Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting .257 Cal Bullets?

i am a speed freak i shot last fall 2022 103 gr. Hammer hunter bullets , Reloader 25 powder, Fed.215 primers , used Fed. cases and new Nosler cases at 3680 FPS was the average ,my 3 shot groups out of 3 different rifles were all 1/2 - 3/4 groups at 100 yards. my rifles shot much better with this load than ever before. the rifles i used off my cement bench were 2 - Ruger #1`s with Brux barrels and a Weatherby mark 5 Accumark all 3 rifles shot great . this powder load is in the Berger reloading book and Berger`s ballistic program can be used also for this bullet too .

Cool old thread!

Yeah it was. I enjoyed that.

117g sierra btsp is a bullet worth building a rifle around for shortish shooting.

Keith: What is shortish shooting. Can you elaborate? Thanks

I built my .257 Ackley back in the late '70s primarily for a deer and antelope rifle, and through the years it's made a pile of one shot kills on a varaiety of critters from prairie dogs to elk. My favorite bullet for it has been the 117 grain Sierra GameKing, but I've also had good results with the 120 gr Hornady HPFB, and the Nosler 115 gr BT.

Two of the most impressive kills that I've made with this rifle and 117 gr Sierra bullets were on prairie dogs and on my 2nd largest 6x6 bull elk.

On one eastern Montana antelope hunt, I crossed a prairie dog town walking back to my truck. One mound had 3 prairie dogs standing in a straight line. I layed down prone with all 3 dogs straight away from me. It was a 125 yard shot and the 117 gr Sierra bullet literally exploded the first two and cut the third one in half.

The first year that I hunted in one of Montana's Unlimited bighorn sheep units I backpacked a camp in by myself. By the third morning I hadn't seen any sheep and I was pretty discouraged. Shortly after leaving camp that morning I heard an elk bugling fairly close to me. Each time he bugled, he sounded closer so I just knelt down and waited for him. The portion of that unit that is in the Wilderness Area was also open early for deer and elk and I had an elk tag in my pocket. As he got closer I first saw the ivory tips of his dark brown 6x6 antlers and that ended my ram hunt that year.

When he stopped broadside and bugled about 75 yards from me I put a 117 gr Sierra just behind his right shoulder. He dropped dead right there. My bullet hit a rib going in and pieces of the bullet and rib shredded his lungs, went through his heart, but didn't exit his opposite rib cage.

In the last 45 years I've used that rifle for almost all of my deer and antelope hunting. I also used it in the '80 and '90s on three Unlimited unit bighorn rams and a Dall ram in Canada's Mackenzie Mountains. All of those rams were one shot kills with 117 gr Sierra bullets.

The longest shot was 206 yards on my Dall ram. It was an uphill shot that entered just behind his right shoulder and exited high behind his left shoulder. He also just fell dead where he was standing. The exit hole is just a small dot under his left horn in this picture...

Cool stuff Buffy!

Great story and nice ram.

Buff,
Good post. Interesting nobody on this thread has said a thing about BC or turrets. Everyone has only posted about field success. Funny how the 25 caliber guys seem to be able to find and kill game.

GreggH

The bc on most .25 bullets is absolutely pathetic. Instead of being content with the poor bc bullets we should be asking for 100, 110, 115, 120 grain bullets that have bc's over .5 and run in 7 twist barrels. At least we are seeing a few bullets around 130-135 grain weight with decent bc's. Sure the 100-120's do ok at close to medium ranges, but for the longer shots, a sub .400 bc doesn't cut it. It's 2023, not 1950.

Rifle.
What caliber 25’s do you shoot?

GreggH

.25 caliber. If you mean chamberings: Souper Improved. Was building a very small .25 to use the 100 grain ballistic tip, but its bc is so poor, I had to switch at the last moment to 6mm. The problem is the throating. If you put a fast twist barrel on (in the hope that they may release a decent bc medium weight bullet in the near future) and throat for a current low bc bullet, it's going to be the wrong throat for if they ever release a high bc bullet in that weight.

Were you really trying to stretch it out? I know they’re not awesome but mine makes it to 600 yards pretty nicely.

I won’t deny that slicker bullets are nice though but for the distances I shoot deer mostly BC doesn’t make a huge deal.

At most hunting distances as you say, it doesn't make a huge difference...just a small difference. But for that small percentage of longer shots it does make a difference especially in terms of wind-drift, but also drop (especially if you don't dial in) and impact velocity. There are better calibers for the longer shots such as 6mm and 6.5mm. So why disadvantage yourself on the longer shots? If they made a .257 100 grain bullet with a bc of .5 or more, more than one bullet of 110 grains with a bc of around .570 and 120 grain bullets with bc of near .6, then you would have a wonderful caliber that gives up next to nothing at close to medium range but gains significantly at longer range. 7 twist should become the new .257 standard twist.

What are your longer shots on game animals?

GreggH

A long shot at an animal with a less-than-optimal rest, with a small caliber is anything over about 350 yards. This probably equates to what most people say is 700 yards. Very few of those who say they shoot game with less-than-optimal rests at longer distances than about 400 yards, actually do so on a consistent basis. Anything over 300 yards, the advantages of a higher bc becomes more apparent.

Riflehunter: many of us don't need or want to shoot deer at over 300 yards. Bullets with a BC of about .4 (ore even less, gasp!) have worked fine for me since I took my first deer in 1955. I even find round nose bullets to be effective in many situations.

If you want, or need, to shoot deer at longer ranges, more power to you. No need to denigrate the vast majority of hunters for whom shooting at long range is not important or not possible.

The 117 gr sierra bt worked well in a 25-06 that I hunted with for several years. Rag horn elk, about 300 yds dropped where shot.

Several deer and Antelope also went down with 1 shot each. Then someone stole it out of my car. I never replaced it.

Had Bad Luck with The 80Gr TTSX's..I Shoot One Small Buck 4 Times.. Recovered 3 of The 4.. May Have Been Leaning On Them a Little To Hard.. 3677FPS.. When To The 115 B.T.'s And Have Been More Than Happy With The 3 Whitetails and Bear...

Accuracy and bullet performance have been my criteria for big game hunting for the last 35 years. Never has BC caused me to pass on a animal. Every 25 caliber bullet I have tried has worked, and this has ranged from a small 25 (25 BR AI) to a large 25 (257 Wby).

GreggH