6.5cm light for caliber choices and opinions?

[IrkedCitizen]

I would try Hornady Match 130gr ELD-M

 

[longrangelead]

42-43gr H4350 & 130 ELDM

 

[JBradley500]

43.0 h4350 an 130 TMK here.

 

[ztc92]

Some good info in this thread I started for the purpose of lowering felt recoil with a creedmore, especially if you reload.

For factory, you might try the 120 ELDM.

Thread 'Lighter bullets for less recoil in 6.5CM'

Apr 24, 2025

I’m all in on smaller calibers for shooting and hunting and like many, my two go to rifles are a Tikka RSS in 223 for practice and a Tikka 6.5CM for hunting. I live in Wyoming so must have at least 6mm for elk and would prefer to have one go-to hunting rifle and load that I use for all big game. I set my 6.5CM up to shoot the 130TMK so I had one rifle I could carry for deer and elk.

A few friends have downsized to 6mm and after shooting our nearly identical Tikkas in 6.5CM with 130’s vs their 243 and 6CM with 108’s, I find the reduced recoil of he 6mm is even better. It was significant...

• ztc92
• Replies: 94
• Forum: Firearms

• 

 

[Stinky Coyote]

https://rokslide.com/forums/threads/lighter-bullets-for-less-recoil-in-6-5cm.403670/

 

[S-3 ranch]

I just received my order of ammunition from the warehouse
This 6.5cm is a very strange little cartridge, I don’t see how it can fling any heavier than 120-130 grain mono or bonded ( it’s a tiny little thing)

 

[nm.otter]

Put one next to a .308 or a .243 and you can see the proportional shrink (with matching OAL).

Put it next to a .30-06 or a .270 and it does acquire a certain toy-like vibe. Shoot it at medium distances (400-700y) and it night make you laugh -- in a good way.

If you want a real chuckle, put any of those next to a 6mm ARC.

 

[EmperorMA]

You should also grab a box of the Winchester Deer Season XP 125gr. A great deer bullet that should work nicely in a 1:9 barrel.

 

[Stinky Coyote]

Put one next to a .308 or a .243 and you can see the proportional shrink (with matching OAL).

Put it next to a .30-06 or a .270 and it does acquire a certain toy-like vibe. Shoot it at medium distances (400-700y) and it night make you laugh -- in a good way.

If you want a real chuckle, put any of those next to a 6mm ARC.

Haha yup it takes a little bit to wrap head around how bc changes the game.

S3, the faster you launch stuff the faster it slows, and so slower things slow slower. When you increase bc you win on that part. Ie; your .270 and say a 140gr accubond and the 6.5 creedmoor with the 140-147’s both land at 600 yards about same fps but you burned around a dozen less gr of powder with the creedmoor.

The added benefit is increasing bc generally increases sd so penetration goes up given similar construction and impact velocities. Allows you to use softer bullets with the excess sd for more internal damage for similar penetrations and more drt experiences.

Another example, a typical older .243 and the 80-100gr low bc powerpoints or partitions...by about 300 yard mark the tiny 6.5 Grendel 123gr eldm is catching it and then walks away from there while again burning a dozen less gr of powder. Up the twist and roll high bc heavies like 108gr eldm on .243 though and then it hits a whole nother level as well.

Also one more benefit to high bc is wind drift upping hit probability at the newfound distances over trying to compensate with more powder on sad bc bullets.

More bc equals less powder required. You may start slower but you keep velocity better and find wind better at same time. It’s win win win on all fronts. It’s no accident the 6.5cm has done so well. Or the rest of the modern 21st century cartridges with this formula applied. It’s amazing what you can do with 30gr of powder now, a good stepping stone is the 40gr powder class lol.

Give it some time and next you’ll be asking about these little Grendel arc cartridges but right now to see one next to your already tiny to you creedmoor you’ll really think we’ve all lost our minds haha. The 6.5 Grendel is like a creedmoor short but they are the peak in what they can do for big game in efficiency for powder burned.

Times are good, we’ve got some amazing choices now. Could hunt rest of my days with a 6.5 Grendel. Nice bonus is drill out a spent and throw on key ring with your keys and laugh every time you look at your keys. The one hanging on my keychain was my first Grendel kill and it was the first moose ever killed with that cartridge, 125 yards, went 15 yards.

End of day it’s the bullet that matters, not the headstamp. So get used to looking at that end of a cartridge. The bullet is the hero of this saga.

You shop bullets first, then you shop what cartridge (how much powder) takes it as far as you’d like to go, then you shop the rifle and optic to wrap around it.

 

[SloppyJ]

I have a pile of 130 tmks for mine to test out this year. It shoots them well. Tikka 1:8