6mm /.243 hunting success on Big Game

[jupiter4651]

6BR
110gr Horn' A-tip
450yds Impact velocity 2091fps.

Exit side, piled up inside of 50yds. NOTHING better than watching "EVERYTHING" unfold through your scope from spitting distance to what ever distance your comfortable shooting too.

This is the load I want to try and build a rifle for my daughter. What rifle specs are you using.

 

[HGL]

6mm CM, 103 ELDx, impact velocity was around 2760 fps.

Large bodied deer for here, weighed 187 lbs on the scale. He was quartering hard away from me and I hit the crease just behind the shoulder. Pretty good penetration, as the bullet fragments made it to the spine. Did not recover any of the bullet.

He did the 30-40 yard death sprint and bulldozed in. Didn't find a spec of blood, but he cut a swath that looked like a bushawg trail, so it was an easy track.




Caliber sized entrance.

 

[Nine Banger]

6mm CM, 103 ELDx, impact velocity was around 2760 fps.

Large bodied deer for here, weighed 187 lbs on the scale. He was quartering hard away from me and I hit the crease just behind the shoulder. Pretty good penetration, as the bullet fragments made it to the spine. Did not recover any of the bullet.

He did the 30-40 yard death sprint and bulldozed in. Didn't find a spec of blood, but he cut a swath that looked like a bushawg trail, so it was an easy track.

Nice buck.

Great post.

Just curious: why did you choose 103gr ELD over the 108 or 109?

 

[HGL]

Nice buck.

Great post.

Just curious: why did you choose 103gr ELD over the 108 or 109?

Basically, no reason at all, other than that was the first load I worked up and it is super accurate. I do have a good load with the 108's that I'm probably going to pop a few with later this year, for comparisons sake.

But so far so good with the 103's and large deer/hogs.

 

[CJ_BG]

Nice buck.

Great post.

Just curious: why did you choose 103gr ELD over the 108 or 109?

I have heard that in some of the smaller guns the x performs better/more consistently than the m. Though the exo guys did take 2 giant moose with the 108 so I can't see it being a very large or important difference.

 

[Ajsomp]

I have heard that in some of the smaller guns the x performs better/more consistently than the m. Though the exo guys did take 2 giant moose with the 108 so I can't see it being a very large or important difference.

Probably not enough variance to matter but notionally the trend seems to be 22 and 6 fair slightly better with the eldx and 6.5 and above with the M. And TMKs just flat kill in any caliber.

Nice buck

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Probably not enough variance to matter but notionally the trend seems to be 22 and 6 fair slightly better with the eldx and 6.5 and above with the M. And TMKs just flat kill in any caliber.

Nice buck

Sample size of 1, but the 162 ELDX my daughter killed her cow with last fall performed wonderfully.

 

[Ajsomp]

Sample size of 1, but the 162 ELDX my daughter killed her cow with last fall performed wonderfully.

Yeah I’ve killed with both. I haven’t killed enough game with 6mm yet so I’m just going off other people’s posts in here and the 22 creed thread. I don’t think you can go wrong there with the eldx

 

[ridgeline]

This is the load I want to try and build a rifle for my daughter. What rifle specs are you using.

Howa short action, Pacnor 1:7" 3 groove, S/S super match #3 profile at 20". AICS mags with Primal Rights BR guts installed, feeds like a champ... You and your daughter will be fighting over it. Grin.

 

[AZ Gator]

For those with a good bit of hands-on experience (@Formidilosus , etc) with multiple options, how would you rank this list of bullet options out of a 6CM for javelina to elk+ game size at a variety of western distances?:

108 Eldm
112 Matchburner
95 TMK
115 DTAC
103 Eldx

Thanks!

 

[Wprinkle]

For those with a good bit of hands-on experience (@Formidilosus , etc) with multiple options, how would you rank this list of bullet options out of a 6CM for javelina to elk+ game size at a variety of western distances?:

108 Eldm
112 Matchburner
95 TMK
115 DTAC
103 Eldx

Thanks!

Well matchburners are absolute shit on hogs..

 

[Formidilosus]

Well matchburners are absolute shit on hogs..

What happened? Have used the 112’s on a few elk and deer, and while they fragment heavily, they killed fine.

 

[Wprinkle]

What happened? Have used the 112’s on a few elk and deer, and while they fragment heavily, they killed fine.

I'm getting varied consistencies of bullet upset depths. I agree they fragment A LOT just IMO almost no neck on the wound channel. Purely from observation not the result I am seeing from the 108's or 103's. (To the OP this is not in a 6 CM. This is a 6UM)

 

[Formidilosus]

I'm getting varied consistencies of bullet upset depths. I agree they fragment A LOT just IMO almost no neck on the wound channel. Purely from observation not the result I am seeing from the 108's or 103's. (To the OP this is not in a 6 CM. This is a 6UM)

Haha. Yeah, I wouldn’t think they are great at super high impact velocities. Not the 6UM bullet.

 

[Chris in TN]

Sample size of 1, but the 162 ELDX my daughter killed her cow with last fall performed wonderfully.

When the eldx first came out I shot a bunch of smaller whitetails one fall with them. I was really shocked to not get an exit wound on a 90 pound doe from a 284/162 (280ai at about 3025'mv) and decided to stick with heavier (construction or weight) bullets for a while longer.

But all of those deer were fairly close, several under 100 yards. Later I shot a doe at exactly 400 yards, so, IIRC maybe 2500' impact velocity, and the same eldx performed well but also made a nice exit. I reconsidered later and tried the 180ELDM and I have to say that I really like it now and have finally switched to fast-expansion high-BC bullets almost exclusively. I really do think how one sees the performance of modern bullets is really speed-dependent and what works perfectly in a 7-08 might look a little 'splody from a 28Nosler.

 

[justin davis]

For those with a good bit of hands-on experience (@Formidilosus , etc) with multiple options, how would you rank this list of bullet options out of a 6CM for javelina to elk+ game size at a variety of western distances?:

108 Eldm
112 Matchburner
95 TMK
115 DTAC
103 Eldx

Thanks!

No Berger’s in your consideration?

 

[Gstew1930]

Ive killed a couple truck loads of pigs with the 112 MB in a 243. They have worked great for me.

 

[AZ Gator]

No Berger’s in your consideration?

Definitely could be, but I don’t have any on hand and they aren’t as frequently cited. So feel free to add what is appropriate, I’m just hoping to avoid the “such and such bullet works great” without put in the context of better than some other bullets.

I’m confident the bullets I listed (and more) work very well most of the time (or nearly all the time).

But at 6CM speeds, and a variety of target species size and distance, I suspect one or more of these may rise to the top.

 

[The Guide]

For those with a good bit of hands-on experience (@Formidilosus , etc) with multiple options, how would you rank this list of bullet options out of a 6CM for javelina to elk+ game size at a variety of western distances?:

108 Eldm
112 Matchburner
95 TMK
115 DTAC
103 Eldx

Thanks!

There is no 1 bullet that is best for all ranges. You have to narrow down your distance. You say "typical western distances" but as a life long Montanan and "western hunter" I'll shoot stuff from sub 50 yards to further than most people can accurately shoot to, every year. I'll break your choices down into my expectations for proper performance on distance using my load data for those bullets I've used in my 6CM or have data on from others using it in a 6CM.

95tmk - possibly splashy at short range/high velocity and lower BC makes me consider these a 150 to 650 yard bullet. Better suited for 243 or 6 ARC speeds, IMHO.

103 ELDX - my experience with this bullet has shown me that is a great bullet for the 6CM. I consider it a 50 to 750 yard bullet in factory ammo from a 6CM.

108 ELDM - my experience with this bullet has also been great when shooting the 6CM. I consider it a 100 to 800 yard bullet in factory ammo from a 6CM. My experience on a short range whitetail (~60 yards and hard quartering away running shot) showed a very large exit and I wouldn't recommend it for a bullet that would do mostly short range work. On antelope and deer shot at or past 100 yards the performance was excellent with normal to large exit wounds never more than fist sized unless on bone.

112 MB - I've yet to shoot these on game but the accuracy is promising and I'll handload some after I shoot up the couple of boxes of factory ammo I have. My observation from others has suggested that these are a minimum of 100 yards (extreme damage seen on thin skinned animals shot sub 100 yards) and data shows they carry 1800 fps to past 900 yards at 5000' DA.

115 NR DTAC - I am assuming you are referring to the nose ringed DTAC bullets. These will be a tougher bullet and at 6CM speeds, you would be good to use them at 50 yards and since they require velocity to either fragment or tumble, you need to keep them above 2000 fps to do the best work in my observations. I would again look at these as a 50 to 600 yard bullet better suited for deeper chested game like elk or moose due to their need for a little more neck length before they fragment or tumble. These are observations and not my experience on game as I do own any of these bullets "yet".

There are 2 other bullets I might suggest for you to look at depending upon what your distance needs are. The Barnes 95gr LRX and the Berger 105 Hybrid are both excellent bullets for the 6CM. If you are hunting 50 to 600 yards the 95 LRX is lightning on game. I'm still above 2100 fps at 600 so I could be pushed further but I want to know I'll have full expansion of the copper bullet. No issues with whitetail, mule deer, or antelope with it. Would use on elk if the opportunity was there. The 105 Berger is my 100 to 880 yard bullet. If I'm under a half mile away, I'm sending that bullet with full confidence of good hit and a dead animal. I use the 95 LRX when we are doing a donation hunt since I can't control how the meat is cared for after we turn it over to the processor and I know many people have issue with lead bullets in donated meat.

Jay

 

[justin davis]

Definitely could be, but I don’t have any on hand and they aren’t as frequently cited. So feel free to add what is appropriate, I’m just hoping to avoid the “such and such bullet works great” without put in the context of better than some other bullets.

I’m confident the bullets I listed (and more) work very well most of the time (or nearly all the time).

But at 6CM speeds, and a variety of target species size and distance, I suspect one or more of these may rise to the top.

I’m currently shooting the Berger 108 elite hunters. They seem to be an awesome bullet. Also have shot some animals with the 108 ELDm with good success