Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting 80 - 85 grain 6MM bullets on deer

In my search to use different rifles and to get the most out of the deer/varmint versatility from my various 6MM rifles I used several 80 to 85 grain cup and core bullets on deer. Truthfully I got very good performance though the bullets often did not look like mushrooms after they were recovered. Some did though. My favorite 80 grain bullet is the Remington PSP, seconded by the Speer Hotcor.

85 grain Gamekings will "light'em up". I've done most of my killin with 95 grain B-tip's loaded by Winchester. I started shooting them when I was a kid(to some of you I guess I still am)and they worked so well I kept shooting them year after year. Since I've started handloading I shoot 85 grain GK and TSX. Not used the TSX yet in 6mm.

My favorite bullet in the 6mm for deer is the Hornady 87 gr BTHP

Several years ago I bough bulk 1000 80 grain Remington PSP bullets. They shot just fine and after trying them on many coyotes found they held together on them pretty good. I planned to use my 30-06 on Mule deer one year but my scope failed. This was in 1991 or 1992 I think and you could get aditional doe tags. I got 2 and also shot my buck with these bullets. These were pretty good size deer, the does were around 150 pounds and the buck was around 225 pounds. All hits were in the ribs and all three went right down. I was pushing them to 3300 fps and none of the deer were shot past 200 yards. On one doe that was shot almost exactly broadside the bullet exited but the other two deer were shot at more of an angle and the bullets did not exit. They were found under the hide on the far side mangled but still intact and had around 50% of their original weight left. I found several people who preferred the 80 grain factory loads over the 100 grain bullets available at the time. This was a bit before the "Premium" bullet craze hit and I don't think any ballistic tip type bullets were available in factory ammo yet.

Bea, what speed? Ctg?

Had a friend who yrs. ago swore by them. I have seen the 85 BTHP in action....Sierra and the X bullet.....both deadly.

When I was youger I shot 70 grain B-tips for 2 seasons. I was about 12 or 13 and did not know any better. I told the guy at the counter what I wanted and my mom bought them. My thinking was 70's would go faster and shoot farther -grin-. I never lost a deer with them either. Prolly shot 10 or 12 in those 2 seasons I'd say. Old enough to hunt after school and too young to work(for the public).

I load 243 ammo for my buddy's son. The boy has killed two deer with this load (85gr Sierra BTHP) DRT. He got exits on both deer. I've always used 100gr bullets on deer but based on his son's experience so far I wouldn't hesitate to use them on deer. Deer around here don't get very big anyway.

I never changed zero on my scope no matter if I was shooting 70's or 95's. I could have used a little help.

The 85 TSX is a hammer......

I use the Sierra 85 BTHP in .243 for my Wife's rifle...she is 5 for 5...and 3 DRT's

85 Nosler Partition is a deer wacker....and coyotes....and antelope and...

I had deer run like a scalded cat with the 85g Sierra BTHP with no exits. The Speer 85g BTSP is a deer bullet not a varmint bullet with a very high BC of .401.

I shot up two boxes of the 85g Nosler partitions, could not get them to group in two Remm 700's.

I worked up two loads with the Barnes Tripple shock 85g with R#19 and IMR 4064, very accurate bullet, but have yet to kill anything with it.

I've shot quite a few deer with the Sierra 85 gr. HPBT from the .243 Winchester with perfect results. My loads usually break over 3,100 fps and nearly all my deer are shot under 100 yards in the Ozark timber. I've cracked a few necks and some were hit tight in that little pocket snug behind the leg. I've had some DRT's and a few did the typical short death sprint of 25 - 50 yards. Some exited, some didn't, but they all died within sight even in the woods.

Ive shot a lot of nice whitetails with Sierra 85 gr. BTHP from a 243 winchester and never seen one take more than a couple steps befor they got on their knees as Ive been highly impressed with them...........

85 tsx hands down does so many good things in my 6mms its my go to bullet. Whacks em, close and far, will penetrate stem to stern and not blow huge holes. And they end up dead. Have no worries of non penetration or destruction like I did when I shot 80 PP and 80 corelokts....

Rost, years back, my buddy and I had a curiousity....took my 600 Mohawk 243, shot an 80gr PLHP Rem bullet handloaded around 3000 or so, and another load with an 85 X bullet, shot both point blank into a dirt bank. PLHP was dust....completely disintegrated.....the X....looked like the ad pics.

Not a scientific test.....and not correlated to game tissue, but that made an impression and when I whacked my hog, in a previous thread....I was an instant believer.

That said, I do recall Sierra telling me the 85 BTHP over the years was beefed up and is a Gameking bullet.....made for deer which MANY handloaders for 6mm bullets....love on whitetail, as well as yotes and other varmints. It IS based on track record a solid performer....but I'd choose a Barnes anytime in the 85gr as the ultimate bullet, esp at nominal distances.....at very long range, heavier bullets like the 95 Ballistic tip can retain more energy, still hold together and also expand, as others. But the 80s as you say.....could never earn my confidence. I flip a coyote with that Mohawk at around 275 yds on a dead run sideways to me.....first shot in the neck, a Winchester PSP 80, did well, but I would not want to hit a deer with those more frangible bullets if not in the neck, or a closer broadside lung shot....back then I used alot of the PLHPs for paper/crows, etc...getting good accuracy. Now I use 70 TNTs for that.

When you don't want to have to pass up shots, some bullets in 6mm are better designed/capable of penetrating to/thru vitals on various shot presentations....angles. TSX should be named The SOB....it was one of the best things to happen for 6mm bore shooters IMHO as my experience on deer with 243/100 partition....small wound channel and too little visible shock value. YMMV. (As a side note, for 338/358 cal, the 225 Partitions are my top pick for a do anything, kill anything 'go-to' bullet).

I usually use my 6MM as a meat gun, unhurried shots that only go to the ribs or neck in front of the shoulder blade. With the 80 gr. Rem PSP a couple years ago I took an uphill shot at the spine of a 100 pound doe. My aiming point because of mesquite brush was tight behing the shoulder blade. The bullet went in, opened a 4 inch channel that blasted rib pieces into the chest cavity, shattered 5 inches of spine and though there was a group of exit holes I can't tell you if it was bone fragments or bullet that made them. This hit of course wrecked 8 inches of backstrap on both sides, dropped the deer and by the time I got there she was done. A couple of years back I got great deals on 95 gr. Ballistic Tips and 100 grain solid based bullets from Nosler and use the Ballistic Tips now. They behave very well for me. I will test the solid bases on a hog soon with luck. I think the 80 gr. Remington PSP bullets were designed a bit tough compared to todays varmint bullets, possibly to be used in the 244 Remington after the 90 grain PSPCL was dropped since the 100 grain corelokt had a hard time stabilizing in a 1 in 12 inch twist standard for the 244.

I think the old solid base were great bullets, now I like the Accubonds in 6.5 and if I were using 7mm/08s still. The PSP I used was the 80 Winchester. I hit a doe running once in the back, ruined half the backstrap, 7/08 140 btip....hate hitting the spine....once I did it one purpose, a 6BR/105 amax, knew it would not penetrate much and at 200 yds it vaporized and did not have any secondary shrapnel to speak of...very little meat loss as it literally contained in 2" or less! Deer was facing away....seconds later, double lunged another deer, small buck at 400 yds....exit, golf ball size....deer went 25 yds at most. Knowing the bullet's behavior/construction can tell you what shots to take, at what range/impact speed to ensure success.

Love to hear how those 100 SBs do Rick.

I'm loading the 85 gr TSX for my 243. Took 3 deer with it this year and as of yet have not been able to recover a bullet. Exit holes are about half dollar size and the blood trail on the one deer that was not DRT was massive and easy to follow the 40 yards the critter traveled.

That is exactly the kind of performance I got with the Remington corelokt 100 grain bullets. The 95 grain BT's I used both gave DRT performance and exit holes. Not saying either of these bullets possess the penetrating abilitiy of the TSX, just that they exited. Having never used the TSX I believe the Nosler Solid base bullets will give the best penetration of any bullets I have tried in a 6MM.