Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting 6.5 CM for white tails. What load?

My 6.5 prefers the 120 Barnes TTSX over 4350. I like they way they anchor bucks without making a mess.

Do not overthink this deer bullet thing. Deer are not that difficult to kill. Any factory ammo that your rifle likes will kill just fine. I am a real fan of the 129 Interlock and have killed a lot of deer with it, in my .260s, and a few in the Creed. Most rifles-in any caliber-shoot the American Whitetail ammo real well. Unless you are just fond of spending money, you do not need the copper bullets on deer. That ammo is expensive and does not kill the deer any deader than the cup and core, etc. Cheaper ammo also allows you to do more shooting, which leads to accurate shooting, which leads to dead deer.

To the OP. I've shot whitetail,blacktail,elk and black bear with the 6.5CM, .260rem, 7mm-08rem. A 140gr. Nosler Partition is your Huckleberry. Personally never met a rifle that didn't love Partition hand-loads either. just in case you were wondering.

I used a 139 Scenar on a Muley buck at maybe 60 yds. High lung, bullet penetrated the first couple inches then expanded nicely leaving a silver dollar sized exit. Very good blood trail, went perhaps 50 yds in a sprint.

I just got some of those 139 "Skeenaars" to try out in my new Mesa...it is one fine looking bullet!

projectiles over headstamps.

Great feedback above......been using and reading about 6.5s for decades, everything I could get my hands on.

140 Partition was always a solid killer from Swedes to Win Mags.....that said, read an article in a 70's or so era Gun Digest or Handloaders Digest, title was "One Good Load" and the guy used a Swede and a 6.5-06 for about everything thru Mule Deer and Elk. He used ONE Bullet for complete success on all game. The 125 Partition.

Now on that note - extensive bullet test were done long ago, and the 129 Hornady SP, which has been around a LONG time ran neck and neck for penetration, expansion, and weight retention as I recall. For a cup core, it is a stout bullet.......a softer bullet might open sooner.

SO, all that to say, in a Small to mid sized case IMHO and IME, a basic Hunting bullet, of 120-130 gr is IDEAL for 95% of what folks will hunt and at the ranges much game is taken. IF you Intend to shoot Long Range, OVER 400 yds........the 140-147s can have merit. Not to say they won't work up close. Personally I have always used the 130 Accubond for my ALL AROUND 6.5 bullet. Others choose the 140, or a partition, a Barnes whatever like many have said, hard to find a bad one. I would avoid Match bullets/Target bullets that do not have a solid record on game.

If me, I would look at 130 Accubond for shots near and far, a 120 BT or TTSX do well, some folks like the mono's, stay on the lighter side for expansion...they like speed as many here know. The 129 is cheaper than Partitions or Mono's and will kill just fine....lastly the 125 WW XP might be a tad on the soft side, not a bad thing on deer, but if I were shooting bone / ie shoulders up close or say Hogs..I would instead go for lung shots until you get out to say 200 yds and further when terminal speeds are lower.

See links for further info:

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/4769172/1

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...ge-264-bullet-test-part-deux#Post4783400

FWIW: Shot another at 100, head on timber hole shot, with head down, from above. Broke spine forward of shoulders, and exited just past sternum, dead center.....CNS shot, but still busted spine and exited after 20+” of penetration. Baseball exit, again. 140 ELDM.



I’ve shot deer with 129 whitetail loads, 125 Winchester’s, 143 eldx, and 140 eldm. I didn’t use the 147, as it wasn’t shooting as well at the time. The 140 has killed much faster than the others, thus far, anecdotally. Exits were 3x the size of the others, as well.

We hunt in a jungle, if deer run 100 yards it is never in a straight line.

6.5 creed and 6.5x47 lapua, 129g Hornady sp is the first bullet we try to make accurate, because it penetrates and causes massive internal damage. Next on the list is 140g Sierra btsp, and you will get complete penetration, old school bullet that is very easy to make accurate. 127g Barnes long range has been easy to make accurate, kills well, no better than 129g Hornady Sp. 130g Nosler accubond and 140g Nosler partition penetrate from all angles breaking bones.

Last two years, we tried 129 and 142g Nosler long range bullets, holy cow. The 129g is particularly easy to tune and deer flop in a hurry due to the fact that the bullet is made to expand to 1200 fps, and complete penetration on most but the worst of quartering shots. The 142g Nosler long range puts some massive exits on deer and always completely penetrate.

I bought ten boxes of the 129g Nosler long range and 5 of the 142g Nosler long range.

For old school bullets, the 129g Hornady Sp and the 140g Sierra btsp are just money on the bank when it comes to killing bullets. If you can't get the Sierra 140g btsp to shoot accurately, you will probably be trading off the gun or putting on a new barrel. This Sierra 140g btsp is perhaps the easiest bullet to get to shoot small groups.

We need some massive damage on deer because of where we hunt, quite a bit different then when I was hunting out West. We also have some large hogs, and hogs can be a true test of a bullet. Those big bastards can take a lot of killing. That 129g Hornady sp thinks it is a partition when it comes to penetration, and I like to test a bullet shooting a big boar though the shoulders on a broadside shot.


Since we have liberal deer limits, we can do a lot of bullet testing here in the family, and we butcher our own deer. We see first hand what bullets do to deer.
'We did not see complete penetration with Berger 130g vld hunting on close shots...predictable, but they never traveled far...predictable. Bucks chasing does during the rut take a lot of killing and you need a blood trail. A 180+lb buck jacked up chasing a doe, is going to have to have MASSIVE internal damage, and hopefully enough to break the diaphragm to get him to stop in his tracks. Something to think about...rear lung shots with heart, lungs, diaphragm all turned to mush along with main artery that goes to the rear.

Great feedback Keith.

I've yet to stop a 129 ABLR in a number of deer. I didn't work up a load for it, just went with a middle of the road book load...didn't adjust seating depth from what I'd loaded 143 ELDx's with....put a couple together and it stacked bullets in multiple rifles. Generic load all the way around, kills and penetrates wonderfully at mainly shorter ranges.....it was just to easy....and I like it like that!

A grand total experience of one animal taken with the 142 ABLR and my Winchester 6.5 Creedmoor, a bang/flop adult cow elk at just over 200 yards. One of the most impressive kills I’ve seen in 45 years of hunting, with a healthy exit and broken off-side shoulder. Flipped her in her tracks.

I’ve yet to try the 129 ABLR but I certainly want to. If they print 1/2” groups like the 142s do, I’ll probably just use the 129s for deer and Pronghorn and the 142s for elk and call it good. Although those 125 Winchester Deer Season XPs kill deer like lightning and they cost about $18 a box. I can’t beat that on the loading bench.

I have killed a deer, however mine never run that far because I shoot the shoulders. I bet the interlock into a deers shoulders might be rapidly lethal. I hunt in the southeast its fairly dense.

On that comment, Breaking Bones, by Keith. Yes, using the 130 Accubond in a 260, I have drilled both shoulders of a mature WT Buck at 100 yds broadside, so further out it will only penetrate deeper as expansions drops. Also dumped one at 275 yds with a Ruger K1-A Swede...lung shot, dropped on the spot. As I said, near or far, the 130 is my 'Go to' in 6.5 for deer. Many other bullets get the job done, only a few match bullets and some light varmint bullets are iffy in 6.5, depending on shot placement and impact speed.

I despise lots of damage. Just the way I am.

Been shooting Berger match not hunting, 140vlds. Chrono just back from Oehler repair so no clue. 41.5 of H4350.

Caliber in, small exit, and does enough damage. They run. A bit. 50-100 yards. No big thing to follow up, even in a thicket.

Have taken one frontal shot on a 75 pound doe and the bullet almost made it.. actually exited flank and entered hind but a small bit of it, found lots of fragments.

I like the way it shoots though and just know to stay away from hard shots. Couple of quick groups at 500 to verify zero's had it around 3 inches or so. Can't complain about that.

Will be ordering 127 barnes though.... may have dual zeros and get hunting bergers if we stretch its legs but I've great faith in the barnes rounds period. Not sure how they will group or drop compared to the .640 bc of the bergers.

Have not tried anything else yet. It will probably live between these two bullets. Have talked to folks using ELDX and thats too much damage for my tastes... sounds just like an AMAX. Of course if it was started slow and a long shot taken the amax works just fine for me.

Hornady whitetail 129 Grain interlock .....First buck at 10 feet.....Flop....Second buck 253 yrds...... shot thru both lungs, He took one step.....

Rost - yes, I popped a deer at 200 yds, 105 Amax, 6BR 2850 mv, bullet vaporized on spine, dumping the deer DRT. Another deer, 400 yds, double lunged, golf ball sized exit, sent maybe 20-25 yds at most. So yes, once speed falls, an Amax and other 'soft' bullets will often hold together.

It’s pretty much jungle many places I hunt, as well....swamps, creeks, rivers, and stuff you’d have to crawl through with a riot shield and body armor, just to track them....how some fit through rabbit holes sometimes, I have no clue.....but they get lost crossing water, or even just jumping in a creek or smaller river sometimes. Tracking dogs have fits sometimes. Sometimes, they trot off 30 yards and die in sight or easy to track. It all depends on the deer and those other million variables that come with a non CNS hit or leaving any front tires on it. Massive damage and big exits are sometimes the only saving grace. There are probably several others that do that well in a 6.5, but that 140 ELDM is impressive thus far.