6mm /.243 hunting success on Big Game

[Castle Rock]

Form,

Does this hold true for even lighter bullets? The hornady 58 grain vmax in particular. I’m looking at picking up a tikka .243 (1:8 twist). That’s the smallest I’m able to go legally for big game but want to be able to shoot the lighter bullets for yotes, prairie dogs, etc. also and want to be sure it’s capable on the lower end before I buy.

Mine loves the 70 grain Blitzking

 

[Live_weighT34]

Ruger American Predator in 6mm creedmoor. Swapped out the stock for a magpul and put a leupold Vx3 on it with Warne rings. Convinced my 15 year old cousin to buy his first elk tag and we had open day success on his first big game animal! He made one shot, 320 yds up hill and a pretty decent quartering away angle and dumped this spike. Factory Hornady 108 ELDMs at 2915fps avg at the muzzle and impact @ ~2400fps. Bullet passed through and exited just behind the off side shoulder. I’m not saying I’ll only hunt with the 6mm from here on during rifle hunts but I won’t hesitate to use it on anything where I legally can!

 

[atmat]

Ruger American Predator in 6mm creedmoor. Swapped out the stock for a magpul and put a leupold Vx3 on it with Warne rings. Convinced my 15 year old cousin to buy his first elk tag and we had open day success on his first big game animal! He made one shot, 320 yds up hill and a pretty decent quartering away angle and dumped this spike. Factory Hornady 108 ELDMs at 2915fps avg at the muzzle and impact @ ~2400fps. Bullet passed through and exited just behind the off side shoulder. I’m not saying I’ll only hunt with the 6mm from here on during rifle hunts but I won’t hesitate to use it on anything where I legally can!

Awesome for your cousin, but I hate that barrel pointed straight at his face.

 

[Live_weighT34]

Awesome for your cousin, but I hate that barrel pointed straight at his face.

I don’t either and I didn’t even register where it was pointed till after when I looked at the pictures. But it was unloaded, nothing in the mag or the chamber. I pulled the ammo out once we knew the elk was dead.

 

[5811]

Awesome for your cousin, but I hate that barrel pointed straight at his face.

I saw the photo and thought, whoa. Should I say something? Would that make me a dick? Then I scrolled down, phew. Atmat said it.

 

[Live_weighT34]

I saw the photo and thought, whoa. Should I say something? Would that make me a dick? Then I scrolled down, phew. Atmat said it.

Nah say it. I like to think that unlike the rest of the millennial generation I can handle criticism lol

 

[ruger35]

This thread has me thinking I should make a 6CM/GT load since I already have all of the brass/powders.

 

[sierracharlie338]

This thread has me thinking I should make a 6CM/GT load since I already have all of the brass/powders.

Do it. I’m starting on my GT barrel after the first of the year most likely.

 

[hereinaz]

The BC isn't quite as good as advertised when shooting to extreme ranges. I found them to be a 286g7 for waterlined dope to 1300y. However the advertised numbers work to 800. Just goes to show small variation in bc doesn't make a difference till you're long ways out.

That makes sense because BC is velocity dependent. As velocity decreases so does BC. The twist can also affect it.

It’s unfortunate because many companies use short range BC because it is higher, even though it doesn’t matter at close range.

 

[ruger35]

Do it. I’m starting on my GT barrel after the first of the year most likely.

I never thought of it as a hunting round, but it makes sense. Found a node while doing break in, but now it sounds like I need a short GT. Extremely easy round to get good SD/ES and be accurate. I guess I'll have to get more ELDM's to try after swearing them off for precision type shooting lol. Maybe finally try some DTAC bullets.

 

[sierracharlie338]

I never thought of it as a hunting round, but it makes sense. Found a node while doing break in, but now it sounds like I need a short GT. Extremely easy round to get good SD/ES and be accurate. I guess I'll have to get more ELDM's to try after swearing them off for precision type shooting lol. Maybe finally try some DTAC bullets.

PVA did my barrel and it’s 20” ready for an Ultra 7. If I had more rounds on the factory 243 barrel than I do it would already be on!

 

[ruger35]

PVA did my barrel and it’s 20” ready for an Ultra 7. If I had more rounds on the factory 243 barrel than I do it would already be on!

Did you go CF? Assuming the GT in CF will not heat up as quick as the creedmoor and potentially less chances for stringing if multiple shots are needed.

 

[sierracharlie338]

Did you go CF? Assuming the GT in CF will not heat up as quick as the creedmoor and potentially less chances for stringing if multiple shots are needed.

Nope full steel. M24 contour. Heavier than I wanted but got a crazy deal I couldn’t pass up.

 

[HighUintas]

108eldms work on baby bulls. This one died about 40 yd from where he was hit. The shot was about 450 yd downhill with an impact velocity of about 2450. I didn't get any pictures of the damage because I hit him a little too far back and it hit the guts and the clock was ticking for getting him cut up by myself.

It was a really rushed shot due to the spot he was in and only had a very small window to shoot before he moved out of it. This particular area is pretty hard to get a shot at a bull after they get pressured, unless you happen to get lucky, so I wasn't passing up the opportunity. I was able to see the impact, and racked another round as soon as it hit him, but he got up immediately after his short drop and moved out of the window into cover before I could shoot again. However, the ability to watch the impact and quickly reload while staying on Target has made me a fan of shooting smaller calibers!

There was a 7 mph wind, and in the heat of the moment, I forgot to hold zero wind when the wind suddenly stopped right when I was about to shoot. Therefore, I hit him between the 3rd and 4th of the last rib , slightly high entry due to the downward angle of the shot and the brief looking that I did, I couldn't see any evidence of the shrapnel hitting the lungs or even puncturing the diaphragm to the chest cavity. There was no bloodshot at all since it hit between the ribs, and I think it may have hit some of the liver but I am not sure. I do know it absolutely wrecked his gut as he swelled up immensely within an hour and although I was as careful as could be, still ended up puncturing the stomach cavity and ended up with a nasty mess.

After getting all the quartering done, I pulled open his rib cage to see what it looked like and although I didn't dig around a whole lot, the lungs looked undamaged and there didn't seem to be any stomach contents in the chest cavity. I also took a look at the liver and didn't see any obvious damage, but the entry was right there and looked like it should have damaged the liver.

I found him dead about 45 minutes after shooting, so although I don't believe I hit any vitals other than potentially a small part of the liver, I guess it wrecked his stomach well enough that he decided to give up the ghost pretty quickly.

 

[WCB]

Killed a few whitetails with 6mm Remington using factory Federal 90gr soft points (power shok). No difference in my opinion that really any other white tail shot 300 yards and in with any other caliber. A couple bang flops, a couple front end plowers, and a few death bolt 50-60yards.

 

[HighUintas]

I have a question for you guys on elk anatomy. With the elk I shot a couple posts back, I thought I had completely missed the lungs and maybe but probably missed the liver and only hit the guts.

However, he died within 40 yards and 45 minutes. The bullet entered between the 3rd and 4th last ribs, either broadside or very very slight quartering away. When I accidentally punctured the stomach muscle when quartering, thick, chunky dark blood poured out more than anything. When I did some extremely brief looking inside after finishing, I didn't see obvious damage to the lungs or liver, but they were both much much smaller than they should have been.

However, looking at anatomy pictures, the liver and rear of the lungs are right behind the 3rd and 4th last ribs.

So given all of that, does it make sense that I actually did hit some liver and lungs and just didn't see it in my quick looking?

 

[Formidilosus]

I have a question for you guys on elk anatomy. With the elk I shot a couple posts back, I thought I had completely missed the lungs and maybe but probably missed the liver and only hit the guts.

However, he died within 40 yards and 45 minutes. The bullet entered between the 3rd and 4th last ribs, either broadside or very very slight quartering away. When I accidentally punctured the stomach muscle when quartering, thick, chunky dark blood poured out more than anything. When I did some extremely brief looking inside after finishing, I didn't see obvious damage to the lungs or liver, but they were both much much smaller than they should have been.

However, looking at anatomy pictures, the liver and rear of the lungs are right behind the 3rd and 4th last ribs.

So given all of that, does it make sense that I actually did hit some liver and lungs and just didn't see it in my quick looking?

If you saw deep, dark blood- yes. Liver.

 

[Wapiti1]

I have a question for you guys on elk anatomy. With the elk I shot a couple posts back, I thought I had completely missed the lungs and maybe but probably missed the liver and only hit the guts.

However, he died within 40 yards and 45 minutes. The bullet entered between the 3rd and 4th last ribs, either broadside or very very slight quartering away. When I accidentally punctured the stomach muscle when quartering, thick, chunky dark blood poured out more than anything. When I did some extremely brief looking inside after finishing, I didn't see obvious damage to the lungs or liver, but they were both much much smaller than they should have been.

However, looking at anatomy pictures, the liver and rear of the lungs are right behind the 3rd and 4th last ribs.

So given all of that, does it make sense that I actually did hit some liver and lungs and just didn't see it in my quick looking?

Maybe. As noted, dark blood that is clean of stomach contents indicates liver. However, there are a lot of large blood vessels that feed the liver, stomach and intestines. Do enough damage to those vessels and you'll get the same result. It's about blood loss to the brain by any means necessary.

A highly fragmenting bullet gives you the best chance of doing that damage with a non-ideal hit. Damage the big arteries or veins and they die pretty quick. I've seen two bulls killed very quickly with arrows that hit the hind quarter and subsequently cut that artery.

 

[HighUintas]

Maybe. As noted, dark blood that is clean of stomach contents indicates liver. However, there are a lot of large blood vessels that feed the liver, stomach and intestines. Do enough damage to those vessels and you'll get the same result. It's about blood loss to the brain by any means necessary.

A highly fragmenting bullet gives you the best chance of doing that damage with a non-ideal hit. Damage the big arteries or veins and they die pretty quick. I've seen two bulls killed very quickly with arrows that hit the hind quarter and subsequently cut that artery.

View attachment 775352

That's a good point. I was thinking that if I didn't hit liver it must have destroyed so much stuff in there the elk didn't have a chance to go far.

A guy told me about an elk he shot in the hind leg just above the hock. It didn't hit an artery, but the bullet broke the leg and the broke leg severed and important artery. He died within 50 yards.

 

[WYCFM1]

I took a bull elk with my 20” 6 creedmoor this year…the shot was 645 yards with almost no wind…I shot him twice on one side and twice on the other…the bullet was an 87g v max…we found one bullet during processing…it was expanded within a 1/8” on the base of the bullet…they killed the bull but I won’t use those again…they shoot so well out of my rifle that I haven’t zeroed any other ammo yet.


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