Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting 6.5x55 for Whitetail

I've tested and shot most of the 6.5 bullets out there. Don't think you could go wrong with anything over 120gr. and suspect that the 100gr. partition and the new TTSX would be more then up to the task as well. I've but the smack down on half a dozen mule deer with the heavies, 1 with the 156gr. Norma Alaska factory ammo and 3-4 with the old Sierra 160gr. SMP. Have never seen one take a step when shot with a 156-160gr. bullet.

As you can see, about the only things you did not see mentioned, nor I would recommend are 3 bullets, the 85 Sierra, 90 TNT, and 95 Vmax. The rest of 6.5s from 100-160 get r done, but you will likely find a majority of users loading from 120-140.

In Swede I have flattened deer DRT, ALL I have shot, with 2 bullets, 120 Corelokts and 130 NAB.

In 260 I have also used successfully Ballistic tips and the 129 Hornady.

The 129-130 seemed very 'balanced' for my thinking as great 6.5 bullets for all deer, but again, most all 6.5 bullets have done well, save the 3 sub 100s. LONG track record for 6.5mm rounds period on game. A good record

I've shot a bunch of small whitetails with the 95 grain VMax from the 260 without any complaints. It is not a bullet that I would pick for "take 'em as they come" shots, but for shooting deer when you can pick you shots they work quite well. Penetration into the pleural cavity results in scrambled lungs and a short, very short, tracking job.

Jeff

If someone can't take any deer that ever walked, with a 6.5 x 55 (or 260).. it wasn't because it was just a REALLY big deer...it was because the shooter was a poor shot...

The question with the Swede should be which bullet does not work in the 6.5x55. That list would be mighty darn short, and in most rifles, nonexistent.

John, you about summed it up....

Shot placement is the key to success w/any round.

I do feel that the 6.5s have a very low to really I never hear of them- failures, on deer, vs. say 6mm rounds. Obviously 6.5's are usually stuffed w/longer heavier bullets, but more importantly of proper construction.

The 6mm's were developed as a 'dual-purpose' varmint-deer capable rounds, and they do very well with that, w/correct bullet choice and placement. Use the wrong bullet, combined with poor shot placement and then you open a can of worms.

I have shot deer with 70gr TNTs out of both a 6BR and 243 at 3400 and 3500 mv respectively, and was successful because I knew the limits of the bullet, and chose a broadside lung shot and neck shot respectively. Both dropped quickly

Yet as Jeff can attest, the lighter bullets can and do kill, as all bullets will, some are just more forgiving, and when it comes to bullet selection for big game, the overwhelming majority of bullets in 6.5mm are for larger game, and that pretty much applies to most calibers larger as well.

In 17-25 cal, you have many more varmint bullets, but as we have seen in the past few years, premium bullets in smaller calibers have deadly results on game such as WT and Mule Deer. I would be as bold to say a 6mm, whether a BR or 240 Weatherby and all in between, using say an 85 TSX, 90 Swift, or even the fairly stout 95 BT designed for larger game, have a record of success rivaling standard c/c bullets in 25 cal, 6.5, and 7mms that often use 115-140gr bullets.

What beauty lies in the 6.5s is of the few varmint bullets available, you can usually find one that is accurate and explosive for that duty w/in these: 85 Sierra, 90 TNT, 95 Vmax, and 100 Sierra HP. The Hornady 100 SP is capable of varmints but deer as well as Seafire can attest.

If I wanted ONE bullet to do it all, a 120 ballistic tip and 130 NAB would be my pick. The latter would not be as explosive on varmints but the BT would not hold together quite as well on larger game. Pick your poison, but if I wanted to have ONE Load to do it all, I would pick a mid range bullet wt. that was foremost very accurate, but secondly holds up well if a bad angle is taken on deer. Varmints on a 6.5 menu would most likely be coyotes and similar game to my thinking, but I would not be opposed to using some light wt. bullets on prairie dogs and similar game. Those lighter wt. bullets would no doubt be safer and that is a consideration in many places and situations.

To my thinking, the 6.5 options of 85-160 gr give their owners a plethora of choices for most any need in NA. No doubt a 200 partition in a 30/06 is 'more gun' on the largest game, but a good 140-160 gr will often penetrate as well and do the deed if the owner does their due diligence. Less recoil which improves the shooters skill offsets what some may say a lack of surplus kinetic energy.

Stats alone never killed anything....

What I had intended to communicate is that I wouldn't use the 95 grain VMax if I wasn't willing to pass on a shot, since the 95 grain VMax isn't what I would consider a "deep penetrator". If I encounter a buck that looks to be 150 B&C or larger, I'm going to take almost any shot that presents itself and in that case, I'd prefer a bullet this is a "deep penetrator". We have a 2 week antlerless deer season in early January, so there is no chance of legally shooting a buck that shows any antler, so that is the scenario where I've used the 95 grain VMax.

Jeff

I've killed a few deer with the 6.5x55 and alot more with it's ballistic twin the 260Rem. I've used the 120 grain Nosler Solid Base bullets in the Swede and 129 Hornady SP in the 260. I can think of no better bullets for killing deer of any size with the 6.5x55. The 129s may be the best bullet for anything up to 500pounds in weight. The speed of the 120s and the penetrating power of the 140s.

130 grain Accubonds over either H4350 or H4831 (I'd have to go look) get 2700 out of my Sako and go under .5 moa for 5 all the time. They also kill deer dedernhell from (IME) 15 to 400 yards.

I've come to rely on the 125 and 140 grain Nosler Partitions in my pet 6.5x55. Both do an excellent job on whitetails.

Jeff, no excuse needed, when one knows his weapon, how to shoot it, and what limitations it has, then you will be fine.

In my case I decided I wanted to carry my little RSI out one am and the TNT is what happened to be the last round I had it sighted in for, so I knew I was going to have to get a great shot presentation, and a doe happened to come facing me and stopped at 42 yds (my buddy had to LRF for grins) and in one smooth motion I neck shot her. The 6BR/TNT kill was at 200 yds, more just because of the same as I had a 12" twist gun then and although intended to use an 85 Sierra BTHP, chose the TNT as again, it was what it was sighted in for, and CONFIDENCE in KNOWING where my bullet was going to hit, was 99% of my equation.

I would hold a shot as you because I do respect my game I hunt and would not w/o complete confidence, take a bad shot and have an animal potentially wounded and lost.

One thing is certain, even bullets as small as 55gr 22cal out of say a 22-250 are deadly when driven into lungs on selected broadside shots, and often deer go down in a very short distance. Hitting a shoulder, ham, gut, etc. would have a disastrous consequences no doubt.

I think that you misinterpreted my post, I wasn't making any excuse, just saying that Seafire is off-track when he makes a dismissive/blanket statement like he did in response to my post.

You're wrong on 1 point. I don't respect non-dangerous animals and if I was carrying a rifle/cartridge/bullet combination that would provide sufficient accuracy and penetration potential, I would take a suboptimal shot on a trophy animal. Even a non-fatal wound might anchor it enough for me to make subsequent fatal shots. But no shot = no wound = no chance to take that trophy. Now, I wouldn't do this in a trophy fee situation, where a wounded animal, recovered or not, is charged to your account, but otherwise if a marginal shot on a great animal is the only possible shot, I think that I'm sufficiently skilled to weight the risk and take the shot.

Jeff

Jeff, each must do what their conscious will allow them. I can tell you, if I had a trophy animal at a bad angle, there is always a head shot often if anything. Not often I would be in an area where a likely scenario would happen, and my rifle have varmint bullets.

I don't know if Seafire was directing his response to your post or the OPs, he would know but anyways, I am confident if presented a shot, you are capable of making a clean kill. Usually one merely can wait a few seconds to get a better shot, not always, but often.

I would venture that 3/4 of those on here, if not most, are much better shots than the average Joe, as they practice more and understand more. Knowledge is power...esp. in shot placement, as power is useless w/o it.

I'm very particular about shot placement when shooting non-trophy deer, but when you jump a deer in heavy cover, you have a small window of time to see the deer, grade the antlers, decide to shoot, and shoot. The way that I look at it is that a 150+ B&C buck is a trophy worthy of space on my walls and if a shot presents itself, I'm more likely than not to take it. Now, it the deer is undisturbed and I have sufficient time, I'll aim small, but it the deer is moving at speed, I'll aim for the lungs, but will accept a raking shoot behind the diaphram that will slow the deer enough for me to catch up and finish the job.

I seldom wound deer and haven't lost 1 for better than a decade, but a deer that is wounded and not recovered still serves the purpose that GOD intended when he put it on Earth, as food for predators and scavengers.

Jeff

Agreed. I do my best to never let one suffer, but on occasion in hunting, things do not always go as planned, as I have seen thankfully a very few times in deer hunting.