Just got back from the antelope hunt where I harvested a small buck. First shot was at 250 yards.

The 100 grain Sierra Spt out of the 25.06 clipped the back of the foreleg and exploded on the chest wall, failing to penetrate and leaving a 6" wound on the outer wall. Follow up shots were required to bring down the still very mobile antelope.

Other than the possiblility of clipping some sage brush before reaching the target, this appears to be total bullet failure. I've never before had a bullet fail to penetrate the chest wall and never an issue with Sierra bullets before this.

Welcome to the club. I have seen my own 300 win mag not penetrate the chest wall of a deer and would have never believed it had it not happend to me.

was it a bad angle quartering shot? i don't redline sierras, particularly boattails unless shooting at groundhogs. i have not had any unpleasant experiences, but have heard enough anectodatal evidence to be a bit shy. i shoot alot of deer and groundhogs with the 100 grain hornady spire point out of a 25-06 with really good results on both species. think my load is in the neighborhood of 58.4 grains of Re 22.

I believe Sierra's to be the most accurate of the big three bullet makers. I stopped using them for hunting years ago because I couldn't depend on them performing as they should. I never had one blow up but I did have several act like full metal jackets, just punching a caliber size hole through the animal. Some worked just as they should. I now use premium bullets with a proven track record, as the difference in cost is nothing compared to the sinking feeling I get when I've only superficially wounded a game animal. My thoughts only.

Ok I don't get it. You shot an antelope in the leg.......the bullet failed ?
Doesn't sound like bullet failure to me.

How 'bout 'shooter error'.

I don't use Sierra bullets for hunting any more since I had deceiving results, but I really like them for target shooting.

Generally, the faster a bullet is travelling when it impacts, the faster it will expand. As most hunting bullets are designed for impact velocities below 2800 fps , they can violently overexpand and fail to penetrate far if they impact at higher speeds.

I'm not sure what speed you could launch that bullet from a 25-05, but I would have thought it would have slowed enough at 250 meters.

There is not much you can do if your bullet has hit something before the target.

There are 2 options to solve the problem, for those who like the higher velocitiy cartridges.

1. Use a harder premium bullet like Barnes TSX etc.

2. Load a heavier standard bullet with a lower launch speed, the higher BC of this bullet should help on longer shots and the extra weight will help penetration.

Good luck.

a 100 grain .25-06 bullet should have tipped that goat over easily.....move up to Hornady's interlocks.....

Funny you should mention the Sierra BT and the .25-06... The only time I have ever experienced what I consider to be a true bullet failure I was using the 117 gr. Sierra SPBT in my .25-06... The year was 1960, opening day (which was first Saturday in August). Time about 5:45 p.m. PDT. Shot a small pacific blacktail with a perfectly centered Texas heart shot while hunting near Kickham Peak in central CA. Bullet went in less than 3" then exploded. Created a round cavity about 2" in diameter. Went no farther.

Deer went over and laid down under a tree. My dad, on his second ever deer hunt, assumed the animal was mortally injured and despite my objections tried to walk up to it to cut its throat. I couldn't risk shooting again as my dad was between me and the deer by then. Deer jumped up and ran off. We then had the joy of tracking it all night by lantern light, spotting one drop of blood every ten to 30 yards amidst the oak leaves and dry grass.

We finally found the deer about 9 a.m. the next morning. By then sun had been up for about 4 hours and deer meat was spoiled. It was not the bullet which directly killed that little buck...about 1.5 miles away he had tried to jump a small gully about 6 feet wide but 30+ feet deep. Failed to clear the gully by enough to keep from falling into it. Broke his neck when he hit the rocks in the bottom.

We walked about 3 more miles to get into the gully and back up to the deer. Hung one of my dad's tags on him and Dad ended up feeding the deer to his dog.

I have never used a Sierra in a high velocity rifle for hunting since, though their 30-30 bullets work just fine from a .30-30, for us anyway.


They ARE great target bullets, outstanding varmint bullets, and even good on men. Just perhaps not always humane for killing game animals when fired from high velocity rifles.

I've never had any complaint with the Speer 100 grain spitzer out of my Roberts. Maybe slower helps and then, too, I've never ran a bullet through something just before impacting the chest, but I'm sure that the Speer would have done better.
You might get several bullet varieties and fire them through 1/4" plywood and them into a solid backing ( phone book ) and see what happens.

quote:

Originally posted by Masterifleman:
I believe Sierra's to be the most accurate of the big three bullet makers. I stopped using them for hunting years ago because I couldn't depend on them performing as they should. I never had one blow up but I did have several act like full metal jackets, just punching a caliber size hole through the animal. Some worked just as they should. I now use premium bullets with a proven track record, as the difference in cost is nothing compared to the sinking feeling I get when I've only superficially wounded a game animal. My thoughts only.

+ ONE

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
.....move up to Hornady's interlocks.....

+ 1

I stopped using Sierra bullets, other than 22 caliber varmint bullets, in the mid 70's when one of their 25-06 120gr projectiles failed on a whitetailed doe at close range. The same 'cherry bomb' on the skin effect as Reloader2 described. They're just too damn fragile for big game hunting, IMO. Accurate as hell, but what does that matter when they don't get the job done when the bullet hits the meat?

I would not push a sierra bullet much over 2900 For big game hunting. I used a 165 boat tail on a small mule deer from a .308 at about 20 yards. Did a real good job too.
But in a 25,06 I might recomend you try the 110 grain nosler acubond.
Even in my short barreld Roberts I get about 3100 with 100 grain bullets, and this year I will be taking 100 grain partitions...tj3006

I had a 100 gr Sierra from my .243 come to rest on the far side of a Sika hind just under the skin, having punctured both lungs on the way through. Very neat and tidy holes, no expansion at all, the hind went about 150 yards before dying. Now use Hornady Interlock's, for my hunting rifles, had one go 10 feet once.

John

skb2706 - In defense of the shooter, it sounds to me like he made a perfect heart shot. If you clip the back of the foreleg AND hit the chest cavity with a bullet that penetrates the ribcage you're going to have a very dead critter, very fast. If he said that he hit the foreleg and the bullet blew up and the animal didn't drop on the spot - shooter error! My suggestion is to switch to either Nosler Accubonds or Partitions. I personally like the Ballistic Tips, but I've only ever used them in .30 cal, so I won't recommend them for .25 cal. All we use in our .243's on big game is the 100 gr. partition, period. Never failed, and this is for 30+ years, my father started using them as soon as they came out.

For me the "Redline" for Sierra SPTs for calibers 30 and smaller seems to be about 2700fps. Faster than that and goofy things happen when you shoot game with them. Slow them down and they seem to perform as expected. Regardless of speed they have consistently been fabulously accurate in rifles I've shot them through. If I was just out to kill paper I'd shoot nothing else.

I agree with the folks above the Hornady interlocks are a better choice in a zippy 25-06. Those bullets in the smaller fast calibers appear to defy all reason and expectation. They flat work fabulous on game.

You can still get the very fast Weatherby ammo with the Hornady's stuffed on top. And that's even with today's supposedly superior bullets available. I strongly believe the reason these factory loads are still available is they flat out work.

i don't think your bullet failed at all, you stated,that it clipped the back of the foreleg this made it open up and expand right now then it hit the rib-cage with a heck of a lot of energy spent all-ready thats why it olny made a nasty surface wound on the rib cage. thats what can happen, at least you harvested your animal,great job,25/06 is a great round it can and does push a 100 grain bullet hard. regards

My thoughts exactly jjmp..............

A 'less than ideal' shot expecting ideal results.

You said it yourself...you hit it in the leg.

I find it interesting that you would go afield with a 25-06 and pick a 100 grain bullet instead of the 115-120 to shot at antelope. I’ve shot a few antelope with the 25-06 and I wouldn’t pick anyone’s 100 grain bullet as my first choice. The 100 gr. Sierra makes a good antelope round for the 257 Roberts but it’s a better varmint round for the 25-06 and 257 Wby. It was moving to fast and that’s more your fault than Sierra’s.

I've gone exclusively to hornady interlocks in my 243, 25-06, and 270. I use a 117 grain bullet in the 25-06. The 243 uses a 100 grain, and I'm stepping up to a 140 grain from a 130 in the 270. I like to use a heavy bullet for hunting. And they're all boattails.

If you hit bone first, any bullet could "fail".

I find it rather amusing that so many have had bullet failures !. I don't want to sound crass but there were no shot placement failures ? , just bullet failures .

I personally never use anything but Sierra Game Kings , AccuBond , Nosler Partitions for hunting in most .338 cal and down any way .

Used about everybody else's for paper punching , still prefer Sierras though .

How ever I don't load for Max velocity either I load for accuracy . Personally I've never experienced bullet failure on anything but Armor.

I've only had one weapon in over 40 years that key holed and it needed a New barrel Real Badly . I've either been dam lucky or lead a sheltered life .


So I may not be qualified to voice an opinion here .

I read some where on the forum , some one said every weapon is capable of .5 MOA provided the shooter does their part !.

I would like to purchase those weapons personally and promise to do my part !!!!!!.

Shoot Straight Know Your target . ...

The only 117 grain loading I use is for a Winchester 25-35. The 100 grain Hornady interlock is outstanding in 25-06. I see no advantage to slowing the round to 2900 to 3000 fps with the heavier projectiles in this round. If I wanted to shoot 120s, I would get a 257 Weatherby, which isn't a bad idea.

Sounds like typical cup/core bullet performance at .25-06 velocities given a flubbed shot. Next time, use a bonded or monolithic projectile or put one behind the shoulder.

Thanks for the input on this. It appears my expectations for this bullet were a bit too high for this application as I thought it would penetrate a bit before exploding. I've had good luck shooting the 117 grain Sierra's in this rifle but thought the 100 grain would be ideal for Antelope, and as stated with different shot placement may have performed well.

I must be one of the luckiest guys on the world, as I usually aim at the near foreleg 3" up from the belly line on a quartering to me shot and I try to break the off side shoulder joint on the quartering away shot. I've never had a bullet fail to exit a deer or antelope out to 300 or so yards with that shot.

Usually I shoot medium to heavy bullets for calibers although the 100 grain Nosler BT is a laser beam in my 6.5x284 but I neck shot an antelope with that.

Back in the late 50's & 60's bullets were sorry to say the least. You can't compare what happened then to anyone's bullets of today.
We had Sierra 30'06 180'gr go thru elk with little expansion THEN. They were hard then too.
---------

In '02 I shot a cow elk @ 200yds, wide open hillside and hit center high about 6" behind the foreleg. She went down, slid over 100yds in the 16" of snow and real steep hillside. Then stopped and took off like nothing had happened. I wasn't expecting it and made a bad offhand shot hitting top of the hips and she went down. I had to finish her up with a pistol.

The second shot was my fault.
The first shot was clean and clearly a perfect hit though some high and back. But, still a double lung shot.

This was in my .300 WinM, 180gr CoreLokts. Yes, it blew up on the surface, tore out three ribs 2" wide, about 9" long, but, did not enter the lung at all. I've got pictures of this. You want to see 'em, e/mail me. Looks like an exit wound really. But, this was on the near side at Two Hundred Yards! At that range it should have gone clear thru without problem.

After 5-6 tries I finally got a reply from Remington: "We have heard of this before, we recommend Factory Super CoreLokts", or what ever the new name is for them.

I'll use the rest for targets but, won't buy any more C/L's. Iv'e gone to 200gr Sierra BTSP.

George

forgot to say i see nothing wrong with your bullet weight. chop901 gave a great option to try,sage advice 4 sure regards

I don't think you need a boutique bullet, you just needed more bullet and less velocity. Just about any standard bullet @120grs @2900-3000fps would have clipped the front leg, gone thru the chest, killed the antelope, and exited the far side.

I think that at times....things just happen. I had a 150 Nosler Ballsitic tip from a .30-06 explode on the outside of an antelope buck at 150 lasered yds. I forget the exact muzzle velocity but it wasn't loaded right to Max.

Had a failure with a 180 Hornady once too on an elk, from a .300 H&H. Though on THAT elk the range was quite close, 20 yds, so the velocity was still fairly high.

Moved on to Nosler Partitions and failures are now a thing of the past.

FN in MT

The difference in the 25 calibers compared to the 24's is the 6MM's don't have any lower velocity siblings like the 250 Savage in which the 100 grain Sierra works very well. A lot of people only load their 250 Savages to around 2800 fps, pushed to 3300fps a soft bullet can come apart too soon.

im my experience sierra pro hunter bullets work well at under 2500FPS, never had a problem and never had a deer go over 25yards from a heart/lung shot. a real good no frills bullet i reckon!