Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Highest b/c 6.5 good hunting bullet for 260 1/8 twist?

[/quote]
Surprised no one has said this already so I'll be the one to get flamed.
BC does not make hunting bullets kill better.
[/quote]

This and flame on. Just about any 6.5 mm bullet over 120 grains has a decent BC for typical hunting ranges. If you routinely shoot game at 1800+ yards yes it will make a difference. The 129 ABLR is doing well near and far in my Swede to date, eight deer. It is doing so well I haven't bothered with the 140s yet.

In my experience, BC does help to a certain extent in "killing power," in two ways:

First, you don't have to start high-BC bullets at what we generally think of as high velocity, 3000 fps or more, an old American tradition going back to the .250 Savage and .270 Winchester. Instead bullets can be started at more moderate velocities of, say 2700-2800 fps, which results in good performance even at closer ranges from cup-and-core bullets.

Second, high-BC bullets catch up to or even pass the velocity of faster, lighter conventional bullets pretty quickly, so perform well at longer ranges too, whether in expansion and penetration, or retained energy.

In other words, high BC tends to even out velocity over "normal" hunting ranges, resulting in more consistent expansion and penetration even if you never shoot at "long" range, however that's defined.

I need to try me some of those. The 140gr. ELD does pretty good in my rifle, so I haven't made the switch yet... As I understand it, the 147 with the bc of .697 vs the 140 with a bc of .646 would mean about .1 mil difference of wind drift at 1000 yards. This could mean quite a bit to a longrange target shooter or someone that is shooting past 1000 yards on a regular basis. One thing to consider is you will lose velocity by going to the 147. How much of a benefit will the heavier bullet have in most hunting situations?

While not discounting what you say, I find it somewhat confusing. It seems that most shooters, match or hunting, use high BC bullets coupled with the highest possible velocity to provide them the ability to reach longer targets with less drop and drift. Most will not equate lower velocity to good performance.
I think what you're saying with the second part is basically choose slower heavier bullets over faster lighter ones because the heavy looses less downrange performance past a certain distance. True?

If I was limited to a single 6.5mm component bullet, I'd pick the 130 grain AB along with its plebeian 0.488 BC and go happily about my business.

If there is a tangible advantage to the 129 grain AB-LR and its 0.530 BC, I'd love to know what it is.

Hey 26remguy, maybe a good choice and I certainly go along with the keep it simple approach. What is your experience with this bullet if I may ask?

They shoot small groups from every 6.5 Creedmoor, 260, 6.5-284, 6.5x55, and 256 Newton that I've tried them in and they kills deer DRT. They are the most accurate hunting bullet that I've shot in my V2 Creedmoor and that rifle is the most accurate box stock CF rifle that I have owned.

Plus, the 129 grain Hornady SSTs shoot to the same approximate POA and they are almost always less expensive to practice with.

Thanks for the added info I do appreciate hearing that. I just found an unopened box of em and will try em in my 6.5PRC.

The 130 gr AB is one of my favorites in the 260 as well, I expect you'll like them in your 6.5 PRC. The 140 gr Ballistic Tip is my other favourite 6.5 mm bullet for deer.

The BIG advantage of the 129 over the 130 when I was looking for a new 6.5 bullet was that the 129 was available......grin.... It's worked perfectly but I believe the 130 would have been just as good and it was actually what I wanted to try but was out of stock so I went with the 129....no complaints.

shoots4fun,

"It seems that most shooters, match or hunting, use high BC bullets coupled with the highest possible velocity to provide them the ability to reach longer targets with less drop and drift."

You mean like the tens of thousands of hunters who've purchased 6.5 Creedmoors in the past few years? While there might be a 6.5 Creedmoor factory load that gets 3000 fps, the vast majority of them are well under, and even "hot" handloads with bullets in the 140-grain class only get 2750-2800.

While quite a few long-range shooters (which we'll define here as those who shoot at 500+ yards) do prefer higher muzzle velocities, as I have already pointed out, there are advantages to higher BC's even at moderate muzzle velocities. The 6.5 Creedmoor, for instance, performs just as well as the .270 Winchester out to 500 yards, but with noticeably less recoil and wind-drift--and usually, better out-of-the-box accuracy with very affordable rifles and factory ammo.

That said, I first realized the advantages of higher BC back when I started hunting with the .270 Winchester in the 1970's. I soon discovered, due to a lot of range practice and hunting, that 150-grain spitzers drifted less in the wind, and seemed to kill better, at longer ranges than the usually recommended 130's. Which is why my standard hunting bullet eventually became the 150 Hornady Spire Point (though later on I started using the 150 Partition for game larger than deer). The reason for all this was, of course, that even though the 150's started out 200 fps slower, they did everything better at longer ranges than the 130's, while not shooting up as much meat at closer ranges.

Which is exactly what the 6.5 Creedmoor does today. It's another step in the same direction.

Jeff,

I'll start by pointing out that "high BC" is relative term. When both AccuBonds and SST's were introduced 15 or so years ago, THEY were considered high-BC hunting bullets. So were Ballistic Tips when Nosler introduced them in the mid-1980's.

Among their advantages promoted even "way back then" were finer accuracy, flatter trajectory, more retained veloicity and energy, and less wind-drift.

But since you claim to use 130 AccuBonds because of their fine accuracy and the way they kill deer, I'll note that the accuracy of 129 ABLR's has been even better more than one of my 6.5 rifles, and the "killing power" so far better as well.

John,

I like the 129/130 grain 6.5mm bullets because the have always worked well for me and they seem to offer a nice balance of velocity, accuracy, and penetration potential. Charles Newton recommended a 130 grain bullet for the 256 Newton and even though Newton did his cartridge development over 100 years ago, I think that he was a pretty sharp guy who hit the bullet weight sweet spot for medium case capacities 6.5mm bore cartridges.

Depending on the rifle and its intended purpose, I shoot 100, 120, 123, 129, 130, and 140 grain 6.5mm component bullets. I would like to shoot the 125 grain Partition, but have never found a load that would shoot groups as good as the 129 grain Hornady or 130 grain AB, so when the accuracy paths diverged, I chose to follow the 129/130 path.

I haven't tried the 129 grain ABLRs, but, based on your recommendation, I probably will, at least it will give me a reason to break out a new Remington 700 ADL Varmint that I bought last June, but haven't gotten around to take off the shelf to rework into a BDL format and bedded it in a better/stiffer stock. I don't know how the "killing power" of the 129 grain ABLRs could be any better than that which I've experienced with the 130 grain ABs, as every whitetail that I've shot with an AB hasn't moved more than a few feet from the place that they were standing when hit.

I'm not a long range hunter, as I hunt in a place where 440 yards would be an extreme shot, with most presenting themselves between 75 and 150 yards, so any properly constructed bullet fired at a reasonable velocity will do the job. My Son, his friend, and I shot 7 whitetails last November with 7 125 grain Winchester/Olin Deer Season XP factory loads. All 7 deer died quickly when shot through the lungs at ranges from 15 to (maybe) 100 yards.

These days, my primary hunting focus is on fox squirrels with 17HM2s, so no reloading and few factory load options other than hording the long discontinued Eley and Remington ammo.

EDIT: Is there a meaningful difference in downrange performance within 500 yards tied to the difference in BC between the 0.488 for the 130 grain AB and the 0.530 for the 129 grain ABLR?

Jeff,

The farthest any deer I've shot with 129 ABLR's has gone was one cross-step sideways.

One characteristic that I've seen not just in ABLR's but a number of other higher-BC bullets is they often shoot better when seated deeper. For example, in my 6.5 PRC they shoot best seated about .1 inch short of the SAAMI standard 2.95 overall length, with 5-shot groups (not 3-shot) averaging 1/2" at 100 yards. (3-shot groups are usually all touching.) Even in my 6.5x57R drilling with 1-4x scope, 5 go into an inch at 100.

They're also less expensive than the 130's!

My experience with after shooting several deer each with the 129 gr ABLR, 130 gr Accubond and 140 gr Ballistic Tip is the ABLR makes bigger exit holes but they all kill just as well as the other. The 140 gr BT does what the other do at less cost too lol. It just doesn't shoot as flat at 260 Rem speeds, that's where the 129 and 130 gr really shines. Not a big deal in the real world though.

Lastly, I hope you don't think I am badgering or trying to prove you wrong. I have long been a fan and truly miss the articles you wrote for the now defunct VHA. Oh, and your wife is no hack either!

260Remguy,

Hunters are all over the spectrum now days and switch bullets more than most people switch underwear. 😁

One day a hunter will use a Barnes in an attempt to not destroy to much meat and the very next year will use the most frangible bullet made to attempt the quickest kills ever with a perfect broadside shot.

The 130 accubond IMO is in the middle of the road. Its got some toughness to it if you end up having to take a quartering shot but it will still open up with some authority on a broadside shot IME just past 300 yds.

In the 6.5 creedmoor velocity range the 130 accubond is a good place to be IMO



Trystan

There's a lot of territory between "typical hunting ranges" and 1800+ yards where BC makes a difference.

Just sayin.

gerry,

I always love statements about "the real world" during these discussions.

In the real world, where 99% of deer are killed at 200 yards or less, a .30-30 with 150-grain factory loads will do just as well as a super-accurate 6.5.

In the real world, 99% of the big game hunters could do anything they desire with a .30-06.

In the real world, I bet you haven't been using a .260 (with whatever bullet) all your hunting life.

In the real world, the 6.5 Creedmoor now has every advantage over the .260 for the average hunter, because it's chambered in so many affordable, super-accurate rifles, and affordable, super-accurate ammunition is available in so many stores. The .260 isn't dead, by any means, but in the real world it lags behind.

In the real world, I haven't yet gotten the 140 Ballistic Tip to shoot quite as well as the 129 ABLR in my rifles chambered in the .260, 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5x55, 6.5 PRC and 26 Nosler. But then, I generally spend more time experimenting than the average handloader, because that's part of my job.

In the real world, the major advancements involving hunting rifles have been the invention of rifling itself around 500 years ago, the development of practical smokeless rifle powders in the 1880's (smokeless handgun and shotgun powders already existed), the jacketed spitzer bullets that appeared soon after smokeless powder, a vast improvement in sights, and the laser rangefinder. The other advancements have been much smaller, but that doesn't mean they're not real, at least for some hunters and hunting.

And no, I am not one of those hunters who only shoots the latest advancements. The last two rifles I've acquired have been a custom 6.5 PRC and a "trapdoor" 1866 Springfield .50-70, and I plan to hunt with both this coming fall.

shoots4fun,

No, I didn't think you were badgering me! Thanks for your feedback, and glad you like our writing.

As for 6.5 Creedmoor veloicities, I'm getting 2750 with 143 Hornady ELD-X's in a 22" RAR Predator, and 2800 in a 24" Franchi Momentum, using IMR4451 with published data.

I suspect a LOT of handloader go after all the muzzle velocity they can, even though higher-BC will make more difference at longer ranges, because that's what handloaders have done since the development of smokeless powder. One of my good friends is typical: He spends a lot of time squeezing every last fps out of all his rifles, even though a lot of the bullets he uses have pretty low BC's. Yet he "knows" the 6.5 Creedmoor can't work as an open-country hunting rifle because the muzzle velocities are "too slow."