After 25 years, I'm going Bighorn hunting this fall. Last time, I used my 300 Weatherby. This time, I want to use my new 6.5 x 55. I'm considering Bergers, Hornaday's new bullet and 120 ttsx. Is there any real difference in performance that anyone can see or is it six of one, half a dozen of another? I guess another way of putting it is--I'm going to try 3 different bullets to see which shoots best. Any thoughts on what 3 would be most ideal?

Berger 140's shoot .6MOA at 2700 FPS out of my swede...They have taken anything that I've shot at with a quick death...Antelope, deer (mule and whitetail) and elk...Have fun.

My thoughts would be Cutting Edge 120gr MTH, Barnes 127gr LRX, Hornady 146gr ELD-X, Nosler 129gr ABLR, Nosler 130 or 140gr Accubond. OK, that is 5 but you don't always find what you want in stock.

I don't like the Berger concept and prefer a tougher bullet. I want to be confident in taking an off angle shot at a once in a lifetime animal and Bergers don't do that for me. Just my experience and opinion.

Jeremy

For hunting sheep you need: woll metal jackets

I have shot some really good sized deer with 140 grain Partitions in my 6.5x55. If I was going sheep hunting, that's what I would use.

I would choose accuracy first and velocity second, especially if you are using a rifle based on the 96 action. I would likely start with the Barnes. Congratulations on your upcoming sheep hunt.

Of the 3 you gave us to pick from I would pick the 120 grain TTSX. The other 2 are very soft bullets and their performance at odd angled shots or on shoulders may be less predictable.
Although Sheep are not terribly hard to kill they sometimes do not give you a nice level broadside shot to take, I've found most were at a steep angle.
The TTSX will most assuredly give you a pass through with plenty of damage in between.
For my 6.5x55 44 grains of RL 17 and 120 grain bullets are very accurate, 45 grains of IMR 4350 is great too.
Start below that for your rifle.

The 127gr Barnes LRX's shoot very well out of my 264 WinMag. Considering the lower velocities of the Swede, I might experiment with the 129/142 Accubond LR's, but I have never used these. They are advertised to have better performance at lower velocities which sound perfectly suited for this application. Good luck!

I will be using my CZ 550FS in 6.5x55 this year for deer hunting. My plan is to either use the 140gr Sierra Gameking or the 130gr Swift Scirocco II. The Gamekings shoot really well out of my rifle but I would like to see how the Swifts will do. To hot to work on load development right now though.

Another nice option is the 125 grain Partition. Good trajectory, rapid initial expansion, and reliable long range expansion. They seem to love an 8 twist and have been the most accurate .264 partitions I have used (I have shot all three weights from several rifles with 8 and 9 twists). 130 grain Accubonds are also very accurate effective killers with Swede/260 velocities.

I don't have any experience with the 6.5x55, but my 6.5 Remington Magnum really likes 130 gr Accubonds.

I would choose bullet performance (controlled yet rapid enough expansion) first.
Second I'd choose laser accuracy.
Third would be velocity.

I've hunted bighorns a couple times and they don't take lots of "killing" but placement is still paramount.

Zeke

PS: where will you be hunting? I missed that

I want to thank all you guys' input. It's pretty much what I thought and I don't know why I am nervous about this. I guess that I'm just now, starting to move to smaller bored. Frankly, with my 300 weatherby, I shot 180 partitions and didn't worry about it. I guess what turned was that I started watching my kid shoot a 270 with the 130 tipped triple shock and it was working on the elk just as well as my 300. I started thinking about 6.5 x 55 just because it seemed cool in a Mauser 98.
Thanks again and I will report back in a couple months on the bullet performance. One other thing, based on the suggestions, I'm going to get some partitions in different sizes tomorrow and load em up. Thanks

So, where's your hunt?
We all want to be excited for you since sheep hunts are actually pretty rare.
Best of luck!
Zeke

Cat,

On bullet selection I'm always concerned about the worst case scenario. What if your ram is about to go over the ridge and is standing butt to you? With the Berger or other extremely frangible bullets there is no shot as a hit in the butt will undoubtedly not be immediately lethal as the Berger will go off like a grenade. This is great for broadside lung shot but not for bad angles. The TSX on the other hand should give full length penetration resulting in a dead ram.

Mark, that's a great question. I've read good things about Berger, but since there are damn other good bullets, I've never given it a try.

You have to rely on other people's experiences. You shoot three deer and a couple elk with a certain bullet and you have good results and you may conclude that it is a great bullet-when in fact it may poor perform poorly on the next three shots. In reverse, for example, I saw a fairly large bull elk hit with a 150 grain 270 long range Accubond. He was pretty sick after the first couple shots, but managed to travel about 800 yards. Fortunately, it was open country and when he finally stopped, it took a kill shot to put him down. I didn't perform an autopsy, but my sense was the shots were all in the general boiler room, but not perfect. We also recovered a couple of the bullets and my further sense was that the penetration was less than ideal. The distance was about 150 yards. My point is, I guess that I cant conclude much: may have been and probably was bad shooting, but maybe this particular batch opened up too quick.

My own observation tells me partitions and triple shocks perform, but I was hoping for a little more reach

The truth of the matter is that I should go with the 125 or 140 partitions, as suggested above, but that's not what hunting and rifle nuts do.

Zeke, you ain't going to believe it---I drew for one of Oregon's coveted tags.

Coveted indeed. Steens? Congratulations!

quote:

Originally posted by Schrodinger's Cat:
Zeke, you ain't going to believe it---I drew for one of Oregon's coveted tags.

OMG man! Good for you!!!!!!

BTW: I happen to agree with Mark H. Young about bullets. Bergers are great except whenever you call on them to do just a bit more (Which many other bullets will easily do).

Try the new Hornady VLD-X if you want an high BC bullet and the Partition or Accubond or the TTSX aren't sexy enough for you, but I wouldn't use Bergers.

Just my 2 cents backed up by good and bad experiences,
Zeke

I used my Kimber 260 on my sheep last year. I shot Barnes 120 ttsx's. They did a great job at 380 yards. The muzzle velocity was only 2800fps?

Thanks, for the congratulations guys.

Yes, in my personal experience I've never seen a triple shock not perform.

Another, interesting thing---I plugged the various bullets and respective velocities in a ballistic program. At 400 yards, they are all within a couple inches of each other.

I went to the store today. Tomorrow, I'm shooting 120ttsx, 125 Nosler portions, 130 Bergers, 140 partitions and the new Hornaday 142 ELD.

Thanks again.

Let us know how they go mate

I have a 6.5X65 RWS and am taking it to the range next week to try out the ELD-X.

My rifle (Krieger barrel) loves the 120 TTSX too.

quote:

Originally posted by The Dane:
For hunting sheep you need: woll metal jackets

: Det var godt !

quote:

Originally posted by Schrodinger's Cat:
Thanks, for the congratulations guys.

Yes, in my personal experience I've never seen a triple shock not perform.

Another, interesting thing---I plugged the various bullets and respective velocities in a ballistic program. At 400 yards, they are all within a couple inches of each other.

I went to the store today. Tomorrow, I'm shooting 120ttsx, 125 Nosler portions, 130 Bergers, 140 partitions and the new Hornaday 142 ELD.

Thanks again.

Let us know how it goes..I'm just starting to buy components for my 6.5x55 and would like to see how the Barnes in particular worked out.

quote:

Originally posted by SIKA98K:

quote:

Originally posted by The Dane:
For hunting sheep you need: woll metal jackets

: Det var godt !

Say that in English old mate

quote:

Originally posted by Heym 450/400:

quote:

Originally posted by Schrodinger's Cat:
Thanks, for the congratulations guys.

Yes, in my personal experience I've never seen a triple shock not perform.

Another, interesting thing---I plugged the various bullets and respective velocities in a ballistic program. At 400 yards, they are all within a couple inches of each other.

I went to the store today. Tomorrow, I'm shooting 120ttsx, 125 Nosler portions, 130 Bergers, 140 partitions and the new Hornaday 142 ELD.

Thanks again.

Let us know how it goes..I'm just starting to buy components for my 6.5x55 and would like to see how the Barnes in particular worked out.

There is only one brand of brass to buy, that's Lapua.

I usually buy Norma...I've never tired Lapua, maybe this time I'll change it up

Heym, I've never owned a swede before, but shot a buddies and damn they are sweet shooting. It was a tikka They are a relatively cheap, but the one I shot, shoots great.

I started with a matched number military Oberndorf Mauser action. I lucked out in that it was in great condition put a 2 position Wisner safety and a new bolt and since you now get a Brux barrel in six weeks, I put a 24 inch featherweight barrel. I know this is blasphemous, but put a McMillan stock on. I used the Sako hunter edge--the most trim package available for a Mauser. Talley rings. My only regret is purchasing Sunnyhill bottom metal. Not, that they are not well made, but they have a lot of metal in them. Plus, because of 30-06 length, I had to install a block. I think I would have preferred a gussied up military bottom metal. Finally, I used Dressel's model 70 style trigger made for the Mauser and topped the gun with a leupold 6x36.

I had a Echol's Legend and liked the looks so have painted in brown with a red pad. As an aside, the Echol's gun was wonderfully constructed and performed great. I love smooth feeding. However, I could just not warm up to what I consider a too massive a fore-end. Just a matter of personal preference.

Blair, yes I'm using Lapua brass.

As an aside, I commented on selling my Echol's Legend--I didn't want to suggest that these rifles are not great. They are. I loved the fact that when feeding it, I felt virtually no resistance in the bolt--nice. It was chrome moly and when hunting in Alaska we going through salt spray to shore several times a day for a week. Other than basic care, I did nothing special. Not a speck of rust.
Some years ago, I got my son, a Gene Simillion rifle--somewhat of a Echol's Legend clone. My son loves it. He's not the rifle nut that I am. We just load it up with 4831, 130 ttsx at about 3000 and goes hunting and kills stuff. He doesn't have to treat it like a hot house plant and it performs perfectly like a working rifle is supposed to do.

MOst sheep are actually shot at closer range than one gets from the printed word..That said I would opt for a Hornady interlock, Nosler partition, in a weight that would penetrate lengthwise on the animal Im hunting..Thats always been my code..penetration is first and foremost with me..Noslers are great about fast opening and they have all the penetration in the world..