6mm /.243 hunting success on Big Game

[Austin Kaufman]

Sweet goat, sweet cartridge and sweet rig!

Thanks! That badlands buck you got was pretty awesome too! Pretty hard to beat those howa minis. Love my 223 and 6 arc. Might put another together in a 6 arc chopped to 16” and have it be kind of a scout rifle.


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[WyoWild]

Thanks! That badlands buck you got was pretty awesome too! Pretty hard to beat those howa minis. Love my 223 and 6 arc. Might put another together in a 6 arc chopped to 16” and have it be kind of a scout rifle.


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Love mine, set up as an ultralight back-pack rifle. Very handy for that.

 

[deerbo]

First kill with the Springfield 2020 6CM 20" 108gr Factory Hornady MV is around 2850ish. Stalked around a corner and he was at 40-50 yards. I made a pretty poor shot offhand to be honest. Bullet did enough damage that he went 75 yards with a massive blood trail and tipped over. Skinned side is the entry, there were at least two exits on the offside. The sternum was trashed. Very pleased with the poor shot performance!

 

[roymunson]

I finally get to participate in one of these.

My 13 year old shot his first antelope in NE Wyoming last week.
180 yard shot. Sitting high on a pad and a tripod was a little shakey.

Hit him high shoulder and dropped him.
Had to put another one in his chest when he stood back up.

95 grain SST w/ H4350 handloads
CVA Cascade in 243 Winchester

Blessed to get to watch it happen.

 

[JGRaider]

Love the kid/family shots. Congrats to you both!

 

[General RE LEE]

I finally get to participate in one of these.

My 13 year old shot his first antelope in NE Wyoming last week.
180 yard shot. Sitting high on a pad and a tripod was a little shakey.

Hit him high shoulder and dropped him.
Had to put another one in his chest when he stood back up.

95 grain SST w/ H4350 handloads
CVA Cascade in 243 Winchester

Blessed to get to watch it happen.

Congrats and that’s a good looking rifle. I like what CVA is putting out.

 

[Nomosendero]

The CVA appears to be a great value.
Congrats to your son!

 

[Brap01]

Last weekend my 14 year old shot a muley in the neck at 80 yards with a 6 ARC pushing 2,500 at the muzzle. 108 ELDM. Dropped like a rock, dead on the spot. Hit the middle of the neck in through the spine, bullet exited, entire neck bloodshot.

 

[roymunson]

The CVA appears to be a great value.
Congrats to your son!

for an off the shelf rifle, it's a great shooter. It's a little heavy, but it shoots well. Perfect for a hunt like this. Just wish Ohio would let me hunt deer locally with it. We're a straightwall state.

 

[TexasTB]

Just got back from my TX panhandle Antelope hunt. One pronghorn, one coyote and 30+ prairie dogs. 6XC with 103 ELDX did its job. Bang flop at 235 yards for the pronghorn. Load is chronographed at 3085 fps.

 

[sierracharlie338]

Just got back from my TX panhandle Antelope hunt. One pronghorn, one coyote and 30+ prairie dogs. 6XC with 103 ELDX did its job. Bang flop at 235 yards for the pronghorn. Load is chronographed at 3085 fps.

Private I assume? Would love to get on a lope hunt in n Tex.

 

[TexasTB]

Yep, it was on Private.

 

[nuffgun]

Whitetail doe, 105 yard shot, .243 win savage axis 9.25 twist, hornady 105hpbt match (not aero match). Impact velocity:2521fps. Bullet entered near the crease on the left shoulder, took out half the heart and the front of the lungs and exited out the right shoulder, first kill with this bullet and so far so good.

 

[Small-foot]

Hornady Superformance 243 Winchester Ammo 95 Grain Hornady SST (Super

Superformance ammunition is loaded with proprietary propellants that increase the velocity ratings up to 200 feet per second compared to other popular...

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Hornady Precision Hunter 243 Winchester Ammo 90 Grain Hornady ELD-X

Accuracy and terminal performance are the cornerstones of Hornady Precision Hunter factory loaded ammunition. Great care has been given by...

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Federal Premium 243 Winchester Ammo 90 Grain Hornady ELD-X Polymer Tip

Real-world hunts are unpredictable, and we don’t get to choose where game appears. Be ready to make any shot and deliver tag-filling terminal...

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Federal Fusion 243 Winchester Ammo 95 Grain Fusion Soft Point Box of

Fusion was the first rifle ammunition specifically built for deer hunting—and it's still the best, offering the largest expansion and highest...

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Nosler Trophy Grade 243 Winchester Ammo 100 Grain Nosler Partition

Nosler Trophy Grade ammunition is high quality, production-run ammunition manufactured to strict tolerances and inspected as it is hand-packaged. Trophy...

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Nosler Trophy Grade 243 Winchester Ammo 85 Grain Nosler Partition

Nosler Trophy Grade ammunition is high quality, production-run ammunition manufactured to strict tolerances and inspected as it is hand-packaged. Trophy...

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Nosler BT 243 Winchester Ammo 90 Grain Nosler Ballistic Tip Polymer

Nosler Ballistic Tip ammunition is loaded using premium Nosler components to ensure optimum accuracy and deadly performance in the field. Bullet weights...

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Winchester Ballistic Silvertip 243 Winchester Ammo 95 Grain Polymer

The solid base boat tail design and special jacket contours of Winchester Ballistic Silvertip ammunition deliver excellent long-range accuracy with...

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95 ballistic tip, 95 fusion, and 100gr partition get my vote but any of these will work fine

Never got to test it on an animal, but when I got my Tikka .243 last year it was about two weeks out from season and I didn’t have any brass to start hand loading. Picked up some fusions after reading through RS forums. My gun was not a fan of them. Shot them again after attending the winter S2H course thinking it was just me the first time around, still couldn’t get groups below 2” prone off front and rear bag. Some guns love them, mine sure didn’t. Never got an opportunity on an elk last season with it though to speak to the ballistics. I ended up picking up brass to hand load 90 ELDXs and eventually 95TMKs now that you can find them. Practice as much as possible and try a few types to see what your gun likes the best.

 

[Brap01]

Spike elk. 108 ELDM, 6 ARC with 2,500 FPS MV, shot in the middle of the neck at 72 yards. Center punched the vertebrae and found the jacket on the off side hide. I could stick 2 fingers in the wound channel through the vertebrae.

Not sure if I should be worried about punching a rib on a bull at a 300 yards with my 6 CM pushing the same bullet at 2850 MV?

Edit to add: considering how thick the neck hide is, the amount of meat the bullet punched through and the absolute destruction of the spine, I am happy with how this bullet preformed on that elk. My kids will hunt cow elk this year with the same rifle/round.

 

[Ajsomp]

Spike elk. 108 ELDM, 6 ARC with 2,500 FPS MV, shot in the middle of the neck at 72 yards. Center punched the vertebrae and found the jacket on the off side hide. I could stick 2 fingers in the wound channel through the vertebrae.

Not sure if I should be worried about punching a rib on a bull at a 300 yards with my 6 CM pushing the same bullet at 2850 MV?

I wouldn’t be concerned about punching ribs or shoulder with a 108

 

[Brap01]

I wouldn’t be concerned about punching ribs or shoulder with a 108

I was not worried about that either but this made me question that. The neck hide is thick and it center punched that vertebrae, so maybe that's worse than the shoulder muscle and a shoulder blade and rib. I guess I'll find out, my kids have cow tags and were going to hunt with the same rifle and round.

 

[Lawnboi]

Dasher/108eld worked fine on a bull. 180yds behind the shoulder, bullet caught in off side hide. I didn’t get crazy with an autopsy, or take any pictures during, but damage was impressive. I would use them again. Bull went ~50 yards

 

[huntnful]

My wife is doing her very first hunt this year. She has also never shot a real rifle before (just some 22 LR and 17 HMR).

She drew an ID cow elk tag.

I’m planning to have her shoot my 6 PRC and 108 ELDM’s, and keep it under 300 yards.

The first range trip was a good success and she learn the function of the rifle fairly quickly. Loading her own mags and always shooting a mag full to get used to cycling the bolt after the shot.

She shot 5 shots at 300 yards and 3 shots at 600 yards to finish up the day.

View attachment 927689

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My 7-300 NMI with a 195 Berger at 3180fps, and the 6 PRC with a 108 ELDM at 3170fps.

I have full confidence they’ll both work fine! But the 6mm is great for women, children & infants though …. Kiddinggggg haha. I’ll have a good update after she hopefully kills in mid October!

Had to come and give an update. I ended up having my wife shoot my 6.5-7 with the 156 Berger on her hunt. She shot it well and I wanted to see more performance data for that bullet. She made a single perfect shot at 430 yards, and the lead cow tipped over 21 seconds after the hit. Bullet was fragmented perfectly and stuck in the offside hide.

 

[24valve]

95 TMk on an elk. First shot was 300 yards in the lungs, 2760 MV, 2365 impact velocity. It continued to follow the small herd it was with for 40 yards before stopping, so another shot was fired at 340 into the neck which dropped it.

The remnants of the first round was found in the offside hide, the jacket and lead together weighed 28 grains. The second shot passed through the neck.

(Edited to clarify velocities)

After letting the quarters hang for a bit, we started butchering and got better photos of the shoulder damage.

The first bullet shattered and punched right through the onside shoulder blade before continuing on into the lungs. (Photos are all of the same shoulder as we cut away bloodshot meat)