Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Deer bullets for 25/06

25-06 works well as a speed kills round. 75 grain hammer hunter running 3300 or so makes a no-holdover round that will put any deer on the ground. Anything over 2600 fps impact speed punches way above it's caliber/weight and the monolithic solid copper round performs the same regardless of top speed. Very little bloodshot meat, complete pass throughs and drt pretty much every time.

Before Nosler came out with Partitions it was not easy to find a bullet that worked well in 6mm or 25 cal. There probably were some, but limited resources kept a guy from buying/trying different bullets especially when he only had one deer tag a year. Back then, it seemed to me, there were 3 good deer cartridges: 270, 280, 30-06. I didn't have a 270 until much much later though as I thought the 270 was for the guys that couldn't handle recoil. The 30-06 worked so very well, my old Springfield got used most every year. Now it seems there's plenty of fine bullets for the 6mm and the 25 calibers. I have used Interlocks on pronghorn in my 25-06 and my 6mm, so I imagine they'd work well on deer also. But, in my opinion, a guy will never go wrong with Partitions, up close or further away.

I used 100 grn. Rem core-loks for many years. Then switched to Nosler Accubonds 110 grn. Have always been very satisfied with performance.

I’ve had bullets do that - really seems to me as though the bullets did it’s job?! You got the deer correct? I guess unless the bullet looks like the ad for the bullet and 80% plus weight retention it’s a complete failure? Some people just can’t handle anything less than “perfection”😄

PennDog

I never hunted with anything but 115 Partitions in the .25-06 I built back in the early 90s and still use. The only bullets I ever recovered were on two different antelope that were bedded when shot and I think the dirt they were lying against kept the bullet from popping through the skin. My Dad killed the biggest bodied mulie I ever saw in AZ with that load at over 300 yards and it worked great.
I have used the Barnes 100 TSX (not the TTSX - just never got around to those when they came out) a lot in the .257 Roberts and never recovered one of those, and never lost an animal. Shot some big Montana mulies with that load.
I see a lot of respondents recommended both of those and based on your parameters I think they will be just fine, but lots of other bullets probably would be too. Based on the way the front end of the Partition tends to fragment, I wouldn't be surprised if it kills a little faster than the TSX with lung shots, but have not observed enough lung shots with it to say with confidence.

Good Hunting,
Rex

One I don’t recommend is the 120 gr pep by Winchester

My 25-06 likes 100 gr TSXs. Most deer have run 30-75 yards unless a high shoulder or CNS is hit but there is always a blood trail since the bullets exit. The TSXs seem to destroy less meat too.


I have not hunted my 25 in a few years but this thread has me wanting to break it out again. The round flat out works on deer.

What circumstances would lead one to use the 100 gr Partition over the 115?

Maybe someone has a slow-twist barrel that won't stabilize the 115.

Maybe someone prefers the perceived advantage of a faster start over the perceived advantage of a better BC.

Maybe it's all that was available at the LGS or online at the time.

I have some limited experience with 25-06. IIRC I have had 4 rifles in that chambering, three remington 700s and one custom barreled model 70 (pushfeed). Two rifles shot well (one very well), the other 700 was mediocre (with limited testing somewhere over 1" 3 shot groups) and the custom barreled model 70 was a big disappointment. I was never able to get it shooting even decent groups with several 100-117 grain bullets and a few different powders. It was a 1-10 twist but was a solid 2" or worse gun. On that rifle I believe the issue was the smithing done on it. Tore apart a perfectly good model 70 winlite fwt 30-06 to make up that rifle, one of my bigger rifle tinkering mistakes!
In general I found that 100 grain bullets typically shot somewhat better than heavier stuff, again on a limited # of rifles. Shot a total of one deer with a 100 ballistic tip. A poorly placed shot and one followup to finish it resulted in a lot of ruined meat. I'd not personally use that bullet again on game, either going with a monolithic or at least a heavier premium.
All that being said, I'd have another 25-06 as I think they make a really nice deer rifle for where/what I hunt and recoil is noticeably less than my beloved 270s! Of course there are a lot more good bullets in 6.5 but that is another discussion!

I’ve been using 120 Partitions from my 25-06 XBolt. No complaints at all, which is typical for a Partition.

I don’t mess around a lot with different bullets in a rifle if I have a load that works. I like the one bullet I use to work for most anything I would conceivably shoot with that cartridge/rifle, so I tend to go heavy.

My load for M70 25-06 is a 120 gr partition and RL22. It will make about 3150 fps and will shoot under an inch if I do my part.

My favorite was the 100 grain Hornady flat base that is now discontinued. My 24 inch barreled Savage clocked 3350 fps with that bullet H4350. I will go with the Hornady 117 IL and Ramshot Magnum now.

117 Sierra PH was my go to before they quit making them. Switching to the 117 Hornady when I run out of the last of my Sierras.

Does the 100gr Interlock hold up on shoulder shots? It is accurate in my 257R and works fine on heart lung shots, but I prefer high shoulder shots as the deer where I hunt are typically only a few steps away from thick, thorny brush. Thanks for any intel.

I’m a Hammer fan. Don’t still have a 25-06, but would certainly load Hammers if I had one and see what the gun liked. Terminal performance is spectacular.

DF

The flat based bullets seemed to. I never really examined the bullets a lot. Never recovered a lot of them. I will say that every deer I shot with the Hornady 100 grain flat base was DRT. They never took a step. They just folded up right there.

I have used a variety of bullets for deer in the 25/06.

I have not had any failures, crazy, eh? 87g Speer, 100g Speer BTSP, 120g Speer, 100g Sierra, 117g Sierra btsp is biscuits and gravy, 100g Hornady Flat Base, 117g Hornady Flat base.

The 100g Partition has performed beyond any and all expectations!

The 120g Partition with a hot load of R#25 with a fed 215 in Win brass is shocking.

A custom 9T X caliber barrel shoots the 115g Berger at 3300 with R#25 and fed 215's, 26" bbl, win brass

I turn my .25-06 brass into .240 cases with a CH4D die. The 100 NPT is the accuracy champ in my HS Precision .240, terminal performance is typical Partition. No surprise there.

DF

Used to shoot the hell out of my 25-06's. Factory WW 120gr open pt expanding loads. Then got into 5 boxes of 120 gr open pt boattail Sierras. Worked up a load with fed 215 primers in WW cases with max doses of surplus H870. 3100fps with good enough groups for deer and antelope. Shot whatever got in front of me coyotes, pd's and other varmints. Those sierras were OK on ribcage shots but on quartering angles they didn't hold up well. Back then a guy could buy bulk 120 gr Remington corelokts sold as component bullets. Shot a lot of them and H870 , aren't very high bc but they shot well and held together. Wandered to some older 100 gr corelokts (red& white boxes with metal corners) and the were pretty explosive at 33-3400 fps. Looking back on it they were probably made for 250-3000 velocity levels. After 3 antelope with baseball sized exit holes in the ribs I used them up on pd's. Bought a couple boxes of 120 Hornady hollow pts. They didn't expand at all on antelope lungs, just penciled thru so I shot pd's with them ,they were very accurate though. Now days the 117 gr horn btsp sees action and do have a supply of 115 npt's and 115 nbt's to work up. That old mid 70's model 70 has some barrel wear on it, shot it alot it taught me that the 25-06 isn't a good choice for dog shooting. Few here and there to check your zero but that's it.A couple of years ago I picked up a ss m700 lnib for a song will see if she will sing. Some life left to that m70 I just don't want to finish her off.