Factory Ammo Recommendations

[Gonewest]

I've been pretty happy with Hornady Superformance for factory ammo.

 

[Husker hunter]

I have a savage axis in 25-06, & have tried lots of different factory ammo. Federal premium 100 grain ballistic tip is by far the most accurate from my gun. Have taken 2 deer with those & they dropped instantly.

 

[uncle sage]

Thanks for all the helpful comments so far - At this point I am going to buy one box each of Hornady SST (95 grain for the .243 and 117 grain for the 25-06); Federal Fusion (95 grain for the .243 and 120 grain for the 25-06); Hornady Whitetail (a boat tail interlock bullet) (100 grain for the .243 and 117 grain for the 25-06); and Remington Core-Lokt PSP (100 grain for the .243 and 120 grain for the 25-06) and see which loads the guns like best. If there is any interest I will report back what I find in a month or so (life is busy). My buddies will be shooting .243 & 25-06 as their primaries with the .270 and 7mm-08 as their backups but I don't know what model rifles they have. I am going to recommend that they test the same four factory types as me, but who knows what they are thinking at this point. [Great friends, solid hunters, but not always great at taking advice ]

When i was younger, i shot a lot of deer, maybe 50 or so, with the SST's but mostly Core-lokt ammo. They both killed like all bullets do but I unnecessarily blew a lot of meat to jelly that was completely wasted and had to be thrown away, especially if you hit any kind of front shoulder bone on the way in. The 25-06 with corelokts is cheap stuff sure enough but i'll never use them again in my life, even for antelope which really don't take that much killing. my $.02

 

[VikingsGuy]

When i was younger, i shot a lot of deer, maybe 50 or so, with the SST's but mostly Core-lokt ammo. They both killed like all bullets do but I unnecessarily blew a lot of meat to jelly that was completely wasted and had to be thrown away, especially if you hit any kind of front shoulder bone on the way in. The 25-06 with corelokts is cheap stuff sure enough but i'll never use them again in my life, even for antelope which really don't take that much killing. my $.02

What do you use now?

 

[uncle sage]

If a guy digs around, there are quite a few good bullets, many mentioned above, on the market these days but i really like what Accubonds do on game. My last Muley buck, you could just about see clear through, lol, push a broom stick through the wound channel yet hardly any meat was totally wasted. I use and recommend Accubonds and in the 25-06, i think the factory 110gr accubond by Doubletap is near impossible to beat.

edit. I just ordered two more boxes of Doubletap 110gr Accubond 25-06 ammo, $44.+ a box and free shipping from the Doubletap website. I have some 400-500yd range work yet to do with the 2 boxes i have had and I feared that there could be a run on this particular ammo, only to later find them sold out, so i got it now, no worries.

 

[Brian in Montana]

Try some Hornady American Whitetail before you try anything else. I've had great luck with them. Very, very good bullets for what you pay. They will do a more than adequate job on any antelope out there.

 

[VikingsGuy]

Try some Hornady American Whitetail before you try anything else. I've had great luck with them. Very, very good bullets for what you pay. They will do a more than adequate job on any antelope out there.

Definitely on the to be tested list.

 

[VikingsGuy]

I have a savage axis in 25-06, & have tried lots of different factory ammo. Federal premium 100 grain ballistic tip is by far the most accurate from my gun. Have taken 2 deer with those & they dropped instantly.

With an Axis referral, adding this to the test list.

 

[JohnCushman]

I have an Axis 25-06 (pre accutrigger) and it shoots 120 grain Fusions second to none. Second not only in accuracy, but in killing ability.

 

[Dr. Vette]

I've had great success on both deer and antelope with Federal Fusion as well as Winchester PowerMax bonded. Both can be very accurate, and very deadly, And, you can't beat the price.
The PowerMax works so well in a couple of rifles that I bought it by the case, as I can't handload anything as cheap, accurate and deadly.

Nosler's Ballistic Tip Ammunition is also high on the list, better if you can get it on sale:
https://www.nosler.com/ballistic-tip-ammunition/

The Barnes Vor-TX is also a top performer.

Hornady's SST is a good bullet, but I have yet to get Superformance ammo to shoot well in any rifle, and I've tried it in several in different calibers. Plenty of partial boxes of it for sale.
So, given the option I usually now avoid it. Superformance has, for me, been a big disappointment.

There you go, from lowest price to highest what I'd buy if I were trying out new ammo. I'd start at the top of the list with the least expensive and go from there.

 

[airlocksniffer]

Fusion. Just plain works.

 

[50bowhunter]

Not a big fan of SST's. No doubt they kill stuff dead, but those things are like grenades inside an animal. By far the worst meat damage I've seen. I've used them in a 270 at 3200+ and a 6.8spc at 2500fps, with the same results. I find myself going to more controlled expansion bullets. I would say fusions, accubonds, and good old partitions are about perfect. Especially in bullets traveling >3000fps.

 

[VikingsGuy]

Thanks for all the input. Basis this discussion I selected 5 different factory ammos for each of my two new 'lope guns (a .243 22" and a 25-06 24"). I use the general criteria for deer sized animals of >1,000 ftlbs energy and >2,000 fps at point of impact, and with a sectional density >0.210. I set a personal limit of a 350yd shot in a hunting setting. Certainly all 12 of these will certainly kill a 'lope. Now I just need to see which shoot best out of my particular guns and to correct the actual muzzle velocities . My final choice will be based upon maximum accuracy and minimum drift. Here is a chart of the basic ballistic info I am using. I will update with actual shooting results in a month or so.

 

[mevertsen]

I think you are over analyzing it. Pick one, shoot it and make sure it's accurate. Having less wind drift means nothing if you don't have any time to actually practice in wind with the round you are using. Any of the ammo listed will work. I would step it down to at most 3 types per gun. 2 should be enough to get you the information you need. And you have to practice out to 400 yards if that's how far you plan to shoot. The charts are absolutely useless in this discussion. Season is approaching fast.

 

[Mthuntinfool]

For antelope, the choice is easy.
1. Does it shoot well in your rifle?
2.Is it designed for deer sized game and not for elk/moose?
If the answer is yes to both, then you are set, and go have a good time!

 

[VikingsGuy]

I think you are over analyzing it. . . . The charts are absolutely useless in this discussion. Season is approaching fast.

I come from a background of shooting deer at 50 yds with a scoped 30-30 with little to no wind in the heavy woods. If it went bang, it worked - so cheap corelokt was an easy buy. Now as I look to start western style hunting I figured ammo choice would be more important for the 150-300 yds shots I expect to be shooting from. Add to that countless posts (here and elsewhere) about bullet x is great, no I hate bullet x, terminal velocity, terminal expansion, hand load ladders, heavy bullets for the wind, light bullets for the velocity, etc, etc. So, I started the spreadsheet because quite frankly I expected to see significant variations in performance and cost. In hindsight, they all sit on top of each other and the deciding factor will be whatever my guns like best, as these will all get the job done.

 

[cgarner]

Do your test and see which one shoots best in your rifle. Also, don't forget about BC. Hopefully the one that shoots the best also has the best BC.

 

[25/06 Rem]

I have shot a boatload of deer with both the 115 Nosler Ballistic Tip and 110 Accubond in 25/06. I think either would work great. I've only shot a couple deer with the 7/08 (out of an Encore pistol) and used 120 Ballistic Tips and 140 Accubond. In the .243, I've always used 95 grain Partitions. You could probably find a bullet with a better BC for goats. Those are my preferences. The good news is that a wide range of bullets will work for antelope.

 

[Don Fischer]

Your hunting Antelope, bullet's won't really matter that much. In the 25-06 I have shot the 117/120gr bullet for years. Actually it's 117, I reload. I have used the 100gr in the 25-06 but you want to be fairly careful where you place the shot. In my 25-06 they were traveling over 3300fps, measured, and ht like a bomb. IMO the 100gr is to fragile for the 25-06. Great shooting though! In the 243 I have taken deer with three shots but just don't care to hunt them with one anymore. The three I have shot were two with 100 gr spire points and one with a 75gr bullet. All went down where they stood. I think and I really just think as I never tried them, a 87 to 90gr bullet would be fine in antelope. My experience with the 7mm-08 and the 270 is zero. But I have used the 7x57 quite a bit. Relating that to the 7mm-07, the 140 gr bullet's worked well for me. Keep in mind which ever you do get, just be sure they are bullet's designed for hunting big game. It is not necessary to have any kind of premium bullet. Antelope are pretty fragile.

 

[Gr8bawana]

I must agree with the statement that it's not necessary to spend the extra $$ on premium bullets for antelope especially given your self imposed limit of 350 yards.