Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Dogzapper---.25-06?

Bugger: what bullet will you switch to?

My entire .25 cal. bullets inventory is just five bullets:

Nosler 100 BTip
Nosler 85 BTip
Sierra 87
Sierra 75
Bib 88

To evaluate a new or unknown gun for either accuracy potential or problems, I start right out with the Sierra 75's. If a .25 won't shoot this bullet, you've got issues.

I did the development for Randy on the BIB 88's....the first ones down any barrel. All I had was my 250 Ackley huntin' rig but it sorted 'em out nicely as these 5 shot groups show.



250 Ackley (below)

Al,
Based on Dogzapper I’m trying the 100 grain BT for 2
25-06’s and my 257 Wby. I know the 115 gr has been phenomenal in my 25-284. Looking forward to trying it he new load on deer/hogs.

GreggH

I have used the 100-grain Ballistic Tip considerably on pronghorn and deer, and not just in the .25-06 (where it works great) but the .257 Roberts loaded to "modern" pressures.

The last one I recovered (one of very few) was started at around 3150 fps from a .257 Roberts, and killed a mature Montana whitetail doe, which was walking toward me early one November morning. At around 50 yards she noticed something "wrong" in the landscape, and started looking around. Her neck/head was moving some, and since she was quartering toward me I aimed for the near shoulder.

At the shot she gimp-ran about 25 yards and piled up. The bullet had split the big shoulder joint, and I found it under the hide at the end of the ribcage on the far side, retaining around half its weight. This may not impress those who believe in 100% weight retention, but in my experience tends to kill deer very well.

The few Hornady Interlocks I've recovered (both 100 .25s and others) like "deer-weight" Ballistic Tips have generally retained 40-60% of their weight, and were all found on the far side of deer that died quickly.

MD, you really risked it on that shot with such a poor BC on that bullet.😁

GreggH

Thanks, Al. I new it was a random question & appreciate your candor.

I’ve still got a few boxes of the pre-interlock 100’s and they seemed to kill Blacktail well. I haven’t really focused on them in years but historically they always did what I asked - just didn’t know how they stacked up in the ‘modern’ world of bullets.

[quote=GreggH]MD, you really risked it on that shot with such a poor BC on that bullet.😁

GreggH[/quote

Amazing, ain't it!

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/15603745/1

dave

Is Ken still around?but

You just learn to compensate by using a lot of extra powder, with bullets that have a bc of around .393. If the shot is less than 100 yards, use a Roberts or a .25-06. If it's over 100 yards, use the .257 Weatherby, as you do. Just use about 76 grains of H1000 with those 100 grain ballistic tips. Don't take the shot if it's over 300 yards...that way you can always say bc doesn't make any difference.

I use a 257 Weatherby with the original 100gr Hornady Spire Points. In my experience of 40 plus deer with this caliber, NOT ONE has ever taken a step

Picked up a used Dakota Model 10 in 25-06 Ackley Improved awhile back. Shoots great with standard 25-06 ammo. Tried Hornady Precision Hunter with the 110 grain ELD-X bullet this past hunting season. Probably a great long range choice but of course I had a small 6 point step out at 50 yards. Ended up tracking it for 100 yards in heavy cover.

Picked up a set of Ackley Improved dies from Redding and currently testing loads with Barnes 100 grain TTSX BT and the 115 grain NBT.

Did the ELD-X exit? Where'd it hit him?

Have used the 143 ELD-X some in 6.5 cartridges of about 6.5x55 power-capacity, at around 2700 fps. They penetrate well at those velocities--but I see the listed muzzle velocity of the 110-grain .25-06 load is 3140 fps....

Family used the 110 ELD out of a 257 Wby with a heap of H1000 this past year on a moderate sized black bear and a few deer. It was brutal but very terminal. He recovered the jacket on the far side on the bear but it hammered through the deer leaving decent sized exit holes.

Thanks.

Killed a northern New Mexico mule deer buck with the 6.5 143 ELD-X at just about exactly 100 yards a couple-three years ago. He was standing broadside on a hillside in a patch of Gambel oaks, and the most logical vital spot visible was the "high shoulder." At the shot the buck collapsed and rolled down the slope about 30 feet. The bullet had broken both scapulas and the the spine, and was recovered under the hide on the far side retaining 60% of its weight. The buck's boned meat weighed exactly 100 pounds, and the rule-of-thumb is live weight is 3 times boned, so he was somewhere around 300 pounds.

A friend of mine on the same hunt killed an even bigger-bodied buck at around 300 yards with the same bullet/load. The buck was quartering away, and at the shot did the little heart-shot jump before trotting 30-35 yards and keeling over. That bullet ended up in the far shoulder, retaining 74% of its weight. But as noted, muzzle velocity was a lot less than 3140 fps!

So if a deer is over 100 yards, a 257 or 25/06 won’t work, a 257Bee is necessary ???? Wow!

I kinda stuck with if the ELD's are started around 2800 or less, for me, they work awesome. The 147 at 2775 and the 212 at 2700 have been excellent for me with the 212 smashing alot of bone on a raghorn bull and the 147's plowing through deer from a few odd angles but just leaving deer behind. Pretty good bullets in my head at this point.

I'd have been terrified of the 110 at 257 Wby speeds but I guess I am a chicken like that. My cousin used it to good success though and had no issues. I'd have to guess that 110 had to have been 3400+ but that's just a guess on charge and a bit of 257 experience.

Yeah about the same effective range as a 12 gauge slug gun

If you're using those low bc .257 bullets, then use a big case with double the amount of powder. Or you can do what a lot of these other guys are doing, run back to the car and grab the 6.5 with its high bc bullets. Alternatively, if they made more bullets in .257 that had a good bc, then all these guys who use a 6.5 as well as a .257 could just use a .257.

Surely he is being facetious?