25-06 Bullets

[rem 700]

What do you think the most effective deer bullet is when fired through a 25-06?

[Andy L]

Im still searching myself. I can tell you that Nosler Partitions didnt do the trick for me. Neither did Hornady SST. Both acted as ballistic tips when they hit meat.

Remington Core Lokts are pretty darn good bullets in about anything you fling em out of. Im buying a box of those for this season. 120 gr.

Andy

[Rocky Raab]

At full throttle, the 25-06 can be a little bit "messy" with edible meat.

Most shooters get better result than Andy with the Nosler Partition, and the newer 115 Ballistic Tip was designed for deer, so either one would be worth a try.

To minimize meat damage, the Barnes is always a top choice.

But you shouldn't have major problems with any of the standard softpoints in 120 grains if you don't shoot deer right off the muzzle - and if you don't handload them to screaming redline maximum. A Speer HotCore or the Remington CoreLokt should hold together almost as well as a premium bonded bullet.

[Evan03]

i put my faith in nolser balistic tips, 100grainers. with 100gr core lokts folwing in a close second.

i walked away from partions due to acuracy not deer perfromance. at 200 and afarther the bullet probly works good, but it not being as acurate as the the bts and core lokts put it right in the trashcan for me.

good luck

Evan

[rem 700]

Any thoughts on Winchester's 120 grain positive expanding point? Got myself some, and I'm gonna try em out on some prairie dogs at various ranges; see how they shoot.

[Andy L]

Whatever Rocky. I know they didnt perform for me and was told by one of their 'thechs" why.

[Catfish]

Like Evan, I won`t use the Nosler Partions due to lack of accuracy. I loaded some Serria 117 grn. bullets for a friend of mine to use on antilope and he took one with 1 shot at about 400 yrds. without doing to much damage. I built the gun for varment hunting though and that is the only big game it`s ever taken so I really don`t know what they would do at closer range.

[rem 700]

My research has shown that the 115 grain winchester BST is quite effective at all ranges. Perhaps I'll try those out this year.

[highshooter]

I have used the Nosler 115 BT with the best results. It was also the most accurate. I still had deer run afterwards but not far and the exit wound was not a huge gapping hole. If you would like my load then send me a private message.
Good luck.
Eric

[Evan03]

freind of mine is big 2506, partly the reason that i am now. he loaded up some 85gr nosler balistic tips and was telln me about long range shooting jackrabbits with them.


he said that he took a few at over 300yds yds and before he could finish i said that the bullets probly punched through with little damage. he asked how i knew that. i told him ive tried them on varmits at close and long range with similar results

so the next night we went out, we both have 220s, and a 2506 a peice.

i told him wed do some alittle comparision and that id bet my 2506 pushn factory core lockts does more damage than the 85 bts at the same range. finaly we spot some rabbits at lazer ranged 332.

offcourse as he spotn through his binocks i missed the first shot, held dead on and shot low, at that range the rabbits didnt move much and i recouped and nailed one with red mist and body parts flyn.

next was his 85bts going about 300fps faster than the 100gr core lockts. spoted some at 350ishs. he hit one first shot as i was spotn. no red mist nothn spectacualr. just flopped over dead.

though a 2 rabbit comparision wasnt much it was enough for us at the time and the 220s came out. i was shootin 50, 55, and 60gr hornady hollw points. the 50 and 55s are vmaxes..

rabbits in the 200-300rd were red misted with body parts flying. looked like little bombs going off. all bullets used. also took one at the lazer ranged 380.

at 380 the 50gr vmax was used because its what ive sigthed in for but i know where the 55 and 60s are hitn. the rabbit was grenaded put it wasnt pretty. it was held together with threads.

after varmiting and no deer exsperince over the years with the core lockt im not real sure of its big game virtue. to me at 3200fps it acts more like vmax and the 100gr nosler bt acts more like what id think the core lockt should act.

but there is no bigame exsperince with either of these bullets. just lots and lots of small varmits.

Evan

reread my reply and relized i have had some exsperince with core lockts and deer. ive taken maybe 3 bucks with 130gr .277 core lokts. results were as exspected and produced good clean kills. with little meat damage.

ive got no exsperince with 257gr 100gr core lokts on deer, just varmits

[rem 700]

The 85 grain was designed for varmints. This bullet was to fragment upon impact devastating varmints. With light skinned big game such as deer, the same type of bullet would enter slightly and shatter without much of a vital wound. Heavier bullets are designed for delayed expansion, instead of instant shattering. The delay allows for penetration through the thick bone and muscle with a conical shape, and then the bullet expands in a mushroom. Tis the difference tween varmint and big game bullet works.

[denny]

Is only one 25-06 deer bullet, ain't there?

;)


Been shooting 25-06s since the late 70s. Once used 87gr Sierras for woodchucks and 100gr, 117gr and 120gr Sierras for deer. All worked very nicely.

Ever since Nosler introduced the 100gr Btip, that's the only bullet that's been down my 25-06 barrel, regardless of what I'm shooting at.

Contrary to the many horror stories I've seen on the internet, never had any problems with them on whitetails. From less than 100 yards to well over 400 yards, they've worked fine on over a dozen deer for me and more than that for a buddy.

54grs of IMR 4831 and a 100gr Btip are it, in my book.

[model 70]

not to get off topic but with all this talk about ballistic tips in the 25-06, how well do they preform on deer in say....oh, i dunno, a .270win?

[rem 700]

Well, while we talk about the ballistic silvertip, I find it one of the finest bullets ever designed for any rifle. In a 270 winchester, the 130 grain supreme ballistic silvertip puts out velocities just exceeding 2000 fps @ 500 yards. Power just over 1200 ft lbs @ 500 yards. At muzzle, just over 3000 fps, and energy of nearly 2,700 ft. lbs. This is one of the flattest shooting 270 bullets in the world, with only 38 inches of drop out at 500 yards, but keep in mind this is probably cxp2, meaning it's for deer sized game. This is nearly as flat and fast as the 25-06 115 grain supreme bst, and just a touch(100 ft lbs) more powerful out at 500 yards. Designed for reliable, controlled expansion for the ultimate performance on deer sized game. This will be my choice for this year, keeping the highest amounts of power and speed out at these long distances, so be confident for that extremely long, one shot kill. Various websites can help you determine what will work best for your caliber, and the 270 with 130 grain supreme bst would be my choice for deer if I were to shoot that caliber. Shooting these bullets, I get tighter grouping than any other factory load I've tried.

[model 70]

just had a look on winchesters website. seems they are moly-coated. i don't care much for molly coated bullets.

[rem 700]

They are lubalox(I believe that's the word) coated. Quite different I do suppose.

[Rocky Raab]

Winchester won't say what Lubaloy is, but they do say what it isn't. It isn't moly.

It appears to be some sort of a baked-on lubricant film, like Barnes' XLC, but in black instead of blue.

[model 70]

i wouldn't be surprised if the lubalox leaves a film or coating on the inside of barrels...just like moly.

[rem 700]

I haven't had that problem. Not with 85 grain CXP1's that is. Got 115's in the mail...comin soon.

[Cal Sibley]

I'm currently doing load development work on a new Remington 700BDL in .25-06. I purchased a box of Nosler Ballistic Tips and was surprised to find they were flat based instead of boattails. I've also read that Nosler is making the jackets thicker on the deer sized ballistic tips. Maybe they are indeed addressing the problem many shooters seem to have with the deer sized bullets fragmenting. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

[Cossack]

Try 100 grain Barnes TSX. Make your 25/06 behave like it's on STEROIDS. Great trajectory, accuracy, controlled expansion for maximum penetration but little wasted meat. It costs a little more to go first class. But 18 consecutive one-shot kills in several calbers (including several with 25/06) tells me it's worth it.
The guide dubbed it "the heat seeking missle."