6mm /.243 hunting success on Big Game

[TxLite]

Nice! How you liking that McMillan?

Been a fan of it so far. Spotting impacts has been easy.

 

[sierracharlie338]

Been a fan of it so far. Spotting impacts has been easy.

I shoulda jumped on the initial run.

 

[Timjohnson11]

Just a heads up, Ally Munitions is offering 109 ELDM ammo for 6 Creed. Kinda pricey but I'll let you know how they shot.

6MM CREED 109GR ELDM CULL BUCK

Premium 6mm Creedmoor 109gr ELD-M hunting ammo from Ally Munitions' new Cull Buck series. Built for match-grade accuracy and deadly performance on deer, hogs, and pronghorn.

allymunitions.com

 

[TxLite]

200 yards with 108 elite hunters. MV 2943.

Broadside shot. Buck ran ~75 yards. Lots of lung chunks and heavy blood in the blood trail. Lungs hanging out of exit hole. Exit shoulder had slight meat loss but very little overall.

 

[sierracharlie338]

200 yards with 108 elite hunters. MV 2943.

Broadside shot. Buck ran ~75 yards. Lots of lung chunks and heavy blood in the blood trail. Lungs hanging out of exit hole. Exit shoulder had slight meat loss but very little overall.

Those 108s seem to be some flat out killers

 

[huntnful]

Those 108s seem to be some flat out killers

Jeeze you ain’t kidding. I was just thinking the same thing while scrolling through.

 

[sierracharlie338]

Jeeze you ain’t kidding. I was just thinking the same thing while scrolling through.

Ive been very impressed with the 6.5/140 in my 260 and 205 in my 30 Nosler. Several guys here are wrecking animals with the .25/133s

 

[huntnful]

Ive been very impressed with the 6.5/140 in my 260 and 205 in my 30 Nosler. Several guys here are wrecking animals with the .25/133s

The right berger in any caliber can be pretty tough to beat. They shoot excellent and kill violently. The .264 156’s have wrecked stuff for me lately.

 

[TxLite]

Those 108s seem to be some flat out killers

My first time shooting them at game. 4 Antelope so far, all very dead. I didn’t post one of the other does but it was 150 yards frontal, ran 40 and tumbled. I plan to keep shooting them.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

200 yards with 108 elite hunters. MV 2943.

Broadside shot. Buck ran ~75 yards. Lots of lung chunks and heavy blood in the blood trail. Lungs hanging out of exit hole. Exit shoulder had slight meat loss but very little overall.

Nice haulasselope, congrats. Definitely some great bullet performance.

 

[CJ_BG]

200 yards with 108 elite hunters. MV 2943.

Broadside shot. Buck ran ~75 yards. Lots of lung chunks and heavy blood in the blood trail. Lungs hanging out of exit hole. Exit shoulder had slight meat loss but very little overall.

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Did they seem to have a short neck length or did they get pretty far in before opening/shedding/fragmenting?

 

[TxLite]

Did they seem to have a short neck length or did they get pretty far in before opening/shedding/fragmenting?

I did gutless method but seemed like they generally had caliber sized entrance and opened up inside the body cavity unless you hit rib/bone.

 

[FredH]

Anyone still use standard soft points from Hornady, Sierra and Speer? I have had excellent results from all three. My use being mostly before cell phones were everywhere, heck even before pictures became digital. And it was a time when pictures of gore were not normally posted.

 

[sierracharlie338]

Anyone still use standard soft points from Hornady, Sierra and Speer? I have had excellent results from all three. My use being mostly before cell phones were everywhere, heck even before pictures became digital. And it was a time when pictures of gore were not normally posted.

I kilt many a deer with them 150g interlocks in a 308! They are devastating. Shot a doe at about 340 yards and the exit hole was the size of a softball.

 

[CJ_BG]

Anyone still use standard soft points from Hornady, Sierra and Speer? I have had excellent results from all three. My use being mostly before cell phones were everywhere, heck even before pictures became digital. And it was a time when pictures of gore were not normally posted.

Brother shot a few with 85gr speers and 100gr power points. I know a couple guys that shoot the 100gr interlock.

They all killed but I don't see the super short neck lengths or as heavy of fragmentation compared to tipped bullets. The best of what I saw from standard soft points was the 85 speer. While not just a cup and core soft point, partitions seem to do better, my guess is they have a softer front end.

 

[FredH]

Brother shot a few with 85gr speers and 100gr power points. I know a couple guys that shoot the 100gr interlock.

They all killed but I don't see the super short neck lengths or as heavy of fragmentation compared to tipped bullets. The best of what I saw from standard soft points was the 85 speer. While not just a cup and core soft point, partitions seem to do better, my guess is they have a softer front end.

A lot of fragmentation was not considered a good thing and I will say all three of the bullets I listed opened pretty quick in the average deer bullet weights for the caliber in question. There was a time way back in the 60's and early 70's when bullet companies would post little ads mentioning that their bullet would stay in the animal thus delivering all it's energy. Hornady RN's in particular. There were many fast openers like the Winchester OPE, Remington Bronze tips, and back then Sierra bullets were very soft. Bullet performance attributes go through phases, were are just making the rounds. Currently it is plastic tips, thin jackets, long bullets and fast twists. Interestingly we are returning to what the Mauser rounds gave us way back in the olden days. 7MM Mauser, 6.5x55, 6MM Lee were known for long bullets and fast twists but no plastic tips. The most popular hunting bullets had round noses. I loaded Hornady 100 gr. and Speer 105 gr. Round nose bullet for hunting in east Tx timber way back then. The Hornady was an especially soft bullet. Inside 200 yards complicated bullets are not needed. Neither is velocity over 2600 fps.

 

[CJ_BG]

A lot of fragmentation was not considered a good thing and I will say all three of the bullets I listed opened pretty quick in the average deer bullet weights for the caliber in question. There was a time way back in the 60's and early 70's when bullet companies would post little ads mentioning that their bullet would stay in the animal thus delivering all it's energy. Hornady RN's in particular. There were many fast openers like the Winchester OPE, Remington Bronze tips, and back then Sierra bullets were very soft. Bullet performance attributes go through phases, were are just making the rounds. Currently it is plastic tips, thin jackets, long bullets and fast twists. Interestingly we are returning to what the Mauser rounds gave us way back in the olden days. 7MM Mauser, 6.5x55, 6MM Lee were known for long bullets and fast twists but no plastic tips. The most popular hunting bullets had round noses. I loaded Hornady 100 gr. and Speer 105 gr. Round nose bullet for hunting in east Tx timber way back then. The Hornady was an especially soft bullet. Inside 200 yards complicated bullets are not needed. Neither is velocity over 2600 fps.

A lot of fragmentation has always been what me and my friends/family preferred. Same thing with polymer tipped bullets going the whole way back to the original ballistic tips in the 80s

Stuff going through phases means nothing to me, I just want stuff dead fast with short neck lengths and wide wounds. In our experience hollow points and tipped bullets do that better than soft points of similar weight, especially with impacts below 22/2300fps

 

[General RE LEE]

Family members Pronghorn he shot with a 6 arc at 250 yards shooting factory Hornady 108 ELDMs. Entrance and the exit. Buck dropped. Estimated speed would have been 2232 fps

Good to see some 6 ARC kills for 2025. I just got my Howa Mini back from Bugholes with a Muellerworks 22" installed. If its a tack driver, the 6.5 CM Tikka will sit in the safe. The 6 ARC is an excellent deer cartridge for here in TN.

 

[FredH]

A lot of fragmentation has always been what me and my friends/family preferred. Same thing with polymer tipped bullets going the whole way back to the original ballistic tips in the 80s

Stuff going through phases means nothing to me, I just want stuff dead fast with short neck lengths and wide wounds. In our experience hollow points and tipped bullets do that better than soft points of similar weight, especially with impacts below 22/2300fps

I got fast kills with the bullets mentioned. Nothing to complain about. 1-11/2" holes on entry side of the ribcage bigger holes on the exit side and massive destruction in between. I typically made an effort to be close enough that my impact velocities were at least 2000fps. When the Ballistic Tip came out it was a very messy bullet but now it is comparable to the old Solid Base Nosler it replaced. I use them a lot. If a bullet is placed properly and expands like it should a lot of fragmentation is not necessary. Virtually all lead cored expanding bullets lose some weight though the good bonded bullets loose very little. I am not a Mono bullet fan because in the beginning Barnes used hunters to test their somewhat expensive bullets to find that they did not expand much. Now they have a good reputation and I have used the 80 gr. Barnes TTSX with satisfaction.

 

[Timjohnson11]

200 yards with 108 elite hunters. MV 2943.

Broadside shot. Buck ran ~75 yards. Lots of lung chunks and heavy blood in the blood trail. Lungs hanging out of exit hole. Exit shoulder had slight meat loss but very little overall.

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This is the same type of performance I have seen from these bullets on quite a few elk and mule deer now. I know the 108 ELDM and 115 DTAC are perceived as the go-to 6mm bullet but I'm not convinced the 108 Berger Elite Hunter isn't just as good.. I love those things.