Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 25.06 117g performance?

I bought a very lightly used Browning xbolt in 2506. Going to use for whitetail. Any thoughts on the 117g Hornady superformance?
#2. I have a crush on the6.5 creedmoor. Kinda like the savage light weight hunter with 140 grain rd. Thoughts on this round and gun? Thanks

Well, sort of. I used a Ruger 77V on a couple dozen caribou several decades ago. Used Speer 120s in handloads. Dynamite performance, both in accuracy and terminal.

I am currently using 150 gr Superperformance in my M98 .30-06, again with a heavy barrel, for caribou. Go to my post "Practice, Practice, Practice" for latest accuracy picture.

I shot several caribou to 300 yards and a moose at 30 with the rig/round last year. Be warned - those SPs make BIG holes. Real good bang/flops, tho, as were the 120 Speers in the .25-06.

After I run this full box of 20 out I'll likely go back to Corelokts, at least on factory ammo. At 300 yards the Rems print 6 inches lower and a couple inches left of the SPs. That can be adjusted for. Terminal performance has been excellent also, without as large a wound channel. First animal/caribou that I took with the rig was with Corelokts at 379 yards. No complaints!

Creedmore 6.5 I have no experience with, but I do have a .260, which isn't much different.

So far, the only bullet weight that I have found that it likes for accuracy is the (any) 140, with which it has taken several caribou out to in excess of 300 yards, an elk at @150, and a wolf at 40. The 6.5 140gr Factory Corelokt has proven an accurate, excellent hunting load for me, in a light weight, light recoiling rifle. Haven't tried any other factory brands in that weight, but the one handload (Corelokts) I tried wasn't as accurate as the factory. Probably can dink around with that and fix it, when I get the opportunity.

I've yet to get the chance to do any serious reloading for it - I'd like to find a 120 or 130 weight that it likes. The fancy, expensive factory Barnes TSX in 120 that I tried shot as poorly as any other 120s I've so far tried, including a couple prelim handloads I played with.

My particular rifle seems to be an anomaly in this regard, so good luck!

I've found that superformance ammo falls into the least accurate group of factory stuff (with Remington) in the several rifles I've tried it in.

That being said, it was plenty accurate enough for the hunting I do.

I used the .25 117 Gr. Hornady for years in handloads and it's a good bullet. No complaints there.

thanks for replies. I have been shooting pretty solid groups with the 117 superformance. I don't imagine i'd ever shoot over the 300-350 range so hopefully it will suffice. What are you noticing on impact of the 117? Does it hit hard, penetrate well. 25.06 seems quite fast..worry about too much break up??

Don't know about the Hornady SuperPerformance, but the American Whitetail 117 grain factory ammo shoots good groups from my Marlin XL7 and Remington 700 25-06s. The SuperPerformance 25-06 117 grain SST claims an additional 120 fps over the 117 grain SpirePoint American Whitetail load, about 4%, for a costs that is 48% higher. I can't think of a situation where 120 fps is going to be a game breaker, but as with many things, YMMV.

I'm a 6.5 Creedmoor fan, have five of them, but not a particular fan of Savage 110 series rifles. I think that the Ruger American Rifle Predator is clearly the best in show for a lower cost 6.5 Creedmoor platform, a lot of accuracy for under $400 retail. Legacy Arms is showing the Howa 1500 chambered for the 6.5 Creedmoor in a couple of different models, but I have not seen them on dealers' shelves.

thanks...I'll check into those

Verg,

I've gotten 117's through both shoulders of mature bucks with no problems.

Shot quite a few hogs with them as well.

Good bullet when pushed at reasonable speeds.

I have a Tikka T3 lite 25-06 that really shoots the standard hornady 117 grain sst's very well. These are not the superformance ones. Definitely MOA or better accuracy and the few deer shot with them had good entrances and quarter sized exits on broadside shots under 100 yards. It is a good cartridge that I should carry more than I currently do.

OK- I am using the SST Superperformance round. As said, it makes a very impressive hole.

The Superperformance also comes (at least in .30-06) with the more expensive mono GMX bullet, which I suspect will not make as big a wound channel. Haven't tried it.

The two are supposed to have identical trajectories, so one can switch back and forth.

verg:
To add to this post, I have been shooting the 25/06 since 1983, and the 120 Hornady Interlock is a fine hunting bullet, very good accuracy and excellent terminal performance. Not too big of a hole...120 Partitions are super as well on antelope. But the 120 Interlock is a reasonable cost bullet, and great for practice or hunting. Hit at the same POI as the partitions in my Ruger 77....if you handload.

I have a very extensive experience with the 117 hornady bt. I have killed more deer and antelope with them that any other bullet. I have shot them any way imaginable and still never recovered one. Internal damage is phenomenal.

I've used to 120gr Hornady pretty extensively and had similar results. More accurate than the 117BT in my rifles. The only one I have recovered (hard quartering shot) looked like a Hornady ad. The only problem is finding them.

I've heard great praise for the Interlock over the years, and I'm happy to see two experienced users here on the 'fire, so I'll chance a question:

Would the 117gr Interlock provide reliable penetration on really big game like elk?

The reason I ask is that I have a 25-06 that reliably shoots 1/2 inch groups with Hornady American Whitetail 117gr (Interlocks). I'd hate to spend a bunch of time and money to find a load with Partitions or TTSX and discover it really only likes the Interlock.

thanks for replies guys. I shot it this wkend with the 117g sst. Had pretty decent groupings. Will be using it in two weeks in the Black Hills for a deer hunt. With luck I will find out for myself the effectiveness. Can report at that time.