Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Which 6.5 bullet for deer/elk....

Having killed and seen killed quite few critters I tend to like the 6.5MM 130gr Berger VLDs in various forms such as Hybrid, AR Hybrid and just plain old VLD when running the lower speed Creedmoor.

Nice ones.

I know you like VLD's, especially for LR work.

How do they compare with the 139 Scenar and 130 NAB, both of which work well for me?

BTW, I like and use VLD's, mostly the 140 Hunting in my 6.5-284. No complaints there. Haven't tried VLD's in my Creed, the Scenars are just so accurate, I quit shopping.

Just curious, your thinking on that subject.

DF

Edited to add, I've loaded some 156 EOL's in my 26 Nosler over Vv n-570. No blood yet, but they shoot great.

I've had a Berger tech tell me they don't like their Hunting VLD's shot over 3,100 fps, so I quit working with them (140's, etc.) in the Nosler. The 156 EOL runs smoothly at 3K in that gun, which is within their velocity window..

Your thoughts, comments..

I have never used the Scenar nor the 130gr NAB so I don't have a frame of reference.

I can say the the 130gr VLD has always worked great in the Creedmoor so I am not really shoppin for a different bullet.

You are probably on the right path with your 26 Nos.

I get 3250fps from my .264 Win Mag but it has a very smooth throat still and the 140gr VLD holds up even with close impacts.

When running the VLD hard the condition of the throat/barrel can affect terminal performance.

For the 26 Nos, the Berger tech suggested target VLD’s as a sub for the hunting VLD. But I just moved on. Target VLD with slightly thicker jacket may have worked. Now, the 156 EOL could be interesting. We’ll see.

DF

My PRC shoots the 143 ELDX’s and 147 ELDM’s pretty well but it’s a friggin tack driver with the 139 Scenars. When I have zero doubt about where the bullet is going to hit it’s a pretty special feeling. I shot a buck a few weeks ago that was standing quartering mostly away and in the oak brush the only thing I had an unobstructed shot at was his head and neck looking back at me. With the CWD testing going on here in Colorado I knew they don’t want head shots , so I just aimed high in the neck where the spine would meet up and at 200 yards hit exactly where I wanted to. Bullet destroyed the spine and kept going. I have several hundred 139 Scenars and see no reason to chase a little BC with the way my rifle shoots them.

Unless I’ve missed it I see no mention of the 100gr Partition. Anyone used that bullet on whitetail? Seems to me a 3300fps Partition would be good place to be.

I've used light for caliber Partitions in high speed rounds before (7 mag, 25-06) and the meat damage was unreal. I went back to the heavy for caliber Partitions and the meat damage is more acceptable....

My 6.5 Creedmoor shoots the 130 AB and 129 ABLR into same POI and both under an inch. 2,760 FPS at the muzzle. I think the 129 ABLR is perfect for deer and has held up well on bone, but I still use the 130 AB on elk for piece of mind. Actually, it is my kids' elk rifle up until they can shoot something a little bigger.

My son put a couple of the 130 ABs into an elk a couple weeks ago at about 100 yds. The first was far back and broke the spine and dropped the elk. It went through the spine and exited (nickel sized), but only had to go through about 8-10 inches of elk. His second was behind the front shoulder and was caught in offside (no exit). Kill shot blew through head with nickel sized exit.

Next year I will load up some 140 ABs or partitions with a stiff load of RL26 for elk. I will limit him to 300 yds. Other bullets may be better for longer range. I think the 6.5 Creedmoor is adequate for elk in the hands of an experienced shooter than can place shots very well, but is pretty marginal for the average hunter for elk duty.

156 Berger! I shot two bull elk last year with this bullet out of my 6.5 GAP4S (150 and 250 yards).

Loaded those in my 26 Nos. No blood yet.

What’s terminal performance like?

DF

140 partition

I’ve used the 130 AB to kill 3 elk with my Creedmoor and several deer. One of those elk was shot at 504 yards with 2 pass throughs. I’m at the point of having complete confidence in this bullet to get the job done. Works great on deer and antelope as well, so it’s the perfect all around bullet in my opinion.

out of a 260 Remington... yeah, it worked just fine...

Didn't see any meat damage with it, that Mr Heister mentions....

But I did the same thing, with a 100 grain ballistic tip at 300 yds.....

boy he wasn't kidding on lost meat on the oft side...a good 20 plus pounds of lost meat...

If you just want something DEAD, use the ballistic tip then....

I haven't seen the 143 ELD-X listed anywhere either as a component or a factory round. Did I just miss seeing it or is it still around.

140gr Nosler Partition and don’t look back. I’ve killed mule deer, antelope, black bear, and elk with that bullet and the only way to to gain anything is to step up to at least a .308 200gr partition. 😎

Here is a 129 ABLR we pulled from the offside hide of a cow elk last weekend, shot from a 6.5 Creedmoor. 240 yds and about 2,400 FPS impact velocity. I didn't weight it, but it is probably 40-50%.

I think there are better elk bullets out there, but this one performed just fine.

That’s a great recovery. They do expand nicely.

Interesting....thanks for posting that.

It was an angled shot a little far back, and traveled through quite a bit of elk. I didn't see if it took out ribs on either side. Also did gutless so didn't get to see wound trauma either. It was getting dark and we had to make quick time.

130-143 at that distance, though that's a ways for a creed. You'd be better served with a 6.5 PRC at those distances, using 140 to 160s. Good luck