Looking for a good deer bullet shot out of a 24" rifle barrel chambered in the 6mm TCU.

I've got a box of 90 gr. Swift Sciroccos and should be able to get close to 2,700 fps with these. I contacted Swift bullets and they informed me that the Sciroccos should work fine as long as the impact velocity is at least 2,100 fps. I'm a little worried that this bullet maybe a little to tough for small southern whitetail. A bullet for my situation that doesnt expand is almost worse than one over expanding.

Others that I have on hand are - Hornady 80 gr. Single Shot Pistol, Sierra 85 gr. bthp and would like to get a box of Sierra 80 gr. btsp Blitz.

I would like the bullet to open quick but not blow up.

Any suggestions ?

Nosler 85 gr Partition?

Try the Sierra 85gr. HPBT. In my 6mm-223 I get velocities from 2717 to 2775 depending on the powder I use.

Also very accurate.

quote:

Sierra 80 gr. btsp Blitz.

chrome

I'd say the Blitz is a bad choice. It's a very fragile bullet for Varmints. Not quite bad as but very much like a V-Max.

For several years I had a great run on Virginia whitetails with the 87 grain hornady flatbase spire point in .243. BUT the thing is I was only driving them at 2750fps. You can get that velovity pretty close with the 6 tcu.

If I was loading a 2700 fps 6mm cartridge, I would take a long look at the Nosler 90 gr Ballistic Tip. It is a hunting bullet that should hold together and penetrate well at that velocity. I have had good luck with the accuracy of all Ballistic Tips and the 95 gr is my choice for the .243 Win.

I have shot a fair few white tail sized UK fallow with a short barreled 243 and charges of fast powder to allow the sound moderator to work better. This meant I was getting velocities only slightly faster than yours. I also use a standard 6mm rem and 243.

Loads of 85gr range bullets have worked well at speeds very similar to yours and also at the max a 6mm rem can launch them. You will not go wrong with the scirrocco's, speers, sierras or hornady 85/87gr game bullets. They will all open at that velocity but penetrate a little deeper than a standard 243 load. If you hunt small does the hornady 70gr soft point (not the SXSP) hangs together very well and will give some pretty good velocity.

Thanks for the info !

I've also heard that the Hornady 75 gr. HP is a fairly tough bullet. Anyone tried these ?

Yup....

the 75 grain HP hornady is a great bullet...

It would be one of my most used choices...

But the other guys above also mentioned a lot of other good choices...

85 grain Sierra HP, 90 grain Speer SP, 85 grain Speer SP, 90 grain and 80 grain Ballistic tips..
most 80 grain SPs....

I am looking at rebarreling a 223 to 6 x 45... and the main bullet I had planned on using was the 75 grain HP Hornady....

down loaded in a 243, they have worked great!

cheers
seafire

My recent experience with Remingtons 80 grain PSP though an inexpensive bullet it is accurate, fast opening and holds together. No matter what I would hold distances to less than 200 yards.

One of the good things about the Swift 90 gr. scirocco is its high BC. It starts a little slower than the 80 grain bullets but usually catches up out at around 125 yards.
I'm just going to have to try a few and see which shoots the best. Alot of choices.

quote:

Originally posted by chrome:

Looking for a good deer bullet shot out of a 24" rifle barrel chambered in the 6mm TCU.

I am using 85 grain Noslers with a Savage 24V in 6x45mm, have not shot anything big with it yet.

I'm with rickt300, the simple 80 grn Rem bullet. All my neices and nephews have shot deer with it from my 6 TCU on a mini mauser. H335 does nearly 2900 fps. All deer, 10 -12 now, have been one shot kills. I've recovered 3 bullets from the off side skin, perfect mushrooms, the others exited with a good hole.

The Sierra 243 dia. 80 gr. SPT Single Shot Pistol Pro-Hunter (Part #7150) was DESIGNED for use at lower velocities.

Most 6mm hunting bullets are designed for rifles in calibers like .243 Win, 6mm Rem., etc. and have heavy jackets that don't expand as well when used in carbines and pistols in calibers like the 6mm/223 (6x45mm) and 6mm TCU.

Like Chubby Checker said,"It's all about the twist" My Win 70 6TCU is 1 in 12". It will do 2954fps with H335 and 80gr SSp bullets. If a bullet is long for it weight (Barnes X) I would be on the edge with a 75gr X. A 1 in 10" should work for bullet up to 100gr. lots of luck. PS: My rifle has a 20" barrel.

At the velocity level you will be operating at, the Speer 80 grain spitzer is tough to beat. It will expand sufficiently and penetrate more than adequately to do the job on deer-sized game. The Sierra 80 grain SSP, a discontinued bullet, would be my second choice here. I have used it to take countless game with various medium-capacity 6mms in single shot pistols, and it performs like nothing else out there. But the added velocity of the 24" barrel is a match made in heaven for the Speer projectile.

The Swift bullet is not well-suited to this velocity level; forget about it. Ditto for any Barnes X or TSX.

The Nosler 80 grain BT and the Sierra 80 grain Blitz Varminter also do extremely well as long as you keep the muzzle velocity to no more than 2850-2900 fps, which should be no problem in the case you are using.

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Jay Johnson wrote: "I'd say the Blitz is a bad choice. It's a very fragile bullet for Varmints."

WRONG!!! Yes, it's a fragile bullet at the velocities attainable in a 6mm Rem or similar but NOT SO in a 6x45 or 6 TCU. Those with extensive experience will tell you so.

And even Sierra will tell you that it basically duplicates the performance of their defunct 80 grain SSP. When the velocity is reduced (either by virtue of a small case or via specialized loads), bullets once considered "varmint projectiles" at top-end velocities take on entirely different performance features.

Thanks for the info Bobby, thats pretty much what Bob Milek use to preach. I guess I wasted my money on the Scirrocco's ? I'm worried that the bullet might zip on through at the longer ranges but boy does it have a high BC !

I've got a box of Hornady 80 gr. SSP. I sectioned one to find it has a inter - lock ring and some nice little expanision grooves cut in the jacket.

Thanks for the info - i'm new at 6mm bullets.

I tried the Scirocco bullets in my Fetherweight with several different loads. Could not get them to group at all. Best bullets I have found are the 85gr Speer Spire Point Boattail and the 95gr Nosler Ballistic Tip. Both will shoot 5/8" groups if I do my part and watch barrel heat. Heavy charges of IMR-4064 and IMR-4350 work well. Lapua brass and Fed 210M primers are probably not required but I use them in hopes of added consistency.

30378: I thought we were talking about a 6TCU? How do you get 210 primers in a 223 case? Are you talking about some other 243 cal case.

Have one of these with a 21" bbl on one of my T/C Contender Carbines. The bullet I've used regularly has been the 85gr Nosler partition. It opens up, but still gives the penetration needed. With no recoil to speak of, especially with a hunting jacket on, its a great deer round.

quote:

Originally posted by HL:
Try the Sierra 85gr. HPBT. In my 6mm-223 I get velocities from 2717 to 2775 depending on the powder I use.

Also very accurate.

That's my favorite bullet (I also use the Hornady version) for long range varmints, but for deer, IMHO, I'd use the 85gr Barnes TSX BT.

I have not used a 6mm T/CU Carbine, but have shot my share of Whitetails with 6mm-223 & 6mm T/CU Handguns. My bullet of choice was always the 80gr. Speer Spitzer. This bullet has quite a high BC for an 80gr. Bullet, and has always performed great for me.

Larry

I shoot a custom Rem 40X in 6mm Rem (1:12") and strictly shoot the Sierra 85 gr HPBT. This bullet is hard to beat on white tails and I'm 21 for 21 over the last 6 years.

here's a great read about this bullet. click, copy, and open :

http://www.billsaccuracy.com/art1-p1.htm

i''d say stick with the 85 tripple shock 85 partition and the best sleeper's out there is Speer''s hot core in 80 or 90 grain sptizers, lots of great shooting bullets out there but how many will retain their weight and hold up their end for you when it counts? regards jjmp

I agree with Cajun Blake, as I have seen what it does in a 24" Low Wall 243 out to 300 yds on deer.

I HAD a 6TCU 21", shot thru a hardwood sapling with a 70Gr TNT, no scientific test but it went through 5-6" or so.

The same bullet in my #1 20" Mannlicher blow apart in a deer's neck at 42yds and the skin was the only thing holding the head on.

The lower velocity in the 223 case, will result in less expansion and more penetration than with a higher speed 243/6mm Rem.

80-85's should be great, but a 'premium' might actually not expand enough for me. That is my .02.

I would shoot into a shoulder if using a harder Barnes or partition bullet. BTW, I dropped a deer at 200 with 70TNT on a lung hit. Should have seen that lung. Deer went maybe 60 yds at best and dropped.

BTW, the 200 yds shot was a 6BR at about 3300-3400 fps in a 22" barrel,