I want to try some 160 grain round nose in my K5 6.5 CM. Any of yall have experience with that? It's for hunting not real long range paper shooting.

Jerry fisk--Are you related to the Fisk from Iowa Park Texas that made bullets? I notice you are from Nashville Arkansas, a former Wing Commander here at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Col Charles Powell was from there. Did you know him or of him? He is a real hero here in San Angelo and the VA clinic is named after him and his wife.

Such round nosed bullets worked well in 6.5 Mannlicher so no reason why they shouldn’t work in the CM. And in the Mannlicher they were used on much larger game than a little mannlicher should be used for.

Not yet. I have both 156 gr. Oryx and 160 gr. Weldcores on tap to load this Spring.

Both were awesome in the 6.5 Swede I had since forever, so I'm not expecting any issues with loading them to hunting loads in the CM.

My Winchester M70 Extreme Hunter 22” 6.5CM won’t shoot any of the below commercial loads into less than an inch consistently, and they’re all in the standard-for-caliber weight ranges:

- Hornady Precision Hunter 6.5 CM 143gr ELD-X 2700fps BC .623
- Winchester Match 6.5 CM 140gr BTHP 2710fps BC .580
- Federal Premium 6.5 CM 130gr Terminal Ascent 2800fps BC .532
- Hornady SUPERFORMANCE 6.5 CM 129gr SST 2950fps BC .485
- Hornady American Whitetail 6.5 CM 129gr Interlock 2820fps BC .445
- S&B 6.5 CM TXRG 120gr Exergy Blue Tip SC 2851fps BC .414
- Barnes VOR-TX 6.5 CM 120gr TTSX-BT 2910fps BC .412

BUT…… it will shoot TINY little sub-MOA groups all day long with Lapua 6.5 CM 156gr Mega SP 2560fps BC .377. It’s definitely what I would call a round-nose bullet.

The low BC eliminates the long-range potential of the caliber, but it’s a deer rifle and I don’t hunt with it past 200 yards, so… whatevs.

When I start reloading this caliber I’m confident I’ll find a load for this rifle which is sub-MOA and uses one of the high-BC bullets.

Interestingly, I did discover an important tuning variable with this rig using different torque values for the action screws. I was getting sub-inch groups around .65” to .90” using 65 inch-pounds, and when I backed it down to 45 inch-pounds the groups dropped to .375” to .575”. This is not a bench machine, mind you, so yeah… I’m happy with it.

It’s my only 6.5CM (lotsa 30-06, 308, 8x57, 303) and I think I like the caliber. I may get another!


mos

For a rifle to shoot 160 grain bullets in 6.5/.264" bore the barrel needs at least 1/8" rate of twist and that is using a magnum cartridge, such as 264WM. I would think the Creedmore would need a faster twist than 1/8", and I have never seen an over the counter rifle chambered in 6.5CM with such a fast twist. I believe the 140 grain cup and core bullets are probably as heavy as this rifle can handle. I don't think any critter in N.A will not fall victim to a 140 grain bullet, except maybe brown bear or polar bear.

quote:

Originally posted by Luckyducker:
For a rifle to shoot 160 grain bullets in 6.5/.264" bore the barrel needs at least 1/8" rate of twist and that is using a magnum cartridge, such as 264WM. I would think the Creedmore would need a faster twist than 1/8", and I have never seen an over the counter rifle chambered in 6.5CM with such a fast twist. I believe the 140 grain cup and core bullets are probably as heavy as this rifle can handle. I don't think any critter in N.A will not fall victim to a 140 grain bullet, except maybe brown bear or polar bear.

The Winchester 70 I described in my post above has a 1:8 twist and shoots the 156s exceptionally well.

mos

quote:

Originally posted by MOS:

quote:

Originally posted by Luckyducker:
For a rifle to shoot 160 grain bullets in 6.5/.264" bore the barrel needs at least 1/8" rate of twist and that is using a magnum cartridge, such as 264WM. I would think the Creedmore would need a faster twist than 1/8", and I have never seen an over the counter rifle chambered in 6.5CM with such a fast twist. I believe the 140 grain cup and core bullets are probably as heavy as this rifle can handle. I don't think any critter in N.A will not fall victim to a 140 grain bullet, except maybe brown bear or polar bear.

The Winchester 70 I described in my post above has a 1:8 twist and shoots the 156s exceptionally well.

mos

What cartridge? If this is a 6.5 Creedmoor I stand corrected, but if it is in a magnum I will stand firm.

As indicated in my original post, it is a 6.5 Creedmoor (referred to here as 6.5CM).

mos

The 6.5, back in the day and mostly in AFrica gained a bit of fame because the hunting bullets had a substantial amount of lead exposed and worked well at low velocity so it is said..I shot a few deer with the 6.5x57 and the 160 gr bullets and was not practically impressed, and much preferred the 140 and the 129 gr bullets I had on hand and of unknown make as that was in the 1950s..Id expect about the same today..but Id suggest you try then as times and bullet construction may have changed.

quote:

Originally posted by Luckyducker:
For a rifle to shoot 160 grain bullets in 6.5/.264" bore the barrel needs at least 1/8" rate of twist and that is using a magnum cartridge, such as 264WM. I would think the Creedmore would need a faster twist than 1/8", and I have never seen an over the counter rifle chambered in 6.5CM with such a fast twist. I believe the 140 grain cup and core bullets are probably as heavy as this rifle can handle. I don't think any critter in N.A will not fall victim to a 140 grain bullet, except maybe brown bear or polar bear.

The 6,5*55 have a standard twistrate of 7,8/1-20cm many barrel manufactorers will probably use the same for credmoore. The Norwegians used 6,5*55 for polar bear.

I have used the 156gr Lapua Mega for moose and it worked great.

In order to make a 6.5x54 work you need to seat the 140 gr. bullets out as far as possible or the MS action won't feed, same with the 160 gr Hornady but will seat just a tad deeper in the case...also any original 6.5x54s must have a headspace check and slug the bore..Good advice with any old European or foreign rifle btw..double rifles also.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
In order to make a 6.5x54 work you need to seat the 140 gr. bullets out as far as possible or the MS action won't feed, same with the 160 gr Hornady but will seat just a tad deeper in the case...also any original 6.5x54s must have a headspace check and slug the bore..Good advice with any old European or foreign rifle btw..double rifles also.

He's asking about the 6.5 Creedmoor, not the 6.5x54 MS. Pay attention.

The two will have the same effect on game and that was HIS interest I assumed, with the 160 rn Hornady results would likely be similar I think, as are "most" of the 6.5s..I think Im paying attention but of course may be overthinking the posters question or yours?

quote:

Originally posted by Jerry Fisk:
I want to try some 160 grain round nose in my K5 6.5 CM. Any of yall have experience with that? It's for hunting not real long range paper shooting.

Been using 156gr Sako Hammerheads in my 6.5creed with 1:8 twist. Works well. Accurate. Shot an impala 3-4 weeks ago, facing on, bullet was recovered in the back leg. Shot distance was 130 yards.

Remember that stability is based on the length of the bullet.

The heavy round noses are shorter than the lighter ultra high BC spitzer target bullets in vogue for the 6.5 CM.

Thus the 6.5 CM will stabilize the round nose heavy bullets- they are short enough.

Get a 160 grain spitzer boat tail and it will be too long.

I’ve had no issues with the 156 RN in mine, but since mine is a long distance range toy, I didn’t play with it much.

Elk County arms has the new Ruger 77 Hawkeye Ultraight, stainless steel and composit stock, lean and mean, perfect for late season Idaho hunting in wet snow weather for $899 in 6.5 Creedmoor, I ordered one yesterday..Now I have one SS plastic stocked rifle for bad weather..I will add Ruger barrel band front and rear sights and a barrel band swivels in blue,,Close enough to my 250-3000 to be interesting.If not or I get bored I will stick a 250-3000 barrel on it..But Ive never been impressed with the 6.5 calibers,but will give it another shot to be fair..I see my 6.5x54 1903 MS about like my 25-35 with the 117 gr bullet as far as its use on deer and probably on elk..

My new Ruger LWT SS and plastic stock has a 1x8" twist, it will probably shot everything..

BTW on this over "thunk" twist stiff. most of the guns Ive used bullets too heavy in for hunting were 1/2" guns but shot 2"with heavy hunting bullets..Hey guys 2 or 3 inches will kill a lot of deer and even more elk..tewt those guns before you condem them. My 222 REM shoots an average of .280 with 45 gr bal tps, and 2.77 to 3" with the 60 gr Hornady and its killed a lot of deer and antelope..

quote:

Originally posted by crbutler:
Remember that stability is based on the length of the bullet.

The heavy round noses are shorter than the lighter ultra high BC spitzer target bullets in vogue for the 6.5 CM.

Thus the 6.5 CM will stabilize the round nose heavy bullets- they are short enough.

Get a 160 grain spitzer boat tail and it will be too long.

I’ve had no issues with the 156 RN in mine, but since mine is a long distance range toy, I didn’t play with it much.

Yep, and sometimes it is also much easier to get bullets with a tangent (or hybrid) ogive to group than a secant ogive. That is why hybrids were invented.

I shoot the 155 gr lapua megatip bullets in my 260 rem they work awesome .I shot them in my 264 win mag but it has a short throat and had to deep sear them but still shot awesome. I shot two big deer this year with them and they died tn their tracks .Ibreally like those bullets in the 260 up to 250 yards yards .I liked them in tje 264 out to 400 yards .They are really accurate too always less than an inch at 200 yards. I shot one 1 inch group at 250 yards in the 264 .I would shoot elk with it in the 264 out to 200 yards and about 150 yards with the 260 .

The Lapua Mega 155s and 156s (bullets distributed for hand loading vs the ones loaded in the boxed ammo) have a minimum terminal performance velocity (meaning that they expand and penetrate) of 1,800fps per Lapua.

In my M70, that’s right around 300yds (1,845fps).

Just fyi.


mos