Ok guys, this is my question. I have both of these rifles and will use them to hunt deer this year. I wonder though about the speed of the bullets from my 25-06 vs my 6.5x55. My 6.5 shoots 140 grain bullets at 2400 FPS while my 25-06 shoots 100 grain bullets at 3200 FPS. I guess I'm wondering about effective knock down power between the two. I used to hunt with my 7mag and hunted with 139 grain hornady spire point. It traveled about 2900 FPS and I found that most of the deer I shot ran a long ways after the shot where the deer I've shot with my 6.5 at 2400 FPS almost always fell dead after 10-20 yards. So would the perfomance of the 25-06 at 3200 FPS be similar?

Knock down is bs. The deer dropping faster just means a part of the central nervous system was damaged more. There is no way to guarantee a animal will drop or not go far unless spine is hit like a high shoulder shot or you break the shoulder and take their wheels.

I love my 25-06 for whitetails. I have shot a lot with it and I have never had to go track one.

Funny you say that but I use to blow out the shoulder with my 7 mag and always destroyed the shoulder I took out and theyd take off running albeit on three legs but since I started shooting just behind it I've found they don't run very far at all.

I have both calibers and found both more than match on any deer.

X2

what you are describing is a bullet problem, not a cartridge problem. If The bullet destroys his shoulder and does not penetrate to the vitals, then the bullet is being pushed too fast for its design. Use a heavier bullet of a similar design or a stouter bullet, and your results will be entirely different.

"The bullet is more important than the head stamp"

+1

yep, if you hit shoulder bone at high velocity (close range with the 7mag for example) with a cup and core (traditional softpoint) it may blow up on impact and not penetrate to the vitals.

Correct shot placement with the right bullet wins.

I don't have the exact answer to your question, but I have info that might apply:

- 100 gr bullet in 25-06 will do 3200ish and will do just slightly less in a 260 (or probably in a modern 6.5-55). Probably not enough diff there to worry about.

- 100 gr Nosler BT in my 260 at 3000ish versus a 120 gr Nosler BT at approx. 2800, and I can tell you without hesitation that the 120 gr bullet does a better job on whitetail. I would expect that the 140 grainer would do even better. When I switched from a 270 to mostly a 260, I started out with the 120 gr bullet for hunting. I really was amazed at how well it put down whitetails. Then, purely in the search for more MV, I switched to the 100 gr Nosler. Still kills em, but not as dramatically fast.

The best on game effectiveness I have found for "lights out" is the 140g Accubond out of my 280AI.

That includes shooting ALL kinds of calibers with good shot placement.

Not all bullets are created equal. Bullet preformace is based off what its designed todo at certain velocity. For instance a 100gr partition at 3300 mz will have much better penetration and performace under 200 yards then say a 115vld at a MZ 3100. But over 300-400 the vld will have better results because its designed for lower impact velocities

Guys I never said the bullet didn't penetrate. It did but the deer ran forever and even though I took out a shoulder they seldom fell, they took off running. In retrospect I should have shot a heavier bullet but this round was just so incredibly accurate out of the rifle. Literally could put three rounds into the exact same hole with only a little feathering that allowed you to know three rounds thru it.

90gr BTHP for the 25-06 has never failed me. 100gr Rem coreloks havent either. Really enjoy shooting the 25-06

Deerhunter, in my experience (about 50 years of deer hunting), sometimes they just don't go down easy. In a lung shot, unless the deer sees you, they don't know what happened. They'll run a bit, get weak, wobble a bit, stand for a bit, and finally lay down. Gotta give em time to lay down or they'll just keep going and tuff it out till they drop. And that might take a while.

Some years ago I had a real monster buck come by me. I let fly with my 270 at about 275 yards (130 gr Ballistic Tip), and took out his heart (as I found out later). He just put it in high gear and ran right through an icy creek and into a one acre briar patch. He died at full speed and it sounded like a car wreck when he piled up in the palmettos. But he made it a good 100 yards. Plenty of blood trail, but he was one of those old tough ones. A bigger bullet or faster bullet or solid copper bullet would have made no difference at all.

Just shoot em in the lungs or heart. They won't go too far if you do that. Hoping to smash bone by shooting them in the shoulder (and missing the lungs) might or might not work. And I don't neck shoot em and I don't head shoot em.

^^ I saw this happen this past weekend. Blake puts a 130gr ballistic tip in a 12pt on Spade, hit it directly in the shoulder. Half of the buck's shoulder blade was sitting on the ground where he was shot. 5 hours later and about 600 yards, we found the buck. completely destroyed that one shoulder, but due to his extreme angle that he took the shot. Bullet never made it to the vitals, and the buck bled out (slow and terrible) through that busted leg. Just glad we found him... the blood trail was sparse at best.

That 25-06 is hard to beat. It has great ballistics, plenty of power, and anyone can shoot it without taking a beating.

I am handloading 140 grain Gamekings in my 6.5x55 with a MV of 2750 fps. Are you using PRVI ammo in your 6.5x55.

Well said!


Chupa

Am I using PRVI, what does that stand for?

Company


Ammunition factory Prvi Partizan is situated in southwestern part of Serbia, in town Uzice, 200 km away from Belgrade, the capital. PPU has been producing ammunition for 80 years now, since 1928, when its founded. PPU has supplied Serbian Army and Police, many foreign Armies and it also produces hunting and sporting ammunition, that is being sold all over the world. The factory has four production facilities, employs more than 600 workers and it takes important part in economy of its region.

Prvi Partizan company produces:
•
SMALL ARMS AMMUNITION

•
SPORTING AND HUNTING AMMUNITION

•
APFSDS AMMUNITION

•
EQUIPMENT FOR AMMUNITION PRODUCTION

•
TOOLS FOR AMMUNITION PRODUCTION

•
MEDICAL EQUIPMENT

•
OTHER PRODUCT

•
ENGINEERING

I'm partial to all things 6.5, but it's probably no better on whitetail. Just use whichever rifle is more comfortable off hand.

^^^^^This^^^^^

Any 7mag bullet I would shot would leave them pushing themselves with hind legs. If you made a broad side(no angle) shoulder shot and it only went into 1 shoulder you have a bullet problem.

Guys,

The bullet would go all the way through....

I don't understand how a bullet could "blow out" the on-side shoulder, and then exit, without then taking out the off-side shoulder (in which case the deer couldn't run on only 2 legs) or damage the heart/lungs or spinal cord.

In any case, a high shoulder shot typically anchors a deer right there, while a behind the shoulder. heart/lung shot generally results in a short death run until the brain runs out of O2. These are not absolutes. Often a deer, particularly hit with a high velocity, rapid expanding bullet thru the lungs will drop quickly. But as has been stated, only a CNS hit ensures a DRT result.

Heavier, slower bullets into the lungs generally result in slower kills and more runners than shoulder shots. Your experience is counter to what most frequently happens.