Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Mule Deer - easiest 6.5 bullet to get to shoot?

For those that test tons of bullets - what’s the easiest 6.5 bullet to develop a load for?

I'd have to nominate the Hornady 129gn Interlock.

140 grain ballistic tip.

Scenar

139 Scenar, 100 gn Ballistic Tip
Both are also spectacular hunting bullets

Whats the caliber?

My first 6.5 was a Sweede and I had a heck if a time finding a accurate load untill I tried some 160 RN...

Some years later I built a 6.5/270 very first load was 4350/125 NBT... darn load when 3250 fps and shot touching at 100 and under 1” at 225 yards shooting off the hood of my truck. Three of us shot that box of ammo all of us shot it sub moa.

Forward to two years ago. I bought a Grendel. It was “ normal” working up loads but then I discovered the speer 120 GD. BenchMark produced over 2650 fps and almost touching 5shot 100yard groups. Same gun shot AA2200 and a 120 NBT right at MOA and a 129 Hornady with H335 at 2475 fps but honest 1/2” 100 yard groups.

I have some 140’s I need to test in that ol’ 6.5/270

CW

That might depend on whether we were talking about a hunting rifle or a target rifle. My only 6.5 is the ever popular Creedmoor, and it used to digest a lot of 140gn Berger VLD's butsupply got erratic here Down Under so I'm changing to 130gn Nosler RDF's. I'm getting them out at around 2,900fps from my Savage 12 LRP.

The 129 grain Hornadys get my vote for a hunting bullet. You can almost not load them inaccurately, regardless of powder choice and volume.

They’ll probably discontinue that one soon??? It’s my favorite deer bullet in the 6.5s

PennDog

I quit buying them.... every bullet I ever like, manufacturers quickly hear about it and discontinue it...

so I quit buying them, so Hornady won't discontinued them for you guys....

I have never messed with 6.5 TSX, but in .30 cal they always shoot really well (near or at max).

I agree.

The 123 and 139 are both very easy to get to group. And they have good terminal performance. Check out Pat's portfolio of dead critters (Scenarshooter).

DF

I've read this about the Scenar bullets many times .

I've probably had more luck with the 140-grain Berger Hunting VLD than any other.

In more conventional hunting bullets Barnes and Hornady are generally easy to work with, but I've also had great luck with the 140 Nosler Partition in cartridges from the 6.5x55 to 26 Nosler and 6.5-.300 Weatherby. Had a 6.5-06 for several years that I naturally tested LOTS of bullets in, to write articles for at least 3 magazines, and while the 140 Berger was most accurate, the 140 Partition was firmly in second place, not too far behind.

The 140 VLD shot best in my 264’s!

And also in my Krieger barreled pre-64 6.5-284. Deadly at 3,000 fps. with RL-17.

I like the 120 TTSX and 120 E-Tip in my 26 Nosler. I want a tough bullet at hyper velocity and these do the trick, like half MOA at 400 yds., great terminal performance.

The Scenar 123 is super accurate in my 6.5 CM and my Swede really likes the 139 Scenar.

So, guess I'm equal opportunity.

DF

I shout the 140 Ballistic tip in my 26 Nosler, Accubond would probably be better for heavier game.

God bless you Seafire!

PennDog

I load the 140 NAB for my bud's .26 Nosler. He's an Accubond guy.

They are also very accurate. The terminal performance on WT's and hogs, 120 E-Tip and 140 NAB, not that different, even though speeds are different.

The newer NBT's are tougher than back when I quit using them.

DF

140 A-Max

.........I second the motion. At least in 6.5x55.

120 gr. Gameking works for me in all my 6.5s.

140 Partition or Ballistic Tip have both worked well for me.

Although the 125 gr Partition is my favorite for my .264 Win Mag And has worked well on a couple of big Mulies and several Antelope and numerous TX Whitetails. Not to mention countless feral hogs here at the Ranch.

Many great 6.5 bullets. 140gr SSTs are doing great out of a Swede and 260 for me.

About 10 years ago I bought a T3 Swede and not ever having shot or loaded for one I picked up one of the One Caliber spiral bound loading guides...and using the Sierra guide page in 120gr ProHunters with the "accuracy load", got the fastest teeny tiny groups I ever shot with anything during the abbreviated scope sight in, and it was bang/flop on the Texas sized does & spikes I was allowed to take where I was hunting.. 1st one dropped with her head folded over backwards in mid stride like lightning had hit her, and bounced when she hit the ground. Still got the booklet and just bought another T3 Swede ...might gonna have to try some other bullets & powder loads this time just for funsies.
Ron

140 ELD match for me. All of my creeds love that bullet..

I am looking forward to testing the new Berger 156-grain EOL Elite Hunter.

https://bergerbullets.com/new-berger-6-5mm-156-grain-eol-elite-hunter/

rb

Me three.

Strange, my Creedmoor hated them but shot the 120 ballistic tip incredibly well. Each rifle is a rule unto itself. I’ve had very good luck with other Hornady bullets.

Old70

With my Tikka 260rem I have great results with the Nosler 130gr accubond with the 140gr partition close behind.

120 BT, and 140 AB both are great shooters.

Nosler 130gr Accubond---H 4350---one ragged hole.

I have had good luck with all of them that I have shot. Toughest to tune was probably the 125g Partiton.

My hunting is 400 and under, shooting lanes cut through a jungle.

100g nosler ballistic tip
100g Partition- does not stop in deer
120-all of them
123's-all of them
129g sst is a great explosive coyote bullet, 129 hornady sp is great short range and poor mans partition, 129g Nosler long range accubond is easy to tune, seat close to lands
130g accubond is a one hole bullet if you know how to tune a rifle, and the 130g berger vld hunting is pure magic, but does not always penetrate deer 100 yds and closer.
140g Sierra btsp is easy to tune in any rifle, great short range killing bullet, 140g Long range accubond...wicked ugly on deer, massive damage, 140g Berger vld hunting is like shooting a laser
Ballistic tips are ungodly accurate and brother they kill deer and hogs. 140g Hornady btsp is a tough bullet, too tough for smallish white tails.

Worth a note that the 127g Barnes long range was real easy to tune in any case we wanted to shoot it in.....050 jump and never played with any other seating depth.

6.5x47 Lapua-129g Nosler long range accubond my favorite- deer drop-shoot them on the shoulder and you throw away the front half-
6.5 creed- "
260-130g accubond
264 WM -127g Barnes long range & 140g Berger vld hunting
6.5/06- 127g Barnes long range & 129g Nosler long range accubond

Seems like there was some guy on this site that had a quirky saying that has proved to be dead nuts on working up a load, cant remember who, but it stuck in my mind

Kiss

Find Pressure

Rock on

[bleep] ain't hard to kill

Since the OP didn't say hunting bullets specifically I'll agree with scenars and add in the 140 Berger Hybrid.

Well, they kill stuff whether designated hunting or not.

I shoot critters with such bullets. No complaints, me or the critters.

DF

Keith,

Interesting.

Among other differences from your experience, I've had the 129 ABLR shoot better more often when seated well off the lands, in both the 6.5 PRC and SAUM. But it's one of the 6.5 bullets I try when looking for extreme accuracy. Even in my 6.5x57R Sauer drilling it will put five shots inside an inch at 100 yards, with a 4x scope. Dunno if you've shot many drillings, but that is pretty good. (Should add that the 129 Hornady Interlock does almost as well--as does the 125 Partition.)

Have had the 140 Partition shoot more accurately in a number of rifles than the 140 AccuBond, even after dinking considerably with powders and seating depth with the AB. But when the 140 AB perks, it really perks!

Have found the 130 Berger Hunting VLD shoot well in a number of rifles, but not overall as well as the 140.

A more general comment is that a lot of what works depends on the particular lot of bullets, as I know you know. Once had a big lot of 165-grain .30-caliber Nosler Partitions that shot like match bullets. Had a Juenke machine back then and that batch tested out as well as most match bullets, and not only shot little-bitty groups in my NULA .30-06 but a bunch of others rifles....

With a good barrel I have not found the 6.5 caliber medium sized rounds finicky at all. I have limited experience with cartridges .264 magnum and above so these may be a different story. Loaded several 129-130 grain bullets in my 6.5x55 Forbes rifle and they all did well. Ended up hunting with the 129 Hornadays and Nosler ABLR.

Another nice thing about these well rounded cartridges is I can shoot multiple bullets in this range with no sight changes.

I even had good accuracy from bargain PPU bullets, they were not that far behind the Berger 130s.

In both my 6.5-.284 and .260 Rem the 140gr Berger VLD has shot the best out of the half dozen or so that I tried.
I would like to try the 139 Scenar but I'm pretty happy with the VLD's with both accuracy and performance on game.

I've used and like both the 140 VLD hunting and the 139 Scenar. They both kill, both shoot very well.

I've read that the Scenar doesn't fragment quite as much as the VLD.

Would appreciate input on that.

DF

It doesn’t sound like there’s a bad one ( right twist anyway).

Yeah, It's amazing how much better bullets are today than when I started reloading in the '60's.

Even the worst ones are pretty good.

DF

Had real good results .7" or better from my 6.5x55 Tikka with the 140 Amax and the 140ELDs with the the first loads with 4831 and H100 and right an inch with 140NPTs!

I had zero effort to get the 130 NAB to shoot in my 6.5x47 Lapua.

+1 the 123 and 139 Scenars are quite special as well.

Good luck and shoot straight y'all

The 147 ELD has impressed me in several 6.5's.

I use the 143 ELDx in three different 6.5`s.It shot so well I did not try anything else.

Have we now listed every single 6.5 bullet made ?

Close.

But, that makes yet another statement, that we have a great group of bullets now available to reloaders.

Even the least of them is good.

DF

129 grain hornadys for me too. I load and shoot them from two Tikka T3s. One in 6.5x55 SL and the other in a .260. I see no need to experiment with anything else.

130 NAB

I had a little difficulty finding 130 gr. Accubonds, so I am trying Sierra 130 gr. Gamechangers. They are flying just like the Accubonds did out of my .260 using H4350-damn well. CP.

I’ve been trying them in my PRC with inconsistent results so far. I’ve got them hanging out as far as I can @ 2.95.

After reading MD’s thread on seating depth. I going to stuff them a smidge deeper and crack some kernels...😎

Why would you want to imitate others language to start with.. LOL and why would anyone want a bullet that ruins the front half of a deer so you waste that meat?

139's have always worked well for us, from 2850-3150fps.

6.5 PRC bull, my wife killed last fall with one shot at 420 meters(139 scenar).

Nice!

140 accubonds in both my creeds, Swede and 6.5x284.

I have to go with the 129 Interlock, also. My Criterion barrels shoot these well with any load, but I have yet to find a rifle in ANY caliber that does not like Interlocks. I have shot around 200 deer with Interlocks in 6mm and 6.5mm, and a few with .308 and 30-06 and they are super accurate and kill deer just fine.

Yep, 120 grain ProHunters.

I'd have to agree with that statement. I know Sierra have the reputation of accurate bullets but the flat base Hornady Interlocks have shot well in a wider range of different calibres and cartridges for me.

years of shooting and who knows how many rounds of competition downrange, H simply is not at the top of the pile typically for us. Sierra usually shoots well but I don't trust their hunting bullets, actually have better luck with target for consistency on game. OTOH have been having good luck with H in the pistol calibers XTP.

Nosler shoots really well but early on stuff with ballistic tips and I've never used them on game again. The match versions never kept up with Sierra.

Bergers are some of the most reliable and easiest to shoot for us. Barnes is right there since they went to tsx etc.

Lapua have been good but have not shot enough to confirm, IE like probably not over 1000 total.

At least thats what we've seen over the years.

Not a writer, but since others chime in here, I will too.

I have a new Barrett Fieldcraft in 6.5 Creedmoor for which I have spent a while trying different bullets and loads. The bullets that have shot the best have been the Sierra 130 gr. Tipped Game King and the Hornady 129 gr. Interlock. I couldn’t get the 130 gr. AccuBond or the 120 gr. Ballistic Tip to perform quite as well, but the 143 gr. ELDX shows promise if I need to stretch the range a bit. I have settled on the 129 gr. Interlock as my play and hunting bullet. I am confident it will do all I need to do with this rifle.

Just got done with a bunch of load-testing of the new Hornady A-Tip bullets in three calibers, 6mm, 6.5mm and .30. According to Hornady, they're designed to be more tolerant of seating depth and twist rates, and the results indicate they succeeded. The 135-grain 6.5mm A-Tip was easy to get to shoot well in a couple of different 6.5 rounds.

Of course, A-Tips are supposed to be a match bullet, but that doesn't mean they won't work on game--and that some hunters won't use try them. I did a little Googling and didn't find any hunting reports anywhere, probably because they're so new, but they'll probably start showing up soon.

The bullet which I found to be the easiest to get good accuracy from was the Sierra 160 semi-spitzer. Of course, not the recommended bullet for long range shooting. GD

IIRC there's been a post on the effectiveness on coyotes come out of Glendive. I'd not be surprised if he used them on game animals this fall if he hasn't already.