What's best 25-06 deer bullet ?

[jr 1968]

HI GUY'S
New to the forum , hope I am in the right section. Here is my question I just got a new 25-06 barrel for my encore rifle and was wondering what is the best Whitetail bullet in 25-06 and aiso what would be a good load ?

Thanks Guy's

jr 1968

[Kurt L]

WELCOME.
Many people have a favorite bullet etc and that you need 100 gr bullets etc
and I will get slammed for this probably but I don't shoot heavy bullets.

I like the 85-87 gr bullets for 257 roberts. I use the 70gr tnt in the 243 win and 110gr hp in the 270 win.
.It is like tossing in a hand grenade. they don't go far.
some talk about energy,retained energy,etc.
this is my opinion , I shoot the 85-87 gr bullets from different makers Remington was the ones I used the most
but I am out of them and I need to work up some replacements i think the Nosler ballistic tip is what i will try.
Anyway i have shot a number of deer with these and the bullet stops in the deer and blows up,yes lungs are gone.and most don't eat the ribs etc anyway.
so all the bullets energy was stopped in that deer now if say a 100 gr bullet passes through the deer how much energy was used in the in the deer. so my point is the deer took everything that the bullet and my 257 roberts had to give. none was wasted by passing through the deer.
Like I said this is my opinion and has worked well for me.
I don't have a 25-06 a 257 roberts is the gun I am speaking of so load data is out .

[sweetwyominghome]

In the 25-06, it's the 115-120 grain bullets that separate it from the 6mms and afford it much more authority on the business end.

For deer? The good ol' Sierra 117 grain Pro Hunter, a flat-based spitzer, is one of my favorites for the cartridge and will give you around 3000 fps from a 24-26" barrel when driven by 50 grains of Re-22. That load has proven to be extremely accurate in a number of 25-06 rifles.

If you want a sleek, flat-flying bullet, the 115 grain Ballistic Tip is a top prospect, but don't overlook the game-taking capability of the time-proven Partition, either.

[Davemuzz]

I don't shoot the 25-06. But one of my friends does from a Ruger #1 and takes a nice buck every year with it. This past year was no exception. He took a bruser of a buck. A 12 point 230 lb with a 90 or 95 grain Nosler BT. One shot, 90 yard run and that was it. Lung shot.

Dave

[SHOOTALL]

we use 100 gr. Nosler ballistic tip and have had none need more than one shot !

[sweetwyominghome]

Davemuzz-

Nosler does make not make a 90 or 95 grainer in .25 caliber. Those are 6mm offerings. I am guessing you are thinking of the 85 grain version.

SHOOTALL-I realy like the 100 grain BT as well and have used it quite a bit in both the .250 Savage (rifle and pistol) and a 14" .257 JDJ. At longer ranges, the 25-06  does phenomenally well with the 100 grain BT, but up close (inside 100 yards), it's just a tad fragile. But in the 25-06 at 3300 fps, it makes a heck of a nice pronghorn round for those 250-350 yard shots so commonly encountered on the prairies.

[SHOOTALL]

we have shot deer at almost point blank out to say 200 and have experienced no problems yet , I say we because about 5 in the club use it . I have heard what you say before and wonder if by chance a bad run got out that i didn't get any of or maybe we have just been lucky ! we are at the 3300 mark so it sounds we use the same load , i load 4831 with br primers .

[Grumulkin]

For my Encore 25/06, I've found 115 grain Berger VLDs over RL-22 to be very accurate.

[flinthead]

115 grain Nosler Partition.

[SHOOTALL]

flinthead , do ya get good groups ? we get 1/2 in groups with the BT , we tried the part. and groups opened up !

[nodlenor]

I've used 120gr partitions on deer and they worked well for me . I can't tell you how well they group but if I remember correctly they were around 1 inch, maybe a little over. I worry more about the first shot than I do the group. I'm not knocking shooting for groups (I like to do that too) it's just that I want that first shot to hit where I aim.

[thelaw]

here is what my encore .25/06 likes:

110 nosler accubond with H4350. i get 3200fps.
120 hornady hollowpoint with H4831sc. i get 3050fps.

both are awesome on antelope, whitetail and mule deer. i've never recovered one of either bullet types. been shooting both bullets in my ruger m77 as well. i shoot almost identical loads in both rifles. 115 ballistic tip is okay too, in my opinion, as long as its not meeting a shoulder at close range.

[Bill In SC]

117 Grain Sierra with 49.5 grains of RL22..

Put two bucks and one doe in the freezer this fall.  Bang...  Flop....

This was out of a Encore 26"HB   Avg was 2950

[sweetwyominghome]

Bill-I get virtually the same performance at 50 grains along with similar accuracy. The Re-22/Sierra 117 combo seems to work well in just about any 25-06 it's tried in.

SHOOTALL- The partition can be extremely accurate as well. My fireforming loads in a 6.5 Bullberry Imp. have yet to print anything over a half-inch, and that's using Nosler 2nds. I am shooting the 125 grain Partition ahead of 39 grains N160 in an MGM barrel . I got the bullets during a sale a while back and paid 9.95 per bag of 50 -- LESS than virtually any cup-and-core offering.

[kudzu]

I'm not particularly fond of the BT's for WT.
My TC pro hunter in 25-06 really liked the hot cores and the fed fusion even better with under 1.5'' groups at 300 yrds. Did not get to take an animal this year with the fusion in 25-06 but did so from my 280. Very impressed by this bullet. Hopefully fed will offer it to reloaders. However I'm getting under 1.5''groups at 300 yrds. with the fac loads in both so I most likely won't be loading for them.

[mossyoakman]

What grain in the fed fusion do you shoot?

[kudzu]

120 in 25-06 and 140 in 280

[eclipse71]

110gr Accubond