Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Which 6.5CM Bullet Do You Trust....

Whatever bullet I shoot in my 6.5X54 M/S! Ramble, Ramble. Be Well, RZ

I saw that deer that DF blew up with a Scenar, using a .240 Weatherby I think. My experience with .30-06 using 155 Scenar has been the opposite in several cases. While his bullet I'm positive was over 3000 by a lot mine are under 2800. More than once I've ended up with little or no expansion on a sizable hog. The 6.5 LRAB in my limited experience of shooting hogs with my neighbors 6.5 Grendel has been that they are very accurate and kill very well with good expansion but not explosive by any means. I would use the Nosler if that was my only 2 choices.

I"d like to see an exit wound picture of no expansion. Those are extremely rare. Though I did have one from a 50 bmg round once.

Generally speaking almost all bullets expand some. Some more than that. Some get really ugly.

JG

I have killed 5 deer with my .260 using 129ABLR 4 Mulie and 1 whitetail. From 80 yds to 408. Mostly pass through with a lot of internal damage. The ones I recovered were text book mushrooms.

2840 velocity

I would use this bullet on anything I might shoot with the .260 or

Oops forgot about pronghorn this year...260 yds pass through. Instant dead!

Lefty

Either will work just fine. After all it's just a deer and deer are not particularly tough.

Do you have any actual experience with either one?

Either one will work.
I personally prefer the 125gr Nosler Partition.

Good luck and have fun!
Tom

127 LRX at 2800 +

Decide on a bullet yet...again...grin...

DF, I'm inclined to agree.

And since it was Mule Deer who started this thread hijack, I don't feel any worse for hopping on the bandwagon...

So... I had trouble getting the accuracy I wanted with 140 gr NP's and 142 gr LRAB's in my wife's Howa 6.5 Creedmoor in the runup to our Zimbabwe trip this past summer. Not that the accuracy was bad with the loads I was working on, it just wasn't up to what I know the rifle and ammo components were/are capable of. And since time was running short, and since factory 143 gr ELD-X's were hitting well under MOA at 100 and 200 yards, I simply bought 6 boxes of Hornady factory loads and that's what we took to Africa.

Long story short, the 143 ELD-X killed her zebra cleanly (double-lung shot) and her warthog (farther back, both lungs and liver), I was particularly impressed with the way it killed the zebra. Not a small animal, and considerably tougher than a whitetail.

Looking good from here.

One of the interesting things about the proliferation of bullets (especially in 6.5mm) over the past 20 years or so is the agony so many hunters go through in selecting The Perfect Deer Bullet--especially when by far the most popular 6.5mm round ever introduced (take a guess) produces moderate muzzle velocities, which tend to work better when just about any bullet hits deer--or other big game.

Out of curiosity I went through my hunting notes and discovered that I've used seven 6.5mm cartridges that I'd classify as "moderate" to take deer, and other deer-sized game. In order of approximate powder capacity they are the 6.5x54 Mannlicher-Schoenauer, 6.5 Creedmoor, .260 Remington, 6.5x57R, 6.5x55, 6.5-06 and 6.5 PRC.

In those rounds I've used 10 different bullets: 120-grain Barnes X-Bullet (the pre-TSX hollow-point), 120 Nosler Ballistic Tip, 125 Nosler Partition, 129 Hornady Interlock, 129 Nosler AccuBond Long Range, 140 Berger Hunting VLD, 140 Nosler Accubond and Partition, 143 Hornady ELD-X, and 160 Hornady round-nose Interlock.

Obvious some would be better for certain purposes than others, especially in terms of retained velocity and minimal wind-drift at longer ranges. But the results when they hit game were almost all totally satisfactory, with more than sufficient expansion and penetration. Some might provide more accurate than others, but among the most accurate was the discontinued 120 Barnes X, which was not known for consistent accuracy before the shank was grooved to create the TSX.

The only one I'd never choose for hunting deer again is the 160-grain Hornady Interlock round-nose, not because of the poor BC but because it proved most erratic when it hit game--and that was from the 6.5x54 Mannlicher-Schoenauer at a muzzle velocity of not quite 2200 fps. I saw it break both shoulders of one deer and exit--and another time, at about the same range, fail to reach the opposite ribs on a behind-the-shoulder lung shot. Phil Shoemaker had basically the same experience with it, so my experience wasn't an aberration. I'd happily use any of the rest of 'em again.

Another 129 ABLR exit from this morning. Should have taken the pic before dragging...sorry. ~90 yards, angled towards me, downward angle as I was in a stand, entered just behind right shoulder, exited 1/3 way down the body on off side.

Neither.

Again, excellent.

DF,

I most certainly have to agree. I’m sure I’ve saved a small fortune from the great information gained here. Of course, I’ve probably spent five times that because of that wonderful information!

You’re a wise man sir, and I value your posts.

An interesting comment from Mule Deer on the 160 grain Hornady RN. A friend loads them in his 6.5x55 rifle and swears by them. I have a box or two but haven't shot any yet. I guess they will be shot at paper, since John and Phil Shoemaker don't like their performance on game.

Only the ones with a rainbow on them. Like the 270 bullets. Be Well, Rustyzipper.

The 130 AB is my Go to, and at 100 yds, I punched thru both shoulders of an 8 pt from a 260.

The Scenars have a reputation, but might be a bit messier of a cleaning job on some shots, depending on impact speeds and placement.

The only bullets I would avoid? FMJs and probably MKHP....the Scenars I would likely prefer in open country on longer shots if using.

BR accuracy is always nice, but most good bullets in 6.5 will do MOA if not 1/2 so that's a non issue. My last 260 had the first 2 touching as I recall at 200 yds with the 130 ABs.....I called it good. My K1-A Ruger #1, out the box did 1.1" for 3 shots at that distance with a 6x42, flattened a WT at around 275 yds....I like that bullet near and far........and not much it will likely do that the old gold standard 129 SP won't....but the AB is likely a tad more accurate, and I believe has more weight retention where needed, and perhaps an edge in BC. Both proven like the 125 PT.

BC and SD is nice, but if not shooting over 400 yds I would stick to 120-130s in 6.5CM and 260 sized rounds. They have a great track record.

I, also, agree that the 130-class of bullets are a great spot for the Creed and especially the 260-due to magazine restrictions. That being said, I shoot the heavier bullets in the Creed, because they fit the magazine better, than they do in the .260 and use the 129 Interlocks in my .260s.