Been some discussion recently about the 250 Savage and Nosler Ballistic Tips as to whether either were adequate for taking game.
My $.02

I recently had a rem. 700 Classic chambered in 250 Savage follow me home. Neat little rifle. I free floated the barrel, did my usual 100 strokes with bronze bore brush and jb bore paste as barrel break in, installed a reduced power sear nad trigger spring so the trigger would break at 1.5 lbs.

Using 35 grains of RL-15 it shoots a 100 gr. nosler ballistic tip at 2800 FPS, just as sweet as you please.

Had the opportunity to bloody it last weekend on a hill country hoglet.

He was about 120 yds away, almost quartering toward me. I was sitting on the side of a cliff and the shot was at about a 20 degree downward angle. The bullet put a nice little round hole in his ear, then entered the right shoulder, blew through the spine and exited the left ribcage just below the left elbow. Perfect eating size hoglet DRT. No blood shot meat.
Yeah I know it's not a 300 lb boar, but it is what it is.
Best
GWB


point of entry on right shoulder


took out the spine


exit, and you can eat right up to the bullet hole

I guess that settles the discussion, eh?

I bought one of these when they came out, and couldn't leave well enough alone. A friend had a 25-284 reamer. It was a great rifle, but not quite as much fun to train kids on.

Nice rifle, and nice job on the piglet.

Rich

I have the same rifle but in 257 Roberts. I load it with the same 100 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip. I had the same results on deer and pronghorn. Zips a nice hole clean through just like yours. I'm using IMR4350 loaded to just over 3000 fps. I think this combo works dandy for this type of game.

From your photo's it appears you are quite meticulous with meat care. Nice, clean field care.

GWB,
Excellent shot, and kill. Doesn't get much better than your kill.
Kinda puts the 250 Savage argument to bed from where I sit anyway.
Incidentally, I only have one Rem 700 Classic, and it's a 250 Savage also.
Thanks for the posting and excellent pix.

Don

Clem,

As we eat almost everything I shoot, I do take considerable care of the meat myself. That way I know where, when and how!
Where I hunt it can be 90 degrees F. in December. I recorded 116 degrees one day last August. I shoot hogs year round. I take a couple of 150 quart ice chest with about 140 lbs. of ice with me when I hunt. I try to have everything skinned and if desired quartered and in an ice chest within two hours of shooting it. Everything goes in the chests as soon as possible. I wet age both hogs and deer for six days constantly adding ice to keep the temp just above freeazing, and letting the meat bleed out before I put it up in the freezer.
Typically no one touches it but me.
Best
GWB

I don't know . After all the convincing arguments, are you sure it's really dead? I mean it looks dead and all but maybe it's just wounded and getting ready to shake off the hit from that ineffective little .250 and boogie on outta there? .
What I see there is some top notch Chili Verde just waiting to happen, yum yum!
Good shoot'n GeeDub!

The 115 NBT out of the 257R works pretty well too. This was a 100lb hog.

I'm starting to think the NBTs may actually not be the varmint bullet so many people portray it to be.

quote:

I'm starting to think the NBTs may actually not be the varmint bullet so many people portray it to be

Scott.....I think you're dead nuts right here....however....Nosler should change the name of the bullet if they change it's performance criteria.....and they haven't. IMO that is hurting them on sales of the B'tip. It's just hard to walk away from it's historic reputation.

That said.....It sure seems they have a real winner in the accubond!

Are you sure the caliber's up to the job.....

Oh no...look out for the repercussions and stern lecture from the self-professed "expert" who is going to tell you that you can't kill a hog with a "prairie dog caliber."

And, you've got to stop using those pea-shooters. What's next? Stepping down to the Contenders???

In all seriousness, congrats on making a terrific shot and putting some excellent meat in the freezer.

Nice shot and the meat looks great!!! Well done

I'm sure Nosler needs the advice from someone here on the need to change the name of the bullet.

That's so wrong......that it's actually funny.

quote:

Originally posted by Bobby Tomek:
Oh no...look out for the repercussions and stern lecture from the self-professed "expert" who is going to tell you that you can't kill a hog with a "prairie dog caliber."

And, you've got to stop using those pea-shooters. What's next? Stepping down to the Contenders???

In all seriousness, congrats on making a terrific shot and putting some excellent meat in the freezer.

Exactly spot on.

Pretty soon these rascals are going to be telling us that .223 is not a pig rifle or for that matter a deer rifle if loaded with Nosler BT's.

quote:

Originally posted by Bobby Tomek:
Oh no...look out for the repercussions and stern lecture from the self-professed "expert" who is going to tell you that you can't kill a hog with a "prairie dog caliber."

And, you've got to stop using those pea-shooters. What's next? Stepping down to the Contenders???

In all seriousness, congrats on making a terrific shot and putting some excellent meat in the freezer.

Well yeah but I guess I'll be the first to state the obvious here, that hog is about the size of a large prairie dog. It really doesn't prove anything as far as hogs and .257's are concerned.

quote:

]

Well yeah but I guess I'll be the first to state the obvious here, that hog is about the size of a large prairie dog.

Wow...amazing and pathetic!!!!!


100 lb. prairie dog?????????

Just for surestrike: Here's another prairie dog-sized hog taken with the super-duper whiz-bang 25x30-30 with...are you sitting down...an 85 grain BALLISTIC TIP...

Can you believe it actually killed the thing...and that he killed others with that same wimpy load? I guess someone forgot to tell these hogs to wear their kevlar.

More ammo, so to speak, for the quarter-bore doubters:



100 grain BT @ app. 2650 fps from a 14" .257 JDJ instantly dropped this young aoudad am at 190 yards, completely penetrating both shoulders and exiting during an early-1990s hunt.



Here's a matching 20 1/8th" blackbuck antelope taken at 260 yards using an 85 grain Ballistic Tip at app. 2950 fps from a custom XP in .250 Savage. The bullet EXITED.

Below are a couple of hill country whitetail who got in the way of 87 grain Hornady SPs at 2900+ fps from an XP in .250 Savage. I was invited to come and take that buck from the herd as it had an injury, and the guides -- who'd seen my quarterbores in action before -- had no problems with me using them. (App. 1993)

The 87 grain Hdy and 85 grain BT may be varmint bullets at typical rifle velocities, but at lowered speeds, these projectiles behave more like a typical game bullet and afford excellent penetration and expansion on medium-sized game.

Now, as to the comment of Geedubya's hog being the size of a prairie dog, I respectfully disagree with surestrike. After all, I've taken some rather small ones, and even the one below is a trifle larger than the fattest PD I have ever seen.

quote:

Originally posted by surestrike:
Well yeah but I guess I'll be the first to state the obvious here, that hog is about the size of a large prairie dog. It really doesn't prove anything as far as hogs and .257's are concerned.

Surestrike,
don't know if you're just trying to stir the pot, or are serious.
I've not hunted prarie dogs in Colorado, but have killed over 300 hogs in Texas. Used everything from a 22 long rifle to 45-70 in just about every caliber in between. Most deer and hogs here weigh less than 165 lbs live weight. I have found a 25 cal bullet to be adequate in every case, if I did my part.

Although I use the 6.5's and 7mm's much more here are a few examples from my archives.

Best
GWB

.25 cal


25-06, 110 gr accubond


257 weatherby, 100 gr. partition


257 weatherby, 100 gr. partition


257 Roberts, 110 gr. accubond



257 weatherby, 100 gr. partition

In fact, well placed, a .243 cal. bullet works fine also


24 winchester 100 gr. core-lokt (this one was weighed at 275 lbs.)


240 weatherby, 85 gr. partition

Alrighty then.....

I've killed hundreds and hundreds of hogs. I don't keep count but I've been killing between 50 and 150 of the buggers every year for last 15 years. There simply isn't any reason to get your .25 caliber panties wound up in bunch here guys. I've killed them with everything from a .223 on up.

I'm guessing that you .25 fanatics were hoping and praying that somebody would say something that could be taken as the slightest bit disrespectful about the .25 so that you could all pile on? Because what I said wasn't dissing on the .25's at all I was simply stating that tiny little hog wasn't much of a test for one.

Of all the "proof" pictures above there is one animal that would even remotely test the ability of the lightest center fire and that is the big hog. Everything else, deer, baby aoudad lamb, black buck and the small hogs should be very easily be taken with a .243 or a .257 of any flavor with any bullet construction. They are small soft animals the kind that make a quarter bore shine.

And for those of you who don't know any better. The comment about the hog and prairie dog was OBVIOUSLY a joke. It's kind of sad that I have to explain that to y'all.

gotcha!
Best
GWB