25 cal Ballistic Tip 100 grain bullet: hunting or varmints

[rquack]

Is the 100 grain 25 cal Ballistic Tip suitable for deer hunting or is it a varmint bullet?? I'm in the process of building a 257 Roberts and it's looking like the projectile acquisition phase of the project may be beginning soon due to SPS making these available or should I wait for the 100 grain partitions for deer hunting and just use the BT's for target shooting?? I'd like to use 100 grain hunting projectiles for this rifle in an effort to minimize recoil and experiment with some of the lighter bullets strictly for paper punching.

 

[Gm weatherby man]

Tuff call, I've had bad luck with 117 grn bt in the past in 257 bee, so for me yah 100 bt is varmit bullet, in a 250 savage ,25-25 maybe . I think there Is more knowledgeable people other than me, just my opinion. :?

 

[rjm158]

I have used 100 gr BT's for deer hunting out of my 25-06's exclusively for the past 5-6 years. They kill very decisively on whitetails and are very accurate. I have absolutely no qualms about using them as a hunting bullet.

Perhaps out of a 257 Bee, the bullet might become a varmint load but out of a 25-06 or 257 Bob it would be a viable choice.

Ron

 

[Gm weatherby man]

rjm158, would you say they open up faster than the 100 grn ser. Boattail, I've loaded some for yotes, just curious. :?

 

[JD338]

rquack,

The 100 gr BT is a great combo bullet in the 257 Roberts. It kills both coyotes and deer like lighting.
I shot this coyote this past winter with a 100 gr BT from my M700 Classic 257 Roberts.

The 100 gr PT is also an excellent bullet for WT deer it you want to take out shoulders.

JD338

 

[Guy Miner]

You guys who have used the 100 gr Ballistic Tip on deer... What velocity were they running?

I've always been real careful about that - preferring to run a 115 a little slower on mule deer.

Guy

 

[cloverleaf]

In my 250 -3000 Savage I would not hesitate to use it as a deer bullet. I took my antelope at 264 yards and it broke the near side leg and continued on to punch a hole through both lungs. The goat walked in a circle, looked my way for a few seconds, and lay down to die. Not dramatic but entirely effective. Muzzle velocity is probably some where arond 2850 or so.... Lots of deer have fallen to the 100 gr BT I would guess. I think the balistics on the 110 AB and perhaps the 117 are a little better. I dont know what max velocity would be in the 25-06 but I would guesss it would take somthing to blow up the 100 gr BT on a shoulder. With a weatherby maybe, but I know of at least 2 people who have used them in the 25-06 with great success. If you are really worried there is always the 100 PT. Just my .02 CL

 

[257 Ackley]

I load for both the standard "bob" and the AI version, and would think the 100 grain BT should work for deer as long as you keep distances that you shoot reasonable. You may want to consider the 110 grain AB for this rifle as well. This is the bullet I use for whitetail in the 257's and 25-06.

 

[Bruce Mc]

I've been doing some tinkerin with the 100gr E-Tip. I've gotten some decent groups and the velocity is pretty decent at around 3100 fps. Seems like a perfect everything bullet for the Bob.

 

[rjm158]

Weatherby Man, it's just my opinion and guess but, yes, I think they would open faster than the Sierra.

Guy, I don't recall the velocity for certain but it would be in the vicinity of 3200-3250. I have hit deer in the shoulder area with the 100's and they punched through the shoulder bone and out the other side. In my experience using them on whitetail from 25-06's with both 22 and 24 inch barrels, the effect has been the same: it's as if God reached down with a big hammer and hit them in the head. Bang, flop, dress, drag.

I'm certainly not going to say it's impossible to blow up a BT on a shoulder shot, but I will say I've never had that problem out of any caliber I've shot'em in including a 7 Mag. They've always penetrated out the other side. (the sound you hear in the background is me knocking on wood)

Ron

 

[Ridge_Runner]

wanna know what its made for? look how its packaged, the thin skinned varmint bullets are 100 per box, the 2nd generation BT's designed for med game that are the same makeup as the old solid base boattails are packaged 50 per box, 100 gr are 50 per box, the 85's are 100 per box.
RR

 

[rick smith]

Have used the 100gr BT in a 257Roberts for years. It was my loaner rifle when I helped with the Take One Make One and Women in the Outdoors projects put on by our DNR. It has killed many whitetails several have been very good bucks.Rick.

 

[filmjunkie4ever]

My standard all-around load is a 100 grain BT on top of 53 grains of H4350 getting right between 3275-3300 fps. This is a good flat shooting load in my Remington 700 ADL. I would feel plenty safe shooting our mulies with this load and have done so on several occasions. The real reason I dropped down from the 120's to 100's though was because I started to use that rifle more for coyotes than deer though the 100 grain deer bullets such as the BT are more than adequate, You pick up about 150-200 fps at the muzzle and a few inches flatter trajectory. However in my opinion a 25-06 dedicated to deer hunting ought to use a 120 because its basically a 270 Winchester that way. A little more penetration though if you are worried about under penetration and want to use a 100 grainer no matter what, get the Partition or E-tip, or you could even go with the 110 AccuBond although the 110's never shot too well for me. A 100 grain load is a great all-around in any 25 caliber rifle though and will serve you very well!

 

[1Shot]

I have used both the 100 gr BT and Sierra out of a 25-06 to take a BUNCH of deer. They both open up quickly but they kill like lightening has struck a deer. If anything the BT does a better job on deer because of the thick base on the bullet which aids in holding things together better. My current 25-06 does not like boat tail bullets all that much. But it LOVES the 117 gr Sierra Pro Hunter flat base bullet and it kills like lightening struck also.

 

[efw]

I've always found the 100 gr interlock to be a fantastic bullet for deer in my 257 AI.

They perform wonderfully on deer, although they're questionable on accuracy. Here is a group I shot w/ my rifle's "magic load" at 200 yds while out w/ Jim (JD338) a while back:

The 100 gr Ballistic Tip hasn't shot well through my rifle for some reason. I'd not hesitate to shoot deer with it though, and have no doubt it'd be a great "one size fits all" solution to both deer and 'yotes if you're not concerned about pelt damage.

 

[FOTIS]

To me it is the perfect all around 25-06 slug.

 

[Ridge_Runner]

The first 5 years I owned my d'tech 25 wssm, I used the 115 gr BT, for the life of me I've never saw a better deer load than the 115 at 3000 fps, tried every angle I could and never recovered one, even on broadside double shoulder shots, tried the 110 accubonds for a year or 2 and they performed almost identicly to the 115's. would have used the 100 gr bt's but my rifle shot the 115's alot better.
RR

 

[JD338]

You guys who have used the 100 gr Ballistic Tip on deer... What velocity were they running?

I've always been real careful about that - preferring to run a 115 a little slower on mule deer.

Guy

I am running the 100 gr BT at 3000 fps out of my 257 Roberts.

JD338

 

[ElmerThud]

Nosler 100gn BT/IMR4350 x 52gn Fed 215M Gold primer 3353 fps Avg. Max spread 83fps.
That's what I've used on Red Deer Stags in Scotland, slightly smaller than Elk they take them down without fuss nor much meat damage - especially when neck shot!
They give me 1/4" MOA at 100 yards, as do Sierra Prohunter 1620 100gn Spitzer.
The rifle is .25-06 Rem. 20.5" barrel.
Cheers, ET

 

[NoslerMP]

Our .257 100gr. Ballistic Tip is built as a hunting bullet. All of the BTs are labeled as either "Hunting" or "Varmint" The BTs that are labeled "Hunting" are more heavily constructed than those labeled "Varmint." The "Hunting" line is designed for thin-skinned, medium-sized game such as Deer, Hogs, and Antelope. The "Varmint" line is designed for rapid expansion/fragmentation on varmints. On the website, or in the catalog, they are separated into two different categories based on intended use.
Feel free to contact me if you have any further questions.

Mason