25 caliber 110 grain bullet comparisons

[20 TAC]

I am finding the 110 grain Accubond to be very accurate thus far out of my 25 Creedmoor build. This bullet seems to have only modest expansion with about 60% weight retention in my experiences of harvesting deer when fired from a 25-06. Do any of you have accuracy and deer-sized game performance comparisons between the Accubond and the 110 grain ELD-X offering from Hornady or the 110 grain Sierra tipped Gamechanger bullets?

 

[20 TAC]

Price isn’t the determining factor given the low volume of this bullet weight I figure to shoot, but with Hornady and Sierra’s each being roughly half the cost of Nosler I was curious what the bullet performance of each might be like. Any research I can find suggests the Gamechanger and ELD-X bullets will be very frangible at closer ranges and possibly hold together better at extended ranges/lower velocities. Can anyone verify?

 

[Eric Leonard]

I’ve got some 110 Gamechangers loaded for my 25-06 and they’re shooting 1/2 moa at 3250 fps,, it’ll be about Thanksgiving before I can give an on deer performance report.

 

[Gary in MD]

I did shoot the 110 Accubonds out of my 257 Weatherby a few years ago. They shot well on paper but both bucks that I shot with them that year ran farther than I’m used to them running with the big 257. I abandoned that bullet.
The last few years I’ve used the 100 grain Barnes TTSX with entirely satisfactory results on paper and on deer. Killed two animals in SA last summer with the Barnes 101 LRX and they went down fast.
Also have had good results with the 115 grain Berger and if I knew shots would be extra long then I would probably go back to that load.

 

[20 TAC]

I did shoot the 110 Accubonds out of my 257 Weatherby a few years ago. They shot well on paper but both bucks that I shot with them that year ran farther than I’m used to them running with the big 257. I abandoned that bullet.
The last few years I’ve used the 100 grain Barnes TTSX with entirely satisfactory results on paper and on deer. Killed two animals in SA last summer with the Barnes 101 LRX and they went down fast.
Also have had good results with the 115 grain Berger and if I knew shots would be extra long then I would probably go back to that load.

Has been my experience with the Accubond as well. Haven’t lost an animal, but they ran farther than I’d like to see I guess. Regarding the Barnes, do you have a preference on the LRX vs TTSX?

 

[Gary in MD]

Has been my experience with the Accubond as well. Haven’t lost an animal, but they ran farther than I’d like to see I guess. Regarding the Barnes, do you have a preference on the LRX vs TTSX?

I honestly don’t have a preference, they both shoot really well. They are practically identical in appearance, the TTSX has three grooves as opposed to the two on the LRX. I think the BC of the LRX may be a little better. Both have made one shot kills for me on everything that they have been pointed at so far.

 

[20 TAC]

Excellent, thank you sir. I may give a box of those a try

 

[nakneker]

My experience with the 110 accubonds and accubonds in general has been good. Expensive but accurate, I did have one deer go almost a 100 yards with a well placed shot. There’s a lot of good choices for 25 caliber bullets in that weight range. Out of my 25x47 I’ve been using Robinette 110 gr bullets but he’s not currently offering them. They are deadly. Gary gave you a good option, I’ve used Barnes in quite a few rifles over the years, I’ve been using a lot of their LRX bullets lately but the TsX and TTSX are solid choices. Most of my rifles shoot those bullets very accurately but I have had more than one that absolutely hated Barnes bullets in the accuracy department, those rifles were known shooters too. I’ve been using Game changers in a 30-06 #1, it’s accounted for a couple elk and did a good job, I’m also using them in some 22 caliber rifles with good success.

Two more options for 25 caliber would be the Berger 115s and the trusty old Nosler partitions. Those Bergers are deadly, everyone knows what a partition does.

 

[ebb]

Speer makes a 100 grain hpbt and a hot core, might be worth a try. The BR guys used to use Speers when real match bullets were hard to find and said they were almost as accurate.

 

[20 TAC]

My experience with the 110 accubonds and accubonds in general has been good. Expensive but accurate, I did have one deer go almost a 100 years with a well placed shot. There’s a lot of good choices for 25 caliber bullets in that weight range. Out of my 25x47 I’ve been using Robinette 110 gr bullets but he’s not currently offering them. They are deadly. Gary gave you a good option, I’ve used Barnes in quite a few rifles over the years, I’ve been using a lot of their LRX bullets lately but the TsX and TTSX are solid choices. Most of my rifles shoot those bullets very accurately but I have had more than one that absolutely hated Barnes bullets in the accuracy department, those rifles were known shooters too. I’ve been using Game changers in a 30-06 #1, it’s accounted for a couple elk and did a good job, I’m also using them in some 22 caliber rifles with good success.

Two more options for 25 caliber would be the Berger 115s and the trusty old Nosler partitions. Those Bergers are deadly, everyone knows what a partition does.

Excellent information, thank you. I do have an accurate 115 Berger load worked up and have only the feedback from others regarding its performance on big game. Just looking for something that will hold together well at short range yet provide excellent expansion. Seems the Berger will tend to dump its energy early and come apart at higher velocities or close ranges. And I wouldn’t mind having something expand a little larger than the Accubond tends to. I think you and others have convinced me to give the Barnes a try. I found a shop that has both the 80 and 100 grain TTSX and may just buy a box of each.

 

[nakneker]

Excellent information, thank you. I do have an accurate 115 Berger load worked up and have only the feedback from others regarding its performance on big game. Just looking for something that will hold together well at short range yet provide excellent expansion. Seems the Berger will tend to dump its energy early and come apart at higher velocities or close ranges. And I wouldn’t mind having something expand a little larger than the Accubond tends to. I think you and others have convinced me to give the Barnes a try. I found a shop that has both the 80 and 100 grain TTSX and may just buy a box of each.

I think you thoughts on the Berger are pretty accurate. If the Barnes shoot, and they probably will, I think you’ll be happy!

 

[Wildthyng]

I am finding the 110 grain Accubond to be very accurate thus far out of my 25 Creedmoor build. This bullet seems to have only modest expansion with about 60% weight retention in my experiences of harvesting deer when fired from a 25-06. Do any of you have accuracy and deer-sized game performance comparisons between the Accubond and the 110 grain ELD-X offering from Hornady or the 110 grain Sierra tipped Gamechanger bullets?

I have found that the Sierra 117 Game king has shot the best out of my Savage 111, 25-06. Groups of 3/8". But it will group far better than what I can shoot.

 

[SVT_Tactical]

I tried a lot of bullets in my 25SAUM Improved before settling on the Barnes 101 LRX. The 110AB was good and took down a great texas axis for me, but no weight retention on the fragments we recovered. The 115 Bergers and 115 Barnes are also good ones but I like the speed I get with the 101s. I'm confident in that bullets to take most any game I'll be hunting.

 

[std7mag]

@20 TAC,

Which cartridge are you planning on using the 110gr?

Realistically, both the 25CM and 25-06 you mentioned have enough ompf to comfortably shoot a heavier bullet.

You also don't mention what the twist rate of your barrels are.

If a 1:10, you can comfortably shoot up to a 120gr lead core bullet.
A 1:7.5, you're looking at a 135gr lead core bullet.

I hunt with 6 different 25 caliber cartridges in 7 different rifles. Alas, all of them are a 1:10 twist.

Lowest power is the 250 Savage. I usually pair this one with the 100gr Nosler Ballistic Tip.

I use the 115gr NBT and/or the 115gr Berger VLD in 257 Roberts, 257 Roberts AI, 25 WSSM, 25-06(2).

The 257 WBY Mag gets the 115gr NBT or the 120gr Partition.

Lots of good 25 caliber bullets for the 25 caliber. But I keep coming back to the NBT and Berger VLD.

 

[DonW]

It will sound crazy but I like shooting the 75 vmax. It’s a lazer and hits way above its weight. There’s no need for an exit hole when all the energy transfers to mush on the inside.

 

[Orr89rocz]

Gamechanger shoots great in my 257 bob. Very accurate. Ive shot them to 1375 yrds on steel.

Only shot one deer with them at about 350 yrds and i neck shot him. Only shot i had before he stepped into woodline. Looked good to me on performance despite not much meat to go thru. Looked like a nickel sized exit so it expanded and caused damage for sure. Did not hit the vertebrae directly i dont think, but might have just nicked it, he went down right there and bled out but back legs were kicking.

 

[20 TAC]

@20 TAC,

Which cartridge are you planning on using the 110gr?

Realistically, both the 25CM and 25-06 you mentioned have enough ompf to comfortably shoot a heavier bullet.

You also don't mention what the twist rate of your barrels are.

If a 1:10, you can comfortably shoot up to a 120gr lead core bullet.
A 1:7.5, you're looking at a 135gr lead core bullet.

I hunt with 6 different 25 caliber cartridges in 7 different rifles. Alas, all of them are a 1:10 twist.

Lowest power is the 250 Savage. I usually pair this one with the 100gr Nosler Ballistic Tip.

I use the 115gr NBT and/or the 115gr Berger VLD in 257 Roberts, 257 Roberts AI, 25 WSSM, 25-06(2).

The 257 WBY Mag gets the 115gr NBT or the 120gr Partition.

Lots of good 25 caliber bullets for the 25 caliber. But I keep coming back to the NBT and Berger VLD.

Thanks for passing this information along. I'm shooting a 25 Creedmoor in a 9 twist. I can't get the 75 V-Max or Sierra HP to group below one inch. I have not tried the Nosler 115 BT, but have accurate loads developed with the 115 VLD and 110 Accubond, each at about 3,000 fps. 85 Nosler BT shoots well and what little I've shot the Speer 87 TNT it shows promise. 90 Blitzking is most accurate bullet so far. So again, I was most curious about the bullet construction of the ELD-X and Gamechanger to see if they are better at weight retention and expansion on whitetail deer sized game particularly at close range than my past experience with the Accubond, and only what I've read about the VLD. Does the 115 Nosler hold together well?
Perhaps if I want good expansion along with good weight retention, the Barnes options appear to be my best choice to start testing. Shedding bullet weight on a chambering that has weights starting at 150+ grains doesn't concern me as much as doing so on a bullet much lighter to begin with, as in the case of the 25's.

 

[std7mag]

I've never recovered a Ballistic Tip.

As far as the Berger VLD is concerned, I've only recovered the jacket. Usually under the offside hide.
They perform as they are advertised. Go in 1-3" and rapidly expand. Turns lungs and heart in goo.
I've only lost about a quarter sized piece of meat on both sides of the rib cage.

Here's a thought.

If the animal is dead, what difference does the recovered bullet weight matter?

 

[choprzrul]

IMHO the .257 90gr Absolute Hammer is absolutely one of the very best deer bullets available. 3611 fps from my 25-06 and no whitetail has made it more than 30 yards from point of impact. Very little bloodshot meat. Gonna be building a 25-284 to see if I can get it to 3700.

 

[Orr89rocz]

IMHO the .257 90gr Absolute Hammer is absolutely one of the very best deer bullets available. 3611 fps from my 25-06 and no whitetail has made it more than 30 yards from point of impact. Very little bloodshot meat. Gonna be building a 25-284 to see if I can get it to 3700.

25 prc be intriguing too