Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 6.5x55 SE For Elk ?

I wonder if anybody used 6.5 swede for elk. What should be the distance limit? 200 yards of 300? Any bullets idea and load.
Thank you

Although I do not use my 6.5 for elk, I would not hesitate to use the 130 gr Accubond out to 300 yards or the 140 gr Sierra game king out to 200yards( Mostly here because I load the 140 gr to only 2650 fps).For closer in stuff, the 160 gr would more than do the job

I've done it once with a now discontinued 160 gr. Sierra Prohunter. Were I do to it again I would probably opt for a 155gr. Lapua Mega, 140gr. Nosler (partition of accubond) or one of the Barnes offerings.

I have exactly one elk to my credit and it was taken cleanly with a Swede as my moniker implies. It was approx. 200 yds. and believe it or not a Core-Lokt 140 gr. bullet. NO PROBLEM! In the future I will choose a Nosler of the same grain and proceed with no qualms. The Swede is WAY underrated!

I am currently working up loads for my Model 70 FW in 6.5x55 for an elk hunt this fall and will post results when compltete.

Leaning towards the 140gr accubond or partition but will also work up load for 160gr Woodleigh which has a very high BC and SD.

An awful lot of moose have been taken with the 6.5 Swede in Europe over the years, many thousands of them with excellent results.

Dick

Load up some 130gr TSX and have a go at any bull you like out to 500 yards (if you practice with it at that range)!

The 130gr TSX will outpenetrate any 140 and 160gr out there.

Bc steve,

i know that you ve made extended tests on 6.5 ... do you think it ll overpenetrate (the 130 grains tsx) the 160rn from Hornady too whatever the distance is ?

i shot this huge cow in dec. with a 120 ttsx out of my swede at 275 yards. through and through

Yes.

Barnes 130gr TSX
Average Penetration (inches): 18
Average Weight Retained (grain): 129.9
Average Weight Retained (%): 100
Average Expansion (inches): 0.552



Hornady 160gr RN IL
Average Penetration (inches): 13.92
Average Weight Retained (grain): 117.6
Average Weight Retained (%): 74
Average Expansion (inches): 0.694

I shot a cow Elk last fall with my Swede. 140 Gr Hornady at 2650mv. One shot thru lungs at 50 yards, worked perfect. Would not hesitate to use it again at any reasonable range. I think the 6.5x55 is capable of much bigger game than Elk, with the right bullet.

There really isn't to many hunting bullets in the 6.5 that I wouldn't chase elk with. Put a decent bullet where they live and they won't go far. I generally shoot the heavy bullets just because I think they look so freaking cool! Certainly not the best quality in a hunting bullet I know, but they haven't let me down yet. My one elk killed related above was laser measured at 273 yards after the show was over. They day after I shot my elk I was tracking a huge wounded mule deer that my dad had shot. When it came up at about 40 yards I threw my rifle up and broke the shot when the crosshairs hit the rear ham. We didn't recover the bullet but it made it up into the vitals. Had at least 3 feet of penetration and figure the Barnes will probably have more penetration then that.

BCSteve,

your pictures are very impressive for 130 TSX!!! Can you share your load info? At least the velocity.
Wlodek

It's part of the big 6.5 bullet test I did a while back. Have a look (on the first link the pics are on the second page)

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/5083100/1

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/4848762/1

I am the new guy here but a long time hunter. I started with an 06 and after 13 elk decided it was, under all field conditions on the low end of the scale for what I wanted in an elk rifle. If one makes the perfect/near perfect shot a rock launched at modest speeds will kill most game. However most elk are not killed under ideal conditions or with ideal shots or by the ideal shooter. They can be hit to far back, to far forward they can step out of sight and never been seen again. Several years ago a friend of mine with a 6.5X55 killed three nice bull elk in three years at medium range with three shots. None of the bulls were recovered prior to spoiling they all ran off and were recovered by ravan watching several days later. The last elk that I helped another hunter recover was shot with a .243 at again medium range nine times. If you can pass up the quartering shot, the running shot, the straight away shot then the smaller caliber rifles will do a good job. But if you can't more horsepower is necessary. The point is to kill them cleanly and ethically, it isn't that they are not going to die, they are its that they are recovered, my .02

Elkman, I would not use 6.5x55 on elk. I personally use it for coyotes and deer. For bigger game I have 280AI.
My purpose of this conversation was to see what 6.5 mm bullet can do. BC Steve brought great pictures and information.
I hope everybody could enjoy it.
Great job BCSteve.

Wlodek

To be honest, you'd see very, very little difference between what a properly-loaded 6.5 x 55 and a .280 AI can do on elk. Perhaps even no difference at all.

Many articles hve been published and studies done concerning the suitability of cartriges used in elk hunting. The results have all shown similarities of it doesn't matter so much as to what you hit them with rather than where.I have killed more thana few elk with quite a few different cartriges, from muzzle loader( although not a cartridge) to a 7 mag and I have never seen a differnce in thier use of killling velk

Anyone who has had three bull elk run off and not successfully recovered them needs to either review thier thought process as to what shots they should pass or take,or quit elk hunting. I think the figure of about 30,00 moose killed in Sweden in a study is about right. Therefore, any elk should be easily dispatched withe a 6.5 provided the right bullet is used and the shot placement is correct.

Discussing ethics in elk killing and selecting bullets and firearms that will kill elk with any shot taken is an oxymoron.Ethics begin with the passing questionable shots. Of course things happen when things go awry,but it is up to the hunter to make sure those instances are minimized

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