25-06 Bullet Recommendation

[Jeeper48]

I just picked up a Tikka 25-06 for my wife to shoot out west (Wyoming) this year, and I'm looking for people's experience/recommendation with bullets for this round. She drew an antelope and muley tag, both bucks this year. I would say the max she will be shooting is to 400 yards, but realistically under 300. I do reload and my initial thoughts are to start with the 110 gr accubond, however I am open to other suggestions. I've searched online but not a whole lot of discussion on modern bullets for this ol round. The only one else who reloaded for the 25-06 in my family was my grandfather and he used 120 gr core loks. What do you think, is the accubond the right place to start?

 

[jlvandersnick]

Tried accubonds in my 25-06 and 300 win..... couldn't them to shoot in either one.
My 25-06 (Rem Sendero) loves 115 berger HVLD's. 53.5 grns H 4831. very mild load...you can potentially go up to 55 plus I've shot everything from mule deer to coyotes. including bighorn sheep, whitetails and pronghorn. Kills quickly..... nothing has went over 50 yds....most about 20-30 yds.

The one challenge with all vld's is seating depth.....but once you find what your gun likes.....they are very accurate. just my experience

 

[86alaskan]

At that range, the heaviest hammer hunter bullet the rifle will shoot. or a 115gr barnes, or a 115gr berger. those animals aren't particularly hard to kill, so something fast and flat will be your friend. Maybe load a 92gr hammer hunter fast, and you'll be killing in no time. I'll bet you could get that bullet to 3400fps easy.

 

[Dosh]

Three 25-06 in the family. 115 Bergers and Retumbo is very accurate in all.

 

[Barrelnut]

Retumbo as mentioned above can be a very good powder for the 25-06. I took an antelope at 375 yards with Retumbo and 110 Accubond. Was a very accurate combo in my rifle.
Also like RL22 and 117 Gamekings. Old school stuff, but lots of folks shoot the 117 Gamekings in 25-06 with good results. Sierra has accuracy loads for the 25-06 with RL22 and Gamekings that will shoot in about anything and can be very accurate too.

 

[Canhunter35]

115 nosler ballistic tip is an easy bullet to work with.
I used 7828 in a buddy's 25-06 and was super easy to find a good load with the 115vlds

 

[BJH]

I hunted with a 120 grain Nosler partition over H4831 @ 52 gns in my 25-06 (Remington 700), and had great success with it. Very accurate and was plenty for the deer and elk I met up with. I worked up a load with the 115 grain Berger and H4831 that shoots crazy accurate. The 110 Accubond should shoot well I am sure. I would suggest the 115 Berger for accuracy and performance.

 

[Frog4aday]

Hey Jeeper48,
I think your starting choice is great (110 grain Accubond). Try some reloads and see if the rifle likes them. If so, you're all set! Great bullet.

If the gun isn't 'into' those, you might try the Barnes TTSX in 100 grain weight:
Caliber 25 Cal
Type TTSX BT
Weight 100
Diameter .257
S.D. 0.216
B.C. 0.357
Length 1.195
Box QTY 50
Catalog # 30220

You get a lot of speed from them, so they are a flat shooting bullet and they open up well and penetrate well out to the max distance (400 yards) you mentioned. Don't be put off by the 100 grain weight. The beauty of the TTSX bullets is they lose virtually no weight and penetrate really well. That's important on those mule deer.

Another bullet that is a classic for the Baby-Ought-Six is the 115 grain Nosler Partition. Seems all guns like it, whereas some guns liked the 120 grain Partition and some didn't. The 115 gr was more universal. And you get a bit more speed from it. Classic hunting bullet. Performance is a known quantity. Great expansion AND penetration.

Still, I think the 110 grain Accubond you mentioned would be an excellent bullet for the mule deer and antelope. I bet you'll find an accurate load pretty quickly with it.

(That old 120 grain Core-Lokt bullet was a wonderful choice for Grandpa's time! They shot well and performed well, for a cup-and-core bullet.)

 

[RT2506]

My buddy and I over the past 30 years of which most of it we did crop damage control have killed a couple train car loads of whitetail deer with the 25-06 and one bullet that stands out is the old Sierra 117 gr. Either the BT Game King or the flat base Pro Hunter which I prefer. One of these go to loads will usually shoot better than you can hold. 49 grs IMR or AA 4350 or 52 grs H4831 or the SC version. Both loads will run around 3000 fps depending on the barrel. This is one GREAT killing bullet in a GREAT drop them in their tracks caliber rifle. Sight the rifle in 3" high at 100 yards and hold center of shoulder out to 350 yards and 99% of the time, bang flop.

 

[YZ-80]

115 nosler ballistic tip is an easy bullet to work with.
I used 7828 in a buddy's 25-06 and was super easy to find a good load with the 115vlds

Me too. 115 Nosler over 51.5 grains of IMR 4831. Quick kills out to 300 yards.

 

[Juano86]

I have been running the Barnes 100gr TSX's in my .25-06 which perform awesomely and have great weight retention as previously stated. Good medicine for hogs, fallow deer and wild goats... I'v been playing around with the 117gr SST's which grouped well, but yet to take any game with them.

 

[BCinKS]

I shoot 115 ballistic tips over max load of IMR-4350 for antelope, white tails and mulies. I've never had anything go over 50 yards.

 

[lancetkenyon]

115 Berger HVLD has taken mule deer from 60 to 585.
100 SMK has taken deer from 160 to 310, javalina from 10 to 120, and coyotes from 10 to 1327.
100 TTSX has taken deer from 40 to 488.
All either dropped at the shot, or went a maximum of 40 yards.

 

[Frank in the Laurels]

A good old fashion plain Jane Sierra 117 Spitzer bt will work just fine...