90 gr sierra GK 25cal performance on deer

G

GREG OF PA

New member
Hi All
I finally got my 25dti down to TN and harvested a 90# doe on the last day after passing up some immature bucks. I was surprised by the bullet performance, the enterance wound was very large about the size of my palm. The exit wound was about the size of a quarter. Shot was behind front shoulder exiting slightly behind the diaphram. So, apparently the bullet expanded very rapidly and possibly came appart. It was a quick kill with significant damage, but i am worried if this had been a larger animal and/or hit bone if the bullet would have performed well.

I havent chronographed the load, but assume from other data it is probably around 2900fps

If anyone has harvested a larger animal with bullet i would appreciate if you could share how it performed

Greg
 
Greg, my partner Matt, bug holes here on PM, took a real nice deer with his 25 DTI.

I’m not sure if I’m smart enough to post a picture, but I took an 11 point buck with mine this year. It was a pass-trough, so I wasn’t able to retrieve the bullet, but judging from the entrance wound and exit wound, it held together well.

I did take a pretty good sized buck a couple of years ago where I recovered the bullet. It had gone through both front shoulders (quartering toward me) and lodged under the hide on the far side. The animal dropped in it’s tracks and the bullet opened up, but did not come apart.

I’m thinking you must have hit something to start it opening up before it hit the deer.

How do you like the DTI?

BDlanQI.jpg
 
The 25DTI is a dream to shoot. One of my favorites as well. This buck was taken with the 90gr GK. As you can see, it did the trick. This was my first deer taken with a suppressed rifle. There were four does with this guy that never moved until I climbed out of my tree stand.

https://imgur.com/gallery/9VkZ2
 
I have used the 90gr Sierra for years in my kids 257 Roberts with no issues at all. I shot a few hogs with that bullet in the 25DTi as well but also shot a half dozen deer with the 85 gr Nosler BT
 
Thanks Venatic, if you are putting hogs down with them then they are performing well. Mike is probably right that i probably hit a branch and started the expansion before it hit the deer.

I was playing around with 100gr speer hot cor and had great accuracy but was seeing significant pressure signs including extractor swipes and distorted lettering. Bummer because that was shooting clover leaf groups.

Thanks again for the confirmations
Greg
 
I'll see if I can find the pics of a large 4X4 mule deer I shot with my 25 DTI and 90 grain Sierras. That same year I shot a decent pronghorn and a fat pig of a cow elk with the same load. I wouldn't make a habit of using it on elk, but at a couple of hundred yards a broadside shot in the boiler room sure deflates them in a hurry.
 
My 11 year old son shot his first deer a 5 point, using my 25 DTI, with the 90 gr sierra. He hit him high in the back completly severing the spine. The bullet came apart and kind of sprayed a lung and the stomach. I found the jacket and about half of the bullet seperated but still stacked on top of eachother just under the skin on the far side. The deer was only about 20 yards away and were 20 feet up in an aerial blind. The deer fell so fast it confused me, never even twitched. Not sure whst information you can get from that but thats what happened.
 
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