Gents
If a fella were to use a 25-06 on a cow elk hunt and loaded 120gr Grand slams, 100gr TSX, or 110gr Accubond. Does 10 grains one way or the other make any real difference upon impact?

Now if you fellas give me too hard of a time I'll be forced to use my 7x57. FS

I would be fine with any of the 3 bullets you list for a cow elk hunt. I would shoot the one that your gun likes best and practice until I feel confident at the ranges you will be shooting while hunting. You will have to anwer your own question by shooting the different bullets in your gun. Research man.

Making the simple assumption of proper placement the short answer is no. From the broadside outer hairs to the far side of the chest cavity is how many inches?

Myself I would follow the African model of heavy for caliber bullets. 110, 115 or 120 of premium persuasion only.

I would take a 7x57 over the 25-06 and never look back.

If I had to use my 25-06 I would look to the 115-120 Part or one of the 115gr Barnes.

The 110s would probably work but I want a good bullet and lean to the heavy side.

Considering that it a cow elk (meat) hunt you probably will only shoot if you have a perfect shot just behind the shoulder on a broadside elk. Under those conditions almost any bullet weighing 100 grains or over and designed for larger game will work very well. I have seen several cows killed by 100 grain cup and core Remington bullets out of a .25-06 or a .257 Roberts.

Chances are that you'll have to follow the mortally wounded animal further if you use the marginally-expanding TSX, but any of the bullets placed into the forward thorax will reliably kill an elk of any sex or age.

No problem !! Roy Atkinson, his Pappy and his Grand Pa have killed many Elk with a 25-35.You ,than, can down load that 25-06 use an 87 grain cup and core and have at it. Duck soup. roger

You won't be able to tell the difference between a 7x57 & a .25-06 but I'd stick to heavier bullets as I've not shot enough stuff with the 100gr.
I have used 120gr Hornadys, and 117gr Barnes, 120gr Nosler partitions quite a bit. You'd be hard pressed to tell the difference in performance between it and a .270W with 130's and many think J.O. is next to God.

The .257 Roberts works too.

My choice of bullets would be the 257dia 120gr Swift A-Frame. It proved itself in Africa on Kudu,Red Hartebeest,Zebra and others in a 257Roberts for my daughter.

Divern

I'm not sure that I have ever seen a Swift bullets for sale in Canada?
Did try the 100 gr TSx, nothing special group wise.
110 Accubonds, 1 nice group with 53.5gr of reloder 22.
120gr Speer Grandslam bullet 2 two inch groups again with reloder 22.
My next test is with 100gr Sierra gameking and some tweeking of the accubond load.
If these are poor I will try some reloder 19 and some IMR 4350. FS

quote:

many think J.O. is next to God.

While not at the Father's right hand, surely he deigns at Jesus' feet!

friar

I ran by this and have just a couple of observations.

First, as for the choice of bullet while any of the three listed should do the job just fine, I would lean toward the heavier bullet. I am of the heavier for caliber school. I think they retain weight better and if bone is hit might do a better job of breaking the animal down for a finisher if necessary.

Second, how or why do people always feel it necessary to throw another caliber/cartridge into the mix? If the question being asked concerns a particular caliber/cartridge, why throw out something that actually has no bearing on the question. The OP may not own anything but a .25-06.

Stating that a 7x57/.300 Weatherby/.416 Rigby would be better choices, has absolutely nothing what so ever to do with opinions concerning bullet weight choices for a .25-06.

The 100TSX will probably out penetrate them all. I have shot a couple of big Missouri bucks semi going away on running shots, one was hit in the left hip, raked clear down one side, busted ribs, stopped somewhere in the neck, dropped him on the spot at about 275 yds. This was in a .257 Weatherby at 3600 fps, so it should work out quite well on elk, but I'm pretty much that anything works if the shooter is capable.

Fasteel- I like RL22 in my .25-06 and get better groups than you seem to be on too. Don't have experience with the Accubonds yet but I'd deffinately try the Hornady 120gr HP Interlock or Nosler Partitions. I think the Hornady's work far better than most realize, and they group well.
I don't recall ever hearing anyone talk of great groups with the Grand Slams. IMR4350 is a good bet, I have done well with H4831(and the short cut version lately)with 120's, maybe try a different primer as well.

Nate
Thanks, I have some 117 and 120 Hornady bullets I can try with reloder 22. FS

Personally I would not give the bullet another thought. They will all work.I would make a 3 part plan
1.I would spend lots of time studying elk anatomy.
2. I would decide on exactly what kind of shot presentation I was willing to take, knowing exactly where I would want the bullet to impact and the path that I want it to take.
3, I would shoot as much as possible at a 6" target standing kneeling sitting and off of improvised rests. That will tell you at what ranges you can hit with in 3" of your point of aim in real life . Make a decision that you will not take a shot at any distance longer than the distance that you can hit that 6" circle 9 out of 10 shots under hunting conditions and positions.

The only recommendation about equipment I would give is to get an adjustable shooting sticks and practice getting into shooting position with them. a good shooting rest can add 50% or better to the range that you can make precision shot placement.

HAVE FUN ON YOUR HUNT. !

els

Never leave home or shoot at an animal with out my shooting sticks.
Sure all bullets work, but not very well if you can't get a good group at 100 yards to begin with. FS

quote:

Originally posted by Fasteel:
Gents
If a fella were to use a 25-06 on a cow elk hunt and loaded 120gr Grand slams, 100gr TSX, or 110gr Accubond. Does 10 grains one way or the other make any real difference upon impact?

Now if you fellas give me too hard of a time I'll be forced to use my 7x57. FS

Yes, the 100gr bullet will hit with less force than the 120gr bullet, if your question is if the animal would notice the difference, most likely not. It would most likely die from all 3 bullet weights.
I hunt with a 25-06 and I use the 110gr Accubond a lot, it kills just as good as heavier 115gr and 120gr bullets but has higher velocity and better BC. It's my 'go-to' bullet in both my 25-06 and 257AI.

Cheers.

LOL! I just realized the picture in my avitar is my .25-06 and the results of a 117gr Hornady.

quote:

Originally posted by BigNate:
Fasteel- I like RL22 in my .25-06 and get better groups than you seem to be on too. Don't have experience with the Accubonds yet but I'd deffinately try the Hornady 120gr HP Interlock or Nosler Partitions. I think the Hornady's work far better than most realize, and they group well.
I don't recall ever hearing anyone talk of great groups with the Grand Slams. IMR4350 is a good bet, I have done well with H4831(and the short cut version lately)with 120's, maybe try a different primer as well.

BN
I'm just getting started with load development and I have some 4831 and 4350 to load with, and all manner of 25cal bullets. Might give those 90gr Sierras a try, fast is good on a windy prairie. FS

Just throwing my 2 cents in.
I've been shooting a .257 Roberts for the last 6 years or so and found an extremely accurate load for mine using Sierra 117 grain bullets and IMR-4350, in my lightweight rifle these group at and under .5" all the time. The last 2 large Mule Deer bucks I've shot had complete pass throughs and instant kills, one Buck was 325 yards, shot entered right side of chest (nearly facing me) and exited at the last rib on the opposite side of the body. Other buck was 200 yards, bullet entered a couple ribs behind his foreleg and exited mid neck while he was trying to sneak away. Both of these shots exhibited 24" plus of penetration and exited the animal.
I would use this bullet any time on an elk without hesitation.

Hey I'm loving to hear anyones 2 cents worth, as it happens I am also testing out some new loads with my 257 Ackley.
Another fella suggested I give the 120gr HP a try and I'm sure glad I did with 49gr of IMR 4350 in my 25-06 I got 2 real nice groups, not one holers but easily minute of death.
I do have some 117gr Sierra bullets that I can test and plenty O imr 4350. The bullet I have been working with right now is the 110 Accubond with Re 22 powder.
Thanks Snell. FS

Well lads'
It seems I'm getting nicer groups with 4831 than I am with Re 22 in the 100 and 110gr bullets.. With the 120 hornady's I am getting nice groups with 46gr and 49.5gr of IMR4350 with the 120gr Hornady.

Choices are always a nice option, pick one and go kill your cow!
Good luck this year.

My .257 AI has been my favorite rifle for deer size animals for the past 30+ years. For most of those years I was shooting 117 gr GameKing bullets. Besides a mule or whitetail buck and at least one pronghorn antelope for each of those years, that bullet/rifle accounted for one shot kills on 4 Montana bighorn rams, a Dall ram, a mountain caribou, and one of the largest 6x6 bull elk that I have ever shot.

I have also had good results with 120 gr Hornady HP bullets and 115 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets in that rifle.

I have never shot Grand Slam bullets, but I've never heard anything bad about them. I have had very good results with TSX and TTSX bullets in my .30 and .375 caliber rifles. I would think that a 100 gr TSX bullet would give just as good or better penetration as a 115/117/120 gr bullet. I have also had good results with Accubond bullets in my 7mm Rem mag.

Of the 3 bullets the OP listed, I would choose the one that was the most accurate in my rifle, then hunt close enough to put that bullet into a cow's lungs, and you will have a freezer full of great elk meat.

I would use a 117 or 120 gr. super premium bullet on elk such as the Nosler partition,Speer Grand Slam or Barnes X and I suspect the 110 gr. Accubond would be OK.. Any one of the bonded core bullets that offer deep penetration and I would stay with heavy for caliber bullets in any caliber for penetration as you might have to take and angle shot..Let common since be your guide, a 120 gr. bullet at 3000 FPS is better any day than a 100 gr. bullet at the same velocity, at least on the larger species of deer. Even on cow elk, but especially on big bulls. The 25-06 is up for the job but using the right bullet is essential, more so that on bigger bores.

Thanks Ray.
I have until Nov 24th to make up my mind on caliber I shall use.
Now about these super premium bullets, what kind of super premium bullet were you folks using in your 250's and 25/35's back in the day when you were riding in and riding out? FS

I have been going through the 25 cal thing for a while now.
[and I don't know why I have a 7 icl with the 40* shoulder which will run right there with the 25-06]
my 257 Roberts shoots the hornady 120 pretty well as does my ruger 25-06 both like rl-19.
my mauser actioned custom doesn't like the 120's at all but does shoot the speer 100 gr boat tail controlled expansion just fine.
the bullet has completely penetrated 4 deer now which is something the 120gr hornady hollow point wouldn't do in the 257 at near 2800 fps.
it however does not like bones so much and would probably be a better choice in the bob actually.
all this rambling to relay where this next bit comes from.
if you can put the nosler/barnes whatever, on an animals vitals within the expected hunting distances go with it.
and just go ahead and shoot the rifle in different field conditions.

Faststeel,
That was a long time ago, very few folks reloaded and it was mostly frowned upon as a dangerous policy...

I used both Win. flat nose soft points and Peters RN soft points at about 2150 FPS if that, bullets held together in the 25-35 and actually penetrated quite well...

In the 250-3000 I liked the 100 gr.Rem Corelokts and 117 gr. Peters which was a Rem Corelokt with a different name and the Corelokts worked well at those 2500 FPS days, They worked well on elk..I always used 100 gr. Silvertips on deer and still do on ocassion. I pretty much went for broadside shots only or at least with very little angle.

With the advent of handloading and a cornocopia of great bullets and much faster velocities, the whole picture as changed except for one thing, that is you still have to place the bullet correctly.

We did back then have to deal with a lot of failures with the coming of the high velocity calibers like the .270, 30-06 and later the Weatherbys..I recall blowing up the WW Open Point Expanding bullets and the Bronze Points. The Sierras were bad about blowing up on contact. Most, however killed the animal, at least on broadside shots, and bullets that blew up (failed) killed quickly in most cases.. Most bullets were not up to the job of great penetration, except for the Remington corelokt, its was good then and its still good today..It was always far ahead of its time, I can say the same for the later Winchester Power point.

Today, all those "woes is me's" are fixed, all the bullet companies offer exceptional bullets and any of them are suitable for deer size game, and the premiums like Nosler, accubond, Interlocks, any bonded bullet are suitable for elk and moose as far as my experience has been.

Like I said, back then, all we had was what the big companies sold in the local Hardware stores. Most of us were just hunters, not gun nuts, mostly used irons, most shot well and most were always successful with whatever they had..To my family a gun was a tool and still is and most of them still shoot factory ammo and don't much care what make, weight of bullet and they don't know what velocity means, and they are still successful every year because they are all good shots, they all grew up culling coyotes, Javalinas, Bobcats and most always had a small flat rifle in a saddle scabbard on the horse or in the floorboard of the pickup.