Recommend a bullet to me for 6.5 deer/antelope

[Nathan]

The rifle is a 6.5x55 swede bolt action Ruger. I will be handloading, but not looking to upload it to 3000fps.

Basically, I used Hornady 140 SST’s this year. They hit bone and blew up. It was possibly the shot placement, but I need something that can pass through a double shoulder shot.

I’m thinking 129gr through 145gr bullet. I need performance down to 1850fps for longer shots although I expect them to be rare.

Right now, I’m guessing either the Hornady 143gr ELD-X or the 130gr/140gr Accubond would be a nice fit..

[gw44]

I use the Barnes 120gr ttsx in my 6.5x284Norma deadly-deadly !!!!

[Nathan]

At what velocity?

[FITASC]

When I owned my short Swede carbine, it liked Sierra 120s the best for pure accuracy, but several 140s were definitely in the "very good enough for hunting" group

[Don Fischer]

In my 6.5x55, md 70, I use either 140gr Hornady interlocks or 129gr Hornady interlocks. I'm betting the 140gr for sure will go through the shoulder's but that is a shot I never take. The only bullet's I'd consider a plastic tip on are either varmint bullet's or TSX type bullet's. That tip has to go somewhere on impact and I'm guessing right back into the bullet, can't be a good idea with a lead core bullet. The Hornady V-Max bullet in my 243 blows up going through a target and 2" foam back to tack it to. No idea what it would go on a game animal but suspect would wound it pretty well. I don't pay the cost of premium bullet's of any kind but on the TSX type I strongly believe the tip will keep the hollow point from closing every time. I shot some HP Sierras year's ago into a pile of news paper and the point's closed rather than opened. All of these premium bullet's are made to make money, not much else. What advantage to a premium bullet that blows up? How about a premium bullet that shoot's clean through? I can get standard cup and core bullet's to do those things! Never had a well chosen cup and core bullet fail me. I've never even tried a Nosler partition. Meant to one time then didn't do it and the same weight cup and core did a fine job for me. I do have to say that the newer partition's are a lot more accurate than the older ones that sheared off at the partition.

I had good luck with Speer Hot Core bullet's years ago in a 7mm Rem Mag and giving the 140gr 6.5 Hot Core a try in my rifle this time around. The only premium bullet that makes sense to me it a bonded bullet and the Hot Core appears to work the same way. Shot them into news paper also years ago and 160gr Hot Cores from that 7mm mag retained 85% weight and the core did not come loose in the jacket at all. The old bullet's were fine, people just wanted to use them in ways they couldn't be used.

[std7mag]

I'd say the ELDX.
You may also want to check out the Accubond Long Range. Supposed to expand down to 1,300fps.

[6.5swedeforelk]

My 6.5 carbine likes the old Rem core lokts,
so when a SG store went under, I stocked up.

Dunno about deer, but neck shot elk using
loads at 2550fps are all pass thru's.

Few days ago I had loaded some down
to app 2400fps for a Norse Krag.

The bull was approaching, close, at a 20 deg angle.
That neck shot never exited, was just under the skin.

The expansion was good, 98gr remaining.






Can't post pics, 270kb is as low as I get.

[Chainsaw.]

Nosler gold partitions. Hornady ELDx. Core locks.

[Roadkill2228]

I have to ask, did the 140 sst fail to kill the deer humanely? As in, did it blow up and not make it to the vitals or did it blow up as it went through the shoulder and explode into the vitals with fragments and bone chips? Not being rhetorical here, actually want to know. I find it odd how many bullet “failures” are deemed failures on account of disintegration even though knowledge of what happened terminally is only possible by autopsy which requires a dead animal. No joke, I hear people all the time express disappointment with a given projectiles terminal performance, the grievance being poor weight retention or fragmentation, and talk about switching to a tougher bullet, when the projectile actually killed the game very swiftly. I’m much more of a pragmatist than idealist. I don’t care about weight retention or anything like that, unless it’s actually a matter of faster killing. That’s it. I don’t subscribe to any ballistic theories religiously. I don’t believe in “energy dump” (how much energy gets “transferred” when you smoke one with a truck and somehow it still gets up and runs?) and I don’t believe in the necessity of exit wounds, high weight retention, perfect mushrooms, or any of that, though exits sure are nice if tracking is to ensue, which it inevitably will at times. Adequate penetration, adequate disruption, ideal shot placement. That being said, I can certainly understand an aversion to meat damage, my 270 loaded hot with soft points has caused entire front ends to be rendered raven food on smaller deer. Again, no failure in my eyes, they dropped quickly. If you want less wasted meat the monometals are the way to go. Or stick with your sst and just don’t take shots that strike joints.

[ligonierbill]

I'm shooting a FN Mauser rebarrelled to 6.5x55. I have had good luck with 140 SGK and 130 Accubonds, but I am leaning towards Barnes 120 TTSX. I have an emotional resistance to copper bullets, but the durn things consistently give me best groups. I suggest that any of those will do well for you. Pick the one that groups best from your gun.

[dahermit]

It was possibly the shot placement, but I need something that can pass through a double shoulder shot.

Why are you willing to give up one-third of the meat? I would get closer, wait for a side-wise shot and shoot them behind the shoulder instead of looking for a magic bullet. I have always hunted for the meat (using standard cup and draw bullets) and found no joy in blowing the hell out of deer.

[Nathan]

The deer was quartering away at a steep angle looking back at me. My planned shot was to enter behind the rib cage and exit through the front chest cavity or front of offside shoulder. I was shooting at about 40 yards offhand and hit the left buttocks. It hit the bone and blew up...some shards went into the intestines...

The physical damage really stopped the deer. It ran about 400 yards and laid down to die. It stood up and I shot it through the base of the neck to finish it.

The shot was bad, but would have either gone up and hit the spine or straight and hit the lungs/liver/heart, if it did not blow up. That would have shortened the time of death quit a bit. 400 yards is far enough sometimes to lose it to another property or something worse.

So, I have been studying bullets....SST seems like a fine bullet, except the base is so thin that it won’t stop expansion.....I’m thinking Accubond due to its thicker jacket at the base.

[MarkCO]

ELDx and Accubond are the two I would look at. While I mostly shoot a .260Rem at the longer ranges, I have tried almost all of them and those are the two that do the best. I have shot 3 Deer and 2 Pronghorn with the Accubond with impact velocities in the 1600 to 1800 range with very good performance. Only 2 with the ELDx, but they worked well.

Don't go with a TSX or TTSX. They are good when the velocity is up over 2200 fps, but they pass straight through under that...a closer range bullet that is very good but not suitable for longer ranges. Sciroccos and SSTs did not open up reliably out far either.

Feel free to ask me any questions Nathan.

[Nathan]

MarkCO....Thank you very much for posting your experience.....have you had any close shots with those?

[603Country]

I shoot 120 gr Nosler BTs in my 260. Super accurate and they work great. Been using BTs for decades. Hundreds of deer killed with my 260 and 270. If I thought for a second that they weren’t effective, I’d have switched to something else.

[MarkCO]

Originally Posted by Nathan

MarkCO....Thank you very much for posting your experience.....have you had any close shots with those?

Nothing under 200 for the ELDx yet. With the Accubonds, yes. They tend to perform similarly to the Ballistic Tip hunting bullets up close, which is a good amount of meat damage if you hit bone. My deer last year, I lost the whole left front shoulder. One reason I am using ELDx this year.

I have seriously considered walking around with a Barnes XFB, TSX or TTSX in the chamber and the magazine loaded with the Accubond LR. If I decide to take a shot over 300ish, I will just rack out the Barnes and put in the AB. In those cases, there is plenty of time. Hopefully we get some under 200 yard shots this year to gauge the closer range ELDx performance. We have 3 Deer and 3 Elk tags.

[Old Stony]

I hunt a lot with a 6.5 Creedmore and a 6.5 Grendel. I've come to the conclusion that the 123 gr. SST Hornady meets my needs for both Whitetails and feral hogs. Mostly hogs is what I use it for and it is very effective on them, but I have never had a deer go over 20 yds after hit with one of those bullets.

[jmr40]

As long as bullet impact is under 2800 fps bullet choice isn't that critical. Above 2800 fps and many bullets start to give poor performance. SST's have a reputation for more rapid expansion than most, but if shooting heavy for caliber bullets they usually work. And the 140 SST is heavy for caliber and it shouldn't have been much, if any over 2800 fps at impact.

The concept of being able to shoot all the way through an animal is a recent one, and not always the best option. It sounds like the bullet you used did it's job as designed. For larger game and when shot angles my be bad then more penetration is necessary.

[std7mag]

MarkCO,
I don't know why you wouldn't carry just the ABLR?
Bonded bullet. Supposed to hold together with magnum velocities at close range.

I'm using the 150gr 7mm ABLR in my Rem Mag. Where i hunt, shots can present themselves anywhere from 20ft to 1,200 yards.

[Wyosmith]

I have a lot of friends here in Wyoming who shoot 6.5 Swedes for deer and antelope and a few that use them on elk. Everyone says the Nosler Partitions are outstanding in both the 125 and 140 grain weights. I have seen a few kills with both weights and I have to agree.
I also know a few that say the Barnes X bullets are favored. One in Thermopolis says he loves the 156 grain Norma Orex. I saw the results of a kill on a cow elk with that one, and it left an exit so it had to be pretty good. The cow was quartering and the shot went clear through the chest at an angle.

And everyone that has used the old flat base 140 grain Hornady has told me they work well. I killed a few antelope with that bullet about 15 years ago, and also one mule deer. Exits on all.

Bad results were reported to me about the 120 grain Speer and the 120 grain Remington C-L (which kinda surprised me)
One lady said her Hornady SST came apart and destroyed a lot of meat on a large deer. I didn't see the 120s or the SST hits, so I am only relaying what I was told.

[MarkCO]

std7mag. I use the Accubonds in 7mm on up and they are fantastic. In the 6mm and 6.5mm, moving fast in close, they have not stayed together on bone. Maybe I was unlucky. I am not convinced a great bullet in one diameter means it will be great in all the others.

[Nathan]

Anybody use the Berger VLD hunting or match bullets on game? I used the 190gr match 308 bullet at 2950 FPS on an Antelope at 220 yds. It was a spine shot so hard to judge...

[std7mag]

MarkCO,
Good enough for me. Was just wondering.

Nathan,
Yes. I use them in 7mm-08AI, 250Savage, 257 Roberts, and the 16igr in my Rem Mag.
Thinking about using the 140gr in my new to me 280 Rem.
A lot of people don't like them due to "weight retention".
I've been amazed at the amount of internal damage they do, even without an exit hole.
Tracking thus far has been within 30 yards. And the amount of blood doesn't make it especially hard.
Plus i'll wait for that perfect shot. I'm not gonna shoot a deer in the a$$ and then complain the bullet didn't go the whole way through it.

[hooligan1]

I've tested regular Accubonds on deer, they do what they intended to do with shot placement.
Also have taken deer with ABLR in .270 and it did as intended, 80 yds, right behind shoulder and pass through leaving a nickle size exit, deer did run 40 yds but she was dead when that bullet hit her, it was the 150 grn ABLR.
I've taken plenty with regular Btips also and they will get job done.
I don't have a Swede right now but planning to, and 130 grn Accubonds at 2800 should be the ticket for any thin skinned game around..

[Nathan]

@std7mag, which bullet are you talking about?

If you can imagine, I wasn’t taking a butt shot....still, bullets need to penetrate bone....that was my point.