6mm /.243 hunting success on Big Game

The Guide said:
First kill for my 6 ARC Howa Mini Action. Used the factory 103 ELDX @ 2614 fps mv. Shot a river bottom whitetail buck on public 10 minutes before end of shooting light at about 200 yards. Hit behind onside shoulder and exited off side behind diaphragm without touching guts the way he was quartered to me. Went around 25 yards after the shot. Little blood on the ground except for the last 10 feet before it dropped. One lung had a hole and the other one was liquid and just shredded. Liver was torn in half but I did not see any bullet damage. Lots of blood on both sides of the diaphragm when gutted. Did not have anyone to help with pictures as my daughter and wife walked back to get the sled to drag the deer out while I pulled the guts out. I'll see if I can grab a few of the interior when we hang it.

Jay
Click to expand...
No picture and for a good reason! When I got home from work this evening my wife and 16 y/o daughter had just finished hanging, skinning, and cleaning the carcass up for butchering. The bullet hit a rib on entry and there was about a 1.5 inch entry hole and then a 2 inch exit in the soft tissue. Will lose a couple pounds of meat to blood shot but nothing extensive. Will use this setup again on an elk in a week or so.

Jay
 
High double lung on a Muley. This is the entrance. Forgot to take one of the exit but the facia between the ribs and leg muscles on the exit side was an absolute mess so, yeah, it did the job. He ran about 20 yards after this and piled up. 108 ELD-M. 17.5" barrel 6ARC. 270ish yards.

The bullet took two whitetail does this weekend other than this and worked great on those also. The 10yo in the pics got his first big game animal with it. 260 yards from the tripod seated (tripod is a game changer!!) lung entrance liverish exit with a 50 yard run before falling over backwards.

IMG_2157.jpeg
IMG_2155.jpeg
IMG_2104.jpeg
 
Marshfly said:
High double lung on a Muley. This is the entrance. Forgot to take one of the exit but the facia between the ribs and leg muscles on the exit side was an absolute mess so, yeah, it did the job. He ran about 20 yards after this and piled up. 108 ELD-M. 17.5" barrel 6ARC. 270ish yards.

The bullet took two whitetail does this weekend other than this and worked great on those also. The 10yo in the pics got his first big game animal with it. 260 yards from the tripod seated (tripod is a game changer!!) lung entrance liverish exit with a 50 yard run before falling over backwards.

View attachment 789359
View attachment 789360
View attachment 789372
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Nice buck! Is that 6 big game animals so far this year with your Howa Mini 6ARC? Sorry if that's creepy..... I have been following all the small caliber success on big game and 6 ARC build threads pretty religiously lately.......

Are you using a Salmon River Solutions Arca rail to attach your rifle to a tripod? If so, where did you mount the rail? I have a Howa mini build that is very similar to yours, and I am trying to decide whether to mount an arca rail toward the front of the stock to optimize use with a bipod, or more toward the center to optimize use with a tripod.
 
BasicUtahrd95 said:
Nice buck! Is that 6 big game animals so far this year with your Howa Mini 6ARC? Sorry if that's creepy..... I have been following all the small caliber success on big game and 6 ARC build threads pretty religiously lately.......

Are you using a Salmon River Solutions Arca rail to attach your rifle to a tripod? If so, where did you mount the rail? I have a Howa mini build that is very similar to yours, and I am trying to decide whether to mount an arca rail toward the front of the stock to optimize use with a bipod, or more toward the center to optimize use with a tripod.
Click to expand...
That's 7 total with the 6ARC so far. 4 antelope then the three deer. Fricking love this thing. Love everything about it. I could not want for anything different.

I went with the tiny Atlas Pic rail. My Tripods have ball mounts that accept both Arca and Pic so it was perfect. Also works with the Gunwerks Bipod. I used the instructions I referenced in this thread. Super easy install. I used a lock nut rather than a T-nut though.

Pic Rail on VG2 fore end suggestions?

I have a VG2 on a Howa Mini barreled action. I would like to put a pic rail in the place of the fore end sling swivel to use pic mounted bipod. The adapter type rails I have tried won't work well due to the extreme curve the VG2 fore end has. Has anyone mounted a pic rail there in a manner that...
rokslide.com rokslide.com

This is pic of how I normally set it up for shots. Elbow/funny bone notch on the rear leg is super stable out to 300yds plus. And if you know where this ridgeline is, keep your d@mn mouth shut. LOL

IMG_2064.jpeg
 
Marshfly said:
That's 7 total with the 6ARC so far. 4 antelope then the three deer. Fricking love this thing. Love everything about it. I could not want for anything different.

I went with the tiny Atlas Pic rail. My Tripods have ball mounts that accept both Arca and Pic so it was perfect. Also works with the Gunwerks Bipod. I used the instructions I referenced in this thread. Super easy install. I used a lock nut rather than a T-nut though.

Pic Rail on VG2 fore end suggestions?

I have a VG2 on a Howa Mini barreled action. I would like to put a pic rail in the place of the fore end sling swivel to use pic mounted bipod. The adapter type rails I have tried won't work well due to the extreme curve the VG2 fore end has. Has anyone mounted a pic rail there in a manner that...
rokslide.com rokslide.com

This is pic of how I normally set it up for shots. Elbow/funny bone notch on the rear leg is super stable out to 300yds plus. And if you know where this ridgeline is, keep your d@mn mouth shut. LOL

View attachment 789393
Click to expand...
Great pics and congrats to the young lad! (BTW You've got my favorite scope on that rifle, too...)
 
Bull elk. 6cm, 95gr TMK. Bull was shot after running close to a mile.

First shot, 2,778fps impact. Bull turned sharp quartering away and took a step as the shot broke.

(Left is hind, right is chest). Bullet angled sharp quartering away and created a 10-12” wide wound that was 18+ inches long. The entire dark spot is damaged tissue- not just bloodshot. There are tears, holes, torn tissue, and pulp over the entire section.
IMG_2937.jpeg



Bull then dropped down a draw and reappeared. Second shot impact velocity of 2,256fps impact. Nearly broadside with the bull walking. Bullet impacted top rear lobes of lungs-



Entrance:
IMG_2943.jpeg





Exit-
IMG_2941.jpeg



Exit hide one:

IMG_2940.jpeg




Bull then made it into timber, and jumped up from his bed when I tracked him, at approx 60 yards and ran full tilt from left to right- three shots were put into him in about 25 yards; 2x to the shoulder and the last to the neck to stop him.


All were approx: 2,915fps impact


Entered through scapula: fingers point to the two POI.
IMG_2944.jpeg



No excising, just fascia layer removed-
IMG_2945.jpeg



Backside of entrance scapula:
IMG_2936.jpeg


This is the entrance side scapula-
IMG_2946.jpeg



Exited through opposite scapula:

IMG_2949.jpeg
IMG_2948.jpeg



Cont…..
 
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Exit side scapula continued:
IMG_2947.jpeg







After the second chest shot, I put the next one in the neck to stop the bull- he did the rhino slide at that.

Exit:
IMG_2951.jpeg

IMG_2952.jpeg



Conclusion:


In one bull elk, there is medium, low, and high impact velocity results. One poor “worst case” placement, one “acceptable but not ideal” placement, two “perfect” placements, and one anchor shot. Other than the stomach raking shot, all bullets exited.


Later we found out that this bull had been with a group that had been shot at, and hunters had chased this one, which is why he was running. Heavily stressed animals often take an incredible amount of damage without much sign of injury- and this one did exactly that.


Bullet performance:

6mm 95gr TMK’s cause horrific wounds. The first shot was at medium impact velocity yet caused a massive wound channel and more damage to the stomach than any other bullet or caliber that I have seen- from .22cal to very large .338’s.

The second shot was at the lower side of impact velocity, struck no bone at the very back of the lungs, and created a 2.5 to 3 inch wide hole the entire way through.


The two shots at high impact velocity to both scapulas caused extreme tissue damage and the total destruction of both scapulas. While close examination could distinguish the general outline/separation of each respective bullet path, the wounds were 5-6” wide each.

It is hard to describe the damage caused by the stomach impact and the two scapula shots- pictures in no way show the true measure.
 
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