Originally Posted By: brdeanoOriginally Posted By: Steve Timm
Originally Posted By: canineshooterI also used to read your writing for Varmint Hunter mag. Great to have you here.
Quick question for you Steve. Why have you prefered the 100 BT in a 25-06 or 250 ackly over the 115 Bt? I have been using the 115 BT in a 25-06 but only shot 3 deer and around 15 coyotes with this bullet. I have been thinking of trying the 100 BT but was worried about performance on big game and wind bucking ability until I came across this thread. You have shot far more game than I ever will.
I say more stories also, great reading!
Hi,
I've killed deer and antelope with just about every weight of bullet possible in the .25-'06. After having done that, I very much settled on the 100-grain bullets and either the Nosler Ballistic Tip or the Hornady Spire Point Interlocked (just plain cheap red box boolits). Both work superbly.
I guess a case could be made that the heavy bullets drift less and they might be proved a bit flatter over looooong range. On the other hand, they also increase the recoil a bit.
In using the .25-'06 and .250 Ackley, I'm trying to utilize and enjoy each cartridge for what it is. It seems to me that by loading 115, 117 and 120-grain bullets, you're getting pretty close to the .270. In which case, why not just buy a .270?
Also my experience has been that the 100s simply electrocute deer and antelope. They take the bullet and die right there. My experience with the 115s and 120s is that they take the bullet and run off for a bit until they die. Perhaps it's where I place the bullet or something, but after having killed a passle of deer and goats, the 100s simply blow the life out of them.
I've never recovered a 100-grain Ballistic Tip and I've only found one Hornady Interlocked. The penetration of 100s is not a problem, for hunters who insist on two holes.
The 100s fly quite flat and have a decided advantage within game ranges.
All in all, I've proved to myself that the 100s are for me. I've matured waaay past the point where I believe everybody should use what I do. But, for me, I'll take the 100s and I'm a happy guy.
Oh, I should mention that twice I've been caught with my pants down in areas where both deer and elk were legal and I was set for deer and carried 100s in my gun and a legal bull turned up. In both instances, I've killed the bull elk deader than a doorbell and the bullets sailed right through. Each bull required but a single 100-grain Ballistic and the exit hole in each case was about 1.5-inches. Both were shot cleanly behind the shoulder and they died identically ... simply planted their nose in the dirt and rolled over quite sincerely dead.
My good buddy, who has at least equal experience to me, Johnny Barsness, champions the heavy-weight bullets in the .25s. Johnny really loves the 115s and 120s. That has been his experience and I will never argue with a man who has spent his lifetime in the bush and has come up with a different conclusion than I have on bullet weight.
A few of my readers have asked, "How can you get along with that Barsness fella?? He came up with a different conclusion about bullets." Actually, Johnny and I have roomed together lots and are the best of buddies. He shoots 115-grainers in his .257 and God Bless Him. I shoot 100s in my .25-'06 and am happier than a hog in slop. It ain't a matter of friendship or who's right; it's a matter of using the equipment in which you have the most confidence ... and that confidence comes from many years of experience in the bush and killing lots of critters.
Hope this helps, God Bless You,
Steve
Steve, after doing a bunch of reading, and some of your old posts specifically, I've decided that I'm going to run the Nosler 100BT in my 25-284 for everything from woodchuck's to whitetails. I'm thinking it'll do nicely. Brad.
Hey Brad,
I've had the experience of not only killed lots of critters with the 100-grain Ballistic Tip in my .25-'06, but having watched my bride kill many.
I know my wife is a killer, but I simply cannot keep myself from watching her animal as she shoots it. I'm in bipod and zoomed up to 10X or 14X (the max for the particular scope) and I'm carefully watching the bullet strike and the animal's reaction.
Trust me, if Karen screwed up, I would send a second bullet on its way in one nano-second, to correct the problem.
Karen has killed perhaps thirty (maybe more) deer and antelope with me laying beside her and watching. I have never had to fire a single round at one of her .250 Ackley kills. They take the bullet, usually tight behind the shoulder and they have one of two reactions: either the drop at the shot DRT or they hump/kick and make a struggle before dropping.
The occasional antelope is holed behind the shoulder and takes off at Mach 10; fifty yards out there appears to be a hitch in his front legs and 55 yards out, he drops in a cloud of dust.
These are precisely the same reactions I get with my .25-'06. My shots behind the shoulder tend to tear the heart from the pericardial sac because I often find the bare heart laying in the bottom of the thoractic cavity. Almost always, the aorta is blown off and the heart is still prime for dinner (that's good because I LOVE heart more than any other part of the animal).
Exit holes, sat at 200 yards, on a broadside antelope with my .25-'06, tend to be on the order of 1.5" to 2". I try to set up the shots, so I can avoid an angle that would send my Ballistic Tip into the shoulder, so I try for a slightly onward angle rather than a slightly going away.
When I do my job of shooting with the aorta destroyed and the far shoulder not affected, I lose practically no meat. Maybe two ounces of rib lifters.
And the critters are most sincerely dead.
Hope this give you a few forensics that will be helpful.
Steve
