6.5mm bullets, enough for Elk?

[Deserthunter]

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....

[Uncle Jack]

IMHO I believe that 165-180 grain bullets in the 300 Win Mag and 140 grain bullets in a 264 Win Mag will take anything on the North American Continent.

I would, however, prefer an A-10 mounted Vulcan for large brown bears.

uj

P.S. The Swedes have been killing moose with the 6.5 x 55 for 100 years and they have never thought to ask if it was enough gun.

[Senderofan]

IMHO I believe that 165-180 grain bullets in the 300 Win Mag and 140 grain bullets in a 264 Win Mag will take anything on the North American Continent.

I would, however, prefer an A-10 mounted Vulcan for large brown bears.

uj


Here's a more portable version for ya ;D ! http://www.anzioironworks.com/20MM-TAKE-DOWN-RIFLE.htm

Wayne

[Senderofan]

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....


You didn't say which particular 6.5 cartridge that you're looking at? So a bit hard to say on the velocity. I built a 260 AI...but haven't chrono'd it yet...but info. from others...looks like 140-142 gr. bullets going @ 2950-3000 fps...but I have a long tube. I think my velocities are very close to the 6.5-284 and maybe the same or slightly higher than the 6.5 x 55 Swede.

I've got a friend that lives out west....shoots his elk with a .25-06...another with a .30-06. As you described...it has a lot to do with shot placement. If you're going to flinch with a .30 or .338 magnum....you're better off with something smaller. I think a high quality hunting bullet in 6.5 mm, with proper shot placement, would work. But this is just MHO. The big magnums, with heavy bullets....will obviously go through more bone etc....but I think shot placement tends to be king.

Wayne

[wbm]

Is the construction of 6.5mm bullets stout enough for Elk.

Yes.

[Deserthunter]

Good Gravy, Can you say, sore shoulder.... 20mm lol..... Dino's?, King Kong?, Godzilla..... Bullwinkle?

As far as velocity of say the 140gr class of bullets, about 2750-2800fps..... That's about max for the cartridge I'm thinking of... 28" tube shooting very small groups....

[mytwo60]

I used 142 SMKs and shot at a wheel rotor at 600yds and it penetrated cleanly thru on every hit with authority. The rotor is 3/8" thick on the outside and 1/4" thick on the inner. So I think it won't have any problems penetrating bones and hides.

btw, I also shot at the rotor with a 243 using 87grns vmax and it only dented the rotor. So I don't recommend using a 243. ;D

[358Hammer]

130 grain 270 has taken a lot of moose and Elk sized game. A longer 130 gr 6.5 Accubond is going to do the same and penetrate further I believe. I would not hesitate.

As a young man in none competition hunting areas I took a lot of elk with the 6mm Remington and 100 grain bullets. The 87 grain Hornady V max I believe is a varmint bullet? I would not fault the .243 for poor bullet performance. Still a bunch of people shooting elk with .243. I have a couple friends still doing it after 30&40 years.
Something to think about.

Neal

[xhogboss]

Is the construction of 6.5mm bullets stout enough for Elk.
Yes.


+1

[mopar440]

with good shoot placement no worries

[bushrat]

A friend of mine killed more then 40 elk with a 256 Newton and claimed he never lost one. He was a very good shot and shot that rifle until it wouldn't hold a group anymore and had it bored to 30-06 and shot it for many more years.

[Fjold]

Use the TSX. They're the same construction from .22 caliber up to .583 caliber.

[tammons]

I would agree with above, but add use the tipped TSX bullet.
They open faster and at lower FPS.

Great bullets, but a little expensive.

I have used them from .224 up to 50 caliber.

The 50 caliber pistol bullets open up to about an inch in diameter.

[Baryngyl]

While I have never shot an Elk yet in the 2 or 3 years I hunted them, a few years back a bought a 243 chambered in a Win 760 pump gun.

The guy I got this 243 from said his nephew had used it to shoot 5 or 6 Elk over about a 10 year period and none had got away, but they were all shot at under 150 yards or so.

If I had to use a 243 I think I would just use the best bullets and best shot placement possible, I would rather use my 30-06 or 300 Win Mag with 165-180 Gr bullets.

So yes, I think a 6.5 with good bullets and shot placement should work fine.

Michael Grace

[Uncle Jack]

The Scandahovians have been hunting Moose and Raindeer with the 6.5 X55 for a hundred years and don't seem to have many problems.

uj

[Deserthunter]

I guess i didn't quite make myself clear on the original question.... I assumed that bullets would have been placed in the appropriate spot to have a clean kill. I simply wanted to know about the 6.5mm bullet selection, ie., BC, SD, "who" made a good long range "hunting" bullet.

I knew that the 6.5's had a reputation for being great "paper punchers". I just needed to know if the bullet selection was "good enough" to pass through the tough skin and mess up the vital areas on an animal like the elk...

No ethical hunter should go into the field without being able to kill his prey quickly and humanely as possible.

More later....
Thanks guys

[dcloco]

Go with the Berger hunting bullets.

[Uncle Jack]

The fifty year old Remington 140grn soft point Corelocks have always worked and things have only gotten better since then: Spear GSs, Nosler Patition, Nosler AccuBond, Hornady SST, Bergers....they all work work.

Elk do not require any special "Silver Bullet" to kill. As majestic as they appear, they're just a big cow with horns. Many of my friends here in Montana fill their tags each year with rifle and cartridge combinations as mundain as Savage 99s and 150grn Savage .300.

uj

[wbm]

Go with the Berger hunting bullets.

+1

Go to the Berger web site and read. They have a very different philosophy relative to how a hunting bullet should behave when it hits it's target. Having observed the performance of their bullets on large game I am a believer.

[Deserthunter]

I've killed two (2) elk with Berger .277 140gr.. loaded hot..., This was several years ago when they were coated with the "blue" film. The only problem I saw with them was a small hole in and nearly the same size hole on the other side. Don't get me wrong the heart and at least one lung was damaged or gone with each bullet. However, both elk walked about 20 yards then died..... In the Cedar trees that's along way and it takes a while to find them.... (Hunting in Utah's Bookcliffs, between 7500' and 8500'). They only have to take one step to disappear. Over more than 50 years of hunting deer and elk, I would much rather have an entrance hole, all of the energy expended deep in the chest cavity with no exit hole....... They seem to take 1/2 a step and die on the spot.... Besides, I don't want to worry about were the bullet goes after leaving the animal....... I know I'm going to get a lot of comment on this, it's just the way I like to take an animal......

Sorry, (NOTE)

I miss typed, the bullets I killed these elk with were not Berger but Barnes..... hole in hole out..... This was in 98' -99' I think.. I use Berger VLD's for my 6.5 and love them....