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Joined: Jan 2019
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Myself and my wife both picked up new 6.5 chambered rifles a couple months back. Mine is a ruger Predator and hers is a t/c compass.

The first deer shot was with hers at about 10 yards max using Hornady 143eldx and it blew a baseball side hole in the entry with no exit.
The second was my deer at 110 yards with pin size entry and pin exit with no blood at all for first 50 yards and ran about 120 yard.
Second was my deer at about 100 yards with pin entry no exit but i shot high and hit lower of spin and she dropped in her tracks.
Next was shot with hers at about 50 yards and made a pin size entry and very small exit with blood starting at about 35 yards.
Next was mine at about 30 yards and no blood for about 50 yards and ran almost 250 yards.

All shots where placed just behind the shoulder all perfect broadside hits. All using the same batch factory load 143 ELD-X ammo.

My question is even tho all harvests were recovered i am very leery of the blood trails and the recovery's. I am curious if i would be better with a different round for deer hunting. We only have a few fields i could shoot out to about 300-350 or so and most are 200 or under with a vast majority being around 100 or under. I look to one day being able to bear hunt as well as hog, larger deer and maybe just maybe an elk hunt but i have a 300wm for that but i think the 300 is a little overkill for white tail deer.

I am just looking for knowledgeable information here to help myself and my wife along in our hunting journey. I would like to do this without having to buy a different caliber rifle bc if i do i would be buying 2 as my wife and really myself like us both having the same caliber that we hunt with the most being the same as it help with ammo and issue that may come about.

If a change in rifle would be needed as far as caliber i would consider it it would all just depend and the 6.5 and a shotgun is the only thing my wife has currently lol

Thanks in advance!!

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Uh, different bullet.


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Nothing wrong with the round. Change the bullets. I would suggest trying the Hornady American Whitetail load with the 129 interlock bullets. I have used that bullet for years in my Sweede with excellent on game performance. Shoot you current ammo up on targets.

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Why are you using that bullet for those ranges?

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Like you, I wasn't pleased with the 143 eldx performance on a couple of deer last year. Deer were recovered but the bullet performance was not what I was expecting.

I tried Nosler's 129 ABLR bullet (reload) and it's performance has been great on deer.

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I'm shooting 140 Horn interlocks down south. Performance has been like a Partition. Couldn't be happier.

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I will mirror what everyone else has said. Change bullets.

I would start with Hornady American Whitetail, 129gr.


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Originally Posted by CRS
I will mirror what everyone else has said. Change bullets.

I would start with Hornady American Whitetail, 129gr.


So would I.

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129gr Hornady American Whitetail


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At the range you are hunting, interlocks will be hard to beat. The American Whitetail 129's mentioned above are an excellent recommendation.

However, I suspect your issue is due more to shot placement rather than cartridge or bullet. In my experience, no matter what bullet you use, high shoulder shots typically always result in poor blood trails. If you want a pass through with a solid blood trail you need to be aiming slightly behind the shoulder (armpit), at 1/3 to 1/2 of the way up the torso. This will clip the top arteries of the heart and punch through both lungs.

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In factory ammo I like the 125 grain Winchester/Olin Deer Season XP (X65DS) better than any of the Hornady and Remington factory loads that I've used. Plus, the local Wal-Marts sell it for $18.33, less than any other factory load that I've seen, and Winchester/Olin sells a less expensive 125 grain target load (USA65CM) that is loaded to the same velocity and has a similar trajectory profile.

I have shot a few whitetails with the 129 grain Hornady American Whitetail load and think that it is also a good choice, but the Winchester 125 grain factory load shoot a little better in my rifles.

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At the range you're hunting, the aforementioned new bullet choices should work well. At the ranges your wife is hunting, she might consider taking up bow hunting. smile

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Scenar 136L over max dose of RL-16.

Very accurate thru Shilen barrel. Scenar performance well documented.

Have not yet killed anything with this load, just started using it near the end of the season.

Buck I did kill was with a 120 NBT out of my 7-08. Worked well, but a Loony has to move on...

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Take this for what it’s worth. Bail of newspapers soaked in water for 12 hours. I took the pic at approximately the largest part of the wound channels. All 6.5 creedmoor factory loads.
Clockwise starting from the top left:
Federal Premium 140gr Accubond 22” penetration (top left)
Winchester XP Deer Season 125gr 16” penetration (top right)
Federal Premium 130gr Berger 16” penetration (bottom right)
Hornady ELDM 120gr 16” penetration (bottom left)

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]


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120 Barnes, shoot them dead center in the shoulders, done deal.

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Nothing wrong with the round at all. Try some 129 Interlocks or 125 Partitions, in my experience they are great on deer. There are others I'd have no qualms about trying, but I haven't yet.

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Originally Posted by ctsmith
I'm shooting 140 Horn interlocks down south. Performance has been like a Partition. Couldn't be happier.


This. I have shot several hundred deer with Interlocks, in several calibers. I love the 129 in 6.5. It hammers deer as well as anything going.


You did not "seen" anything, you "saw" it.
A "creek" has water in it, a "crick" is what you get in your neck.
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Originally Posted by hanco
120 Barnes, shoot them dead center in the shoulders, done deal.


I bought the 6.5CM late in the year, so I haven't hand loaded for it yet. So I shot the Hornady factory ammo with the ELDX bullets in the 6.5CM this past season. 4 deer with broadside double lung shots (all shot in the crease right behind shoulder). All went about 25 yards max. Just about any bullet will work for shots like that.

Typically, Barnes TTSX are all I ever hand load anymore. I have a box of their LRX 127gr to load for a 6.5CM. I also have a .260Rem and will try the same bullets with that chambering, as well as the 120gr. TTSX. I prefer the mono-metal bullets for all around performance. When meat hunting, I typically shoot behind the shoulder and they seem to minimize blood shot meat and always provide a decent exit wound to help with tracking. If I'm trophy hunting, I typically shoot for the shoulder to break bone and they also perform well for that and hold together.

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Try the Barnes 127gr LRX factory loads.

I’ve had great luck with them. I’ve shot 3 deer and 2 pigs this season. All have fell in their tracks.

I’ve tried the 143 gr eld-x precision hunters. Very accurate. Just don’t like how they don’t give a good blood trail.

I’ve had to look for deer. Though when cleaning the deer the insides are jellied.

I shoot behind the shoulder.


Dave

�The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it.� Lou Holtz



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Shot in the shoulder instead of behind

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