So, I shot a deer late yesterday evening with a 25 caliber 70 grain Sierra Blitzking. One of my buddies strongly urged against it but kind of needed to check it out for myself. Having killed many in the past (and my daughter still does) with hornady v-max bullets in the 50-55 grain range out of the 223 and even a few with the 40 gr NBT out of the 22 hornet, the 70 gr BK didn’t seem like a stretch to me. However, at 3600 FPS, it definitely doesn’t perform as well as the others I don’t think. Heck, the 75 gr v-max in the 243 has done very well for several guys I know and I’ve used it a couple times myself without issue. Bullets in the 257 diameter tend to be quite volatile anyway and I’m guessing that’s why it expanded as fast as it did. Deer died quickly but left no blood for obvious reasons so didn’t find it until today. Temps were in the low 20’s last night or I’d spent more time looking. He veered off into some high grass and was dead before I’d even crossed the fence. Walked within 5’ of it while looking last night but couldn’t see it with the 4’-6’ tall grass. Did it work? Yes. Would I do it again? No. I’m sure someone will read this and complain about my choice of calibers/bullets over the years and I’m totally prepared for that. Just giving some input on the findings is all. And just to state a simple fact, it’s not my typical hunting rig. Have shot deer with everything from the Hornet through 338 win mag. Typically lean on the 308 or something in the 7mm family these days. Again, just stating that it’s not something I’d do twice or use on larger deer.

Did you ever shoot a coyote with one of those? what did it look like?

A GameKing would have been a better choice I think

OP Quote "Bullets in the 257 diameter tend to be quite volatile anyway."

Nothing could be further from the Truth. The bullets diameter has Nothing to do with it's expansion characteristics. The makeup design, materials and the process used when made have Everything to do with it's performance upon impact with deer sized Game
A Fused or Bonded bullet in the .257 dia would perform as desired on deer.

--------------------- For Information
70 GR. BLITZKING
"For rifles, these bullets are designed for explosive expansion in varmints and small game."

Shouldn't be using a varmint bullet of any kind on big game.

I have not. Generally roll with a 223 when yote hunting but this could change things.
Agreed. Typically, in that gun, I’m running a 100 gr Sierra GK and being totally honest, not a pile of difference in performance. Enormous entry, little to no exit. Cup and core bullets tend to vaporize for the most part.
I’ll not argue with you as you’re clearly more knowledgeable than I’ll ever be on this matter. I mean, I’ve only killed a couple hundred over the years with various bullets out of the 25 calibers with a slew of bullets of different designs and integrity only to find that compared to other calibers, regardless of construction, they tend to grenade. Heck, the 110 Nosler Accubond was one of the most destructive bullets I’ve used in the 25’s and it’s bonded. But, what do I know based on real world experience.

I’ll assume that you’ve not ever used anything smaller than a 30 caliber gun to kill deer then. Very few bullets, unless strictly hand loading, perform much different than a typical farming bullet in many guns across the board. Any 223-243 cup and core bullet behaves very much like a varmint bullet and the 257’s aren’t excluded here. Having said that, this particular bullet was in fact designed specifically for varmints. Best choice, no. Do it again, no.

Sectional density has a lot to do with caliber/diameter.

Well. Now why didnt you just say you killed a couple hundred with the 25s , and had "world experience "

By golly Carry on with the killin'

And this is key. It’s the one thing that has truly plagued the 257. There haven’t been many good options available with the proper BC and SD to turn it into what many would classify as a true big game caliber. Much like the 243, it was designed to play double duty. But, because of the smaller diameter of the 6mm bullets, they’ve managed to do wonders with that little pill in terms of both BC and SD. Hornady did finally come out with a much better BC than we’ve seen in the past with the ELD’s. I believe that will be the next bullet I’ll be experimenting with in the 25’s.

Bingo

kill yes, if shot placement is good and you stay off big bone absolutely shreds lungs and neck shots break the spine.

I shot a buck with 55gr Hornady sp in 22 cal , no exit , lungs shredded bruising all around the chest cavity on the inside of the ribs sure it dumped 100% of a thousand foot pounds of energy nice buck rand 30 yards and fell over only blood was dribbling out it's mouth.

if your shooting deer in a hay field where you will see where they run and fall and you can really take your time putting the shot perfect it you would probably never see anything wrong with using one bullet for coyote and deer.

I like 2 holes add a blood trail if I am to do any tracking .

we have come to the conclusion that light or frangible bullets are only for neck shooting this eliminates tracking and works

deflection is also an issue with light bullets , if you never run into brush also not an issue.

the heavier the projectile the less they seem to deflect , makes sense an object in motion stays in motion unless acted on by an outside force , that outside force has to be more to change the path of a heavier bullet .
small very fast bullets of light construction can blow up on brush and may not even make the final target depending on the distance form deflection to target.

my son and I started a deflection test so far 180gr 308 is winning smallest group 25 yards after exiting 1/2 inch plywood rounds are if you take the group size at 25 yards entering the plywood and double it that is the group size we are getting at 50 yards

the 150gr 308win federal power shok the group was larger but still minute of vitals on a deer.

I’ll not argue with you as you’re clearly more knowledgeable than I’ll ever be on this matter. I mean, I’ve only killed a couple hundred over the years with various bullets out of the 25 calibers with a slew of bullets of different designs and integrity only to find that compared to other calibers, regardless of construction, they tend to grenade. Heck, the 110 Nosler Accubond was one of the most destructive bullets I’ve used in the 25’s and it’s bonded. But, what do I know based on real world experience.


Kinda the same experience here but only with a 257 Weatherby--but even when they grenade it is instant death!!!
!

If there are better bullets available and more suited to the task, isnt that a better option? And my opinion on this is not personal or anything. Especially to OP who was stating an observation. I just hear this debate every year and often left scratching my head in wonderment.

I should also add that i grew up learning to hunt deer in a state/area where you might get one running chance in a season. So i adapted by going big enough to offset some marginal shots from time to time.

I have to wonder where you shot those 200+ deer to get all those Enormous entries. I have shot a fair number of deer with a 75 gr serria hp out of the 25-06 and never had a surface blow up.

So if you are still trying out varmint bullets after over 200 deer with that caliber. You sir have a pretty pronounced resistance to learning and maybe should consider archery instead.

In terms of placement, generally behind the shoulder. And not all have been grenades on entry. Most have done well upon entry but certainly didn’t do well in terms of penetration beyond that. In other words, they’ve not exited. 117-120 grain stuff certainly has but didn’t have the terminal performance the lighter bullets had. The NAB’s exited but still had huge holes. Like leaving huge chunks of lung material on the ground big holes.

At what point did I say they were all shot with varmint bullets? I’ve used everything from 70 gr through 120’s. Barnes, Sierra, Berger, Hornady, and Nosler. Simply stating that this particular bullet, while it worked, wouldn’t be my choice next time around.

Holy flaccid falic object measuring contests Batman!!!!

Dude i did not say that you shot them all with varmint bullets. But you said you got over 200 with that caliber and had inter bonds blow up on you at that velocity. So at what point did you attempt to think. " well if those blow up, how about I try a thin skinned varmint bullet instead maybe that will hold together better ". Getting to a more positive side. I learned something in this thread. I learned that nailing those " No trespassing signs on the trees around my property was the right decision.