Im waiting new barrel for my rifle and caliber will be .25-284. Now i have problem with bullets. Rifle will build by idea take out of maximum accuracy for long range hunting. Game what i will hunting with it will be from roedeer size to white tail size game.

So what bullet you recommed to try? Ofcourse its impossible say what work best but atleast if there is some bullets wich is not good idea spend any time. This caliber is total new for me so all mind is nice to heard. In other calibers i love A-max but unfortunately Hornady dont make those in this caliber.

So what i try if need maximum accuracy and fast kill to animals. Meat damage wont be big issue.

I'd try 110 grain Nosler accubonds.

The 110 Accubond works well in my 257DGR as well as the Hornady 100gr interlock. The 115 Berger was okay at longer ranges, but very disappointing under 200 yards, with the bullet blowing up on impact(found 4 separate pieces)- killed the deer, but I was not impressed. One of my customers is real happy with the 115 Nosler BST in his. I have also had good results with 120gr Speer BTSP, only shot a couple of deer, but penetration was from just in front of the hind leg with an exit through the front shoulder, deer was drt.

If you can find them, the new Speer 120 gr Deep Curls have proven very accurate for me in several rifles. And terminal performance, both expansion and expansion, has been impressive.

If you're hunting the whitetails of Finland (not many people realize that Finland has a good population of imported American whitetails), then nearly any bullet will be fine. I use a 115 Ballistic Tip in my .25-06 (virtually same case capacity as .25-284).

For the larger Fallow deer and red stag, perhaps the tougher 110 Nosler Accubond would be a better bet. However, the tried and true 115 Nosler Partition is hard to beat.

Yes we have nice white tail population here in Finland. Shooting distance white tail is usually really short so bullet for those hunting wont be problem.

But i really love hunting at longer distance untill 500meters. Main animal will be roedeer and white tails. And i also hunting several times in every year sikadeer, fallow deer and reddeer so bullets is more important with those animals.

I really love use 22-250 AI with 75gr a-max to roedeer hunting but problem is those bigger game. That why i build now this new .25-284 rifle. I really hope i can duplicated 22-250 killing power just scale for little bigger game.

So most important will be good accuracy and killing power. Like i said i love use A-max but its impossible use in this .25 caliber so now need find new bullets. This caliber bullets is little difficult buy here in Finland so that why i ask yours advise what bullets is good even try.

But i have little bad experience with all bonded bullets at small calibers. Accuracy just dont be usually good enough. But i think i need take atleast those accubonds to test. But roedeer is quite small target in +400 meters and that distance should be still possible to shoot.

One of my favorite .257" bullets at that velocity is the Hornady 120gr HP. It performs well and usually has produced good accuracy easily.

I also have used the 117gr Hornady though it isn't as tough, and have found the tried and true Nosler partitions to be excellent. The Barnes 100gr x has worked on deer as has the heavier but neither was as accurate as the Hornady 120gr HP. It's one of my favorites but is only available randomly.

I have some 120gr Speer Deep Curl that I have not loaded, and 110gr Nosler Accubonds as well. I think enough of them to purchase but have not needed them yet.

For long range shooting you will want your rifle to be capable of handling long bullets with excellent ballistic coefficients. These are also typically good for the larger red deer. At 500 yards the use of boat tail bullets has a lot of merit due to the retained velocity and their wind bucking ability.

It sounds like a fun project!

I like the 80 Grain Barnes ttsx in my 25-06.

Shoots likes a laser to 300. I bet it would do well to 500. If not the 100 grainer would.

They mirror each other to 1000 yards for trajectory.

I really hope this gun will give for me what i want. My other 6,5-284 in kelbly action is really hi accuracy rifle for target shooting but for hunting with jewel trigger its not perfect.

This rifle come sako 75 action and varmint style barrel with vais (copy) muzzle brake. Mcmillan stock and nightforce nxs 8-32 scope. Like i said before its full hunting rifle but all parts is build like benchrest gun. Reamer is now under work and its desing for lapua case without turning neck. I really love maximum accuracy rifle and this project is one of those.

I shoot a 25x284 and 100 grain TSX on top of RL19 is the bees knees! Accuracy is great and velocity is in the 3300 neighborhood from a 23 inch barrel. I have not found a white tail or mule deer that could stop one of those bullets yet.

I would look at the 110 gr AB, 115 gr BT and then 115 gr PT in that order.
The 25-284 has a lot of cool factor and you should have yourself a really nice rig when the project is complete.

JD338

I've shot all of one whitetail with my 25-284. I loaded the 115 ballistic tip and it was a DRT frontal shot above the brisket at 130 yards or so. Doe never new what hit her. One of my new favorite calibers.

Determing which bullet to use depends a lot on the twist. There are any number of 25 caliber bullets out there that will kill the game you are hunting.
Case in point being my 25-06 Browning High Wall.
(ballistic twin to the 25-284)

Very disappointing until the twist was measured …. 1 in 13". Relagated to varmints until Barnes brought out the 80 gr TTSX and Hodgdon Super Performance. With the 30" barrel velocity was touching 4000 fps and 5 shot groups were sub MOA. Killed a buck at 230 yards quartering away. Penetration was end to end, bang flop and no bullet recovered.(still flying).
The same rifle with 115 TSXs would shoot 5 in 1" @ 100 and 10" @200. Shot them on hard gloss photo paper @ 100 and you could see they were start to tip at 200 they were keyholing up to 100% off axis.

If you have a 1 in 10 twist (most common) Berger makes a 115 gr VLD HUNTING bullet that should work fine on the game you have in mind. It opens quickly and causes massive destruction. Not for end on shots and usually no blood trail.

I don't use them because I prefer to break game down on the spot, hence Barnes.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Barrel will come by 10" twist if i never get it... I order barrel from local dealer here in Finland allready last June. But still no asnwer when barrel arrive. And what you think of price... Shilen stainles select match grade 540 US dollars +shipping... thats price in here. I think its last shilen barrel for me. Its just hard wait because all other parts is allready home.

Ouch ! that same barrel here turned to a standard profile is $358.00 (US) and Priority Air Mail shipping, insured would be $65.00.

Next time get a member here you know and trust to buy it and ship it to you.

With a 1 in 10 almost anything from 75 gr up will shoot well.

There are certainly lots of fine European bullets, but I have no idea how prices compare.

Many members here sell bullets they no longer need. You can ship 4 pounds in a small Priority Airmail flat rate box for $25.00.

I don't know your import regulations, they are probably as strange as ours.

Good luck and good hunting !

quote:

Originally posted by Ukko:
Im waiting new barrel for my rifle and caliber will be .25-284. Now i have problem with bullets. Rifle will build by idea take out of maximum accuracy for long range hunting. Game what i will hunting with it will be from roedeer size to white tail size game.

So what bullet you recommed to try? .....

Ukko,

I know this isn't a "premium", but it also does cost a premium price. Think if I were you I'd try these Speer 120 BTSPs if you can get them:

http://www.speer-bullets.com/b...cs/detail.aspx?id=29

UKKO ,

In my 25-284 win I use the following bullets; 87 gr Barnes XLC, Speer 120 BTSP, 110 gr Accubond and 100 gr Swift Scirocco. The Barnes XLC are discontinued but I have about 150 stashed away. I am shooting them out of a custom 1909 Mauser 98 with a 24" barrel, 1 in 10" twist. The rifle is a tack driver and my favorite bullet is the Barnes but I have shot whitetail, mule deer and coyotes out to 500 yards with the above bullets.

You will love the caliber and rifle.

BD

And that barrel price is for blank barrel. And most funny thing is that we dont have any paper work here in Finland with bullets or barrels without chamber. Both are absolutely permit free from coverment side. Only normal custom payment and VAT-taxes if order out of EU area. So price based of USA permits and delivery and ofcourse here local dealer part of price.

I really hope i get barrel soon here and i still have enough time get it ready before May when roedeer hutning season start.

And what is yours recommed barrel lenght? Original plan was about 26" but how much i loose of velocity if take shorter. Anyway i love hunting with fast bullets and plan is anyway push bullets more than 3300fps. Like i said i love 22-250imp but only problem is its illegal for bigger game so i need little bigger bullets then. And i hope i can duplicated killing power of that 22-250imp but this caliber and i also get those bigger game on list.

I like to eat roedeer so i dont want a impact velocity more than 2500f/s.

Impact velocity of 2500 or under? Sounds like the 308 win is perfect! 25-284, maybe not so much unless you let em run awhile before you touch her off. The TSX will make two tidy holes, and soup in-between.

What about a 117 sierra? That should shoot flat,accurate, and at longer ranges still give quick kills.

Those questions of bullet velocity is allways open. Everyne have their own opinion and usually people who dont have anykind own experience have strongest opinion. Its sad but thats most common situation. I had try several caliber and bullets for this size game and i know that best choice for my use is this kind small and fast bullet.

Ukko,

We hunt many similar size/toughness animals here in Australia. The AB doesn't have a particularly good reputation, being a bit unreliable when it comes to repeatable expansion.

Try the Nosler 100 Partition or BT. Whichever shoots the most accurately in your rifle. At longer range the impact velocity will have fallen off a bit, but they will expand.

Just my way of thinking but here goes.

When I worked up loads for my standard 25-06 years ago I wanted the highest velocity with the heaviest bullets for the longer ranges I planned on using it at. That said, I tried just about everything on the market in 117 through 120gr weights.

I found the 100gr bullets shot excellent but didn't hold the energy downrange nor with their lighter weight give the penetration I wanted.

The 117's did good as did the 120's but for what ever reason I could not break 3000fps from my 24" barrel with them without hitting pressures higher than I wanted.

Then I fell upon a few boxes of the 115gr Partition's and well never looked back. From 50 feet to out past 400yds the preform the same, usually resulting in bang flop performance. They are accurate, well within an inch at 200yds and they hold their velocity well to the further ranges. The load I use with RL-22 gets them up to 3150fps and I have not seen any flattened primers no matter the temps in close to 20yrs of using hem.

That all said the newer 115gr Ballistic Tip or one of the newer designed Barnes might well be the ticket your looking for. I simply have plenty of the Partitions to last probably through the life of this barrel.

In my 25-06 AI, I am shooting the 120gr Rem Core Lokt. while I realize it doesn't have anything new or exciting, the 3350'ish FPS velocities I get from the 28" Broughton barrel are VERY impressive as well as the accuracy. At 300yds they usually will stay within an inch with calm winds, but even with a breezy day they all will group together. On game performance even up close has been great. With the Hornady 120gr HP i use for fire forming and hunting pigs and yote with, I find the expansion to be a bit more than what I want. The last coyote I shot with one literally almost blew it in half at 325yds. These are loaded to only 2950fps so I cannot say what they might do at higher velocities.

The powders I would recommend would be RL-22 or Ramshot Magnum. While there are plenty of others which will probably work great, these two seem to work outstanding in the case capacity you will be looking at.

Hope this helps, and good luck on your build.

I liked a 117 or 120 gr. bullet in my Savage 99 custom rifle for "long range hunting" as the heavy bullets hold velocity better than light fast bullets that shed velocity quickly..

I shot a nice coues buck on our ranch So. of Marathon Texas that bordered the Big Bend Nat'l. Park some years ago..It was rimrock country and you shot across from one rimrock to another most of the time and shots were long. In this case we shot at this buck at about 500 or so yards. I hit him with one of my shots and as we were watching him escape thinking we missed he stopped wabbled and fell over and started rolling down hill to the next rimrock..I found that bullet in his heart and could have reloaded it..I think it was a Silvertip or corelokt, not sure..Dad showed up and accused us of salting the area with brass so he could sell a mining claim, was sure it would work!

Loved that high desert country with all its abundance of Mule deer and Coues Deer, once in a while a bear would wander through, and we saw desert bighorns from time to time. Lions, Bobcats and coyotes were more than abundant, coming in out of Mexico and the park. The last Grizzley shot in that country came off a ranch near us..Shot by the Adams brothers I believe in about 194?...He was a Mexican Grizzley.

So that is one example of light bullets way out yonder, sturdy the long range balistic charts it really does show up.

quote:

Originally posted by Ukko:
Im waiting new barrel for my rifle and caliber will be .25-284. Now i have problem with bullets. Rifle will build by idea take out of maximum accuracy for long range hunting. Game what i will hunting with it will be from roedeer size to white tail size game.

So what bullet you recommed to try? Ofcourse its impossible say what work best but atleast if there is some bullets wich is not good idea spend any time. This caliber is total new for me so all mind is nice to heard. In other calibers i love A-max but unfortunately Hornady dont make those in this caliber.

So what i try if need maximum accuracy and fast kill to animals. Meat damage wont be big issue.

I use 100 gr. Sierras in my .257 Ackley Very Much Improved with excellent results.

Stepchild

Still waiting barrel from shilen....

And i also order accubonds and several other bullets so i hope some of those will work fine.
And also gun change and i sold sako 75 away and i just bought new trg 22 and this .25-284 barrel will come to that trg action. So all looks nice only barrel missing.

Question; what´s the better with .25-284 that 6,5-284 ? We both know that assortment of 6,5 mm bullets in Finland or scandianavian is better that .25 cal bullets. IMO 6,5 mm bullets have better sectional density than most .25 ones have.

6,5x284 does not fit in 75mm long magazine and bullets selection in 100-120gr class is better in .25 caliber. Those was reason for me why i build .25-284 (and i allredy have 6,5x284....).

Finally after long long long.... waiting gun is ready and home. End of week know more of accuracy. But looks beaty.

Good luck! I hope it ends up worth the wait.

So finally gun is home and test shot have done.

After all changes gun made of sako trg 22 and scope is nightforce nxs 8-32x56 mildot. And i have also silencer for it but now looks i will not use it. Just too complicated of silencer heating and shooting works really well also without so why make life too difficult.

And thanks of all who recommed try Nosler accubond. That bullet give alltime less than 10mm group at 150meters so its quite well for hunting bullets. I have try only hunting bullets so maximum accuracy still waiting to test. But this gun is for hunting and i believe this accubond will give accuracy what i need of it.

So 2 weeks anymore and then first real test whit some reodeer males in Czech...

I shot a mule deer buck at almost exactly 100 yards with a 100 grain tsx Barnes. Very very effectiv Velocity was 3100 at the muzzle from my Roberts.
...tj3006

quote:

Originally posted by BigNate:
One of my favorite .257" bullets at that velocity is the Hornady 120gr HP. It performs well and usually has produced good accuracy easily.

I also have used the 117gr Hornady though it isn't as tough, and have found the tried and true Nosler partitions to be excellent. The Barnes 100gr x has worked on deer as has the heavier but neither was as accurate as the Hornady 120gr HP. It's one of my favorites but is only available randomly.

I have some 120gr Speer Deep Curl that I have not loaded, and 110gr Nosler Accubonds as well. I think enough of them to purchase but have not needed them yet.

Just had a 25/284 barrel installed on a Sav 110 action. Haven't tried a lot of bullets. Some 100 gr Speers group around an inch @ 100 yds. Some 90 gr Sierras about the same. Tried some 120 Hornadys and 3 of them went under 1/2 inch at 100 yds. Not quite the blistering speed but with the high BC it reaches out there.

For hunting deer I use larger calibers than .25".

I suggest a 7mm magnum or at least a 270.

Now is first hunting trip made with this rifle. Hunting was really success and finaly result was 4 roedeer and 1 wild boar. I use with all reodeers 100gr B-tip and wilb boar 100gr E-tip. After last test before hunt i change bullets from accubond to B-tip bacause this not bonded version give better accuracy. And that E-tip i want try to little stronger game and wild boar give great opportunity for it.

So B-tip was rwally great choice and this bullet will be in future bullets what i will use. Its work really great and all animals drop in place. Meat damage was same like all other caliber what common use for roedeer. Shooting distance was 100-250m and like i said i love this gun and bullets combination.

Wild boar was small one year old female and E-tip do just what it can do, nice clean kill. Accurcy wasnt so good like B-tip but enough for pigs at close range. Difficult say how much i will use this bullets at in future because B-tip was so great. But if need more hard bullets propably then this E-tip is right choice. But boar run 50-60meters after shot and shot was just behind shoulder trought of lungs. All bullets gooes trough of all animals what shot at this trip.