Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Elk bullet for 25-06

I have a 25-06 that I can shoot well. It's a quite accurate Tikka T3. I've mounted a Leupold 4-12x scope with LR dots.

I'm going cow elk hunting this winter and may get a bull elk tag next year. I have no trouble hitting antelope at 400 yards with a 100gr TTSX (Federal factory load) but I'm concerned about expansion and penetration with elk at longer distances (500 yards?), where velocity of the 100gr bullet will be dropping to below 2,000 fps.

Under those conditions, what's my best bullet choice: 100 TTSX, 110 Accubond, 115 / 120 Partition or 115 Berger VLD? Something else?

And yes, I know the standard answer: "Get closer." I'm planning to - I passed on an elk last winter in Wyoming because I didn't feel I could make a good first-shot hit.

But I'm pushing my limits this summer a bit with accuracy and distance, and I want to be sure my bullet will perform at the same distances I can. I could pick a larger, more powerful cartridge but my rotator cuff simply can't tolerate the big boomers any more.

What do you think?

Talk to Tman, he killed elk w/ the .25/06! I am going to use mine some this fall for cow elk w/ 110 gr. Accubonds.. But will be hunting close to home w/ a long season & no pressure to take one😞 Tman has been there done that, he is not speculating. 👍

VLD would be good for a 500 yard shot

I'd be A-Okay using the 25-06 with just about any of the bullets you mention. If it were me, I'd probably sway towards the 115/120 Partition if you are worried about expansion at longer ranges. A slew of elk have been taken with the 130 PT and 270 Winchester. Not much difference in the two in my opinion.

Having seen the 25-06 with 80gr TTSX used successfully on big caribou bulls, bigger bull moose, brown bear, mountain goat, and deer it would not bother me a bit to use it on elk...

Killed or have seen multiple elk 10-20 with 100 gr tsx. in 257 wlby at 3500 fps. All worked well with complete penetration and not too much meat damage. I would definitely not use Berger. Saw a hornady 100 gr blow up on a rib on a cow elk once out of a 25/06. We got her, but could have gone bad. I load for the guy and switched to Barnes after that with no problems. Haven't worked up a load for my 25/06 yet, but will try RL 22 if I do.Daryl.

I'd be running a 120 Partition as my first choice.

CZ1022 ~

Noslers Shooters Pro shop as we speak has 120 grain Partition (Blems) available for 33 cents each.
You may find that Accubonds tune a bit easier than Partitions but for that price you might consider
burning a bunch of them to see if your rifle slings them as accurate as your other options.

I don't have a 25-06, but I do have a 257 Weatherby Magnum. I have used successfully 120 gr. Nosler Partitions in hand loads. IMR 4831 at max. And Federals Premium 257 factory 115 gr. Trophy Bonded Bear Claw (no longer offered,but I bought many boxes) I have used them on all African PG, many the size of elk-kudu,zebra etc.. Both bullets are outstanding to say the least. I would use them on elk anytime. Guess I need to get around to picking up a 25-06. Its a great round. I wanna try out the Swift Scrirraco II.

Draftmule , thanks for your post , been looking for 120 partitions for months. Best hunting bullet for 25/06 and 257 weatherby, If your looking for elk bullets, I use H-1000 for 25/06 and 7828 for the weatherby

Tman: "Much as I think both cartridges (.270 and 25-06) are outstanding deer/antelope cartridges, you couldn't run fast enough with either one in hand to give them to me as an elk rifle."

WyoCoyoteHunter - I think you're talking about some OTHER TMan than the one posting under that name on this forum!

Well, that's a dramatic turn of events !!

WCH is referring to; T_inman.

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I have used my 7mm-08 & 120TTSX for multiple bull Moose, so see no issue at all with using same for Elk !

YMMV

Son used a 115 grain Ballistic tip on a good bull. He used a little 120 gr Sierra 7mm squib load on a cow also. Both died rather fast. Sure the ttsx or partitions would be fine as well.

I have over 40 years of elk hunts behind me as a hunter and as a guide.

I would say without hesitation, use a 120 grain Nosler Partition, a 115 Grain Barnes or a bonded bullet of 110 grains or more.

Skip all the rest. Not that all others are bad, but none of them are as good as the bullets above for what you will be doing.

ESPECIALLY skip anything made by Burger.
They have a VERY VERY high failure rate even on deer and antelope.

Yeah, Berger's hunting line is sketchy at best. Their target bullets are top notch though.

More than 400y is a lot to ask of a caliber that's already a little light for elk. Not to say that it's unusable, just on the light side. I'd use the 115 or 120 partition, and keep it under 400y.

I'm not the world's biggest nosler fan, but I have killed several elk with the .25-06 and the 110 accubond, both bulls and cows. It'll work just fine at any sane distance...promise. I did have one mature cow run 200 or so yards with a solid double lung hit and only an entrance hole to bleed from, but that was an exception IME.

To the OP, any of those choices will be just fine. As per everything nosler (including the fabled partition) they kill like lightning: if you can actually hit something with it.

Back when they first came out I would have fully agreed with you, but reports of late show very different tale.

Since I can't seem to get any 6.5mm 147 ELDs right now, I will be elk hunting this fall with the 6.5mm hunting VLD, and have no worries.

The man who knows fine wimminz rear ends speaks the truth here...

if you dont hand load give the doubletap 120 gr partition ammo a try, excellent accuracy

Cabelas had the 147 eld on sale for $29.99 yesterday. They are in stock though at $34.99 today.

Midway has them now too apparently, better price as well.

Some very good bullet observations/recommendations above, but I echo this post. A 25:06 has been my steady tool for deer and antelope for many, many years - a wonderful cartridge. But, for shots at any significant distance and especially on a bull, I would not take a 25:06 if I had a good .30 or .338 cal. shooter.

I would use any of the bullets listed except the Berger the jury is still out on them for me as I haven't shot them enough to say.

The TTSX will still open up at 2000 fps so that should be the limit. I would carefully pick your shots but that is true for any caliber.

Lots of good suggestions here....... See what your rifle likes. My .25-06 has never been pointed at anything bigger than an antelope but my pet load includes a 117 gr. Sierra Pro-Hunter and I've heard good things about that bullet on larger game. I used it for antelope just because it's also my most accurate load.

Well 22250 and czech1022, I can't say which bullet is "best' for elk from a 25-6 but I can tel you a few bad ones to choose. and unfortunately your Sierra is one of them. Not as bad as their "Game King" but nothing made by Sierra in .257 is a good choice.

We read these things all the time. "What bullet is best for ________(add your favorite animal)

But the truth is usually most forthcoming from those that have shot said and a-fore mentioned animal for several decades with several calibers and several bullets. Those that are not trying to sell you something, and those that don't work for those trying to sell you something.

Premium bullets have their place, and that's a fact, but most men overthink these things a bit too much. If we look at the track record of hunting over about 100 years, you can come up with a very good idea of what works and want doesn't, and also some records of what was in need of improvement.
Every year for 42 years now I have seen men and women show up for elk hunting with 270s, 7MMs, 308s and 30-06s with bread and butter type bullets. 150 gr 270s, 150 to 180 grain 30 cals and 140 to 175 gr 7MMs. No problems as a rule with such factory loaded ammo as long as they are not trying to use target bullets (or target bullets sold as game bullets)

Bullet holes kill, not bullets. That's why we see such good records from those cartridges that are very old and very proven, which are not "new and improved whizz-bang extra special" and all that tripe. One that goes under the radar and isn't spoken about much but is super good for elk is now 144 years old, the 45-70, shooting cast lead bullets. Nothing super-duper ultra modern there, but the 45-70 works as well or better than most modern magnums as long as you can hit the elk where you want to.

Bigger animals have bigger bones, larger organs and are thicker through their bodies. Such animals need a bullet hole that goes deeper and hopefully is a bit larger in diameter than a smaller animal will need. But deeper is more important then wider. A wide wound in an antelope or deer that's only 10-14 inches deep is ok most times, because the deer and antelope are only that thick, even quartering. There are a few bullets that penetrate so poorly I won't use them even on deer, and even from a 30-06 but most 30 cal bullets of 150 grains and more from most 30 cal bottle neck shells will kill deer just fine. Same with 7mms and 270s with bullets of 125 grains and heavier

I would never talk anyone out of the use of a premium bullet for deer and antelope, but the truth is a lot of cup-core standard bullets are just as good for that job. I am highly impressed with Winchester Power Points as a rule. Most Remington Core-Lokts are quite good too. Just good, plain old-fashioned bullets.

The place I really recommend a premium bullet is exactly what you are talking about. A well respected "deer round" being shoved into elk country. But you have a rifle that just fine if you use the right bullet.

Elk are 3 to 5 times larger than deer. So even if you don't make a hole in them that larger in diameter, you NEED one that you can depend on to go 2X or 3X deeper. Not so important on a good broadside hit, but try to run a bullet from mid body through an elk's chest and break a bone on the off shoulder and that's when you will really appreciate a solid expanding bullet like a Barnes X, a Hornady GMX or a super premium lead and copper bullet like a Swift A-Frame. In fact, the Nosler Partition is also a good choice for elk if you are going to use a 25 cal.

Now don't let me talk you out of the 25-06. That's not my intent. You have enough gun if you are enough man. Work on your shooting until you can hit running rabbits with your rifle at longer range. Shoot close to them and that makes them run. Then shoot the rabbits. It's very good training for your upcoming big game hunting. YOU are the hunter, not the rifle and not the ammo.

I and my friends have been killing elk with "standard" calibers for over 40 years. As a hunter and guide I have seen more elk killed than I can count. I have seen them killed very cleanly with 257 Roberts and I have seen horrible botch jobs with 338 and 300 magnums.
I can tell you I would not choose a 25 cal Sierra bullet, or ANY Burger for elk (and I will not recommend any Burger for any game at all over 50 pounds) but the Barnes and the Bonded bullets from all manufacturers are fine, as well as the Mono-metal expanding bullets. Shoot a LOT of your Sierras to gain skill on targets at ranges from 20 to 500 yards, and try to practice on moving targets too. You may not want to shoot a moving elk, but if he doesn't fall you may have to. You may have to shoot more than one time.

Another vital point; Divorce yourself from the varmint/target idea of accuracy for elk hunting with a 25-06. You have a shell that's just fine out to about 400 yards, but that should be it's limit in my opinion. You do NOT need 1/2 MOA accuracy for elk. They are quite large! You need a bullet that holds together. If your rifle "only" shoots 2 MOA with a Swift A-Frame and shoots 1/4 MOA with a ____(fill in the blank) leave the _________(fill in the blank) AT HOME! You can't shoot 700 yards with a 25-06 and expect good results because you can'r depend on shooting at that range and so you use the bullets that you need at 50 to 300 yards which is 99% of the time and forget about that last 1%. A Swift, a Barnes or a GMX will not expand well from you rifle much past 400 yards. A Nosler Partition will expand farther out but so what? it's still striking a fairly light blow way out there, and even if it retains 100% it's still only a 120 grain bullet. I have done this for about 4 decades now. In all that time I have made exactly 1 elk kill at 400 yards. ALL the rest have been closer and about 90% of them have been at under 125.

My experience has shown me that a perfect hit on any game (including a Cape Buffalo and a Hippo) with rounds that are considered "too small" are just as good as hits with big rounds. Cape Buffalo can and are dropped with 308 ball ammo, 8MM Mausers and 30-06s all the time by people that know where to shoot them and when NOT to shoot. It's when your hits are "not quite perfect" that the larger guns, and bigger bullets and the addition of raw power comes into play. Cape Buffalo are as easy to kill as milk cows IF you hit them perfectly with a bullet that will penetrate as you want it to.. But miss the intended point of impact by just about 4 inches and all the rules change fast and radically......and NOT in your favor (you can trust me on this)

So that's the biggest reason I can think of to use a premium bullet. I see no reason not to ever (except for the price), but no real reason to demand them either for most deer and antelope hunting and even for larger game, if a larger gun is used.

The exception is when there is an extra challenge.......like killing bull elk with a 25-06.

A bit surprised that Bob Milek hasn't been raised in conversation yet?


I think the real answer is 2 fold, because there is 1 group of people already in elk country so can change rifles and loads to grow their experience and a 2nd group that has to travel to elk country more infrequently at at additional cost, so tend to plan more for contingencies, usually selecting heavier choices.

This scenario tends to blur the facts as the other group see it. Both can be right and have adequate loads but being able to place the shot can be the game changer regardless of the load used.

I don't have a 25-06 either but do have the AI'd version, it very accurately fires the 100 gr TTSX at 3525 fps, I'd keep my shots this side of 400 yards because the little bullet is such a turd in the wind.

Bergers out of a 308 Winchester have been consistently fine for deer to 200 pounds and hogs to 300 pounds at my camp. So our mileages do vary.

Very well-said

100 TTSX

Agree with what the others have said but when it comes down to an expensive hunt I would use another rifle even though the 25-06 is one of my absolute favorite rounds. On a fun hunt for Cow Elk no problem with the 25.

My favorite rifle is my .257 Roberts. For antelope it gets loaded with 100g TTSX or 110g AccuBond, primarily because I want a bullet that holds together and doesn't cause excessive meat damage. When hunting elk, it gets a 120g Partition. If using a .25-06 it would get the 120g Partition as well.

I understand your problem as my hunting buddy has the same one. He has a 7mm RM and we ended up going with reduced loads as a new rifle wasn't in the budget.

A good butt pad, a shoulder pad and heavy clothes can all help reduce the problem.

Good luck.

I had a .25-06 for a few years and then foolish sold it when I thought falsely that I needed a larger caliber for moose. I used 120 gr. Speer handloads with absolutely excellent results. Of 20 something caribou killed to over 500 yards, only the first was not a one shot DRT bang/flop. And he didn't realize he was dead before I plugged him a second time. I put the first bullet into him quartering on, at the base of his neck, at about 200 yards, and found the bullet lodged against the bone in the off hind leg, perfectly mushroomed. That would seem to be adequate penetration and performance even for elk boiler room shots. Never, ever, recovered another bullet. Most shots were 300-400 yards. Bull elk would be maybe twice the size or a bit more, and if I had the gun yet, I'd not hesitate to use it on elk, or moose, to 400 yards. But maybe not on a quartering shot at long range. Go for broadside, or pass it up.

I did try some 87? gr. C&C on 2 caribou. Varmit loads - poor choice on my part.. Never tried the 100 gr. range. At the time, NP was the only premium bullet being made, I think, and I never tried it in that rifle. The Speers were MOA and terminally performed very well.

The only elk I have killed was a cow at about 150 yards with a .260 140 gr. Corelokt. bang flop. I've also killed several caribou roughly the same size), some bigger) between 200 and 400 yards with the same outfit, with no problems (well except me mis-estimating range and wind on the first shot... )

Based on this somewhat indirect experience, I'd use heavy for caliber C&C 117-120 bullet, or a premium of at least 100, if using a .25-06 on anything over 200 lbs. assuming good accuracy. On the heavy side if you are planning for a shot over 400, as said elsewhere.

120 NP at what ever speed gives you the warm and fuzzy's you are looking for. Practice a lot with that exact load and have a great hunt!

Have personally seen the 100 TTSX work fine on a cow elk from the .257 Roberts, and the 120 Partition on a 6x6 bull from the .257 Weatherby., so strongly suspect either would work fine from the .25-06.