Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 6.5mm 120BT's vs 7mm 120 BT's

Is the 6.5mm version as tough as the 7mm version of the 120 BT?

Not sure JG as I've never cut one but I've never caught one in a deer at 2950 out of a .260...

They both kill deer, pigs and Aoudads just fine. I haven’t had any run off. The supposedly made the 7mm 120’s a little tougher for silhouette shooters. I think JB wrote that. I’m not sure. I’m old, I forget stuff.

Thanks amigo!

Had one stop in a pronghorn doe, quartering toward me at around 250 yards, muzzle velocity 3100 fps. Found it under the hide of the opposite ham, retaining 60% of its weight.

The others have exited.

One......what?

120 6.5.

They are not quite as robust as the 7mm/120 but will do anything within reason that you need it to as long as you don't push it beyond its design parameters.. I've killed a few rather large hogs with them, including hard impact with heavy bone, and never had reason to complain about a lack of penetration. I have more that I need to retrieve from photobucket some day, but here is a recent picture of a 120 6.5 recovered from a boar I took at app. 170 yards.

Launched at 2601 fps MV from a 24" Contender barrel in 6.5x30-30 AI, the bullet took the boar through the third-to-last rib, devastating one side of the liver, heavily damaging both lungs (right lung moreso than the left) and then plowing through the opposite-side shoulder. The bullet came to rest in the meaty front portion of the shoulder and about 1/2" from contact with the shield.

When extracting it, I noticed a portion of the core was loose, but -- all things considered -- I'd call this perfect terminal performance as the damage was impressive, and the hog went less than 30 yards before piling up. I cleaned off the bullet a bit more after taking the photo, and the two pieces weighed 76 grains.

If you need more penetration than that, the 130 grain Accubond performs extremely well. Here's a recent experience with it that I posted on a different board.






This old boar had been coming in late at night and had been ultra-skittish. I've caught glimpses of him a couple of times, but he always skirted the brush where he blended in and didn't afford a shot opportunity. But last night, under a clear sky and with the moon and stars there to betray his presence, he made a mistake.

As he stepped away from cover and into a wide clearing, his form materialized on the recently-shredded grass that was already scorched by a lack of rain and the Texas sun. I wasted no time and put the dot of the L3 reticle where it would do the most good and sent a 130 grain Accubond from the 6.5x30-30 AI downrange. The impact of the bullet, which leaves the muzzle at app. 2525 fps, was loud in the night air, and as I recovered from the modest recoil, I could see he was down on the spot.

The Accubond entered the very front edge of the quartering target's shoulder and heavily damaged the lungs and a portion of the liver. It also unzipped the very edge of the stomach before skidding along and breaking the 4th and 5th-to-last ribs. It was recovered under the hide.

This boar was on the decline, and -- as such -- you can really see the outline of his shield under the sagging hide. It measured over 1.25" thick across the center of the shoulder.

The penetration of the 7mm/120 BT is better than any comparable 7mm cup-and-core bullet that I tested it against. Launched at app. 2655 fps, it even exited this large boar with a chest shot from 190 yards. The 6.5/120 BT is no slouch, though, and out-penetrates most cup-and-core offerings as well, including the 123 grain SST which many swear by for use in the Grendel.

They are equal and both work really, really perfectly well at muzzle velocities stated.

God Bless and outta here,

kd

The 7mm first they beefed up the 140s for steel shooters and then for the 120s they shortened the 140s jacket which left them thicker at the nose. The 6.5 was purpose designed with the heavy and improved hunting BT jacket. The 6.5 jacket is thinner at the nose than the 7mm but not enough to make much difference. But of the two I would say the 7mm is tougher both from looking at the sectioned bullet and performance on game. As others posted it almost always makes an exit.

I will be using the 6.5 120 BT next time I deer hunt with my 6.5x55 and know it will perform as good or better than the 129 grain Hornadays I used last season. The Hornaday is an excellent performer. With either of these and a case full of R26 the little 6.5 is right up there with the 270 Winchester with 130 grain bullets, any difference would be hard to see in the field within normal ranges.

ya gotta be trying to shoot something awfully darn big to not make a 6.5mm 120 grain Ballistic Tip not work...

What about at 264 WM velocities? I'd like to try them, but I'm thinking it might be wiser to just stick with the 125 Partitions that work so well.

(The old 120gr Solid Bases worked great in my 264, but the early BTs made a mess.)

Don’t you guys feel bad about shooting those poor pigs. Dey wasin duin nuffin!!!

I have only shot them to about 3000 fps but I believe Nosler had the 264 in mind when they upgraded the Hunting Balistic tips. They didn't need to be so tough for the 260 and smaller 6.5s.

I have had the solid bases turn into bombs but these were the original unbonded thin jacket types. It would not be my first choice for close range but should work well even in this application. They might be a little messier than the partitions though.

Oh, but we memorialize them in a unique ceremony which includes a baptismal in a special marinade, fire and a pre-meal prayer.

Buzzards and coyotes get most of ours. We clean a small one once and a while.

I have done most of my ruminant killing with:
95 gr NBT 6mmBR
115 gr NBT 257 Roberts AI
120 gr NBT for the 6.5-06
130 gr NBT for the 270
140 gr NBT for the 7mmRemMag
125 gr NBT for the 300WinMag

I deviated from optimum on the last one.

I used the 120NBT going 3200 from that 6.5x284 I had. It held up something wonderful on Fallow, Axis and Blackbuck.