I just acquired some 6.5 120 grain Hertenberger soft point bullets, wondering if anyone has experience with them on game.

try shooting some of them thru water filled milk jugs. see how many they penetrate and what shape the bullet is in.

If you mean Hirtenberger, they loaded most of their hunting ammo with Nosler or Sierra bullets. So probably your 120 grains are Sierras.

quote:

Originally posted by dutchgus:
If you mean Hirtenberger, they loaded most of their hunting ammo with Nosler or Sierra bullets. So probably your 120 grains are Sierras.

Serious question, Gus...when WAS that? My Hirtenberger ammo I bought via Musgrave in RSA certainly did not "appear" to be loaded with either Nosler or Sierra bullets.

Though the bullets themselves seemed okay, BTW, the cartridges were some of the most erratic factory products I have ever encountered. Accuracy in my rifles was wretched, and pressures often excessive.

I had two boxes of 6.5x55, 160gr given to me. The boxes specified the use of sierra bullets.

I shot them just so I could have the brass. They were more than just a tad hot.

quote:

Originally posted by Phil N:
I had two boxes of 6.5x55, 160gr given to me. The boxes specified the use of sierra bullets.

I shot them just so I could have the brass. They were more than just a tad hot.

Hi, Phil -

Thanks for your interesting post. Last time I tried Hirtenberger, I bought two full cases of ammo through RSA...one case of 150 grain .270 Winchester ammo, and one case of 139 gr. 6.5x55 cartridges.

None of the 20-round boxes in either case were labelled as to bullet make. The ones I received in the 6.5x55 look most similar to Speer manufacture to me, including the colour of the jacket material, the shape of the ogive, and the shape and amount of lead showing at the tip. But of course they could be made by anyone.

How did you find the brass to be? All the brass in both lots of the ones I am referring to had flash-holes appreciably smaller than the U.S. standard of about .080". Those Hirt-B flash holes were enough smaller that I had to use PPC decapping pins of about .065" diameter, to keep the pins from being yanked out of the decapping rods of my dies when the brass was removed from the dies.

quote:

Originally posted by Alberta Canuck:

quote:

Originally posted by dutchgus:
If you mean Hirtenberger, they loaded most of their hunting ammo with Nosler or Sierra bullets. So probably your 120 grains are Sierras.

Serious question, Gus...when WAS that? My Hirtenberger ammo I bought via Musgrave in RSA certainly did not "appear" to be loaded with either Nosler or Sierra bullets.

Though the bullets themselves seemed okay, BTW, the cartridges were some of the most erratic factory products I have ever encountered. Accuracy in my rifles was wretched, and pressures often excessive.

I still have a print with the details of their factory ammo I picked from their website in 2001. There it says that they load their ammo with the "renowned" Nosler and Sierra bullets and with their own ABC bullet.

The small sized flasholes were a pain in the ass indeed. In the end I got so irritated by them I threw all my Hirtenberg cases in the old metal box.

quote:

Originally posted:

I still have a print with the details of their factory ammo I picked from their website in 2001. There it says that they load their ammo with the "renowned" Nosler and Sierra bullets and with their own ABC bullet.

The small sized flasholes were a pain in the ass indeed. In the end I got so irritated by them I threw all my Hirtenberg cases in the old metal box.

I will have to assume my Hirtenbergers were loaded with their "ABC" bullets. Mine assuredly are not loaded with Noslers or Sierras. I still have 19 boxes of that loaded fodder remaining because it performs so undependably I don't like to shoot it from my rifles.

I save it for when nothing else is available, if ever.

Not sure about their bullets, but their ammo is among the worst that I have tried.

I have tried them in several calibers, and all are loaded far too hot.

I generally get them from people who experience blown primers due to too much pressure.

The Hirtenberger ABC bullet was a solid shank design. I believe that it was made of some kind of gilding metal.

Many of the ABC bullets had a boat-tail; all that I have seen had truncated cone-shaped noses.

The ABC bullet had a narrow forward cavity that was filled with lead - not bonded, just filled.

Here is a picture of a loaded round, a recovered bullet and a fired case (the caliber is .375 H&H Mag.):



In my experience, the bullets have been excellent performers - they have invariably opened and killed very quickly.

I don't doubt for a minute what Saeed has said concerning his experience.

But my experience with the Hirtenberger ABC bullets, and with Hirtenberger's loaded ammunition (albeit, in only a few calibers), has been much more positive.

I used the the ABC bullet above (which was loaded in a factory round) to kill an African lion. I have killed dozens of big game animals with these bullets. I truly wish that Hirtenberger still made them.

I believe that Hirtenberger made a 6.5mm ABC bullet that weighed 7.9 grams, or 122 grains. I don't know whether they made a heavier weight bullet in that caliber.

As others have noted, Hirtenberger also loaded Nosler and Sierra bullets in their ammunition.