6.5mm bullets, enough for Elk?

[Luckus]

Killed a nice cow Elk last fall with a 96 Swede and a 140 Hornady IL. One shot thru the ribs, bullet stuck in shoulder bone on off side, made it about 30 feet.

[bowhunter42]

I watched a video of Jeremy from best of the west shoot a BIG bull at 925 yards using a 6.5/284.shooting a 140 Berger VLD, that bull took 3 steps and then tipped over backwards. The 140-grain6.5 has an SD of .287, SD's of bullets it might be compared to include 150-grain .277 (.279) 160-grain 7mm (.283) and the 180-grain 308 (.271). Given equal bullet construction and equal velocity, A bullet of higher sectional density will always penetrate better. Now, If you add in aerodynamic shape, higher SD will yield a higher BC. So an aerodynamic 6.5 bullet will offer some of the best downrange velocity retention and wind resistance.

[soldierofchrist]

http://youtu.be/d2COAcHZRlI. here is a Youtube video of Wayne van Zwoll killing an Elk with a 6.5 creedmoor at 603 yards.

[Captain Finlander]

Considering that the 6.5x55 has taken Moose in scandinavia for a century it stands to reason that the 6.5 caliber is up to the task. The issue that I have is that most American shooters go with a light caliber and then choose a light bullet to flatten out the trajectory. This is probably why we have so many mixed performance reports associated with light caliber guns. The secret to good terminal performance is sectional density/bullet length for given weight. Solid core bullets such as the Barnes X have paved the road for lighter bullet performance. If I were going with a lighter caliber and wanted flat trajectory I would be beffing up my bullet with a solid core or bonded something or other.

[Armed in Utah]

Plenty of good 6.5mm game bullets out there....

I used my Tikka 6.5x55 last winter for a one shot kill on a cow elk

at 185 yds...140 Partition took her down....Berger...Hornady...Lapua and

even Norma also build some great bullets....take a look at the round nose 155 &

160s...these will go through an elk end to end.....I would stick with bullets

from 130 grain and up...elk are tough critters......

[BODAB]

Go to http://www.65creedmoor.com/index.php?topic=420.0 and watch the video near the bottom of the page and can decide for yourself.

[Stockrex]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY0w1c-gf18

another vid from the same people,
sometimes you can leave the mega mag cialis caliber at home ;-)

[Blue Avenger]

Sooo it's like Boone's Farm "Strawberry Hill" only more expensive? ;D
that one is no longer available :'(

[Vince]

Still trying to convince myself the 6.5's are enough for elk.

[yobuck]

If you do it a room temperature about an hour...in the fridge about 3 or 4 hours. Doing it in the fridge gives you more time to finish the bottle of Pino Grigio

uj

After a bottle of that anything tastes good. lol

Ill add one comment to the interesting conversation about bullets.
Long range was mentioned. That will make a big difference in bullet performance.
A 100 gr 243 @100 yds and a 100gr 243 @ 500 yds aint the same animal.
same goes for all the rest. At some point their all hole punchers.

[Stockrex]

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1481797/5

bullet impact porn ;-)

[yobuck]

Ive seen quite a few tests like that over the many years ive been interested in this stuff.
milk jugs filled with water, phone books, wet paper etc. theres usually always a disclaiming statement.
i guess if you can walk out your back door and shoot an elk thats one thing. if your going to drive for 2
days each way then pay somebody to show you an elk that might be another thing. ruining some meat
dosent bother me much.

[JASmith]

Proper shot placement is critical even for the the biggest cartridges and bullets.

Any lead-free hunting bullet weighing more than 100 grains should be adequate for an Elk hit in the vital zone. While many Elk have been taken with 130 to 140 grain classic bullets, the same methodology suggests those bullets should weigh more than about 160 grains for reliable harvesting of Elk. Intermediate weight bonded and partition bullets should work fine too.

Read more here: Ideal Bullet Weight (http://shootersnotes.com/ideal-bullet-weight/).

[Brent]

Matrix makes a 150 and 160 gr 6.5 pill as well. My 6.5-284 puts the 160 gr pills out at around 2850 fps. The 150 at 2950. With a BC of .675 on the 150 and .685 on the 160 they retain a lot of velocity and energy at extended ranges. Not that steel is the same as flesh and bone but I have poked holes clean through a farm disc at 1100 yards. If I shoot the 140 VLD it mainly dents and cracks the plate. I recall missing the plate once on a bad wind read and putting a hole through the galvanized fence post I use for brackets.

I don't about you guys but poking holes in steel disc plates at 1100 yards is pretty impressive in my mind.

[Oxn316]

I know a cow elk has been taken by 6.5 grendel at over 400 yards with i believe a 123 grain bullet. It was posted in the grendel forum and the shooter was the owner of larue tactical.

[Brent]

I know a cow elk has been taken by 6.5 grendel at over 400 yards with i believe a 123 grain bullet. It was posted in the grendel forum and the shooter was the owner of larue tactical.

There are several youtube vids, one from Gunwerks, taking elk at 900 plus with a 6.5. At 1000 yards in the Idaho mountains a 140 VLD at 3025 fps muzzle puts down 1900 fps and 1110 lbs energy at 1000 yards. More that enough energy to do the job.

[chukarmandoo]

For the last three years I've only used a rifle with a caliber of 6.5. I have 4 now. Two 260's , one 260 improved, and a 6.5-284 Norma. I have a 300 wm I'll never shoot again!

[CharlieNC]

My 6.5x47 pushes 140 Bergers at 2900 fps; I wouldn't hesitate to put that on an elk given the proper shot presentation and a steady rest. Plenty of velocity, energy, and a devastating bullet.

[Tarheelpwr]

Is the construction of 6.5mm bullets stout enough for Elk.... I've use my 270 to take a number of elk, I've never had one walk more than 20-30 yards after taking one of them.... usually without heart and or lungs... I have recovered a few Barnes bullets from elk I've taken, shooting them head on at 1-200 yards, at the end of the diaphragm or in the hide on the far side of the hit....

Which bullets and what kind of velocity are we talking about? I'm trying to decide what to build next.... 300UMag? 300win mag?, I'm a big person, but always have been a little recoil shy and I've always loved a flat shooting long range bullet....

Just to throw out some other ideas since you seem to like the 30s, take a look at 30/06 with the 215 Bergers. You should be able to get 2600 FPS out of them. Assuming 1000 ft elevation, that leaves you at 1700 FPS with 1400 FPE all the way out to 800 yards. The .696 BC makes it VERY flat shooting. The lower MV actually helps performance with the Bergers.

[dubnali]

6.5 vs buffalo: (6.5 wins)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwtOBLrmLiw
If I remember correctly, that was a 6.5 Grendel.