Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Heavy bullets in the 6.5mm and 270 cal

Thought I would start this thread to piggyback somewhat on this thread, figured this would be far more fun to talk about than some of the stuff around here.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth..._06_with_Heavies_190_220_aga#Post8549250

For years the smaller 6.5's had a reputation of being giant killers due to their long heavy bullets far more than one would expect for their small size. I just traded my 375 Ruger for a 6.5x55 for my wife to use, the plan is to develop a practice and deer load with a cheaper bullet for her and have a load featuring the 140 gr Partition or Accubond for bigger stuff.

My 264 WM is for sale and will be turned into a sporter 270 Win, 160 gr Partition's are sitting on the shelf waiting to be paired with a cheaper 150 gr bullet. I have a heavy barrel 260 Rem as well but plan on using it more for target shooting along with deer and predators.

What do you think, I still think my 35 Whelen hits harder and puts big tough animals down faster but the smaller rounds seem to be really effective. Both the new 6.5x55 and 270 Win are going to see time this fall going after moose with their heavy Nosler bullets......

gerrygoat;
Good morning to you sir, hopefully this finds you and yours warm and well on this cold Saturday morning.

When the subject of how different cartridge/bullet combinations perform on game comes up, one of the criteria I try to remember to include is the carcass weight of the animal because I've got a sneaking suspicion that could well be a factor.

I've had this conversation at length with klikitarik, who has shot moose up in his part of Alaska with some smaller cartridges such as a 6.5 and of course we've seen Sitka's son shoot at least one bull that I can recall with a .25 caliber - .25-06 I think it was.

Anyway my point here is that the Okanagan bull moose I shot was as best as I could weigh the parts closing on 400lb carcass while the bulls you, klikitarik and Sitka Deer would be shooting could conceivably be more than double that on a skinny day.

In my mind then, the bones, muscles, fat layers and perhaps even the hide thickness could all play a part on how far the same bullet/cartridge would penetrate and how it would perform - even though we'd both shot a "bull moose". Hopefully that makes sense?

To further muddy the waters, I ran a .338 Win Mag for a bit - hoping to get to the Kootenays for elk more often than it turned out I was able to - and in the process shot 2 black bears and 3 small mulie bucks. A now passed on friend took it grizzly hunting too, but only shot an average black bear with the 210gr Noslers I was running in it.

Anyway gerrygoat, long story short on the .338 - I didn't see the difference in terminal performance that I'd hoped to see on those game animals. Yes indeed they died, but not appreciably faster than with the '06 I was using or the .308 Win and .308 Norma my good wife was using at the time.

In fact the .338 ended up getting a .308 Norma barrel on it because I kept on borrowing my wife's Norma in case I needed to stretch a shot a wee bit across a canyon when we were chasing mulies.

Anyway sir I know I've not given much of an answer other than to try to establish some criteria for measurement and I will read the responses on your thread with interest for sure.

Lastly, we've yet to "catch" a 130gr TSX on local mulie or whitetail bucks from our daughter's 111 year old 96 Swede so for whatever that's worth to you - there it is.

All the best to you and yours this weekend sir.

Dwayne

I have used the 160 Nosler Ptn on Wildebeest and it works very well. Just the same as a 130 TTSX. Both out of a 270.

I have found a lot of good reading at Terminal Ballistics Research. Here's their page on the Swede:

http://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/6.5x55.html

red alder ranch;
Thanks for the link sir, it appears to have a whole bunch of good information there - well laid out and in a readable fashion too.

Thanks again and all the best to you this weekend.

Regards,
Dwayne

The European 6.5 mm cartridges used a faster twist than the American standard of 9": the 6.5X55 is 7.87" for example. My 6.5-'06 with its 9" twist barrel handles round nose bullets up to the 160s, but the Barnes 165 gr semi-spitzer is just too long to stabilize.

I hunted with the 140 gr Hornady Spire Point before moving on to more premium bullets�

jim

I'll have to study that link, thanks.

Dwayne, our moose aren't much bigger on average than yours, going further North they get quite a bit larger. Have to say, the 308 Norma is cool, I ran one for a number of years and kind of miss it.

RinB, I actually had some great success with the 130 gr TSX in a 264 WM but I still have more faith in a good design like the Partition maybe I'm missing something maybe not. The E-Tip in 6.5 and 270 is intriguing I have to admit...

Jim, we got her a Tikka and they come with a 1 in 8 so all will be well with that gun

I have never really seen a downside to heavier bullets.

Especially in the wind. And at tough angles you sometimes get.

Just my take on it.

gerrygoat...I am not a gunwriter but I do own a Tikka T3 in 6.5...Thanks to a lot of great folks here I've managed to collect a variety of bullets for the 6.5 especially in the heavier weights....156 Norma Oryx,155 Lapua, 140 PT,140 SST and 125 NP and plan to shoot them into wet newspaper and water filled milk jugs as soon as the water won't freeze...a Canadian fellow has done a very extensive study and published here on the Campfire....I'm sure that someone will provide the link. My intention is to run these bullets as fast as I dare into the media at 150yds. and to post my loads and my speeds here...I only have a Pro Chrono and have to be very careful of the lighting. I'll put a disclaimer on the loads but they will be very accurate for MY rifle. I'm certain you will get a lot of info here....regards...bearit....

gerrygoat,

Ballistics Studies also has some interesting stuff to say about the .270 Winchester:

http://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/.270+Winchester.html

My experience with the 150 Nosler Partition parallels theirs--though since I'm kinda slow it took a while to realize it. It's provides plenty of penetration and quick kills on both African and North American game, more consistently than any other .270 bullet I have experience with.

The quickest-deadest I've seen a bull moose killed with a lung shot was with a 150 Nosler Partition from my wife's .270. It was a medium-sized Shiras, quartering away at about 125 yards. Eileen aimed for the far shoulder, and at the shot the bull took a step and only part of another before folding up not merely dead but really most sincerely dead. Eileen was something astonished, because she'd heard about how they often stand around after the shot. The bullet ended up under the hide just in front of the far shoulder, at least 36" of penetration.

Have used the 156 Oryx in the 6.5's with good results--as results have been with Oryxes in several calibers--but it doesn't provide any downrange advantages over 140's.

Have gotten excellent penetration from TSX's in both 6.5 and .270, but Partitions and Oryxes have penetrated quite well too, and I would say have killed a little quicker--though have killed some stuff very suddenly with the 120 TSX from the 6.5x55!

I do remember the thread on 6.5 bullets it was excellent. I would be very interested in seeing your results, I tried getting some 156 gr Norma bullets but they are hard to get here. If we can get the 140 gr Partition or Accubond to group well for her I'll be happy.

For the past few years I've been getting excellent accuracy with 140 Partitions in more than one 6.5mm rifle. In an E.R. Shaw 6.5-06 I tried just about every bullet I could find, including all the usual long-range, high-BC bullets, with a bunch of powders. The best accuracy was with the 140 Berger VLD and H1000, but the second-best was with the 140 Partition with the same powder charge!

Also get excellent accuracy and velocity from my Lilja-barreled 6.5x55 with Ramshot Magnum powder and the 140 Partition.

I have Magnum, H 4831 sc, H 4350 and a bit of IMR 7828 ssc to try so I bet one of them will work well. I'll probably try them in the order listed, maybe do some preliminary work with the 140 gr Ballistic Tip and then move to the Partition.

Have you tried the 140 gr Accubond or Ballistic Tip yet in your 6.5x55? The Ballistic Tip is really accurate in my 260 Rem and the Accubond grouped nicely in a 264 WM.

The Ballistic Tip does very well in my 6.5x55, though no better than the Partition. The Accubond does very well in my .264, too, and both those rifles have 1-8 twists. Haven't tried the Partition in the .264.

I had good results working up a load for my Ruger 77 in the 6.5X55 Swede last fall. It shoots both the 140 gr. Accubond and BT into an inch or slightly under using IMR 7828.

Somehow missed this post, thanks. I'll check the link out. I have never shot a moose with anything smaller than a 30-06 but hope to crack one this fall with the 270 Win, like Eileen found out I bet it drops them pretty quick.

Edit, I have yet to take game with the 140 gr Ballistic Tip, I would have last fall but a few days before the deer hunt we went on the 129 gr ABLR showed up so quickly made up a load for them.

I have shot a few feral horses -900# range- with 130 Accubonds from a 260 Remington which is about the American equivalent of the 6.5x55. All died within 3 seconds, all ran at least 40 yards before piling up. None of the bullets exited. I have since loaded 140 Accubonds in my 6.5-284 but have yet to kill anything with them other than paper. The Partitions are a great bullet but give up quite a bit to other bullets in true long range shooting situations.

I saw there was a couple requests for the .264 bullet tests I did, here are the links.

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/6845530/1

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/6851954/1

For years my dad hunted moose here in Ontario with a 6.5x55 (mod 96) and 140 gr hornady's. Never had a problem, the biggest moose was 54" if I remember right. A 140 NP at 2700fps should work fine.

I am going to run the 140 gr Accubonds in my 6.5 rem mag this year and see how they do. I am going to load them up with IMR 4831 since that seems to be the preferred powder with this caliber.