IN THE DAYS BEFORE widespread use of scopes, few worried much about long range performance. The range at which we could see bucks over iron sights was limited, and we didn’t have rangefinders. We wanted venison and to hammer our bucks, accepting that shots needed to be close.
From 1895 to not-so-long-ago, America’s most famous deer-getter was the .30-30 Winchester. Limited in range and power, mild in recoil, it was effective. Throughout the 20th century, Remington and Winchester were serious rivals. Winchester made its bones as a lever-action company. Until the .270 Winchester was introduced in 1925, most Winchester cartridges were rimmed and intended for lever-actions. Remington, being early with slide-actions and semiautomatics, went rimless for better feeding.
The rimless .25 Remington performed similar to Winchester’s .25-35. The more popular…
