25/06 bullet selection.

[Va varminter]

Few weeks back I bought a 2506 barrel for my encore. It will be strictly a whitetail gun. I don't know if I should use the new barns TSX or one of the new bullets from Nosler. I"ll be shooting 100gr. so I want to stay away from the original ballistic tip( had a bad experience with a 120grnr from a 7-08 one time).

[Rick in Oregon]

VAV: For that .25 then, I'd suggest either the Nosler Accubond or the new Barns TTSX (Tipped Triple Shock) if you really want to shoot premium bullets. Do you think whitetails are that hard to kill and really need a premium bullet? Nosler realized that the early BT's were a bit thin in the jacket department, and the new ones are actually designed for whitetail deer now. They recommend that bullet for any game weighing in the "less than 300 lbs catagory".

I've killed very large mule deer with the new BT's, and had no problems whatever. Many guys I know even use them for elk now. Personally, I'll use premium bullets for elk, as that critter is pretty bulky, but you don't need to pay the premium price for a whitetail bullet any more. It's your decision and your money, but that's my take on it.

By the way, the new Barnes TTSX will give 100% complete penetration 100% of the time on about any animal you'll ever shoot at, especially any deer that walks the planet. That is, IF you want to pay the premium price.

[glenn asher]

I'm pretty happy with the old Partition (100gr.) for whitetails in my .25/06, but my cousin has killed a traincar load of deer with plain old Remington Core-Lokts, in factory ammo, too. There are no flies on that old Core-Lokt bullet, to be honest about it. It hasn't survived as a factory load without good reason, and the bullets are available as components, I think.

Earl might not be too smart, but he knows how to kill deer . I don't really think whitetails need a premium bullet, but if you like to spend the money, try those Partitions....

[Va varminter]

I have just never deer hunted with anything as small as the .25 before. I just want to make sure it punches a hole out the other side. As I said earlier, I had a bad experience with a 120gr. BT from a 7-08. No exit hole and no blood. When I skinned the deer I found the jacket under the skin on the far side. That was it. The shot was about 60-65 yds. I can imagine what a 100gr. BT (or similar) would do from a 25-06 under 100yds. And I do like the core lock bullet as well.

[Rick in Oregon]

VA Varminter: You mention "problem", and "bad experience" when using that 7-08 and the Nosler BT, but it appears the deer had a worse experience....did he not die? If you skinned him, and he was dead, I'm not sure what the problem was. It sounds like the bullet killed the deer.

As Glen mentioned, if you want to punch holes all the way through, then try a Partition, Accubond, or TSX. The TSX or their new TTSX (Tipped Triple Shock) will about ALWAYS punch holes clear through. Those bullets have a controlled expansion design that really works...... That is IF you want to pay premium price; those Core-Lokt's have been killing whitetail deer for a very long time......

[Va varminter]

Yes the deer did die, but I spent most of the morning looking for him because of no blood. And as for the cost of premium bullets. I don't mind paying more because I won't be shooting it a great deal (as compared to my 204 . I'll probably shoot the partion.

[Rick in Oregon]

Got it; understood. It may be well worth the small extra expense then for a premium bullet considering the small bore. You can't go wrong with a Partition.

A few years ago I was elk hunting here, jumped a nice raghorn 4x4 bull out of his bed at 35 yards, only had the orange rump patch as a target, as he was ready to launch into black timber in one jump. I was shooting my pre-'64 M70 chambered in .338-06 Ackley with a 210gr Partition up the spout. The bullet broke the large hip joint, travelled all the way through the bull, broke the opposite shoulder, and EXITED! It penetrated just over 5' of elk....I don't know how much more you could ask of a bullet. Good stuff for sure.

Here he is right after piling up against a deadfall:

[Va varminter]

Nice animal. I wish we had those things here in Virginia. The partition has been bustin' bone for a long time. I was thinking about the partition before I posted. I just wanted to get some feedback on some of the newer stuff, in particular the TSX. Thanks Rick.

[Guy M]

If you want to use the TSX - go for it! Expensive, but a very good bullet. I've taken two mulie bucks with the 100 gr TSX loaded to 3340 fps from my .25-06 Rem 700. As Rick said, complete penetration. Other bullets are likely to open up faster, but the TSX will go right through bone and drill right out the far side of the deer. No tracking on either of the mulie bucks I shot with the TSX, they both went down hard. From the penetration & performance, I'd feel confident with that bullet on larger, heavier game. Wish I could show you a photo of a recovered bullet but both of those bullets from the mulies are out there in the hills somewhere!



My load is: Win brass, Federal 210 match primers, 53 gr H4350 and of course the 100 gr TSX. It shoots sub MOA at 300 yards, which is what I was after. Had to seat the bullets fairly deep in the case for good performance, but that worked out just fine. Please use caution in working up to that load, it is safe in my rifle, but might not be in others. I use the more fragile, but very accurate 100 gr Sierra SPBT Gameking for coyotes & rockchucks.

That said - just for the heck of it I'm dinking around with some different loads for that rifle - and will likely be hunting with something else in it this season.

Regards, Guy

[Va varminter]

How do the 100grn. sierras do on deer? I know they are not as tough as the TSX, but do they work? I shoot the 160grns in my 7STW. At that weight they work quite well. By the way, shots could range from 30yds to 300.

[Super 91]

I havn't shot my .25-06 in a while, years really, but I just got it back from Christensen Arms with a new Shilen carbon fiber wrapped barrel, so I probably will be getting it out to do a little range work soon.

My favorite factory load was the Winchester 90 or 120 grain PEP (positive expanding point) and I killed a boatload of deer with the 90 grainers and had two holes in all but one deer, and it was a quartering away shot and I got ribs going in and the bullet exploded as it entered the boiler room. It was also the only deer that did not drop right there, but it only ran 75 yards and had a blood trail a blind man could follow.

I reloaded with the ballistic tips and like you, they did not perform well on deer at all. I didn't like the bullets one bit.

I plan on going the Barnes just because I feel it would be much like the PEP by Winchester. But the Core Loks should be great bullets as well.

[glenn asher]

I've got some 100 gr. Sierra ProHunters loaded up, if I can get a deer to cooperate next fall, I'll let you know how they do I expect them to work as well as the CoreLokts, since there's not a lot of construction differences. Let's be honest about it, deer are pretty easy to kill, and there's not much difference between "this 'n' that" cartridge, just put the bullet in the right place, and watch 'em drop.

[Buckfever]

You could try the 115 gr bt they sould hold together a little better than the 100 gr bt.

[YoteSmoker]

I would try the 110 nosler accubond or 115 partition and use whichever is most accurate for all game that should be hunted with a 25 caliber rifle.

[Guy M]

Despite the fact that I've had very good results with the 100 gr Barnes TSX... I decided to try the Berger 115 gr VLD. At this point I've only shot targets - and it's proving quite accurate - which I expected from such a high quality bullet. Am up just over 3200 fps with what appears to be a less than maximum load of Retumbo. So far, so good. Hopefully I'll have another mulie report in the fall, with the Berger instead of the Barnes.

Regards, Guy