Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada The 6.5 Hornady SSTs were encouraging, but what about Prvis?

For ships and giggles I got some Prvi Partizan 6.5mm bullets.



From left - 120 gr, 139 gr, 156 gr. Prvis - Hornady 140 gr. SP, 140 gr SST.
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After I had a look at them, I started collecting information for the load work ups. I won't bore you with what I do. I'll just mention the highlights.

Prvi

Bullet length and particulars

B-485 - 120 gr. HP - 1.175" (BC - .425) no cannelure. Target bullet. BT is approx. 0.175 inches long
B-084 - 139 gr. SPBT - 1.201" (BC - .604) - Hunting Bullet. Cannelure approx. 0.400" from the base. BT is approx. 0.158 inches long
B-118 - 156 gr. RNSP - 1.255" - (BC - .524) - Hunting Bullet. Cannelure approx. 0.365" from the base. FB. (Flat Base)

BCs from PP literature.

Hornady

Bullet Length and particulars

140 gr SP - 1.255" (BC - .465) - Hunting Bullet. Cannelure approx. 0.480 inches from the base. FB
140 gr. SST - 1.395" (BC - .520) - Hunting Bullet. Cannelure approx. 0.600" from the base. BT is approx. 0.123 inches long

I will try the same powders as I did with the SSTs and see which bullet the rifle prefers. The 2x5 shot average for the SSTs was 0.895 inches with Re 22.

BCs from Hornady manual

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By North American standards, the 139 and 156 gr. Prvis appear to be old timey bullets. That is, they have exposed lead tips. They are hunting bullets however. The 139 gr SPBT is a SOFT POINT BT, not a spire point (pointed) bullet. To me, they look like semi pointed bullets.

Despite the switch to polymer tips by many bullet companies, I believe that most 6.5mm bullet users, regardless of cartridge, shoot game at 300 yd or less. As a result, the tip won't make much of a difference WRT accuracy. The tips could get banged up if handled roughly, but again, I don't believe it will make much of a difference in accuracy or trajectory for the majority.

The 120 gr. target bullet has a .264 inch diameter. The 139 and 156 gr hunting bullets have a .263 inch diameter. Because they are cup and core, that 0.001 inch won't be noticed. The bullets will obturate and seal the bore. My belief is based on shooting thousands of home made 303 and 7.62x54R bullets of varying diameters.
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I will ignore the cannelures.

I haven't determined the cartridge OAL length yet. I'll do that through the week when my grandkids aren't around.

I'll load up 10 rds. of each bullet with three different powders and kill some paper.

I shoot the 156 PPU bullet in my 6.5X54 M/S. So far it's been the most accurate bullet I have used in my old 1903 rifle. I can't really "Wring therm out" because it's an iron sighted rifle, but I have used Sierra and Hornady 160 grains and the 156 PPU, and so far the tightest groups I have achieved so far were with the PPUs.
I killed an antelope with one last August. It hit the spine as the 'goat' was stretching it's neck out to look at me (didn't know what I was) and the bullet hit the elongated spine and took out 3 vertebra and exited the hump of the back where the neck and shoulder meet. Long exit because of it's angle. Overall I think it did very well.

They are "old school" bullets, but I am pretty impressed. My rifle requires a round nose bullet to feed, so I can't say how the bullets compare to so many others with spitzer shapes. Only the 3 round noses listed above.. But considering the 3 blade rear sight for 100, 200 and 300 yards, I can't shoot farther then that with irons anymore, so the old blunt shape is not a limitation to me or to the rifle I use it in, in ANY way.

I have always believed that bullets with longer shanks are more accurate when shot from barrels in good condition. Despite the fact that bullets are better built than in the past, I have not seen any evidence that suggests pointed bullets or BTs are better performers at ranges of approximately 300 yards or less from medium/big game rifles. This is especially true with military surplus barrels whose chambers have been eroded.

There is no doubt that Partitions and copper bullets are good, but it's a hard sell to convince anyone that neither of these bullets are necessary in all situations. Older cup and core bullets continue to get the job done in the real world, but not necessarily in the Internets world however.

The PPU's are surprisingly accurate in my 6.5x55 and good performers on game. The jacket resembles the old Remington Corelokt when they were heavier. I have not shot enough game with round noses to say anything conclusively but they appear to perform consistently. Pondoro Taylor was a fan of some of the Kynoch round nose bullets and he thought they opened more uniformly and penetrated in a straight line better. I like the price too.

The accuracy doesn't surprise me, but they expand well too. I've had great results with a number of PP bullets in different diameters. They know how to make bullets. I have used five different component bullets as well as their loaded cartridges on a variety of animals and they all fell over. Hard to believe cup and core bullets will knock deer, pigs and coyotes on their butts.

I'm not so sure about the BC's of the two lead tipped Prvi bullets. Whether or not BC matters in your application is another matter.

At less than 300 yd, it makes no difference at all.

The .524 BC for the 156 is not too shabby if that figure is accurate. Like the semi spitzer 160 gr. 270 they fly pretty well.

I gave up on 140 gr. SST's in my 6.5-284 several years ago...

Very accurate, but tended to be rather inconsistent on game. Sometime they would be too expansive, sometimes not expansive enough.

IMO, there are better choices....

DF

I have never taken game with a Hornady SST bullet, but have with pp. I just know that PP bullets are $10/100 cheaper and in other cartridges they always worked.

I was looking at the SSTs for my 6.5 as the 140s in my 270 shoots lights out.
But I ended up with 130 game changers for the 6.5. They are same price per 100 at midway.

I have taken whitetails with the 129 grain Hornady SST out of a 260 Remington, and the 123 grain Hornady SST out of a 6.5 Grendel. All of those deer were delicious, and none were lost. (Oh, and none stopped an SST)

Good morning Steve, where did you find the Pivi bullets...have not seen any in the area where I live nor any of the Cabela's/Bass Pro shops either.
Have a great day!

Paul

Hi Paul. Trade Ex has them, along with Woodleighs and others - Hornady, Sierra, etc.

https://www.tradeexcanada.com

Thanks Steve!

No problem. Prvi pays me 0.5 of a Serbian Dinar for every box or bag that I get sold for them.

The BC for the PPU 156 is .348, just fyi.

Any load data for the 140 SST or 156 SPRN (actually is a SFP)?

Has anyone used those 139 ppu’s 6.5 on game? I’m sure they work just fine..

I've never used them on game, but I've used the PPU bullets as plinkers in 6.5 and 30 cal with good results for accuracy. Only ones I ever really had shoot really badly were the 110 RN for 30 cal, and those are actually .307 diameter bullets, which may have been the root issue in my rifles.

I do like thier brass a lot. Aside from getting one with the occasional wonky primer pocket in a bag, it has worked well for me in 222, 303 Savage, and 308.

SSTs have been "fixed" since they first appeared--similar to Nosler Ballistic Tips. Went on a Texas hunt with several guys 3 years ago, and we all used factory .308 ammo loaded with 150-grain SSTs. Killed 20-some deer and pigs, some weighing 200 pounds, and never recovered a bullet, even on angling and double-shoulder shots.

On the other hand, the most erratic 6.5mm bullet I've used is the 160-grain Hornady roundnose. When started at 2150 fps or so in my Mannlicher-Schoenauer carbine, it did everything from break both shoulders on deer and exit, to come apart before reaching the far side on behind-the-shoulder rib shots. Phil Shoemaker had the same basic experience with that bullet.