110Gr Badlands SBD-2 in 25 Creedmoor

[Eric H]

Anyone run these in their 25 Creedmoor? If so what were your results and COAL used?
Thanks

 

[cbuck516]

Not yet, but now that badlands is no more I am saving all my remaining 110gr for my 25-06AI. I plan on using Hammer 92HH or 95HHT in my
upcoming 18" 25CM build.

 

[Eric H]

Waiting on my 18" 25 CM 7 twist. Planning to use them in that and the 127 hammers. Is your 25.06AI a 7 twist?

 

[cbuck516]

Waiting on my 18" 25 CM 7 twist. Planning to use them in that and the 127 hammers. Is your 25.06AI a 7 twist?

Yes. 1:7" and suppressed. Based on my experiences shooting deer and elk with the 110gr in my 25-06AI, I don't think it's a great option for a Creedmoor, especially a short barreled one. My muzzle velocity was 3450fps and on deer the internal trauma was a little underwhelming unless you hit heavy bone. I did like what I saw with the one elk I shot with that bullet though. I've shot deer and pronghorn with the badlands 95gr and it behaved similarly.

Because of my observations with the SBD2 110gr in 2023, I shot hammer bullets exclusively in 2024 just to see the difference. The 4 deer and one elk that we killed in 2024 all produced excellent wound channels with one shot kills. I would confidently say that all the hammer bullets I tested produced more consistent and more traumatic on-game performance than the badlands bullets. That being said, I will absolutely still use the 110gr in my 26" 25-06AI for elk.

I have been testing some Apex bullets in other rifles lately and they seem to be opening up very rapidly like hammers, but I don't have any real on game performance for those yet. When they have the 108gr 0.257" back in stock I will be giving some of those a try to hopefully replace the 110gr SBD2.

If you decide to get rid of those 110gr for any reason please let me know.

 

[Eric H]

Yes, I'll try the first 50 and see where it goes. Should know something in the first 25 rounds.

 

[cbuck516]

To illustrate the rate of expansion, here are some images of a groundhog I shot at 50 yards with the SBD2 110gr at MV 3450fps

Then here is a groundhog I shot with Hammer 85gr HH at 50 yards with MV 3075fps
View attachment IMG_4093.jpeg
View attachment IMG_4094.jpeg
A ground hog doesn't have much mass to initiate expansion so to see the differences here was pretty interesting.

 

[cbuck516]

Yes, I'll try the first 50 and see where it goes. Should know something in the first 25 rounds.

If you are just hunting paper I'm sure you can find an accurate load, if you plan to kills thing with them I would plan on keeping your impact velocity way higher than was recommended by badlands. I think the max you can expect from the 110gr in an 18" barrel is 2900-3000fps if you are willing to work up near max. They did shoot really well for me near max pressure with 0.025" jump in the 25-06AI

 

[Eric H]

My property that I hunt is only about 200 yards. It should be more than enough at 2800.

 

[cbuck516]

My property that I hunt is only about 200 yards. It should be more than enough at 2800.

The two whitetails we shot with the 110gr were at 75 and 85 yards and 3450fps MV. The first one was hit in rear of lung and liver, then ran for around 100 yards before producing any blood trail. The second one was shot through the heart and hit major bone. Deer went maybe 10 yards spraying blood everywhere. I would plan on shooting into the front shoulder of deer with the 110 if it were me.