6mm /.243 hunting success on Big Game

[83cj-7]

@Lawnboi

Shoot the 87 with confidence! Hundreds of deer have fallen in from of my 6x45s with them at 2800-2900fps. If you doubt my confidence, I’ll tell you that I have 7000 of them in my inventory!

 

[Kaleb]

@Lawnboi

Shoot the 87 with confidence! Hundreds of deer have fallen in from of my 6x45s with them at 2800-2900fps. If you doubt my confidence, I’ll tell you that I have 7000 of them in my inventory!

Do you prefer the 6x45 over the 223 with 75/77's? Well obviously you do I guess a better way to ask is have you compared the two or started with the 6 and have absolutely no reason to change? Caliber laws? Not trying to derail or debate I've been interested in the 6x45 for years just have never done anything about it. The more I dig around in my garage the more I think Ive got a lifetime supply of brass for 223 or 6x45. Makes sense right rebarrel a rifle because you find another 1k once fired cases from 10 years ago....ha

 

[83cj-7]

My friend uses the 223 with 77s and 75s and it’s good. I just prefer to be different. I think he would agree that the 87 is in class of it own as far as accuracy and terminal performance. I just got hooked on the cartridge and how easy it is to get to shoot.

 

[dpitt]

Decided to strictly use my 6 Creedmoor this year on all game animals. Shooting 108 ELDM at roughly 2900 fps. Here are some of the pictures I took of the wounds or impact locations if video was taken.

Bull elk shot at 350 yards broadside, 2450 fps impact velocity, 2 shots, 1 hit shoulder, the other right behind the shoulder. Maybe went 5 yards after first hit.

 

[dpitt]

Whitetail buck at 540 yards broadside, 2120 fps impact velocity, high shoulder hit, picture is of the entrance.

Mule deer buck at 310 yards broadside, 2500 fps impact velocity, right behind shoulder, picture is of the entrance.

Whitetail buck shot at 360 yards, 2350 fps impact velocity, high shoulder impact, picture is of exit side.

 

[dpitt]

Bull elk shot at 790 yards, 1915 fps impact velocity. Bull was shot bedded as seen in the picture, red dot shows impact. After first shot, bull stood up and was shot 3 more times right behind the shoulder in the lungs, bull slowly laid back down and died. Unfortunately didn’t take any pictures of the wounds as a bad snow storm blew in as we got to the animal and we were in a hurry. Wounds were definitely not as wide as the others I have seen from this bullet but kinda expected with a lower impact velocity.

Cow elk shot at 470 yards, 2275 fps impact velocity, first shot was pretty far back in the guts, second shot was high shoulder at 510 yards and cow went down. First picture is shot 1 entrance. Second picture is shot 2 entrance. Third picture is of both shots circled in blue.

Bull elk shot at 670 yards, 2075 fps impact. First picture shows shot 1 impact shown in red dot. Shot was too far forward in the shoulder. Second picture is shot 2s impact shown by red dot.

These were just the 7 animals I had pictures of the wounds or impact locations. Other animals taken with this setup were:

Black bear at 150 yards, 1 shot behind shoulder, ran maybe 20 yards.

Antelope buck at 170 yards, 1 shot behind shoulder.

Whitetail buck at 150 yards, 1 shot behind shoulder.

 

[teamsprock]

Any folks have data on killing bison, with a smaller caliber. I have been on 6 hunts and the kills have ranged from 1 to 7 shot kills. This was long before I learned about bullet selection, most likely we were using off the shelf ammo in 30 caliber and buffalo bore loads in 45-70.

Planning to take a 6 creed with 108 eldms and a 45-70. Based off my elk kills, I feel confident in the 6 creed. Any thoughts?

 

[Formidilosus]

Any folks have data on killing bison, with a smaller caliber. I have been on 6 hunts and the kills have ranged from 1 to 7 shot kills. This was long before I learned about bullet selection, most likely we were using off the shelf ammo in 30 caliber and buffalo bore loads in 45-70.

Planning to take a 6 creed with 108 eldms and a 45-70. Based off my elk kills, I feel confident in the 6 creed. Any thoughts?

They’re close enough, why don’t you just put the bullets in the spine in the neck?

 

[Nine Banger]

112 MB 2625fps.

87lb white-tailed deer, doe.

Broadside. Slight downward angle.

Bullet sized piece of lung on the ground at the shot site.

Double lung. Heart intact.

Ran about 40 yards with a great blood trail which was welcome in the 6-7' invasive warm season grass maze.

 

[Lawnboi]

@Lawnboi

Shoot the 87 with confidence! Hundreds of deer have fallen in from of my 6x45s with them at 2800-2900fps. If you doubt my confidence, I’ll tell you that I have 7000 of them in my inventory!

Time to stock up. 3000 fps in the dasher. Recoil is almost not even there. Should be fun

 

[83cj-7]

View attachment 995311


Time to stock up. 3000 fps in the dasher. Recoil is almost not even there. Should be fun

Heck yeah!!

 

[KyleR1985]

View attachment 995311


Time to stock up. 3000 fps in the dasher. Recoil is almost not even there. Should be fun

Powder?

 

[Lawnboi]

Powder?

Varget. 33.2 grains

 

[kkp005]

Another data point for 6cm and 108 Eldm. Great example of how devastating match bullets can be….a “tough” bullet like a Barnes would have led to a longer recovery… 7 year old nephews first deer and shot him a touch far back. 2650ish impact velocity and a 60-70 yard death stumble.

 

[Brap01]

Gotta head shoot them. And that's a 35gr VMAX from a 22 Hornet. To make this 243 relevant, I have killed a squirrel and an opossum with 100gr soft points. The squirrel wasn't to bad IIRC but the possum was a mess.
View attachment 994291

You should be ashamed. Have you no respect for the animal?

Hunting with an under powered cartridge like that, you're lucky to have recovered the animal at all.

Be a man. Shoot a 30 caliber ultra magnum.

 

[Brap01]

I have posted a bunch of successful aniamls taken with the 108 ELDM this year, but I should also post a "failure" of sorts.

My youngest missed a deer a couple weeks ago, even with the low recoiling 6 ARC in an AR15 and LOTS of practice at the range we have at our house.

That is the only failure I have to report. Everything the 108 ELDM touched this year died.

 

[TNHighlands]

First kill for the 6 Arc this week. Buddy was using his 22 Arc.

108 eldm at 2550 from 18" barrel. Cull buck 175 yards, quartering to. Shot at base of neck and exited behind offside shoulder. Dropped at the shot and plowed dirt for 5 yds.

Suppressed, idk that you could ask for more in a 400yd gun. Internal damage was devastating.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Two more kills with the 115 Bergers.

A Javelina at 80ish yards shot off hand with no ranging before the shot. Went zero yards.

A cow elk at 418 prone off pack. First shot through the heart she acted like she wasn’t hit but was dead on her feet. Second shot to top of shoulder/spine and she dropped.

Now that I’m closing in on 15 big game kills with the 115 Berger VLD Hunt bullets the following is what I’d “describe” for someone asking. And keep in mind, 15 kills with just one lot of bullets doesn’t tell a very big story, but at least it’s something.

.They kill very well. Furthest death run was I believe 60 yards with multiple “bang flops”. This includes multiple “hard angle” kills and kills at low impact velocities.

.Shots into animals at both very high and quite low impact velocities worked fine.

.Bullet consistency and in flight performance are very reliable.

.Accuracy is honestly, stupid. There was never any “load dev” for the tikka 6 creed and preferred barrel that have been shooting this lot. I don’t think it’s shot a single 6 shot group over 1.25” at 100 yards with most being sub 1”.

.Wound channels and neck length seem rather inconsistent. Some impacts saw immediate opening and wide wounds similar to common ELDM wounds. Some impacts didn’t see opening until they were over half way through the animal or further. Even when they opened later, they still created a wound channel that was quite devastating maybe due to some yawing or tumbling. I didn’t see a single wound channel that was consistent with “penciling through” which I was worried about with these hard little bastards.

.Exits seem more common than ELDMs on average and slightly more than ELDX as well. They seem to exit the hide more often as well so if you want a balance of potential “penetration for full exits” that may lead to some blood to follow, while still creating a decently wide wound, these may be your choice. I did often have very good blood trails and lots of lung chunks at impact locations due to large exit wounds.

I will continue to use them and will have a couple more potential opportunities on big game before the end of Feb. I have 500 more coming from Berger next week which will be a new lot to try.

 

[Steel Rain]

My son took his doe last night with a factory Remington Corelokt broadside at 200 yards. The deer ran maybe 20 yards. I can’t count how many does I’ve shot with that gun in meat season using traditional bullets. That being said, I’m going to get him set up with a better 6CM so he can shoot out farther. No complaints with 6mm here.

 

[Donjuan]

175 yards with a 6mm creedmoor and 108 eldm. Bang flop, lungs destroyed and no meat harmed