots to work.

[Scooter]

The M77 hawkeye is just a gun that you buy on the spot if you get a good deal. Forgot to ask if you are a reloader or not... If so the 25-06 will serve you pretty well, but it is a niche caliber designed for deer sized game

[Ernesto C]

You said you want a "coues gun". What is a coues gun? For a coues gun there is nothing wrong with your 30-06. If your excuse is to buy another coues gun nothing wrong with the 25-06 either. For varmits you can use the 204, 222 Rem. 223, 22-250 and even the 243. My two cents, thanks/

 

Ernesto C

[reganranch]

Coues Gun: A gun intended for coues.

[rcdinaz]

I think the 25-06 is a great round for coues but I am not sure I would try and push it past 500 yds since you just can't get heavy enough bullets through it keep the energy up IMHO. For inside of 500 it is great.

 

I say buy it if it is a good deal. At some point you may still want a varmint specific rifle and a long range rifle... or two... or three...or

[rcdinaz]

Coues Gun: A gun intended for coues.

 

Can we make this a sticky! We can start a CWT.com dictionary/wiki

[reganranch]

Coues Gun: A gun intended for coues.

 

Can we make this a sticky! We can start a CWT.com dictionary/wiki

 

+ 1 Rich!