Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 6.5 Bullet Test-143 ELDX vs 120 NBT

This is just a quick comparison of these two. Note that even though it appears that two of the ELDXs still had their cores the shank of the bullets were hollow. Most of the core went forward with just a tiny lead cap left at the top of the mushroom. The "wound" channel for both bullets appeared similar. All 5 bullets fired into the same moderately packed stack of newspaper.

Nice test! Both are good deer killers!

I shot a very mature muley buck back in 2019. Using the Hornady 143gr ELD-X. ( 6.5x06, MV 3075 fps) Range about 80 yds. The buck was facing me at an angle. The bullet caught the very back edge of the right shoulder blade & blew up like a bomb. Lost the entire front shoulder, all the flank meat under the shoulder & a sizeable section of the lower neck. As someone who has been using a Sierra 6.5 140gr SBT , I have never had one blow up like the ELD-X. I hunt mainly for the meat, not horns. For me , I will never use the ELD-X again.

Typical cup and core at close range.
Dead animal with massive destruction.
This is why they make bonded bullets and Barnes .
For the folks that don’t like vanilla ice cream there is chocolate and strawberry.

Hesp brings up an interesting point though, regarding the 140 Sierra. I have heard many reports of this bullet being quite tough. Was it made for the 264 Win Mag and just never lightened u?. I recall an old story by Finn Aagaard where he had a new Mauser 6.5x55 with these bullets and was drilling holes on his TX whitetails.
Who can chime in on the 140 gr 6.5mm Sierra BT?

Hope this is not too much of a hijack. I really appreciate the OP and its data.

I still use a lot of the 'been around forever' 140 gr 6.5 Bullets, in the Swede, the 260 and the 6.5 x 57...

the Sierra 140, old Hornady 140 SP, the Rem 140 Corelokt, the 140 Partition and this past fall the old Speer 140 SP for the first time in a while...

They just plain work at those cartridges speed...... I did have a Sierra 140 eat up a shoulder on a doe once.. and only once...

But the case was loaded HOT, out of a Ruger 77 Mk2 Swede, with an MV of about 2940...

The doe jumped out in front of me at 10 yds... it hit the shoulder.. but that can't be blamed on the bullet, but moreso on the velocity and the deer being that close...

Can't blame that on the bullet.. dropped the deer on the spot, wasted the left shoulder.. had an entrance hole half the size of my fist...

I stock a lot of the old Nosler 140 Partitions, and the 125s, along with their 120 gr Ballistic Tip... and always have several boxes of the Hornady 129 SP on hand by the reload bench... I have yet to down a deer with the 140 Ballistic Tip tho....even if having 300 of them available...

Based mostly on John Barsness' writing, but also my own very limited experience, I view this test as a "worst case" scenario for a bullet at a given velocity. The results of this specific test give me confidence to take a "quartering to" shot through a deer's shoulder joint if needed with either bullet. I wouldn't be confident at any higher velocity and Hesp's experience backs that up. Certainly neither of these two seem ideal for busting joints, but I bet they'd work at these speeds. I've not recovered any bullets from game that looked worse than the same bullet shot into dry newspaper at close range-even after busting a shoulder joint.

Hard to find a 'bad' bullet for hunting, if it's built for that, in 120-140 range....

That said, a 130 AB is my go to.......I think a lot of the 120 BT, dumped lots of game, way back to the 6.5 JDJ at 2500 - and even in Africa.

The 130 AB will expand, and penetrate, even on close shots on shoulders....in and out broadside at 100 yds via a 260.....dumped another at 275 from a Swede, dropped where it stood.

I normally avoid shoulders, but I wanted to test that bullet, a 243 did another buck in as well at the same spot as that 260 kill at 100 yds - with a 95 BT, a rather tough NBT. Same shot btw, broadside, both shoulders. Both kills had exits. Short trails.

My only suggestion, soft bullets are better for lung shots, IME. That would include say an SST, AMAx, or Berger, they kill well most times, but I personally would not shoot any match bullet on shoulders.

I've killed 3 elk now with the 6.5 130 NAB, and it's flawless. It's fully penetrated and exited even quartering. I've gone through the shoulders of one. It's actually an amazingly stout little bullet. I have full confidence with it at this point.

Watch out on those ballistic tips at 2900 if you high shoulder shoot a deer. Made that mistake last year on a doe; it was a major mess.