bullets for 25-06

[splitshot]

hope to hunt deer with a 25-06 in the fall of 2011 with a new gun and have no ammo. what size bullet should i use?   what kind of bullet should i use?  what brand of bullet should i use?  hopefully i will be shooting huge deer.  thanks,  mike w

[280ackley]

115gr Barnes TSX will treat you fine.

[hoyt2002]

I've had good luck with accubonds. 120gr would be good for deer.

[carpsniperg2]

accubonds 120 would be my pick.

[Bob33]

100 grain Barnes TTSX, 100 grain Barnes TSX, 115 grain Barnes TSX, 110 grain Nosler Accubond, and 115 grain Nosler Partition.  Those would be my top choices, and in that order.

[fremont]

Before you look at loads and bullets, you might want to take a look at your (prospective?) gun's twist rate.  Some might like the 100 grain range more than the longer 115/120's.  Guys building 25-06 or 25-284 rifles (fairly close ballistic cousins) spend quite a bit of time considering the twist rate.

[carpsniperg2]

Nosler combined technology bullets, is what I have been shooting. But would trust the nosler accubond more then them or the partition.
The partition is my all time fave bullet. All my guns shoot them very well, and great weight retention!

[fair-chase]

Splitshot, I think you need to be more specific about what your goals are for the rifle and what the rifle is. I got that you want to take a deer with it but if you are going to keep your shots under 300 yards and only on deer then 90% of the off the shelf ammo would be acceptable. If you want to go above and beyond that some more info would be helpfull.


What distances do you plan on shooting?
What kind of optics do you have for it?
What is the make and model?
What is the barrel length and twist rate?
Are you shooting from a bipod trying to get to 500+ yards or are you off handing 100 yard shots?
Is reloading an option or strictly off the shelf ammo?


The more specifics you can give the better. Chances are someone on here already worked up a load for a rifle similar to yours and would be a better starting point. Oh, and congrats on joining the 25-06 club. Good choice on the caliber it should serve you well for a deer rifle.

[splitshot]

i will be shooting a t-3 tikka .  i do not know anything about twist, but are all tikkas rifles the same or do you order a certain ?  mike w

[splitshot]

oops,  the glass is a vx-3   3.5-10,  boone and crockett.  actually i got the glass before the rifle.  mike w

[fair-chase]

Looks like the twist rate is the same for all models and will be 1 in 10" here's their spec sheet for the different models. Depending on what model you get will give you a different barrel length.


http://www.tikka.fi/pdf/datatable.pdf

[sakoshooter]

100gr Swift Scirroco. They shoot like match grade bullets have a sturdy jacket w/bonded core for high weight retention.

[timber tiger]

the knock down power of Berger bullets has always kept me well fed

[longrange7mm]

HSM has them loaded with the 115 gr berger VLD I hand load to there spec. and my 25 shoots them really good.

[blacktailcrzy]

Winchester all the way

[270Shooter]

Any tipped bonded bullet with a boattail in the 100-120 gr range will do you good. Accubonds, sciroccos, interbonds.

[tjgerm]

I've had really good luck with federal 100 barnes tsx

[finnman]

My wife and I combined for 3 dead deer with my .25-06 shooting Nosler 100 gr Partitions. Factory loads are 3300 fps at the muzzle. I also love the Scirroco and A-frame bullets by Swift.
Whatever you do, do not shoot Cor-lokts....

[JLS]

I would think a Barnes TSX in the 100 grain version would be VERY hard to beat.  I use the 85's in my .243 an love them.  I've killed cow elk with this setup.  These bullets provide excellent penetration, very little bloodshot, and minimal fragmenting.  I have found them to be very accurate too, use them in all of my rifles.

[Ray]

Do they make the TSX in 100 grains for .257? Last time I looked I could only find them at 115 grains. They flew real good.

[JLS]

They still show them on their website.  Conventional wisdom on the Barnes has always been that you can go down in weight because 1) the bullets are less dense and therefore longer and 2) they retain almost 100% of their original weight.

I use 185s in my 338-06 and 150s in my 30-06.

[tjgerm]

More on the barnes 100 gr tsx. I've shot this bullet for the past few years and for me there are both pros and cons. The pros are very very accurate, very little blood shot. And I have shot 2 deer and 1 black bear with them and none of the animals went more than 30 ft. Not one of these animals were even shot in the vitals 2 neck and one entry left flank exit right hind quarter. Let me add that the hind quarter exit shot had almost no bloodshot. The deer and bear I shot in the neck had no exit holes the bullet hit the spine and stopped. The exit hole on the hind quarter exit was very small but the bullet didn't hit any bones on the pass thru. The only real con with this bullet is you have to make your shot count the blood trail produced is very minimal. But this is only from my experience. I've missed a couple more animals as well but I believe that was my fault and not the bullet. I haven't shot it at long ranges either 300 yd max for me but a performer out to that range. I'd like to have a longer opportunity maybe someday.

[demontang]

The best thing is that your asking questions and trying to learn. the accubonds have never failed me yet even after some nasty bone contact they kept together. I have shot a few brands but my rifles like the accubonds over the others but its not that any of the other bullets didnt group or perform I just put my trust in noslers.