Blue Cyclone has a Rival... :)

[Guy Miner]

This is just a teaser... But recent testing revealed a very strong rival for my 115 grain "Blue Cyclone" 25-06 load...

Yes, it involves a Nosler bullet.

Will the established king of my mule deer hunting be de-throned?

Stay tuned...

I've had a lot of fun with calling the great 115 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets the "Blue Cyclone" over the years and they've done great for me. But... I got curious about some other bullets and powders. Glad that I did. More in a week or so.

Guy

 

[nhenry]

Oh, come on Guy!
Side note: what load was the "Blue Cyclone?" I load the 115s over IMR 4831 but I'm always down for learning other peoples' preferred loads.

 

[SJB358]

This is just a teaser... But recent testing revealed a very strong rival for my 115 grain "Blue Cyclone" 25-06 load...

Yes, it involves a Nosler bullet.

Will the established king of my mule deer hunting be de-throned?

Stay tuned...

I've had a lot of fun with calling the great 115 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets the "Blue Cyclone" over the years and they've done great for me. But... I got curious about some other bullets and powders. Glad that I did. More in a week or so.

Guy

Interested in seeing what you come up with here Guy….

 

[DrMike]

Hmmm! Could be the 100 grain ETip or the 115 grain BST. I like both in other calibers. Interested to see your report, Guy.

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Maybe He has found some 110AB Dan

 

[Guy Miner]

Oh, come on Guy!
Side note: what load was the "Blue Cyclone?" I load the 115s over IMR 4831 but I'm always down for learning other peoples' preferred loads.

Nosler's book maximum of 57.5 grains of Retumbo, with the 115 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip. I use Federal 210 match primers and have used several different brands of brass over the years.

It churns up about 3150 fps with reliable 3/4" accuracy at 100 yards. I've shot coyotes out beyond 400 yards with it, as well as a couple of pronghorns, and several mule deer at ranges near and far over the years. It's done a good job for me.

It was fast, effective & blue tipped, and I remembered that old Ray Stevens song "Blue Cyclone" So I named the load. It's been kinda fun referring to it that way here on the forum, for quite a few years.

Link to the silly song:

Regards, Guy

 

[TackDriver284]

What is the new rival of those Cyclones? The suspense is getting high.

Retumbo is a nice powder, I'm sure it filled that case to the necks. I used it for my 7 Mag and 160 AccuBond a while back.

 

[FOTIS]

Interested in seeing what you come up with here Guy….

Me too

 

[1100 Remington Man]

I taking a guess at the Nosler 110 AB. Why I bet you are looking for a bullet just a little tougher up close.

 

[Johnly]

I shoot 59 gr. of Retumbo in my 25-06 with the 115 BT and get 3164 fps.
Pressures seem reasonable in >>my rifle<< and Gordon's software shows it below 60kpsi.

 

[wisconsinteacher]

I'm guessing 110 AccuBonds as well. SPS had them on sale a few weeks ago so Guy might have been shopping. I use them in my 25-06 and they smack the heck out of deer.

 

[grry10]

If you are looking for heavy, I like the 120 grain Speer SPBT over RE-19 in my .257 Ackley Improved. But I have not seen them in stock anywhere for a while.

 

[Bruce Mc]

I bought a bunch of 115 Partitions from the pro shop a couple years ago and just haven't got around to working them out. Maybe a Partition.

 

[ShadeTree]

If you are looking for heavy, I like the 120 grain Speer SPBT over RE-19 in my .257 Ackley Improved. But I have not seen them in stock anywhere for a while.

Grry, what kind of bullet performance are you seeing out of those on game? I know they will work very well out there a ways, but how do they do up close? Curious as I have a 257 AI myself and see they quit making the standard 120 gr HC.

 

[grry10]

So far I've taken 3 whitetails (188 yds, 174 yds, and 90 yds) with that load and all were one-shot kills. The buck at 188 traveled about 40 yards but left a good blood trail. The buck at 174 dropped on the spot and the buck at 90 went about 5 yards. All were pass-through, so no recovery.

I've also taken one buck at 188 yds (same spot) with 100 grain NBT. The buck traveled another 120 yards through a marsh with no blood trail.
There was complete cup and core separation and only about 30% of the core was recovered. The jacket was lodged between two ribs on the far side. Shot placement was a little high but still double lunged. I shot a second buck with the same NBT at 190 yds that was never recovered. After that, I pulled the bullets and have not used them again.

Last year I was out of the Speer 120 gr SPBTs and used Speer 120 gr Grand Slams. Shot a buck at 164 yards that went another 10 yds with good blood. The bullet passed through and was not recovered.

I would love to see Nosler produce a .257 120 gr ABLR as I think it would compare well with the Speer for a .257 Ackley.

 

[ShadeTree]

Thanks Grry. That gives me a pretty good description on performance and what they will take. I know the SPBT in the Speer's run pretty soft compared to the HC's, but if you got exits on all including the 90 yarder they aren't too soft. Imagine you're pushing them decent speed out of an AI. Thanks.

 

[cloverleaf]

The real question is: will we see Guy in a Blue hood and cape....?!?!??? CL

 

[filmjunkie4ever]

Well Guy Miner...let's have it? How long are we going to be kept in suspense?