Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Best 25 caliber deer bullet

Just curious what you guys use in your quarter bores for deer. I bought some 120 gr Hornady interlock hp.

What your opinions?

I'll be using the 115 Ballistic Tip and 120 Partitions in my Roberts this year.

Depends, 25/20 or 257 Weatherby or something betwixt?

I'm a fan of small bullets going fast when it comes to deer, so I tend to run lots of lighter weight Barnes.

I used 115 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips last year for an antelope and a couple of whitetail does. I am very satisfied with their accuracy and performance. That bullet would not be my choice for close range deer, but at 100 yds and further it worked great. The Ballistic Tips have been improved and perform better than the old ones. The old ones were too soft.

100 grain Interlocks and Ballistic tips.

I have used the 100 gr. Barnes orig. X, 115 TSX and the 100 gr Hornady SP IL., all in a 25-06. All were loaded to book max. Of all of them I have more DRT's w/the Hornady interlock and the longest runs after w/the 115 TSX and all shots through the lungs. I just got an old 25 Ackley magnum (7 R. Mag., shoulder set back necked to 25 and case left full length) and have 2 boxes of 120 gr Nosler PT's, should be adequate! -Muddy

Hornady 100gr Interlock. Never found it wanting in killing any deer or pronghorn that I shot with 'em.
Let us know how the 120gr IL's work.

Forgot to put in the orignal post it's for a 25-06 h&r ultra hunter

I've used 100gr TTSXs in my 257Wby and 110gr NABs in my 25-06. DRTs with both. Plan to use 115 NBTs this year in my 25-06AI. Several of my friends have used them for years with great results.

Lemme see. I've killed deer with the .250 Savage, .257 Roberts, .25-06 Remington and .257 Weatherby using 100-grain Barnes TSX's, Hornady Interlocks, Nosler Ballistic Tips, Nosler Partitions, and Speer Hot-Cors; 115-grain Berger VLD's, Nosler Ballistic Tips and Partitions; 117-grain Remington Core-Lokts and Hornady Interlocks; and 120-grain Nosler Partitions and Speer Hot-Cors. All of them killed the deer pretty much pronto if the bullets landed in the right place, and they usually did.

It's hard to beat good ole NPT performance. That said,there are many .257 pills suitable for deer sized critters.

My choice for the coming fall will probably be 100TTSX or 100S2s.

My choice for the .257 Wby is the 100 gr. Barnes TSX.
For the .257 Roberts, it's the 100 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip.

For my .25-06, I use 115 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips. The newer Ballistic Tips are better than the old ones. The old ones were too soft and blew up on impact.

I don't have experience with the IL's so I can't comment on them but I'm sure they will do a nice job. I use the 100gr NBT in my 25-06. It is extremely fast, flat shooting and kills like lightning. Most any hunting bullet from the reputable manufacturers will get the job done and they don't have to be premium. Shot placement is the most important thing.

I am looking at the 110gr. Accubond for my next.25-06 load..

My 25-06 loved the 120 core-locks. Never had to chase one down using it.

For the 25-06 anything from 100 to 120 will work well.

So will some of the lighter ones but it all depends on what weight your rifle likes.

I use the 115 BT out of the 25.06.

That would be my choice as well.

I have killed several coues deer with the 100 TTSX, all but one have dropped at the shot. Only reason the one didnt drop was I didnt hit him well.

I shot one last year with a 110 Accubond, smoked the deer, he ran 15 yards and fell over dead.