Well, this is my very first post here and I will probably get chewed on after people read it, but what the heck?
I shoot the 25-06 a lot and actually have had the best luck with the 85 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip when using IMR 4831. However, Rl 19 or IMR 4350 should work plenty good enough.
However, I would suggest you consider a different bullet all together! When first introduced the 85 grain BT was a great bullet. Heck, my dad shot coyotes, deer, antelope, and wild hogs with them with great success. They performed more like hunting bullets.
A few years back Nosler decided to make them more of a "varmint" bullet and redesigned them. They are now great for ground squirrels, prairie dogs, and other small varmints. What they will do to a marmot has to be seen to be believed!
But as a coyote bullet they are a total flop. I have seen more than a few total bullet failures on coyotes with this bullet in the 25-06 and 257 Weatherby.
Do not get me wrong, I shoot a LOT of Nosler varmint bullets. But I can assure you that a 40 grain Ballistic Tip from a 22-250 will penetrate and kill a coyote better than that darned 85 grain BT.
In one morning I shot two different coyotes that were feeding on calf carcasses. They were both about 200 yards out and did not know I was around. Both were shot on the shoulder and received only superficial surface wounds. They were in bad shape, to be sure, but had to be shot again. Both had huge surface wounds from the first shot but those bullets did not make it into the vitals.
My dad and his buddy were going to Alaska wolf hunting and both were taking .257 Weatherby rifles. For practice they shot a LOT of coyotes before going. They both swore off those 85 grain Ballistic Tips, lots of wounded dogs that had to be shot again.
I personally have gone to the 75 grain Hornady V-Max and have had much better luck on coyotes with it. That bullet puts them on the ground for keeps!
I have also had good luck with the 100 grain Sierra spitzer but prefer to shoot the 75 grain Hornady when shooting around livestock, etc. just to avoid bullets hitting unwanted targets.
Try the 85 grain BT if you want, but I think you will be very disappointed if you shoot anything much bigger than a jack rabbit.
And lest you think I am just talking here, we shoot a lot of coyotes. California has a real coyote problem, my dad and I shoot upwards of 200 some years between the two of us.
R F
