.25 Cal (Quarter Bore) / Big Game Success - 25 Creed, 25-284, 25-06, 25 PRC, 25 SAUM

[sierracharlie338]

Bull elk, 25 creedmoor 580 yards for 2050fps impact

Not very good pictures, not very good shot placement, but I was happy with the performance.

One high lungs behind shoulder, recovered jacket under offside hide/in muscle tissue. Entrance not pictured but roughly 2.5” hole through the ribs.



A follow up shot: through the “knuckle” of front shoulder. Lots of damage, made it into the chest cavity. Was solo and tired and did not dissect to see how the internal damage was. There was a little bit of bloodshot on the opposite side shoulder but didn’t see much damage against offside rib cage.

What bullet Will?

 

[willfrye027]

Nice work -- what bullet?

What bullet Will?

Whoops. 134 ELDM.

Second elk with these bullets, they are performing as hoped/expected.

Not loving the recoil of my unbraked 25 creed tho. Got used to the 22cm which is a noticable stepdown..

 

[sierracharlie338]

Whoops. 134 ELDM.

Second elk with these bullets, they are performing as hoped/expected.

Not loving the recoil of my unbraked 25 creed tho. Got used to the 22cm which is a noticable stepdown..

Nice on bullet selection. I will be testing these in my creed this year also if the wife doesn't try to steal it again. Ran the Berger 135s last year without issue so expecting similar from the 134s.

 

[Poser]

25-06: Hornady 117 gr SST

 

[willfrye027]

Nice on bullet selection. I will be testing these in my creed this year also if the wife doesn't try to steal it again. Ran the Berger 135s last year without issue so expecting similar from the 134s.

I killed around a dozen animals with the 135s and they did fine. I really like the wound channel on the 134s..prefer the rapid expansion of the 134s to the longer neck length on the 135s mostly because I’m a deer hunter and sometimes a 4” neck length means you are only smashing one lung instead of two. And with a small sample size of two elk, I’d say the 134s are working just fine there. On deer they’ve been excellent, although I have not documented the destruction it’s been 5 or 6 with great results.

 

[sierracharlie338]

I killed around a dozen animals with the 135s and they did fine. I really like the wound channel on the 134s..prefer the rapid expansion of the 134s to the longer neck length on the 135s mostly because I’m a deer hunter and sometimes a 4” neck length means you are only smashing one lung instead of two. And with a small sample size of two elk, I’d say the 134s are working just fine there. On deer they’ve been excellent, although I have not documented the destruction it’s been 5 or 6 with great results.

Valid point as usual Will. Appreciate the feedback

 

[Quandary]

That must be a pretty warm load for sure, and what powder and COAL are you running? Berger's load data with a 26" barrel has N570 at 3142, Retumbo at 3103, and RE-33 at 3127, all well over 100% case fill with the 135 @ 3.25".

If you can get that MV safely in a 24", that would be awesome.

It is a spicey load. As with all load data this works in my rifle, work up on your rifle as this load may be to hot for your rifle. I am running 62.8 grs of Retumbo with the 133 Bergers EH at .025 OTL, 3,250 FPS at 832ft. Remember it is an Ackley so the case capacity is greater than a ruin of the mill 25-06. At 7,500ft where I was hunting it was faster and carries more than 2,000fps to well over 1,000 yards.

Here is the entrance wound;



I would not hesitate to use this round on an Elk. Although I did shoot my Elk with a 7PRC using the Berger 175EH which had incredible results.

 

[schmidty3]

+1 for the 25 prc.

133 gr @ 3090 fps.

430 yards. Smedium muley buck.

He fell just off camera.

Looked like I hit a click high, but centered up both lungs. Entry top of the cavity (small). Exit center (1.5" or so)

Damage wasn't quite as devastating as ive seen other hunting bergers. But definitely adequate. Nothing hard was hit. Also was surprised to not hear the thump of the bullet hit at that distance.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

It is a spicey load. As with all load data this works in my rifle, work up on your rifle as this load may be to hot for your rifle. I am running 62.8 grs of Retumbo with the 133 Bergers EH at .025 OTL, 3,250 FPS at 832ft. Remember it is an Ackley so the case capacity is greater than a ruin of the mill 25-06. At 7,500ft where I was hunting it was faster and carries more than 2,000fps to well over 1,000 yards.

Here is the entrance wound;

View attachment 959366

I would not hesitate to use this round on an Elk. Although I did shoot my Elk with a 7PRC using the Berger 175EH which had incredible results.

Roger that man, and that is some devastation. Attached is the 25-06AI QL data Berger shared with me that I was referencing.

 

[cal30_sniper]

+1 for the 25 prc.

133 gr @ 3090 fps.

430 yards. Smedium muley buck.

He fell just off camera.

Looked like I hit a click high, but centered up both lungs. Entry top of the cavity (small). Exit center (1.5" or so)

Damage wasn't quite as devastating as ive seen other hunting bergers. But definitely adequate. Nothing hard was hit. Also was surprised to not hear the thump of the bullet hit at that distance.

Great looking buck!

What barrel length are you running for that velocity from a PRC case? Any pressure signs?

 

[Quandary]

Roger that man, and that is some devastation. Attached is the 25-06AI QL data Berger shared with me that I was referencing.

That's the same data I received from Berger. I was very surprised by the velocity I was getting. But it is not an oddity as I chrono ever shot when practicing, sighting-in, working on load development. I must have gotten a fast barrel. It is a CRB with a hunting contour specified by Travis Stevens. 7.5 twist, with a free bore extended out to .182 rather than the standard .150. I am using Remington primers for this load. I am a barrel cleaner so it is not a carbon ring causing a pressure build. Travis does a great job chambering a barrel.

It's also interesting that with the old school 25 Ackley I am getting 200fps more than schmidty3 with a 25PRC.

 

[schmidty3]

Great looking buck!

What barrel length are you running for that velocity from a PRC case? Any pressure signs?

23.25" 1-7.5" PBB

Yes. Lol. They were fine for load dev. As I shot more, maybe 100+ without a deep clean and it heated up they started getting some bolt lift. I need to clean it out and pull out a few kernels.

My two practice shots the week before and the final shot had no pressure signs. So it's borderline. That's with 58 gr n565

Id also add that the thing is throated super short. If it was throated longer It'd probably get some more juice.

 

[cal30_sniper]

23.25" 1-7.5" PBB

Yes. Lol. They were fine for load dev. As I shot more, maybe 100+ without a deep clean and it heated up they started getting some bolt lift. I need to clean it out and pull out a few kernels.

My two practice shots the week before and the final shot had no pressure signs. So it's borderline. That's with 58 gr n565

Id also add that the thing is throated super short. If it was throated longer It'd probably get some more juice.

Thanks!

You’re at close to the velocity where I start to see pressure signs with my long-throat 20” 25-300WSM using N570. That seems about right for the extra barrel length on the smaller cartridge.

 

[ruger35]

Finally grabbed some Alpha brass the other day and wanting to get bullets to double for NRL and hunting. I’ve seen some people tout the 133 and others the 135.

Right now I’m shootng factory ELDM’s, but I know from measuring them for my 6.5CM they can be quite varying. My buddy reloads for me and he makes me separate them by length so it’s not fun lol. Sees like the 135s have no issues getting proper expansion hunting, would that be the consensus choice?

 

[willfrye027]

Finally grabbed some Alpha brass the other day and wanting to get bullets to double for NRL and hunting. I’ve seen some people tout the 133 and others the 135.

Right now I’m shootng factory ELDM’s, but I know from measuring them for my 6.5CM they can be quite varying. My buddy reloads for me and he makes me separate them by length so it’s not fun lol. Sees like the 135s have no issues getting proper expansion hunting, would that be the consensus choice?

My current 25 creedmoor is shooting 134s and has never shot a group larger than 1.2” for 10-15 shots. A few 15 shots under an inch.

I’d buy a box of each, see which shoots the best, but the 134s are my preference over the 135s and Berger’s in general.

 

[SlimCreaper25]

Thanks!

You’re at close to the velocity where I start to see pressure signs with my long-throat 20” 25-300WSM using N570. That seems about right for the extra barrel length on the smaller cartridge.

Where do we hear more info about this one?? Speed? Coal? Sounds cool


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cal30_sniper]

Where do we hear more info about this one?? Speed? Coal? Sounds cool


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just posted my first range report the other day. Need to load up some more and head back out:
25 Pronghorn Preliminary Range Report

 

[sierracharlie338]

Finally grabbed some Alpha brass the other day and wanting to get bullets to double for NRL and hunting. I’ve seen some people tout the 133 and others the 135.

Right now I’m shootng factory ELDM’s, but I know from measuring them for my 6.5CM they can be quite varying. My buddy reloads for me and he makes me separate them by length so it’s not fun lol. Sees like the 135s have no issues getting proper expansion hunting, would that be the consensus choice?

My 25 shoots the 134 and 135 very well. We used the 135s last year without issue on deer. Using the 134s this year because I bought some of the factory ammo and my gun likes it. If NRL is your primary goal with a little bit of hunting, the 133s are where you should look IMO. If hunting is primary with a match here or there then the 134s.

 

[Quandary]

I use the Berger 133s. Easy load development and very effective on game.

Finally grabbed some Alpha brass the other day and wanting to get bullets to double for NRL and hunting. I’ve seen some people tout the 133 and others the 135.

Right now I’m shootng factory ELDM’s, but I know from measuring them for my 6.5CM they can be quite varying. My buddy reloads for me and he makes me separate them by length so it’s not fun lol. Sees like the 135s have no issues getting proper expansion hunting, would that be the consensus choice?

 

[Kimber7man]

Finally grabbed some Alpha brass the other day and wanting to get bullets to double for NRL and hunting. I’ve seen some people tout the 133 and others the 135.

Right now I’m shootng factory ELDM’s, but I know from measuring them for my 6.5CM they can be quite varying. My buddy reloads for me and he makes me separate them by length so it’s not fun lol. Sees like the 135s have no issues getting proper expansion hunting, would that be the consensus choice?

COAL of those loaded rounds can be all over the place for sure. He should be measuring BTO to check for variance in length which matters more than COAL.