I had two deer on the same day, same box of ammo. 6.5x55 bullet fragmented and although it killed both deer, did not exit at 2600 fps at 35 to 40 yards.
So it's not just the tiny bores that have weird stuff happen.
My son shot a doe the Wednesday before thanksgiving, facing him head down @165 yards and probably about 40' down in elevation. Kimber Montana in 308, 165gr Speer Grand Slam @2600 mv. The bullet was just in front of the hams. It took out about 6-8 inches of spine, bang flop. Bullet was a mushroom of sorts and weighed 112 grains. Fast Fwd. to this morning, he shot a nice 8pointer@ 25 yards (Pics to come later in a new thread) slightly quartering away at the 3rd or 4th rib back, buck ran about 30-35 yards and fell dead. Sparse blood trail and the bullet was just under the hide in front of the left shoulder. It looks like it mushroomed fine and then rode the shoulder blade fwd, shaving off part of the expansion. Bullet weighed 125grs.
I believe we are going to try a different powder to get the velocity up to hopefully around 2800. Right now he's @ 43 grs. of IMR4064 and a CCI 200. 2.800 COAL. This shoots 1/2 MOA but we want the velocity up some especially for longer shots.
Contrast that to a couple of years ago I shot a smallish Doe @ 65 yards,110lbs or so with a 6.5x55 swede and a 140 Hor. Interlock. Texas heart shot and the bullet exited out the Rt front shoulder. Bullets do crazy stuff sometimes. Go figure.
I need to clarify, the doe he shot was hit between the shoulder blades and the bullet traveled through the body cavity at an angle to stop in front of the hamsdown low. Almost through. I wasn't very clear about that in the original post.
Last edited by Featherweight6555; 12/03/23. Reason: Clarification.
"Aim right, squeeze light" " Might as well hit what you're aiming at, it kicks the same whether you miss or not" NRA Life, GOA
