I purchased a Tikka 25-06 for my son as his first deer rifle and after shooting it some myself I thought I like to try it on coyotes, does any one have any good bullets/loads they are happy with? I want a bullet that will have good killing power but will not tear the hide up much? Thanks
25-06 varmit load help
- Thread starter badland
- Start date
A rifle in 25-06 is my hands down favorite for shooting coyotes. However, we do not have much of a market for hides here in CA, so a hole in the skin does not bother me at all.
I used to shoot the Nosler 85 grain BT in my 25-06 rifles, but gave up on that for this usage.
That bullet used to be great for all kinds of game, but it is built very fragile now days. What it will do to a marmot or ground squirrel has to be seen to be believed. But, I quit using it on coyotes when myself and friends had them surface blow on coyotes shoulders. I shot two coyotes on the same morning that had huge entrance holes where I shot them in the shoulder. Neither bullet made it into the vitals and the dogs had to be shot again. Come on, with a 25-06??? My 22-250 with 50 grain BT bullets would do much better.
It is hard to find any bullet in a 25-06 that will not be hard on hides, but I have settled on the 75 grain V-Max. It drops coyotes like lightning and generally makes a small entrance hole and then does not exit. My favorite load for this bullet is 57 grains of IMR 4831 sparked by a Fed 210 primer. I shot loads of 58 grains and they were safe in my rifle, but the 57 grain load gave the best accuracy (half inch groups).
Actually, moving up to 100 grain bullets is another way to not tear things up too bad. A 100 grain Sierra Pro Hunter or Nosler Partition generally do not open up too bad a hole, but sometimes they do.
Have fun with the 25-06, it is a great caliber.
I used to shoot the Nosler 85 grain BT in my 25-06 rifles, but gave up on that for this usage.
That bullet used to be great for all kinds of game, but it is built very fragile now days. What it will do to a marmot or ground squirrel has to be seen to be believed. But, I quit using it on coyotes when myself and friends had them surface blow on coyotes shoulders. I shot two coyotes on the same morning that had huge entrance holes where I shot them in the shoulder. Neither bullet made it into the vitals and the dogs had to be shot again. Come on, with a 25-06??? My 22-250 with 50 grain BT bullets would do much better.
It is hard to find any bullet in a 25-06 that will not be hard on hides, but I have settled on the 75 grain V-Max. It drops coyotes like lightning and generally makes a small entrance hole and then does not exit. My favorite load for this bullet is 57 grains of IMR 4831 sparked by a Fed 210 primer. I shot loads of 58 grains and they were safe in my rifle, but the 57 grain load gave the best accuracy (half inch groups).
Actually, moving up to 100 grain bullets is another way to not tear things up too bad. A 100 grain Sierra Pro Hunter or Nosler Partition generally do not open up too bad a hole, but sometimes they do.
Have fun with the 25-06, it is a great caliber.
remingtonman_25_06
Handloader
- Nov 17, 2005
- 2,807
- 402
I have shot quite a few yotes with this caliber with quite a few differnt bullets and they all pretty much blew the hide up. Only exception was the 75g v-max. Its gotta be because its made so light and fragile that once it gets about 2 inches inside its just like a bomb going off. THe 85g BT is very explosive as stated above. I have seen it used on deer with drop them on the spot results, as well as yotes, but they leave big holes. The 100g and 115g BT's will still tear a nice hole in them if you hit bone, thats just the way it is. You are better off to use a tougher bullet at a lower speed so the bullet does not expand so much so fast. You could shoot the 125g ULD at 2950fps with a BC around .5+ and have a better longer range set up. That bullet will buck the wind a heck of a lot better, and will not blow up either.
I've had good success with 100 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips. Work great on prarie dogs, rock chucks, coyotes, antelope, and deer (as long as you pick your shots). Nice to have one bullet/load for such a wide array of game. Start with 51.5 grains of IMR-4831 and stop at 54.5 grains. This'll give you 3100 - 3400 fps depending on rifle/barrel/chamber dimensions.
Brad
Brad
Michael Courtney
Beginner
- Mar 2, 2006
- 15
- 0
badland":32qn3u6k said:
25-06 is rough on hides with just about any bullet that kills well. All the ballistics tips in 25-06 kill extremely well with great accuracy, but they do tend to damage hides.
Michael Courtney
25-06 is a great calaber my son is 13 now this is his 2 year shooting it and he has killed 3 elk and 3 antelope and 2 deer with it useing 120 grain Partition with 49.0 gRAINS OF IMR 4350 powder he has shot coyte with this load as well it does pot about a quarter size hole in the dog at 150 yards good luck with your 25-06 my wife and i also have one hers is a charles daly as is my sons and mine is a interarms . will be getting one more soon for our daughter
- Oct 30, 2004
- 24,278
- 2,989
I have used 85 grain ballistic tips with IMR 4350----smokin!
