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Some time ago I posted a question as to the biggest game taken with a non-magnum 6,5mm. I'm curious to know which bullets and which bullet weights you prefer for the bigger animals shooting a 6,5. Should you take one for plains game in Africa, what would you suggest (up to, but not including Eland)? - Lars/Finland A.k.a. Bwana One-Shot | ||
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Lars, my friend and I hunted in Namibia in September. He was using a Sako finnlight in 6.5x55 handloaded with 140gr Accubonds. Everything he shot never moved off the spot and that included oryx and kudu. Having said that, Ross is a very good shot and his shot placement was textbook. It was the first time I'd seen the Swede used on game and it impressed the hell out of me. | |||
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You asked so here's my $0.02 worth. IMO one of the best all time Big Game bullets outa 6.5mm; either a 55 or 57(R) is the Hornady 160 gr. Round Nose - period. They aren't speedy but if you put one in the right spot they work like the Hammer of Thor. Cheers, Number 10 | |||
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I agree There is something about those 160's They drop things like a nothing this side of 9.3's I would compare the them to a brand new no 4 surgical blade A surgical kill in most cases | |||
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Old age is a high price to pay for maturity!!! Some never pay and some pay and never reap the reward. Wisdom comes with age! Sometimes age comes alone.. | |||
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The thing about the 6,5x55 on bigger game is that when you pull out a nicely mushroomed bullet, the unexpanded part of the bullet still is as long as many decent hunting bullets in bigger calibers. For cup and core bullets of the same material and cup thickness, as the caliber goes from big to small its like going part of the way between lead- to copperbullets. The only certain bulletfailure I have seen was a long 6,5 that angled 90 degrees upwards on impact. | |||
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My wife used her 6.5x55 loaded with factory Lapua Mega 150 grain bullets to take a really nice blue wildebeast in RSA a few years ago. Not a big fan of those bullets, but they did kill it right where it stood. Of course, whe's a good shot and put it right where it needed to go. What more can you ask of a bullet? ______________________ Guns are like parachutes. If you need one and don't have one, you'll likely never need one again Author Unknown, But obviously brilliant. If you are in trouble anywhere in the world, an airplane can fly over and drop flowers, but a helicopter can land and save your life. - Igor Sikorski, 1947 | |||
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Do they still make them in .264? I know they are on the website but I don't see them listed in any of the online sites like Midway, Grafs & Natchez. I see the .268 is still listed. | |||
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I would like to know the answer to that as well so I sent a note to Hornady. I sure hope they did not cease to be... dmw "The liberty enjoyed by the people of these states of worshiping Almighty God agreeably to their conscience, is not only among the choicest of their blessings, but also of their rights." ~George Washington - 1789 | |||
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In 1987 I took 2 rifles to Botswana, Winchester 70s in 375 H&H and 6.5x55. Except for the warthog, I shot all of my game with the 6.5x55 using Norma 156 grain factory loads. All were 1-shot kills at ranges out to 250+/- yards. I did shoot the eland 3 times, but each of the 3 bullets would have been fatal. As you may know, elands are big, tough, animals, so I kept shooting until it was down. I did study the anatemy of the game that I was hunting, so that I knew where to aim to break the shoulders with the 6.5x55. My PH was a little reluctent about me shooting the 6.5x55 until he was comfortable with my ability to shoot it. If I go to Africa to shoot plains game again, I think that I'd bring a 9.3x62 and either a 7x57 or a 6.5x55. JEff | |||
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Fascinating! May I ask which animals you took, Jeff? I have taken Eland at a lazered 199yds w/ a .30-06 and 180grs Speer Grand Slam - the Eland fell nicely enough for me to be convinced that even a smaller caliber would have done the job. However, given the size of Eland I sure would be cautious about smaller calibers especially if the distance is beyond 100yds. I could not agree more on the point of shooting until the animal is down. I have learned this the hard way, I'm afraid. Also the anatomy handbooks are useful, indeed. Shot placement, as we know... - Lars/Finland A.k.a. Bwana One-Shot | |||
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Chopperguy, Anything you can share on why you aren't a big fan of the Mega? I've only used it on one deer but had a good experience. My rifle shoots them well so it would be nice to hear from someone that has more experience with them. | |||
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Scott, Yeah, I looked at the Hornady website and they're still listed. Here in the Fatherland they are quite commonly avaiable and I grab a Box or 2 at every opportunity. I load them for several hunting Buddies; one a 6.5x55 Mauser bolt rifle that is an absolute Tack-Driver and the others all loaded in 6.5x57R Drillings. Still got a coupla boxes in the basement. Having siad that; they aren't really a current, Spitzer-shaped, sexy-type bullet (Eye of the Beholder .....) and probably not a big mover as a SKU for Sellers. Pretty much every other 6.5x55 shooter I know load Nosler Ballistic Tips. Cheers, Number 10 | |||
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There is something about really high sectional densities relating to terminal performance that some are so reluctant to accept. Here is an example of a cartridge and caliber that is nothing spectacular on paper but manages to outperform larger calibers and has been doing it for over a century. All bullets can kill but the longer ones always kill better and more consistently regardless of caliber. Captain Finlander | |||
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Schauckis, Here are two threads over at 24Hr. Campfire that you might be interested in.. First up a thread on 6.5 bullet testing (part 2).. Note in the first post a link to the first test (part 1) http://www.24hourcampfire.com/...ullet_test_Part_Deux The 120gr. and 130gr. Barnes bullets penetrated deeper that any of the other bullets.. From this thread: http://www.24hourcampfire.com/...php/topics/3334246/1 Posted by GregR Last month, I took my family to hunt in South Africa. My kids (9 and 10) are tiny (55 and 62 pounds), so they use a chopped off (16.5" barrel) .260 A-Bolt stoked with Federal's new 120-grain TSX load. They took 7 animals with it, including a zebra, 2 kudu, impala, blesbok, caracal, and duiker. My daughter dropped the kudu with one perfect shot that blew right through both shoulders from 120 yards. My son shot everything else. All required just one shot except the kudu, which needed a finisher because, although his elevation was perfect for a broadside shot, it was a little too low because of the sharp downhill angle. The bullet entered for a perfect heart shot but blew out the bottom of the chest, passing just under the heart. No bullets were recovered, and only one failed to exit. That passed through a whole lot of zebra on a quartering shot at 208 yards and was lost somewhere in the stomach. The zebra ran a good ways, but was kind enough to tip over right next to the road. Internal damage from the tiny TSX was unbelievable. One of my client's kids used their custom .260 to take another 7 animals, including 2 kudu and a blue wildebeest with similar results. Just for the record, we had folks shooting various .300s and a 7mm magnum in camp who had to make a hell of a lot of follow-up shots on even smaller animals. Big guns also accounted for the only wounded-and-lost critter of the 60-odd animals our group shot. We had no such trouble with kids shooting the little .260. _________________________ Greg Rodriguez Global Adventure Outfitters, Inc. www.mbogo.net (281) 494-4151 | |||
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A 260??? Nah, that can't be right.... Everybody knows you need a magnum driving unobtainium bullets at light speed to blow holes through that 'African armour'. A lowly 260 is incapable, surely.......  | |||
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I called Hornady and they say, "discontinued." Very sadly me thinks. dmw "The liberty enjoyed by the people of these states of worshiping Almighty God agreeably to their conscience, is not only among the choicest of their blessings, but also of their rights." ~George Washington - 1789 | |||
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Alot of good choices for heavier game w/140-160s, yet if one looks over those extensive test results, they might conclude a Barnes 120/130 will handle most any game at sane ranges - when steered thru vitals. A 129 Hornady SP (not SST) will hang right w/125 partition in terminal performance. The 140 PT is a good one, perhaps not quite as accurate. Currently, my go to bullets will be 130 Accubonds for deer and would not hesitate for elk or moose. For a bear or any african game, a Barnes TSX/TTSX would get the nod and I'd not hesitate to drive from any angle....as I would a good 156-160 from a Swede up to modest distances. The 125-130 class is 'right sized' for short actioned rounds though most will do nicely thru 142s when desired - albeit perhaps w/slightly compromised case capacity, assumed twisted properly. | |||
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6.5BR, Indeed there are plenty of choices in the 6.5 Frame as you described. I have quite a few in the bullet box. But: they are not the 160 Grain RN that made the 6.5 in the last 100 years. So for me it is "sadly." There is nothing quite looking at that long RN bullet sitting in the case for me. Just a personal thing. dmw "The liberty enjoyed by the people of these states of worshiping Almighty God agreeably to their conscience, is not only among the choicest of their blessings, but also of their rights." ~George Washington - 1789 | |||
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Our experience with them is they shed a lot more bullet weight than I'm used to seeing in other bullets I use. That's my only observation that I find hard to get used to. Not saying they didn't take the game cleanly though. Just a personal thing. I'd like to use something else in the same weight range and give them a try to compare with the Mega bullet results. If I needed the 155 grain bullets again, I'd probably use them. Heck, my wife still has several boxes of them here for her hunting use. My go to bullet for most game to northern deer size game is the 130 Sirocco II or Accubond. And like stated above, I'd even use them on elk if the chance came about with proper shot opportunities. ______________________ Guns are like parachutes. If you need one and don't have one, you'll likely never need one again Author Unknown, But obviously brilliant. If you are in trouble anywhere in the world, an airplane can fly over and drop flowers, but a helicopter can land and save your life. - Igor Sikorski, 1947 | |||
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dmw, I'm mourning w/you .....  Cheers, Number 10 | |||
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Until it became ILLEGAL (with the introduction of a 2,450fps minimum velocity requirement) the 6.5mmx54MS with the big "pencil" 159 grain bullet was very popular in Scotland for hill stalking. One of the benefits, the old stalkers will tell you, is that it was slow enough to be able to hear the bullet impact on the target animal. So by that you usually knew that you had a good solid "thwack" of a hit or had back shot the animal in the gut with a "plop". All of these old stalkers said that it was a sure killer if placed right. | |||
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I shot 10 trophy animals; Eland, Gemsbok, Hartebeest, Impala(x2), Kudu, Springbok(x2), Warthog, and Wildebeest. Except for the warthog, all of them were shot with the 6.5x55 156 grain Norma factory loads. The warthog was shot with the 375 H&H using old yellow box Winchester 270 grain ST factory loads. JEff | |||
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IN the general US market, you are going to have to get it done with a 140 grain bullet. Hornady is going to can the 160 grain RN along with the 154 grain RN in 7mm for 2011... my letter of complaint is already in their home office. | |||
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Like the say in Hanover, "Vox clamantis in deserto!". JEff | |||
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Does anyone have experience with the 160 "round Tip" Hawk bullet in .264? dmw "The liberty enjoyed by the people of these states of worshiping Almighty God agreeably to their conscience, is not only among the choicest of their blessings, but also of their rights." ~George Washington - 1789 | |||
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My little 6.5x47 with the Nosler 140 Partitions will just have to suffice.  Alan  | |||
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No doubt, it's like a fine woman w/long legs...hard to go back to a short legged one  Agreed! | |||
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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Rifles Small Calibers 6,5mm heavy game bullets
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X3 but also include the 160 Norma RN and the original ,original Barnes 156 PSP. These were used in the 6.5x.284, 6.5x55 and the 6.5 Carcano. 