I am having a 6.5 Swede sporterized. I would like to shoot 140 gr bullets for deer. What are the "softest" 140gr bullets available for loading? I want quick expansion and adequate penetration. Not a 6.5 hole in and out.

I have used the Rem Corelokt, the Speer and the Hornady 140 grainers in SP...and all of them at low velocity....

and they all opened up quite nicely.... which still doing deep penetration, due to their high sectional density...

most 6.5 bullets are orientated to deep penetration and expansion, even at low velocity since there are so many older 6.5 cartridges around the world in use, that have MVs of 2400 fps or lower..

I think you'll find the Nosler Partition to your liking. It's fairly soft up front but will stay together no matter what it hits.
I drove a 130/270 through a 5 inch mesquite tree on its way to a hog. Stayed on track AND still killed the hog.

Chuck -

I think you will find the Hornady 140 will fill the bill nicely. I use these and the 129 grain Hornady's in both a Custom Encore Swede and a Model 96.

They have never let me down. I have never had one pencil through. I have never recovered one, but the exit holes show they have expanded nicely.

If in the sporter process the barrel is replaced you may find some 140gr will hit the lands. I have 5 6.5 Swedes. 1 will only digest Sierra 140gr. I shoot 129gr out of it for whitetail. The contour of some 140's is to short and stubby. The Rifle is a Model 1600 Husqvarna.

I adore the 129 gr Hornady in my 6.5 for Deer.

........same here !129gr Hornady interlocks, never failed yet.

Roger

quote:

I want quick expansion and adequate penetration.

Two choices:
1. Hrornady's SST

Or
2. Nosler's ballistic tip.

Both will serve you well.

I fully agree with the others, a 129 or 130 grain bullet is a great bullet and the 120 grain bullets do a fine job as well.

Personally, I'd back away from the 140 for deer as you can get a better trajectory with a lighter bullet and an equally dead deer.

Yessah, and Amen. To those of you that picked the 120-130 grian bullets, they are great bullet weight for the 6.5X55 Swede and Deer sized game.
6.5 SWEDE.

Here in New Zealand the 140 grn AMax is very popular. I've used them in my 6.5x55 on red deer and Tahr to great effect. Tahr are very tough game animals, and the AMax knocks them down with well placed shoulder and lung shots. The AMax is accurate, penetrates well and leaves a massive wound chanel.

i just shot a big doe white tail 11/13 with my .260 right at 100 yards. i am using a 120 gr. sierra.. shot it right in the neck at a angle. came out the other side about the size of a silver dollar.

Gidday Chuck,

As Seafire says any of the regular cup and core bullets work well on deer. I have tried Speer, Coreloct, Ballistic tip, Sierra and Nosler partitions. The terminal performance is the same but I would go with the 120gr rather than the 140. They fly quite a bit flatter and I have yet to see a difference at the other end. I have yet to recover one from over a hundred animals shot with the 260.

Happy Hunting


Hamish

i stick with the 140 hornady a-max. gotten 3or 4 deer with the bullet.

Thanks guys. My gun is supposed to have a 7.75 twist, 29" barrel that I will have cut off and crowned. I plan to put the barrelled action in a composite stock with a timney trigger. I just thought with this fast twist the heavier bullet would be better. I like the idea of a 120-130 bullet too.

chuck first off - welcome aboard!


My understanding is that the older, longer barrelled Swedes were specifically designed for the 160gr RN bullets seated in the case neck - meaning long throated. The 140gr bullet may be your best compromise. Either way, no-one has anything other than thumbs up for the 6.5 Swede, so whatever works for you is going to be just fine. Please keep us posted on your progress and final choice and results (the 6.5 Swede is a 'theoretical' favourite cartridge of mine, going by the ballistics and user comments).

PS Photo's would be nice! You know, start to finish.

Most of the standard cup-and-core 140s will expand nicely at lower velocities, and the Speer is probably the softest of the batch followed closely by the Remington. But the Hornady will work nicely, as will the Sierra GameKing, which happens to be the stoutest of those mentioned.

Even the Partition will open nicely down to nearly 1800 fps.

THe A-Max is quite soft, and while Hornady touts it for smaller big game, I am not crazy about its performance, though it will certianly work.

And like others have mentioned, the 129 grain Hornady SP (not the SST!) is absolutely deadly at Swede velocities.

When you think about it, there are lots of great bullets for the Swede. I haven't used the new 140 grain Accubond, but the 130 grainer is quite the performer and on par with the 129 grain Hornady in terms of on-game performance.

The only caveat I will offer is regarding the Remington: its dual-diameter profile can make it picky about seating depth when you are dialing in loads for accuracy.