6.5 bullet for white tail and mule deer.

[Mr Drysdale]

I am now shooting Barnes TTSX in four rifles. All accurate to MOA or less. 300WM @ 165 grain, 308 @ 168 grain, 7RM @ 160 grain and 260 Rem @ 120 grain. The bullet performs well on all game. When I was shooting reloaded ammunition I was shooting the Sierra Game Kings. It always performed well. I also shot a Nosler Ballistic Tip in 100 grain out of the 260. Deadly on Whitetails.

 

[mcseal2]

I've shot a lot of deer with a 264 win mag. I've used on whitetail and muleys. I currently shoot the 140gr Berger in one and the 143gr ELD-X in the other for a little less wind drift and a little better accuracy past 450 yards in my rifles. They do the job but are neither is a really tough bullet and they don't always exit. I blew up a 143gr ELD-X on a whitetail buck's shoulder in 2017. He dropped in his tracks but I got no exit and not much damage to the far side of his body. To be fair I hit the shoulder about as solid as I could and the impact velocity was about 3000fps. It takes a tough bullet to handle that.

For inside 300 yards my choice would be the Accubond, the 140 if your gun likes it and the 130 if not. I shot the 140's for years and they were plenty tough to hold up at 264 Win Mag speeds. I seldom recovered one even at bad angles through bone, and the deer seldom went over 80 yards with a great blood trail. I have a 200" muley on the wall I took at 180 yards on a really sharply quartering away angle. I had to shoot quick before he dropped into a cut and out of my life. The bullet entered in front of the left hip and I found it under the hide on the right side of the neck. It retained about 70% of it's weight and the buck didn't go 15 yards. I saw a friend's buck that took a 110 Accubond from a 257 Weatherby through the shoulder at 80 yards. It exited and did not wreck the front quarters, held together well. He starts those bullets at 3400fps. I really like how the Accubonds perform.

Really at 6.5 Creedmoor speeds I think the Gameking or ELD-X would be fine too. If you want a little tougher though the Accubond opens easily and holds together well. I think it would do very well for you.

 

[Shane071489]

Thank you. Some of these 120-127 grain ballistic tips are really intriguing me. Looks like if I go with the 143 eld-x, gameking, or accubond I’ll be doing fine. The copper bullets, seeing how they retain weight very well is also impressive. I haven’t fully decided but I know my gun shoots factory loaded 143 eld-x at 0.52” at 100 yard 3 shot group and 0.54” 140 gr game kings at 100 yards. I may just hand load these since they are working. I want to learn a lot more about the accubonds. It seems it has a very large following.

 

[Studd muffin]

I hunt Louisiana and a blood trail is very important for tracking deer like you said in the thick stuff. I have used accubonds for about 15 years and been very impressed with the results. I have some ELD-X bullets loaded right now going to see how they work this year, but I have my doubts for close range shots.

 

[ebubedike]

Planning on finding this out real soon too, gun is on its way, trying to decide on scope but bullet is either gonna be a 140 accubond or eldx. Can't imagine having a issue on a deer out to a long ways. What flavor rifle was you looking at?

 

[Kelligray]

Took this one in Idaho during general any weapon. First time hunting with the 6.5, used a 7mm.08 before that but it was overkill so went lighter. Hornady 143gr ELD-X Precision Hunter and man she did a number on exit. About 250 yards but ran a good 200y and had to finish him with a 30-30 after tracking him. Then my husband used it for his and same thing lots of damage but they run long ways. His was about 300-400 y. So gonna play with another bullet and see if I can stop them quicker. Any advice? Both hits were deadly and they shouldn't have run that far.
Second picture entry was on the left side and exit on right.

 

[Travis Bertrand]

ive had great luck with the 143 eld-x as well...

 

[forestpaper223]

Planning on finding this out real soon too, gun is on its way, trying to decide on scope but bullet is either gonna be a 140 accubond or eldx. Can't imagine having a issue on a deer out to a long ways. What flavor rifle was you looking at?

 

[Tufrthnails]

Ran the 6.5 CM the last three years with 140g SSTs for Kentucky whitetail. 11 kills one went 30 yards that I shot at 22 yards. The rest were DRT. .270 with 150g SST was my favorite deer combo. The 6.5cm took its job. Way less recoil. And anchors whitetail very well. Longest kill was 355yards.

 

[345 kv]

140 gr ABs have worked well for me for deer and antelope. In my 260 , 6.5x284 and 6.5-06.

 

[Kelligray]

I'm gonna try the 140g Nosler BT. See if maybe it will drop them quicker. The ELD-X has amazing grouping but does little damage until exit. IMO that's why they are running longer distance. I could see it being my go to for longer shots or an elk round.

 

[hodgeman]

I like Accubonds when I really want an exit wound. That said, any of a number of bullets are going to meet your needs- almost everything out there is made for your shooting scenario, even "plain" corelokts, Hot Cor, and Interlocks are going to work a lot more than they don't.

 

[Cahunter805]

I'm gonna try the 140g Nosler BT. See if maybe it will drop them quicker. The ELD-X has amazing grouping but does little damage until exit. IMO that's why they are running longer distance. I could see it being my go to for longer shots or an elk round.

Another good choice is the 140gr Berger.

 

[forestpaper223]

I, hunt with the 6.5X55 Swedish for Mule Deer, Whitetail, Elk, and Moose. I feel that I know what I am talking about when it comes to the 6.5X55 Swedish.

I can only speak from my experience:

120gr. Sierra SBT Bullet with 49.6 grains of Reloader 19 this will give you a velocity of 3000 fps and energy of 2398. But only use this load if your son's rifle is strong enough to take the pressure. I, have a custom M96 Swedish Mauser.

If you want to use 140gr bullet use this:

140gr. Sierra SBT with 45.7 grains of Reloader 22 this will give you a velocity of 2700 fps and energy of 2266. This will work on mule deer great, but your rang is going to be less shooting the 140's.

I, also use a 26" barrel if your is longer it will get better velocity.
I also like Sierra loading data, other will also work good.

 

[howl]

The best whitetail bullet I found for the .260 was the 120gr SST Remington loads. It gave deep penetration, even through bone, and most deer dropped to a boiler room shot. That load just does everything you could ask for from a deer rifle. Last I checked Hornady only sold them to Remington. Remington does not load them for the 6.5CM. If you could get your hands on some, they would be worth the trouble.

There's clearly something about the 6.5CM that wants longer bullets. I've never really looked into it. Perhaps someone will explain.

I have several boxes of 120gr HotCors put back. I don't think there is a deer that will stop that one. Blood trails are decent; not Ballistic Tip buckets of blood but easy enough to follow. If you want to dump a deer on the spot you put it where it will do that regardless of the bullet.

 

[RaggedHunter]

I've had great luck with 140 berger elite hunters. Used on antelope, mule deer, and elk.

 

[WesternHntr]

I really like the 140 nosler partition inside of 300 yards. Its killed a few bulls and bucks from my 6.5 saum.
Here's last week's partition results.
My buck was at 270 yards quartered away, entrance in back of lungs the bullet passed through the offside shoulder and lodged under the hide. My buck made it about 30 yards before piling up.
My wife shot a little bull the same night right in the chest at 100 yards
It penetrated well and he went down in 15 yards.

 

[Stonegoat]

I load both the Barnes 127 grain LRX and the 143 ELD-X. Both work well, but the LRX seems to destroy less meat.

 

[tyeager2964]

At your velocities/distances and for deer I think any bullet will work well. I run the 178 gr Eldx at 2750 in my 3006. That should be roughly the same SD velocity and bc as yours and inside 300 the differences are probably moot. I ran one stem to stern through a whitetail doe and the bullet expanded past the interlock ring causing lots of wounding (mess) but did have about 35" of penetration. I also shot one broadside that that exited with a half dollar size exit wound leaving a good blood trail. The deer still made it 75 yards with both lungs gone.

Honestly I think your biggest question is a copper for possibly less meat damage or a cup and core that will fragment to at least some extent and cause possibly more internal destruction but more meat damage as well.

An Accubond seams to be a good compromise for both but I don't have any personal experience so I can't speak to them.

 

[TreGrizz]

I love copper alloy bullets. With the advancements in tech, theres no reason to mess with lead anymore. It helps that my rifle shoots copper much better than lead. I like barnes tsx / ttsx, and hornady gmx bullets.