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| One of Us |
I have been using factory 120 grain Nosler Partition loads on open country Utah mulies. Is there a better choice of bullets? These loads produce 1.25" 3 shot groups in my Mark V rifle. | ||
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One of Us |
possibly not....but the Hornady 120 grain hollow point is a fine bullet in .257 caliber as well. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." Winston Churchill | |||
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| One of Us |
I'd try the 110gr Accubond. | |||
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| One of Us |
I use the 100 grain Barnes to excellent effect. | |||
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 What kind of wound performance do you get?If what you are using is a good killer why change? If your getting meat damage slowing it down to 3000ft./sec.May tighten your group a little and destroy less meat. Even 2900 ft./sec ain't all bad. I figure you're getting close to 3150 +??  rogerOld age is a high price to pay for maturity!!! Some never pay and some pay and never reap the reward. Wisdom comes with age! Sometimes age comes alone.. | |||
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| One of Us |
You might have trouble beating it by much, especially isfthe blend of characteristics matches what you want out of a bullet. What you can do is get different bullet performance that you may or may not like more. We had a fairly prolonged period with a stupid amount of deer tags and three hunters in the family. Several truck-loads of mulies got shot per year with .257s and 100 Grain Ballistic-tips. Results tended to be spectacular, but 100 grain Hornadys or Partitions were right up there. The 100 grain TSXS would likely be the best for shooting through 3 deer at a time or moose hunting, but we found that they killed slower than softer, frangible bullets. Quit using them after awhile. The 80 grain TTSX is proving to be interesting, they open faster and achieve close enough to 4000 fps that some might just round it up. | |||
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| One of Us |
Not mule deer, but I have had great success on whitetails and antelope with 100 grain ballistic tips in my 257 weatherby NRA Patron member | |||
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| One of Us |
Plus one on the Barnes 100 grain tipped TSX. My friend who owned a 257 Weatherby has moved, but my old boss shot them in a 25-06 with excellent results. The bullet left a caliber size or slightly larger going in, and silver dollar sized coming out. That is out of both the Roy and the 25-06 If the deer was shot in the ribs the suction created sucked half of the lungs out the back in a red spray. If a high shoulder shot was used, they didn't even twitch. There is something about hitting with that much velocity and having the projectile work as it should. The hydraulic shock is truly spectacular. I have heard of some using an even lighter Barnes 80 grain Tipped in the Weatherby. I don't know the velocity but the bullet will shed some or all of the petals if the shot is close. It sill generates the hydraulic shock as it expands to twice it's size, then exits. | |||
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| One of Us |
Either the 100gr TTSX or the 100gr Swift Scirocco. | |||
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| one of us |
I agree 100% with Blair both the 100 gr. TTSX and Scirocco II have been outstanding bullets for us in the 257 Witherbee and the 25-06 Rem. Spectacular terminal performance and suberb accuracy. I would also suggest the 90 gr. Hornady GMX's, too. Cheers, Number 10 | |||
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| One of Us |
Can't imagine those not working well. I have used a .280Rem and .270 with 140 and 130 grain bullets. Kills them quickly. | |||
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| One of Us |
The 120 Partition is great, but I have found the Barnes TSX/TTSX and the B-Tips easier to get great accuracy. As stated the Barnes do give a nice smaller exit and tend to bruise less meat even at very high impact velocities. The Ballistic Tips will provide very quick kills, but will also do some very impressive meat damage if you hit anything solid. I have also had very good results with the 90 grain Sierra HPBT Gameking. They have given very good accuracy from several 257Wbys and are noticeably tougher than the Ballistic Tips. I have used the 110 Accubonds on two big deer with the same results. Great accuracy, dead deer, and ALOT of expansion with no fragmentation and much less than expected penetration. In both cases impact velocities were quite high and I think performance would have been better had the deer been at 300 yards or beyond. I would be nervous taking a quartering to shot under 150 yards. If I had to pick one bullet It would be the 100 grain TSX. | |||
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| one of us |
Nothing wrong with the 120 gr. Nosler partition on deer or elk...I have seen some of the fastest one shot kills on elk that I have ever seen with the 257 Wby and 100 gr. Noslers!! Some of my guide friends use that caliber they proved quick and deadly on the broadside shots on elk that I have seen. They swear by them. I've never shot a head of game with one, and it would not be my choice until I have seen what they do on a going south deer and elk, where I am suspicious of velocity...On going away shots I like long heavy, slow is OK, for caliber bullets that penetrate like crazy.. Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
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the Nosler 100 grain e-tip has been incredible on the biggest Elk, Deer, and Caribou we have seen. The lady can shoot and is in the right place at the right time. | |||
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I agree it' a good bullet but Hornady discontinued them. | |||
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| One of Us |
Blair is away at the moment so he can respond later. However, he has shot literally hundreds of African plains game and being a guns/ammo nut tried lots of calibres and bullet combos ranging from the 257 through to 338 RUM and 358 STS. I know he did (with success) some rear end shot on Zebra with the 257. His general conclusion was the most noticeable and consistent difference was when he jmped above 30 calibre to 338 RUM and 358 STA and finally settling on the 338 RUM. As an aside he found the Lapua Naturalis bullet (also in the 300 RUM) to be the best. His PH (who he became good friends with and who came to Australia to bomb roos with the 22/06) said among the best he had seen was the 30/378 and factory loaded Barnes X. Of course those Barnes X in 30/378 factory ammo might not be the same Barnes X we buy. | |||
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I shot zebra and Cape kudu with my 257. Along with most of the tiny ten. And nyala. I tried both the 115gr and 90gr X bullets. On broadside shots the 90XBT would exit. A friend of mine killed an enormous fallow buck here in Australia with a wildcat 25/300 WM using the 115 TSX. Even a rear end shot dropped it on the spot. I have hunted mule deer and consider them softer than fallow, so the 100gr TTSX or the Scirocco would still be my choice. | |||
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One of Us |
I would imagine if a guy had roo permits, a finer roo rifle would be hard to find. We had permits on a big farm near Canberra and I used a 204 a lot. I thought a fast 6mm or 257 would have been fantastic. | |||
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A 460 Wby is the go, ask Blair  And by the way, when yo get out west no one gives a fuck about permits. | |||
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A 204 will be found wanting on chest shots on the big male red roos. I have see them keep going with low chest shots that would have stopped pigs with chest shots. They can be big fuckers. | |||
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BWW, Lots of 204's used here, because they are so easy to get to shoot, but they are really only marginal and on a big red with a chest shot, you will have a very pissed off roo. For day time shooting, I use a 6mm/06 with 105gr A-Max's. A good mate of mine uses a 25-06. And for night time shooting a 6mm HOT (6.5X47 Lapua necked to 6mm with a no turn neck) with 70gr BT's. Mike's comments about the 460 Wby bring back some funny memories, I think his record was 3 roos with one 500gr Hornady RN | |||
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What about bits of roo up in the tree and blood coming down | |||
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All the professional roo shooters I met in Australia were shooting 6mm PPC or BRs, well all the ones in the ACT and NSW that I met. The local blokes and farmers with roo tags were using 205 Tikka or Howas. Yep the 204, isn't much on a big roo. The only one I had a problem with was a big boomer that took quite a few hits to drop. Like you said the 204 is pretty wanting for a big roo. | |||
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A lot of the PPCs (and other 6mms) are loaded with bench rest "second" bullets, often 68 grainers. The bullets then to thicken at the point in swaging and I believe that delays expansion and once inside they let go big time. | |||
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The 6mm BR is very popular with pro roo shooters as it provides accuracy and knock down power. A property I shoot on, I organized the build of two custom 6BR's for the owner and his son. | |||
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| one of us |
I have shot enough game with the 250-3000 including elk with the 100 and 117 gr. bullets to not be surprised by the effect of the 240 and 257 Wbys..however I have also witnessed the destruction of edible meat from ultra high velocity, so that IMO is the trade off.. I won't hesitate to hunt elk with a 250-3000 or a 25-35 for that matter, its just that I have to keep the range in mind with both and under 200 yards and broadside shots, same for a 30-30...I used these in my youth and they worked as well as anything I have used since under the same disapline that I used then. Same with the .308 and its ilk, but give myself another 150 yards or call it 300 yards. Today most of my elk hunting in open country is with the .338 Win. and I'm very pleased with it under all reasonable conditions..Its definatly a 400 plus yard caliber, but I am not, I very seldom shoot beyond 300-350 yards with it or any caliber. I can cut that range down a 100 yards 98% of the time..I call it hunting. I do have a thick tangle place in Idaho where even the 250 or 25-35 works, if you can pass on going away shots. The .348 with 220 gr.Barnes Origianals will work on Texas heart shots, but then so will the .338 Win with 300 gr. Woodlleighs and is a better bet... I know velocity works, but at what cost is what each of us has to decide is my take. I'll pass but to each his own. But of course we have the old 30-06 and 270 gang that been doing their thing on all manner of beasts for several ions, and all this conversation confuses them, and well it should they been gett'en by just fine without us! Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
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| new member |
i shot a pretty nice mule deer in Nov. with a 257 WBY and a 100 gr. Barnes TTSX . Range was 250 yards buck was 1/4ing toward me. Bullet went through the scapula , right lung , liver and was found resting on the left hip bone. The hole through the lungs and liver appeared to be about 1.5" in dia. Not sure what to think of the bullet but it went through a lot of deer.   | |||
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"not sure what to think of the bullet" ? What more performance were you hoping for from a 25 caliber rifle?, sounds like it worked to me. | |||
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| new member |
I was surprised it shed its pedals the shot was 250 yards so the impact velocity should have slowed significantly. I don't think it failed and I'll continue to use them . That deer ran 150 or so yards after I shot I didn't even think I hit it , that surprised me too. Nice deer though.  | |||
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| one of us |
I don't consider that good bullet performance and the deer made too many steps after the shot..I personally wouldn't use that bullet again, Id go with a heavier bullet..Thats what more I would ask of the bullet..I,d try a Woodleigh, Nosler, or GS Customs. One thing for sure I don't have to forgive a bullet, just use another. Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by KHH: I was surprised it shed its pedals the shot was 250 yards so the impact velocity should have slowed significantly. I don't think it failed and I'll continue to use them . That deer ran 150 or so yards after I shot I didn't even think I hit it , that surprised me too. Nice deer though. ][/QUOTE I'm not surprised at all. Deep small holes are what Triple shocks do. Throw in animals that run, and little visual/sound of bullets hitting for a perfect trifecta. That's what the triple in Triple shock means. | |||
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When my son was up and coming I geared him up with a .257 and ammo loaded with 100 grain TSXs and 100 grain Ballistic Tips. Two more dissimilar bullets would be hard to fathom, but they did shoot to the same POI and so could used interchangeably. Due to CWD being identified and a high deer population anyone who wanted them could have a ridiculous amount tags. Due to his age I had to keep him at arms length. It was a perfect opportunity to let him learn a bit about bullet performance. Long story shortened a bit, it didn't take real long for the kid to fill a few truck loads of deer; and somewhat less to realize that one bullet flattened the deer and the other had constant runners. Oh sure they died, eventually. It didn't take long before he asked if he could quit using the copper bullets. For fun, here's an entrance wound on a quartering away shot with a 100 grain Ballastic Tip. Any guesses on how far it went?  | |||
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One of Us |
If hand loading, I would load A-Frames in 100, or 120 gr whichever shot best in my gun. My other choice would be Swift Scirocco II. Both choices would be based on retained weight, and less meat damage. Good luck with your choice. Maybe also try the Hornady GMX. | |||
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| One of Us |
I like Nosler Partition bullets but in the weatherby I prefer to use Swift A-Frame or Scirocco bullets. They have also worked well in 25-06 and 257R. In my 257weatherby I use the 100gr and 120gr bullets depending on what I am hunting. If I "had" to choose one bullet for the weatherby it would be the 120gr Swift A-Frame | |||
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One of Us |
I worked up some of the 80 grain tipped TSX bullets and got them cranked up past 4,000 FPS! It was more of an exercise in fun to see what my .257 Wby could do velocity-wise and possibly also to take a poke at an antelope on the horizon but the likelihood of that happening is slim to none. | |||
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| One of Us |
I have yet to shoot a whitetail with my .257 Wby and the 100 grain tipped TSX bullet and I'm wondering if your experience with the non-tipped bullet (your son was shooting non-tipped; correct?) was a result of it penciling through the deer without really opening up. Were you shooting handloads and if so, do you know your velocity? My concern with the Noslers is that I'd hit a deer and the bullet would grenade. -John | |||
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Are we not a hypocritical purveyor of death? Wow........just wow ________________________________________________ Maker of The Frankenstud Sling Keeper Proudly made in the USA Acepting all forms of payment | |||
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| One of Us |
________________________________________________ Maker of The Frankenstud Sling Keeper Proudly made in the USA Acepting all forms of payment | |||
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| one of us |
Im not sure why, but sometimes you just blow the petals of of Barnes bullets, even at very slow velocity, seen it many times, other times you get perfect mushrooms, I'm sure their are a multitude of events that take place inside and animal that can contribute to either. The upside is you usually get a kill. Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
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| One of Us |
257 with 100Gr. nosler is hard to beat. Have not had any run off yet. JP | |||
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