.257 Partition 115gr vs 120gr

Guybo

Handloader
Aug 4, 2005
349
77
I was just going over some data and am curious as to why nosler makes 2 partitions in .25cal so close together in weight and why and how does a guy choose one over the other? I know the velocities would be higher with the 115 but are there other factors to consider with the 5 gr +/- difference? Thank You! Mike
 
I'd like to hear the reasoning behind this too. I know that Nosler discontinued the 115 gr for a while and aggravated a lot of .25-06 fans. My thought has always been that the 120 is best suited for the .257 Weatherby and the 115 best suited for the .25-06 and the slightly lighter bullets are also faster from my Bob. Maybe it has to do with barrel twist in smaller .25s like the 3000.
 
I was going to suggest that the reason was the original 257 Mark V rifles had a 1:12 twist, newer rifles have 1:10. That was why Weatherby offered the short Hornady 117gr Round-nose loading, a very odd bullet style for this caliber.
Running both bullets through the Berger stability program shows them both marginally stable in 1:12 barrels with the shorter 115gr somewhat better.
Something similar to the 6mm partitions where both a 95gr and 100gr partitions are offered. ?????
Somebody from Nosler would have to confirm...
 
This is but one example. There are so doggone many bullets avail in so many weights and configurations...

Might as well ask: "Why, in .30 cal, do we have: 150, 155, 165, 168, & 175 gr bullets?" :mrgreen:

Why? Because somebody out there wanted them. Liked them enough to pay for them. If there's enough demand to make a profit, the bullet makers will produce the bullets.

I think it's kind of crazy too, to have .25 cal: 100, 110, 115, 117 and 120 gr bullets... But, there they are...

Guy
 
There are also (though not all Nosler) 75,85,87,and 90 Grain weights in .25. I am grateful for those as I shoot the smaller .25's. 75 and 100 Grainers are my bread and butter. I would like to try some 110 Grainers eventually. As to twist rates, to my limited knowledge 1:10 is the most common for the caliber and is usually needed to stabilize bullets 100gr and above (depending on profile of course).

So far the 87 Gr's I tried wouldn't shoot no matter what. the old 90 Gr. TSX shot well but rumor says but they don't expand so hot and they fouled my barrel so bad I never finished the 20 rounds I loaded..... Cant say "why" but Im glad there are some options. Now if they just made the 75gr's a little more often and a 110 and 90 Grain BT..... :) CL
 
Troy, what are your favorite 75 and 100 gr bullets for your 250/3000? I'm curious to know.
 
gerry":2k6zmy8o said:
Troy, what are your favorite 75 and 100 gr bullets for your 250/3000? I'm curious to know.
Hornady 75 gr vmax over 40 gr of 4350 and a 100 gr BT over 35 gr of 4064. CL
 
Thanks, they obviously have worked well for you over the years.
 
There are still a lot of .250 Savages and .257 Roberts rifles out there. They both can be found in 1:10 and 1:12 twist barrels. If I want a Partition bullet for my .257 Roberts, I have to use the 115 grain PT for larger game and longer ranges.

Most of the time, I use the 110 AccuBond and it works fine. I use my .257 for deer and the 110 gr AccuBond is very fast and accurate.
 
I have three .25 caliber rifles, an M94 25-35, .257 Robt. and a Ruger #1B in 25-06. That Hornady 117 gr. RN is for the 25-35 and .257 Robt. as it will not stabilize any 120 gr. bullet I've tried. I'll have to pick up some of those 115 gr. bullets and give them a try. AFAIK, Hornady has discontinued that 117 gr. round nose bullet. :x
Paul B.
 
I have no idea why either, but run 120 PTs in my brothers 257 Wby and 115 PT's in my wifes 25-06.. No reason at all, just cause. Both work pretty well. Can't really say either works better as they have both been decent on deer.
 
There are a lot of great points about why there are two weights for the .25 caiber Partition quite close to each other. Generally, let the rifle decide which one is more accurate since either one is going to plow down deer or any other game animal it hits. If you don't want to get both, I would say go with the 120gn bullet in teh 257 Wby and the 115gn in the slower cartridges and spend the time on load development to get the exact load----but only change one thing at a time, such as powder weight, seating depth/COL and primer brand.
 
I'm sticking with the 115's for the .25-06, but that could be because I've got about 800 left, split 50/50 between Ballistic Tips and Partitions. Dang they work nicely, on the range and in the field.

BTW, to add yet another bullet weight to the discussion - I've used the 100 grain bullets from my .25-06, at about 3340 fps muzzle velocity, and found that they too are superb killers of deer sized game.

Guy
 
I have not shot but a few 115 grain bullets in my .257 R but the 110 Accubonds are so accurate and fast at 3150 fps that I can't get too excited about the 115 grain for the .257 Roberts. But to each his own.
 
Having a 25-06 in the house since the mid 80's I have pretty much tried them all at one time or another. I started with the 100gr bullets in the Ballistic Tip, then the Partition, then after the first deer season I decided I needed something a bit heavier.

Unfortunately at the time there were no 115's to be found, until I spoke with the rep who services this area. I had to order 5 boxes to get them but was not disappointed in the least once they arrived. I had also tried the 120gr Solid Base which while accurate just wasn't getting the velocity I wanted without pushing things more than I wanted to.

Those 115's and later when they came out the 110gr AccuBond using the identical load will both group under an inch at 200yds from our rifle if we do our part. The only thing I found lacking with the 110rg is they don't seem to anchor the hogs we shoot unless you put it in their ear. The Partitions though, slam on through their shoulder and it's time to get the skinnin knife out.

Over the past couple of years I have been playing with my 25-06 AI and found a new use for the 120gr SB. Those are tripping the gate on my chrony at 3350fps out of a 28" barrel and between myself and a friend who had never shot the rifle before we put two of them within an inch of each other at 300yds. Any closer ranges, and that rifle gets boring to shoot pretty quick. I suppose I am probably going to pick up some of the 120gr Partitions to try out soon, since I loaded up the last of my SB's on Wednesday. Luckily however I had picked up a decent supply of 120gr Remington CL's initially to sue for fire forming and pig hunting. They will group right in there with the Solid Base out to around 400yds before they start to drift a bit more.

For me, it would be awesome to see a 115 or 117, or even a 120gr AccuBond come out. I just think the 110gr is a bit light for the velocities that are safely achievable with some of the powders out today. When talking hig velocity thee is a LOT to be said for sectional density. I know there would be the argument that it would be too long to stabilize, but they said the same thing when I was begging them to come out with a 115gr BT, and look at its popularity and how well it shoots.
 
Try some of each and the one that shoots the best is what I would shoot! Great bullets in that caliber!!
 
Not a huge sample, but I pulled this load with the 120 PT straight outta the Nosler Manual, used RL25, 120 PT, Norma cases and CCI250's..



I zeroed it up for them.

They proceeded to take three whitetails with it this year. No DRT's, but none of the deer went more than about 45-50 yards with copious blood to follow them..







My little brothers seem to really like the 257 Weatherby and they aren't complaining about the ammo either..
 
Great group, and end results, well the smiles say it all.

I will probably try out some of the 115's I already have on hand and pick up at least a box of the 120's to give a run as well. I'm loading the 120 SB's in my AI version with Ramshot Magnum, and it rocks for the purpose.

In our standard version I use 56.5grs of RL-22, which I worked for the 115gr, up after seeing it listed in the Hornady manual for their 117gr bullet. It will group like that as well, and has put some nice trophies on the wall for my daughter.
 
I have not shot any 110 AB's in a .25-06 because I sold mine before Nosler made the Accubonds. I shoot the 110 AB's in my .257 Roberts, my only .257 rifle, because they stabilize and are extremely accurate. Plus, they kill deer just fine. If I was going to hunt hogs, I would use my .270 or .30-06 with Partitions.
 
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