I read the other post on this but it did not cover what I am lloking to find out. I have been tossing around two bullets 100 grn nolser BT and a 100 grn Barnes(??) I have used the BT in 7 mm before with great results. I contacted Nolser they told me that the 100 are a heavier jacket unlike the varmint type. I have a load that is driving at 3440 with a 100 grn MK now. I am new to reloading to the 25-06. I do mostly 30 cals. I am looking for good stopping power and penetration.

I used the 100 bt on a deer that would have been close to 250lbs went 30 yrds at most. The bullet destroyed the lungs and heart and the base of the bullet was under the hide on the opposite side. I waited for the broad side shot and would not have taken the shot unless I had that shot. I was shooting a 25/06 with a full load of rl22. If your hunting situation will not allow you to be very choosy on your shot I would go with a 100gr or 120 partition. I plan on trying the 115 bt this year myself.

I used 95gr BT's in my 243AI last year and had great results on 2 deer and an antelope.

The largest deer, a decent sized buck was shot through the shoulder and the bullet exited the opposite side shoulder so I would not worry about penetration on deer with BT's (The Big Game version).

I hope to use the 100gr BT in mt 257DGR this year in ND and WI if I can find a load that will shoot accurately. If the BT's don't shoot I'm going to use 100gr Sierra GameKings or 85gr Nosler BT's

Good Hunting
Jeff in ND

Thanks guys. I have some 90 MK loaded now, but was looking for a heavier bullet. I have not ever used a barnes bullet. From what I have seen they work well...the draw back from what I have been told is that they dont group well. I was not going to use the 90 mk due to them being a target bullet and was sure if they would expand or just go through. I have shot ground hogs with them and had both happed. So again thatnks for the info.

I have a 25/06Imp. and it just so happens I went to the range on Mon. to work up a load with the 100 Barnes.I got great groups with H4831sc and the same point of impact as my 100 balistic tip load. Both bullets were shooting .5 moa or less. I have shot deer and pigs with the 100bt with great results. My only experiance with Barnes was last year I shot an elk at 100yrds with a 225g 338xlc, complete pass through. He ran about 30 yards and fell over from a lung shot. Great performance! I will say that most of my animals have been shot with balistic tips in various calibers and they almost always hit the ground right now!I have never had a bad experiance with them. I will keep my fingers crossed.

Wondering how big the whitetails. Awfully penetrating (expensive too) bullets for such thin-skinned game. Had a 25-06 in the 70�s that took probably 40 Texas whitetail and used nothing but Serria 100 gr., never needing more than one shot. Granted, these deer aren�t 400 pound Yankee deer but don�t understand the need for bone crushing type bullets. One of the deer I shot was at 350 long paces and one bullet took out 5 inches of spine. The Sierra�s are usually more accurate than the Nos and certainly more than the Barnes.
2 pennies worth.
Brooks

It didn't show up here but alot of people have posted exellent accuracy and terminal performance from the 117 gr hornady boat tail. I've never used them on an animal but both my 257 wby and 25-06 shoot them really accurate.

i have killed over 20 with the 100 nosler balistic tip with enough 4831 to get 3400 fps,from 15 to a lazered 440 yards.never lost one.

I agree with the 100 grain Nosler Ballistic tip and IMR4831 in the 25-06. This is a great deer load.

It once helped some of my fellow Kentuckians bag a buck they had wounded. One of them was shooting a scope sighted 444 Marlin with see-through scope mounts ...he shot one of the buck's 10 points off and grazed its ham as it fled. His buddy also opened up with an iron sighted 44 RM carbine and succeeded in gut shooting the deer at some point along the way.

Four hours and two miles later they came into the field where a buddy and I were hunting, claiming to have tracked it to the brush adjoining. We offered to help. We came to a point where they lost the trail, and fanned out around it in different directions. I bumped the buck out of some weeds within 50 yards of taking to spooring. I yelled "There he goes!" My fellow yayhoos came running with guns blazing. There were 44 and 444 bullets flying all around the deer as he ran off.

He was slowing from his gut shot, and soon paused about 150 yards out in the reclaimed strip mine prarie. I asked: "Shall I shoot?" They implored "Yes!"

My 25-06 Remington ADL stainless synthetic with Leupold 2X-7X found the deers chest instantly and there was a satisfying "WUMP" as the bullet smacked home. The deer was put out of his misery and I was a hero for giving them their deer. Nice exit wound through the heart-lung area of a 250 pound buck.

One of my fellows chimed in "I think I will trade this 444 in on a 25-06."

That was the Nosler 100 grain Ballistic tip. I have gotten 1/2 MOA with it many times.

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Good huntin', shootin', and spear chuckin',
RAB

with that said the BT seems to be the bullet of choice. But I hread here and there " I waited for a broadside shot" would any one pick the barnes instead?? Sorry I dont wait for a broadside shot. I do with a bow not a gun. I have shot through several shoudlers with a 150 grn BT out of a 7 mag. But nothing this light. Thanks

Well I bought some nosler and loded them I started at .05 off the lands and mover back till I got to .30 They just started to give me the the best groups. I had some factory remington soft point 100 grn ammo. That are way shorter thatn my reloads. they shot inside of .5 3 shot. SO I think I will end up trying at .40 off the lands and move back to see how they shoot. Group started at 1 .75 then down to 1.00 at .30. Seems like my rifle likes them seated WAAAAAYYYY back.

This is my first experiance with a 25 cal and nolser for that fact. Is this normal for the BT to be seated far back to get good groups?? It seems like the rifle will shoot well enough with the 100 grns if I can get factory at 1/2 inch at a 100.

I shoot the Speer 100gr. flat base bullet.
Use good old IMR 4831. Doesn't ruin any meat like a bal. tip. Works for me and has for 25 plus years.

http://stevespages.com/page8.htm and go to table 1 for loading info, and table 3 for sample target.

Ballistic Tips are always getting a bad rap from hunters who have "horror stories" about them "blowing up" on the "tough shoulders" of whitetails. I don't buy it.

1. Whitetail shoulders aren't very tough (you can cut them off with a pocket knife since they're mostly thin cartiledge).

2. More whitetails are lost from poor expansion than from over-expansion.

3. I've tested a half-dozen ballistic tips for penetration and expansion in dry paper medium (shooting into phone books) against other bullets of similar weight and caliber, including Nosler partitions. Ballistic Tips, apparently due to their solid base constuction, always out-penetrate standard conventional bullets like Sierras and Speers, and come within a fraction of the penetration of Partitions. There is a difference between animal tissue and dry paper, of course, but dry paper is much tougher to penetrate. True, you won't find much left of the Ballistic Tip by the time it stops except for the jacket attached to the solid base and a little bit of crumbly lead inside the jacket cavity. But the "wound channel" is impressive, and as I said, deeper than most conventional bullets.

A lot is said about shot placement, which is important. But consider for a minute that most poor shot placement is too far back toward the abdominal cavity. In this all-too-typical case, the fast-expanding Ballistic Tip will bring down your deer much quicker than one of those "punch-all-the-way-through-and-drill-a-tree-behind-it" type bullets. In other words, not only will a ballistic tip punch through a deer's shoulder into the vitals, it will be more forgiving of a gut shot.

I assume we are talking about Michigan whitetails -(big deer). I would stick with the 115 & 120 grainers. If you can get the Barnses or Nosler Partitions to shoot in your rifle that is how I would go.

Sure, the lighter bullets will work and so will the ballistic tips. But why settle for less when it is so easy to have more.

Sir:

Long past the date but none the less, I have been shooting a 25/06 Rem. 700 since 1971, here in N Dak the range can be from up close to the edge of clear vision. I use 120 Nosler or Serria with all the H4831 I can get away with. The round is somewhat akin to AT & T allows one to reach out and touch something.

steve i have shot them from every angle there is without any failures.you may lose a ltttle meat wih them but you will not lose the animal.

I have not used the 25-06 on game, but I have done a fair amount of shooting with one in the past two years, trying to find a load that would give good accuracy in this particular rifle, a Tikka. The most accurate load I found for this rifle was the 120 gr. Sierra hollow point boat tail, with a full charge of H4831 powder and a CCI200 primer in Remington brass. The 100 gr. Nosler ballistic tip also gave good accuracy with a full charge of IMR 4831 powder. This particular 25-06 rifle seems to give best results with heavier bullets and with max or near max charges of IMR or H 4831 powder.

I have hunted with the 25-06 for about 10 years and have excellent success with the 100 grain Nosler Partition behind a max load of IMR-4831. I have yet to loose a deer that I have hit with one of these rounds, in fact, the results are often spectacular! I have crony'ed this load at an average of 3300 fps and if shoots very flat. Unlike others on this board, I don't trust the Nosler BT at 25-06 velocities thanks to several close range failures (blow-ups) in the past.

I just want to say thank you to all that have read and post there comments. I read more post than I repley tomostly because I have only 4-5 solid years or reloading. But this board has some super guys that give some great advice. I am working up the loads for my 25 with the BT but am having some trouble still. groups are ok but not as good as factory??? groups are under 1.0 5 shot at 100 but I have seen this gun shoot in the .4s. Work work work.

Reloading something to love and hate all at once.

Steve,
I had trouble getting my 25-06 to group well (sub MOA) with the 100 grain BT's out of my Rem. 700. I tried the 115 grain BT's and was well pleased. I have taken apx. 25 deer with this rifle from 40 yd.s out to 470 yd.s with complete penetration. I have taken shoulder, neck and chest shots from broadside and quartering away. Have yet to recover a bullet or loose a deer.
I am loading these a little hot using .5 grains more than the recommended amount of IMR 4350 or IMR 4831 with no signs of excessive pressure.
Great whitetail load!
Robert

I use the 115gr BT in both a 257wby and 257AI. I dont wait for that picture perfect broadside shot and have neve had a deer or antelope take maor than three steps.

My Weatherby mark V 25-06 SS barrel does all you can ask with the 115gr. bullet. The 25-06 is probably the perfect deer, antelope, and caribou cartridge at all practical hunting ranges.
My gun closet has the 222, 25-06, 308, 30-06, 300 mag. In my view the only reason to own any other chamberings is just because you want to experiment with that particular round. The five rounds listed above will handle any and all North American game animals under any and all hunting venues or conditions.

Steve,
I've been using the 100 grain Ballistic Tip in my .25-06 for over 10 years and have shot over 100 whitetails and a few big muleys.
Although I try to shoot for the top of the heart/lung area, I've hit some in the neck or shoulder. Have yet to recover a bullet or have a deer run more than 30 yards. Ranges have been from 20 to over 450 yards.

Like an old boy told me years ago, "kills like chain lightnin'".

Oh, and I use 56 grains IMR4831. Never chrono'd. Shoots itty bitty groups in my 700 Classic.

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Say what you mean, and mean what you say.

[This message has been edited by Ol' Sarge (edited 11-13-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Ol' Sarge (edited 11-13-2001).]