After a long winter I started working on loads for my upcoming Mule Deer hunt in Wyoming. Both the 120gr Hornadys and 117 Sierras shoot consistantly MOA at 100yds using book max loads.
Any advantage over one VS the other?

I have tried 115NP per Russell THornsberry's fine article, but my Model 700 doesn't like them too well.

I was thinking of trying 110 gr Accubonds and 100gr TSXs later in the spring if they had any practical advantage over the two cup n cores. Any thoughts/experiences you can share, as I have never shot any big game with this caliber?

I've hunted deer with the .25-06 since 1969....I built my first one immediately after Remington bought it out of wildcat status!

You can kill any deer with it using almost any bullet 100 grains and more.....but I've had the best luck with the Hornady 120 HP....

I've also used core-lokts and interlocks with great success.

There are no more green boxes of bullets here.....they are Hornady, Swift, Nosler, and a few Northforks.

Take it from there.

Is the 120 HP an Interlock, Vapo?

Not sure I have seen it on the shelves but to see much selection anymore I have to drive down to Cabela's.

+1 on the Core-Lokts. I've used the Remington Premier brand for several years on deer. Great accuracy in my 700.

I've used them both quite a bit on WT's. For mulies, I'd prefer the 120gr Hornady. (yes, it is an interlock). IME the Sierra, at 25/06 velocities, is a little soft. Only recovered one 120gr Hornady. It had travel stem to stern on a mature buck and lookded like an ad for Hornady. Great bullet, IMO. PS, I likethe Sierra in a 257 roberts.

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Is the 120 HP an Interlock, Vapo?

I believe it is.....and olarmy agrees too so I'll go with his comment!

Sounds like you have some fine loads worked up and are ready to go.

Of the two bullets you are currently shooting I would prefer the 117 grain Sierra. Just an opinion, but that's what you asked for, right?

I have not shot any game with the 117 Hornady HP(which is an Interlock bullet), but I understand that it is of pretty stout construction. I would worry about that tiny match bullet type hollow point not expanding at long range.

I have shot some mule deer and wild hogs with the 117 grain Sierra Pro Hunter (my 25-06 rifles have always shot it better than the Game King version). I have always had great performance on game with the Sierra's.

But, then again, I have seen very good performance from the 115 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip, also. In fact, I would rather use it than the 110 grain Accubond. I don't hunt with the Accubond, but after seeing what other people's loads have done to antelope, I will choose something else, nothing much left but hamburger.

I was drug, kicking and screaming into the use of monolithic bullets due to the stupid California laws, but I have to admit I have had great success with the Barnes TSX in my 25-06.
I have shot a mess of wild hogs with the 100 grain TSX,and my buddy has killed two black bears with it. My dad and I have been using the 80 grain Tipped TSX on antelope the last couple of years with outstanding success, it drops antelope bucks in their tracks, right now.

There almost too many good choices of bullets for the 25-06. Either of the ones you are shooting now should not let you down.

100 grain TTSX's for the larger stuff & the 80 gr. TTSX's for smaller(ish) ..... I know, you don't want Pork Chops; sorry couldn't resist.



Have fun with your 25-06.

I shot my first .25-06 deer this past season. I used the 120 grian Sierra HP bullet. All I can say is it hammered the deer, he went down so fast.

I thought I had missed him, because I couldn't find him after I lost him in the scope. Using my binos I was able to determine that his leg was sticking up behind a dead fall. He literally flipped over on his back at the shot.

My buddy uses the 117 grain Sierra with great success in his .257 Roberts. I wouldn't hesitate to use either on Mule deer. Since they shoot well I wouldn't worry about finding another bullet.

While you are working up loads, stoke some of both projectiles ahead of 49.0 grains of IMR 4350 and some of both ahead of 53.1 grains of H4831sc. I'm betting your rifle will like those two loads. The H4831sc load will be a notch faster than the IMR 4350 load but both should have the accuracy covered pretty well. And both the bullets will do just fine when they meet the deer! GHD (pastor at the church of GHD and the 25-06)

I have used a 25-06 as my all around ranch rifle since the late 1970's. Shot deer, one elk, antelope, coyotes, bobcat, rock chucks, pigs amd ferral dogs (alot of them).

In the conventional (unbonded) 117-120 grain bullets I would avoid ones with a cannelure or a deep cannelure especially. The bullet tends to break off at the cannelure. It will perforate most tagrets but not have much frontal area. I liked the sierra as a reload without cannelure but not in federal prmium with a deep one plus another in front of it to ID it as a heavy weight. This really weakened the jacket.

The 117-120 was minimum caliber and bullet that would put down dogs w one shot.

My favorite is 115 tbbc, 115 nosler, and old 120 solid base. The much more lightly constructed 117 sierra without cannelure was good too.

If Federal has their Fusion in a 117-120 grain 25-06 I would try that. Good in other calibers if you use a heavy for caliber bullet. (It is an electrolytically plated lead bullet like old Remington power lokt).

Andy

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I would avoid ones with a cannelure or a deep cannelure especially. The bullet tends to break off at the cannelure.

Can you post a photo of such a bullet "broke off" at the cannelure please?

You might lose a deer shot with one of those bullets on the computer, but not in the field. Either will do fine.

If you're lucky, your muley can be pretty big. Considering that, if you use the Sierra I've found that the flat-base Pro Hunter typically holds together just a little longer/deeper than the boattailed Game King, so I would opt for the flat-based version

Interesting comment about the cannelure. I have taken Mulies with 150 gr 30 cal Hornady with no issues, but maybe the 25's are a weaker construction?? I am going up to Maine so I will look for the Sierra's or maybe 120gr Partitions.

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Interesting comment about the cannelure.

I thought so too....notice we don't have any photos yet.......

Vapodog,

I was probably shooting 50-60 a year for 12 or 13 years.

Most at night. With tribal police.

Used everything from suppressed 22 LR to 375 improved. Used a 12 ga and AR-18 alot with 55 grain Remington Power Lokt before the 25-06 came out. Settled on 25-06 w 117-120 grain conventional bullet. First caliber to put them down w one shot and not over penetrate and endanger calves.

This was sometime between 1975 and 1988 when I moved from my 1000 acre ranch next to the indian reservation where there were alot of ferral dogs, to gentleman farming in central oregon.

I did not normally take pictures of dead dogs, as I had alot of them.

You can count on what I said as Gospel.

Seriously.

To kill a dog you need about 16 inches of penetration, and the more FA you have that penetrates that far the better.

87 and 100 grains did not do it. Took 2-3 shots to kill.

130 grain HP 308 less effective than 25-06.

100 nosler partition did as well but for conventional bullets you needed FA (no or mild cannelure), and 117-120 grains.

Sorry no pictures but you werent there so you dont know shit.

No kind way to say that.

Anyone who does not know a cannelure weakens the jacket is a retard!

The heavies w cannelure killed with one shot but alot slower than ones without cannelure. I shot enough to know what I am reporting is true.

The Federal I mentioned had TWO cannelures, one to identify that it was a 120 grain and another to keep bullet in place. Dumb and dumber.

Andy

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Anyone who does not know a cannelure weakens the jacket is a retard!

I resemble that remark but I've been called worse, so guess I be Dum er, Dumb .....


16" of penetration on a Dog? Are you John Holmes? I guess you're using the same ruler I use when chatting up Chics at the Bar? Haven't shot any St. Bernards or Mastiffs lately but @18" w/180 gr. Nosler Partition in .308 caliber is pretty much the standard.

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The bullet tends to break off at the cannelure.

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Anyone who does not know a cannelure weakens the jacket is a retard!

First it breaks off.....and when asked about it simply weakens the bullet.

I've been a shooter and hunter for 45 years or so and have never seen a bullet "broken off at the cannelure".....and I'm the retard?

Do you know how a bullet is cannelured?....

1975-1989: "before the 25/06 came out"? Pisst: the 25/06 was introduced by Remington in 1969, and was a popular wildcat long before that.

Anyone who thinks the 117gr Sierra is a better penetrator than the 120gr Hornady HP (which has a cannelure) is misinformed (see, there IS a kinder way to say it)

I'm sure the ballistic engineers at Sierra and Hornady will be crushed to know that you think they are retards...

BTW, how big are these dogs that need so much bullet and penetration to put them down?

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I'm sure the ballistic engineers at Sierra and Hornady will be crushed to know that you think they are retards...

120 Hornady hp. My No.1 loves them and has put quite a few antelope and mule deer in the fridge. It just seems to work way better than it should. H1000 seems to get about all that can be got from the cartridge with this bullet.
C.G.B.

Actually I am not too impressed with engineers at Sierra.

Boat tails are a core shucking device and dont belong on most hunting bullets. They re-introduced the flat base 120 grain soft point for those of us who know that, so good on them!

Vapodog, I appologize for being rude. But you be the judge.

I shoot a dog with an 87 grain Sierra HP, Sierra sp,or 100 grain Hornady sp and it takes 2-3 shots to kill it. It is knocked down each time but gets up.

I shoot a dog with a 120 grain Sierra HP and it dies.

I shoot a dog with a 120 grain Nosler solid base and it dies.

I shoot a dog with a 120 grain Speer flat base sp and it dies.

I shoot a dog with a 117 grain Sierra btsp and it dies (despite the bt).

I shoot a dog with a 117 grain Remington Core Lokt, not normally my favorite bullet design, and it dies.

I shoot about 15 dogs with Federal premium 117 grain Sierra because I ran out of reloads, and they run around for 30 seconds, deffinately in trouble, but dont lie down and die.

It is better than the light bullets but no where near the heavies without cannelure. Exit wounds bullet diameter. The others would often leave a huge blood trail with lung tissue even blown out.

The Federal 117 grain btsp Sierras had that extra ID groove in the jacket.

Im not saying all bullets w cannelure break off but with a thin 16/1000 jacket they are prone too. My shooting experience has taught me to dislike boat tails and cannelures, and select hunting bullets with 32/1000 or greater jacket thickness.

I like the 25-06, dont get me wrong. I agree it is a little bit light for large mule deer. I completely destroyed ones heart at close range and it just kept on walking until it ran out of oxygen. Shot another one with Fish and Wildlife that was injured and front on chest with 115 TBBC at under 200 yards in winter and it went down but crawled away until I hit it going away in pelvis.

But it sure kills dogs and antelope.

Andy

I'm a fan of Hornady interlocks, and have used them for 15-16yrs (180grn in 300wm, 117grn in .257Bob). They don't come apart, and in my experience act like a bonded bullet. They seem to be soft enough, and tough enough all at once. And they're cheap!

Sierras do tend to have core seperation, but at 117-120grn weight there is enough mass there to get the job done with a clean shot.

My vote would be the Hornady, but I don't deal with bionic dogs on a daily basis.

Good luck.

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I like the 25-06, dont get me wrong. I agree it is a little bit light for large mule deer. I completely destroyed ones heart at close range and it just kept on walking until it ran out of oxygen.

I would suggest that had the same deer had its heart "destroyed" by a .416 Rigby that its death would have been no different. That's what heart-shot deer typically do no matter what they are shot with: "Keep on walking" until running out of oxygen. One would have to entirely reject the notion that a gun which is able to "destroy" a deer's heart is "a little bit light" for deer hunting.

Of course if a 50-lb. dog requires 18" of penetration, then that implys that a 200-lb deer must require 72" of penetration. On that basis, I'll have to agree that the .25-06 is just "a little bit light" for mule deer; in fact, "hopelessly light" would better describe it.

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I would suggest that had the same deer had its heart "destroyed" by a .416 Rigby that its death would have been no different. That's what heart-shot deer typically do no matter what they are shot with: "Keep on walking" until running out of oxygen. One would have to entirely reject the notion that a gun which is able to "destroy" a deer's heart is "a little bit light" for deer hunting.

Of course if a 50-lb. dog requires 18" of penetration, then that implys that a 200-lb deer must require 72" of penetration. On that basis, I'll have to agree that the .25-06 is just "a little bit light" for mule deer; in fact, "hopelessly light" would better describe it.

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Originally posted by Andy:
Actually I am not too impressed with engineers at Sierra.

Boat tails are a core shucking device and dont belong on most hunting bullets. They re-introduced the flat base 120 grain soft point for those of us who know that, so good on them!

Wrong again! The only 120gr 257 bullet made by Sierra is the HPBT, as it Hollow Point BOAT TAIL, not flat base.

Oh,and the 120gr Nosler solid base has a boat tail, also.

Not only that, Remington does not make a 117gr Core Lokt (it's 120gr).

With that many errors in one post, credibility does tend to suffer.

I will reply again, The 117 grain SIERRA SBT or the Hornady 120HP shot from a 25-06 at whatever deer type beast, with proper bulet placement will render said beast, DEAD!! BTDT!! Form a long ways off!! GHD (Pastor at the church of GHD and the 25-06) AS far as the heart shot goes, a few years ago, I had a friend down here during deer season, He shot a couple deer at extended ranges and wanted to see the 25-06 that he'd heard about in action. Doe, 305 yards.............I asked him if he wanted to see a DRT or a shot to the boiler room(heart and lungs) he opted for the "boiler room. Before the shot, I told him she'd go about 20 yards, stop, shake and fall over..........she did! He looked at me and said, "I think you've done that before!!" I had, I have done it since then
and will do it some more. 25-06 with the Sierras is meat in the pot!! No fancy smancy plastic tips, just a bullet that performs, everytie, same way!!

I must be doing something wrong then. I use the 100gr game king in my Sendero to take Mule Deer and an Elk.

We must have a weaker dog in Nebraska if a .22 lr can kill them with one shot.

Either one of the two bullets you are looking at using will kill any deer, any speices on the planet as long as you hit the animal in a vital area. Both wil break bone and penatrate deep enough to do the job. We shoot the bulk of our deer with 100-110gr bullets in our 25 caliber rifles. Proper placement is the key, just like with any bullet from any rifle. We have used the 110 Accubond on 14 deer the last 2 years, retained weight when recovered has been around 80%, with shots as close as 75 and as long as 350.


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