6mm /.243 hunting success on Big Game

After shooting a 300 WSM for a few years I decided to get a 22” 1:8 Tikka 243 this year. Got some Lapua brass and handloaded 109 ELD-Ms. Got it shooting great at 2980 fps over H4350. On paper I was really impressed and excited as it carries great velocity out to distance with 2200 fps at 600 yards. My girlfriend and I used the rifle to take 2 elk (Cow and Spike) already this season and it was very effective. Each elk was shot twice at 300 yards(2500fps) but I don’t doubt that one shot would have been enough. She loves shooting it as there is next to no recoil and is very easy to stay on target.

I have a very big criticism though and it ties me back to why I started shooting the 300 WSM with 215 Bergers after coming from 7mm. When you shoot them with the 6mm, they do not act hit, they don’t hunch up and there is no ripple across their body. The “thwack” noise you get is much less as well. This makes it hard to be sure you hit them good and leaves me with a bit of unease right after the shot. I would say it does also have an advantage which is the elk also does not seem to know it’s hit and wants to run less.

Anybody else experience this issue I am complaining about less report from the impact and signs of a successful shot?

All of this is a long way of saying it absolutely does work well and I trust this bullet to take down big game.
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What was the cartridge and platform? Pretty impressive that the 95 TMK still works that well, that far, when started fairly slowly.

I’m going to guess he meant impact velocity not MV, but I could be wrong

Curious on MV vs impact velocity clarification.

Good catch, MV was 2760, impact velocity of the first shot was 2365. My post has been edited to correct that.

Cartridge/Platform: Tikka 243 in a rokstok, cut to 17" and suppressed, with a SWFA 10x
 
The little Howa Mini 6 ARC strikes again. Badlands backpack mule deer hunt. 220 yard shot with approximate impact velocity of 2367. Shooting Berger 105gr VLD hunting bullets. Slight quatering shot, bullet entered mid ribcage on the onside and exited just in front of the off side shoulder. Lungs were shredded and buck dropped on impact.

Awesome buck and a testament to the efficacy of the little 6 ARC.
 
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