Wintertime and 25-06 bullets

[joelkdouglas]

Yep, wintertime. A season I try to take the wife and kids on at least one cross country ski vacation, get things in order, try to run and lift a bit more to get a good mileage/muscle base for the year. And a time to think about things that don't really matter...

If you had a good supply of 100 grain Partitions for a 25-06, would you consider trying the Barnes 100 TTSX? I know both bullets will kill deer and antelope just fine.

Or the same question, posed another way.

If you were walking the hills with both an elk tag and a deer tag in your pocket, and you wanted to take out the 25-06, what bullet (of those two) would you want loaded?

 

[DON]

Joel,
I wouldn't look past the Partition in the 25-06 for Elk. Given shot placement being the same for both bullets you suggest, I believe the outcome would be the same, one dead Elk. The Partition will not fail you. It's the only bullet my good friend in Colorado has used for years and has killed lots of Big Bulls with it. It's a proven bullet. I would use it with confidence.

Don

 

[JD338]

I would load up the 100 gr PT's. I do like more bullet weight so for elk, I would opt for the 115 gr PT.

JD338

 

[SJB358]

Partition all the way.... I'm sure the Barnes would be good but I can't see it working better.

I do agree with Jim, a little extra bullet weight wouldn't hurt none. That's the direction of go if I wanted to experiment.

Now we have some time to do some shooting Joel! Let's get that 25-06 cranking!

 

[R Flowers]

I shoot a 25-06 a lot, and my go to bullet was always the 100 grain Partition. That bullet will not fail you. My dad and I shoot a lot of hogs here in central CA and the 100 grain Partition has always performed great, as has the 115 grain Ballistic Tip.

However being in the middle of CA, I was forced to try something else. The 100 grain TSX works great as well. We were forced to switch, but I have to admit we have yet to have a hog get up and walk after being shot with the Barnes.

My dad and I and our buddies have shot deer, bear, hogs, coyotes, antelope, etc. etc. with the Barnes 100 grain TSX with NO complaints.

Having said that, if I had not been forced to change I would still be shooting 100 grain Partitions.
If it works, why change it?

 

[MrMinks2]

I have loaded and shot many Barnes 100 grn.TTSX & TSX bullets but have never equaled the accuracy that I attained with the Nosler 100 grn. Partition. I'd stick with Nosler.

 

[6mm Remington]

I would use the 100 gr. Partition out of those two. I use the 120 gr. Partition in my wife's 25-06 and it's take a couple elk with that bullet and the performance has been great.

 

[joelkdouglas]

Thanks gents...you're saving me money by putting my mind at ease!

And I don't really intend this load for elk, as that's normally my 30-06 with 180 PTs. But wouldn't it be nice to go out deer hunting and spook up a big 6x6 bull elk?

 

[JD338]

With proper shot placement, I wouldn't hesitate to use the 115 gr PT on elk.

257 Roberts 115 gr PT at 3100 fps recovered from water jugs at 20 yds. Bullet went through 5 jugs and was found in the dirt.
Bullet weighs 79.5 grs and expanded to .595".

JD338

 

[JD338]

And as a side note, the POI between the 100 gr and 115 gr is usually very close at 100 yds.

JD338

 

[Guy Miner]

I've used the older Barnes TSX 100 grainer from my .25-06, and penetration was impressive. But I do like my Partitions better. Violent expansion of the front end, and that doggone tail end of the bullet just keeps pushing.

Truly though, I don't have much against the Barnes bullet. I did see significantly more bore fouling in the .25-06 when I was using the TSX bullets. And did question if one of them even opened up at all, but it was a very dead mule deer anyway. The TTSX or the Barnes E-Tip should be a vast improvement in that area.

Also, I don't bother with special "coyote loads" from my .25-06, I just use the same hunting loads. Never have to change my sight-in or my handloads that way. The loads intended for 250 pound mule deer work just fine on 30 pound coyotes too.

JD338's comment about 100's and 115's having about the same point of impact has certainly been true for my rifle as well.

Regards, Guy