6mm /.243 hunting success on Big Game

[Q_Sertorius]

108 or 109? Just curious. Congrats as well.

I’m curious about that as well.

 

[teamsprock]

108 gr eldm. The gun is a 16.5” tikka in 6 creed.

 

[Telford29]

I tumble (wet or dry depending on the size of the batch) to clean sizing lube so i tumble every time.

View attachment 1018024
View attachment 1018025
Got the opportunity to try the ELD-M’s on bison. The results were excellent. Both bulls were killed in the 375-400 yard range. One was a double lung shot, and the bison fell over and was dead within 20 seconds. The second bull took a neck shot and went right down.

That is very impressive. Congratulations! Looks like your freezer will be full!

 

[OFFSHORE]

This has been an AWESOME and very informational thread. . .thank you to all for your postings and pics!!! Just started going through it two days ago and have really enjoyed it.

I have a Howa Mini in 22 ARC and for the last year and a half have killed a pile of deer with the 80gr. ELD-M from up close to 250+/- yards, it's been a fun gun and a good kill'r. I recently saw a guy at a new range with a 6x47 Lapua target rifle single shot in the little Howa action and didn't think a .473 bolt face would be do-able. . .that got my gears turning. 22 Dasher came to mind at first and now that I've read through this thread the 6 Dasher is the end goal. Could any of you with the custom barreled rifles tell me the freebore you went with for shooting the 105 to 109 grain Sierra, Hornady, Berger bullets. This will be for a 6 Dasher with formed 6BR Lapua brass and my barrel is a 1-7.5 tw Brux #4 at 24". I'm in the gathering of components stage at this point and searching for a 'smith who will work on the Howa Mini (any recommendations welcomed) once I get it all sorted out for the build. I have little to no experience with the .243/6mm caliber in a rifle (had an XP-100 in 6BR 15" for a short time) but have been a long time reloader for .223, .264, .284, .308, and .358 calibers and all sorts of hunting handgun calibers, so this is going to be a new quest for me. I appreciate any advice given and thank you in advance for your time. Keep up the good work on this thread - PLEASE. I hope to contribute to it this coming season!!!

 

[huntnful]

I just talked to a dude recently. I’m not sure he’s on here so I’ll just share his info because I thought it was good. He had the pictures and videos to confirm as well. It was a good convo.

He was shooting a short barreled 6 creed (not certain on barrel length, just looked short in pictures) and 115 DTACs. He’d killed deer, elk, moose, bison, 2 giraffes, a kudu at 740 yards DRT (on video) and a bunch of other shit with that setup.

He builds guns and can shoot whatever he wants and he said that little setup has been much his preference compared to the cannons he used to shoot.

 

[ckt3]

Makes me wonder what’s the purpose of a magnum in today’s world of great bullets and a ballistic calculator in everyone’s pocket. Seems like it’s only needed for very niche use cases of carrying velocity out quite far. 50-100 years ago maybe there was a most justifiable need as a flatter trajectory compensated for lack of ballistic information.

Does this reasoning track or is it too reductive? I struggle to find any practical purpose for a typical hunter (0-600 yard range, let alone the more common 0-300 or 400 yard range) having a magnum, but it’s so simple I feel like I’m missing something.

 

[nm.otter]

I struggle to find any practical purpose for a typical hunter (0-600 yard range, let alone the more common 0-300 or 400 yard range) having a magnum, but it’s so simple I feel like I’m missing something.

As difficult as it may be for many to accept, you're not.

 

[huntnful]

Makes me wonder what’s the purpose of a magnum in today’s world of great bullets and a ballistic calculator in everyone’s pocket. Seems like it’s only needed for very niche use cases of carrying velocity out quite far. 50-100 years ago maybe there was a most justifiable need as a flatter trajectory compensated for lack of ballistic information.

Does this reasoning track or is it too reductive? I struggle to find any practical purpose for a typical hunter (0-600 yard range, let alone the more common 0-300 or 400 yard range) having a magnum, but it’s so simple I feel like I’m missing something.

Nah you’re not missing anything. The only thing I can really think of is POSSIBLY more potential for DRT’s when intentionally shoulder shooting animals in heavily forested terrain. There’s absolutely a visible impact difference between the small and large cartridges/calibers. But even then, sometimes they just soak them up and keep trucking. So it’s by no means a guarantee.

But as far as just hitting and killing the animal, I don’t really have an argument. I mean it depends how small you go and how shitty of a bullet you use. But any fast cartridge with heavy for caliber bullet, you still have to call the wind within a certain MPH to stay in the vitals. I did calculations a while ago so I’m just going off memory. But at like 800 yards I had to be within 2 MPH with a 22 CM, and with a literally ballistic beast cannon I had to be within 3 MPH of the actual wind to stay in the vitals.

Yes the wind holds themselves were different, but actually making the correct wind call itself, wasn’t much more forgiving.

Don’t quote me 100% on those on those numbers, but it was pretty close to that.

 

[nm.otter]

FWIW .22 Creedmoor is a magnum:

 

[huntnful]

FWIW .22 Creedmoor is a magnum:
View attachment 1019927

What is constituting that ratio number? Powder to bore ratio?

 

[nm.otter]

What is constituting that ratio number? Powder to bore ratio?

Case capacity in cubic inches (minus the neck) divided by the bore diameter (in inches) squared. It's a dimensionless number which can also be derived from ml and mm.

Call it overbore, magnum-ness, or whatever.

 

[ckt3]

Case capacity in cubic inches (minus the neck) divided by the bore diameter (in inches) squared. It's a dimensionless number which can also be derived from ml and mm.

Was this discussed on the Hornady podcast? I vaguely remember them presenting data like this along with the ensuing barrel life. Very cool.

 

[Taudisio]

FWIW .22 Creedmoor is a magnum:
View attachment 1019927

I would debate that. The creedmoor and the 25-06 do not utilize a magnum bolt face. Just because they are “over bore” doesn’t mean they are magnums.

Edit to add, I didn’t refresh the page and see your responses, so it’s been addressed.

 

[nm.otter]

Was this discussed on the Hornady podcast? I vaguely remember them presenting data like this along with the ensuing barrel life. Very cool.

Same concept, but they were using some other metric which I don't recall the details of. Ryan also did something similar using grains of WC, but it resulted in very small numbers (which are tied to the measurement units).

I would debate that. The creedmoor and the 25-06 do not utilize a magnum bolt face. Just because they are “over bore” doesn’t mean they are magnums.

OK, fair enough. I'm just looking to compare cartridges for practical uses and less concerned with building or buying actions.

 

[Axlrod]

I would debate that. The creedmoor and the 25-06 do not utilize a magnum bolt face. Just because they are “over bore” doesn’t mean they are magnums.

No dog in this fight, you can go round and round on topics like this. But a 222 Magnum holds less powder than a 22 Creed. The term magnum came from wine bottles, and I beleive thr first cartridge to use it was the 357. So it really isnt a useful adjective sometimes.

 

[Formidilosus]

Nah you’re not missing anything. The only thing I can really think of is POSSIBLY more potential for DRT’s when intentionally shoulder shooting animals in heavily forested terrain. There’s absolutely a visible impact difference between the small and large cartridges/calibers.

Nah. You shoulder shoot them, you effect the spine which drops them with anything. Beyond that, there are bullets in 6mm that create some of the largest wounds of any caliber and any bullet ever made to this point.

I’m pretty sure these have a visible impact. grin




From another thread-


Remember this is culling. Not hunting.

If you just hit ribs, it’s good- very effective.
If you hit bone, very likely you won’t like it.

2,100’ish FPS impacts. Photos and animals are unmodified.

Quartering too- shot entered center chest… How we walked up to it. A 9-10” wound.

Facing directly away. 2,105fps impact. Entered center of rear ham- 10+ inch hole. TC blew stomach out mid belly, bullet traveled all the way through the chest and through the heart. Everything inside body cavity was wrecked.

Heart-

116gr TMK, 2,105fps impact.

116gr TMK, 2,424fps impact.

 

[nm.otter]

The term magnum came from wine bottles, and I believe the first cartridge to use it was the 357

Weatherby and Lazzeroni missed the boat.
.257 Jeroboam, anyone?

 

[BLJ]

Nah. You shoulder shoot them, you effect the spine which drops them with anything. Beyond that, there are bullets in 6mm that create some of the largest wounds of any caliber and any bullet ever made to this point.

I’m pretty sure these have a visible impact. grin




From another thread-


Remember this is culling. Not hunting.

If you just hit ribs, it’s good- very effective.
If you hit bone, very likely you won’t like it.

2,100’ish FPS impacts. Photos and animals are unmodified.

Quartering too- shot entered center chest… How we walked up to it. A 9-10” wound.

Facing directly away. 2,105fps impact. Entered center of rear ham- 10+ inch hole. TC blew stomach out mid belly, bullet traveled all the way through the chest and through the heart. Everything inside body cavity was wrecked.

Heart-

116gr TMK, 2,105fps impact.

116gr TMK, 2,424fps impact.

View attachment 1019928


View attachment 1019929

View attachment 1019930

Do the 116’s produce a significantly larger wound channel than the 95 at the same velocity?

 

[Formidilosus]

Do the 116’s produce a significantly larger wound channel than the 95 at the same velocity?

Ehh. Haven’t shot them side by side. My “feeling”- is yes. They have produced larger exits than 95gr TMK’s.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

Case capacity in cubic inches (minus the neck) divided by the bore diameter (in inches) squared. It's a dimensionless number which can also be derived from ml and mm.

Call it overbore, magnum-ness, or whatever.

Hi highly prefer to use the term magnum-ness, I think it's THE most appropriate here.