Aimtech mounts were the first of their style and if “imitation is the most sincere form of flattery” then we should be downright embarrassed by all the copying our competitors have done! DON’T BE FOOLED, buy AMERICAN and buy precision machined metal, not plastic. Thanks to Lee for rebuilding a fantastic shooter.Aimtech mount systems shotgun mounts are the finest no-gunsmithing saddle style scope mounts available. I don't shoot at animals past 300 yards typically, and I've never taken a shot at a deer past 175 yards.
![a scope on a winchester model 25 shotgun a scope on a winchester model 25 shotgun](https://www.gunsamerica.com/UserImages/1074/966887164/wm_2619333.jpg)
I know 25 cal bullets supposedly suck, poor B.C. H4831 + 115 BTs, 115 Bergers, 110 Accubonds, all sub MOA. Now I just pick a bullet, pick a reasonable powder, and sight her in. I started doing "load development" like I would for my 30-06, and then realized it was unnecessary. Winchester Featherweight stock, manufactured in the South Carolina days Rock Creek #2 stainless barrel, 9 twist, chambered in 25-06, 24 inches longĬerakote graphite black by Eddie Fosnaugh Winchester Model 70, manufactured in 1965, push feedĪssembled by Lee Christianson (Redneck here) I hope my son and daughter kill their first deer with it. But I'm not ready to get rid of the rifle, and she shoots really, really well. I know the 1965 Winchester Model 70 wasn't a good year for Winchester. I might drop her into a wood stock with some more figure some day. I tried to like a McMillan Hunter's Edge and it just never felt right for this rifle. Wood stock, I acquired a Winchester featherweight pattern and Lee fit it to the action. Leupold mounts, though grandpa had a 1-piece windage adjustable mount, and I prefer the dual dovetails. What's the same: action, bolt, original trigger, sling (made in West Germany). This is the only hunting rifle I have that's NOT a 30-06. I still think whether I should have kept her a 30-06, but I already have 2 others. He used it only as a deer rifle, I don't think he ever hunted elk, so 25-06 was fine. I tried to keep the rifle either the same, or the same in concept, as grandpa's. Lee turned the rifle and sent it to Eddie Fosnaugh for cerakote. Short version, Mike Rock made me a 25 cal barrel after more than a year waiting, almost using a Lilja barrel instead, then Mike sent the barrel to Lee a week before I was ready to send the Lilja to Lee. I sent the bolt to Skip Baldwin for rejeweling. I already had a 30-06 (and another one on the way at a stock maker's), so I thought I would rebarrel her to 25-06. When I got home I decided if I was going to have a rifle taking up room in the gun safe it would be a good one. Long story short the scope sucked (if you pointed it anywhere near a bright light, like in the direction of the sun, it washed out the view), the safety still didn't work.I took a couple of does, had an opportunity at a really good buck but I didn't get a chance to count points and passed on the shot.
![a scope on a winchester model 25 shotgun a scope on a winchester model 25 shotgun](https://robarguns.com/assets/images/56d4b1c0e60f790e30c848673ab7bcdf.jpeg)
I took grandpa's rifle to the range complete with 1965 era 4x Leupold scope, sighted her in, and took it to Missouri. Then my Rem 700 30-06 was getting a new barrel, and despite the barrel maker's prediction that I would have it "well before hunting season," Missouri deer opened and I wasn't going to have a rifle. I sat on this rifle for maybe 5 years, didn't really know what to do with it because I already had a good 30-06, and I didn't really "need" anything else to hunt with. The safety no longer worked, stock was the original 1965 Winchester that didn't fit me well and had the pressed wood checkering.
![a scope on a winchester model 25 shotgun a scope on a winchester model 25 shotgun](http://www.champlinarms.com/portals/0/gunphotos/Campbell375aaa5.jpg)
I started hunting after college, around 22 or 23 years old, and maybe five years after that my dad gave me grandpa's old rifle, in pretty significant disrepair. I don't know when my grandma gave my dad this rifle, but whenever that happened it sat under my dad's bed or wherever for a while, at least 15 years. I never hunted with him, but he had this 1965 Winchester Model 70. My grandpa hunted mule deer in Wyoming and whitetail deer in Missouri.