6x45

[Taudisio]

HSM factory ammo with box speed of 3000 fps. Never cronoed it as it is a point and shoot rifle.

Jay

Assuming my MV would be near 2700 fps, that just puts the 6x45 100 yards behind the 243. Assuming 1800 for minimum impact velocity, gets it to 450ish. A touch over 350 for 2000fps. That’s not anything to scoff at either.

 

[83cj-7]

87 V-Max is the ticket. Nothing else I’ve tried can match its terminal performance.

 

[longrangelead]

Any insight on freebore? I have a Waters Rifleman 2.6" 223 mag. Will the magazine, or freebore likely limit my cartridge length? I'm not set on a specific bullet yet. This will probably just be a range toy but it might get used on some whitetail deer. (As posted above, I have a PBB Tikka prefit barrel ordered) TIA

You can get a really close estimate by loading a dummy round to whatever length you want or are restricted to by mag length etc.

color the ogive area w/sharpie, lock your caliper .001" under bullet diameter, move the caliper down the bullet until it touches, lightly twist the dummy round without pushing it into the caliper, the caliper will leave a mark in the sharpie.
It's not exact, but it will give you a close idea where to start.

 

[ezwy]

For the non-reloaders or low volume reloaders, I emailed Druid hill to see if they would load 87 v max’s or 90 gr eld x and got the response below.

I’m going to shoot some of their 85 sgk loads this week and see how they shoot. It will likely be my plan going forward to buy their loaded rounds and reuse the brass for my reloads. The one box I bought looks like they used new starline.

 

[Thegman]

87 V-Max is the ticket. Nothing else I’ve tried can match its terminal performance.

Can you describe your experience with it a little more? E.g., animal, penetration, exit/no exit, etc.?

 

[Brontosaurus]

Can you describe your experience with it a little more? E.g., animal, penetration, exit/no exit, etc.?

Curious too... would you use it on elk?

 

[83cj-7]

I think I’ve covered this in another thread but I’d have to dig to find it. I definitely would not use it in elk but deer and mule deer, yes all day and twice on Sunday.
I have been killing deer on damage permits for 12+ years with the V-max. It’s simply the most effective bullet I’ve ever shot at a deer with one exception the 208 ELD out of my 300 Win Mag. I get exits probably 75% of the time and the internals are always wrecked. If I’ve ever lost a deer with the 87, I don’t recall. I’m talking about 200 to 300 deer, not a small sample.
@Timberline001 has experience with the bullet too and I think he will agree.

These two were from last year. The young man took that huge doe with a quartering to shot. Broke the front leg and everything was jello inside. (His first deer @ 200 yards) Found jacket in the opposite side hide. Second one was a double lung pass thru at 320. Killed one last night, through both shoulders and jacket found on opposite side hide, DRT.

 

[KyleR1985]

I think I’ve covered this in another thread but I’d have to dig to find it. I definitely would not use it in elk but deer and mule deer, yes all day and twice on Sunday.
I have been killing deer on damage permits for 12+ years with the V-max. It’s simply the most effective bullet I’ve ever shot at a deer with one exception the 208 ELD out of my 300 Win Mag. I get exits probably 75% of the time and the internals are always wrecked. If I’ve ever lost a deer with the 87, I don’t recall. I’m talking about 200 to 300 deer, not a small sample.
@Timberline001 has experience with the bullet too and I think he will agree.

Across those 200 deer, what’s your best guess at minimum/maximum/average impact velocity?

What percentage of those 200 were from a 6x45?

 

[Timberline001]

I think I’ve covered this in another thread but I’d have to dig to find it. I definitely would not use it in elk but deer and mule deer, yes all day and twice on Sunday.
I have been killing deer on damage permits for 12+ years with the V-max. It’s simply the most effective bullet I’ve ever shot at a deer with one exception the 208 ELD out of my 300 Win Mag. I get exits probably 75% of the time and the internals are always wrecked. If I’ve ever lost a deer with the 87, I don’t recall. I’m talking about 200 to 300 deer, not a small sample.
@Timberline001 has experience with the bullet too and I think he will agree.

These two were from last year. The young man took that huge doe with a quartering to shot. Broke the front leg and everything was jello inside. Found jacket in the opposite side hide. Second one was a double lung pass thru at 320. Killed one last night, through both shoulders and jacket found on opposite side hide, DRT.

We shot one cow with it at a hair over 200 yards. Bullet was mushroomed in the off hide. She went 10 yards and fell over. Both lungs destroyed. I can echo everything CJ says. It’s an amazing bullet at these low velocity’s. The cow was last season with a .243 squib loaded at 2775 so almost identical to the 6x45.

 

[83cj-7]

That’s 200-300 deer with the 87. No idea how many in total the 5 or 6 of us have actually shot. I’m gonna guess 600-800 including all cartridges. It’s been an awesome teaching tool about what it really takes to kill deer. Oh, and those deer all got eaten by someone!
Velocity is anywhere from 2700 down to 1200. There was one farm that I killed two in an evening at 800+ yards. If I recall correctly, one had an exit and one didn’t. Both fell within 50 yards of being hit.

 

[Timberline001]

If you look up the 6x45 CJ and I have both shared alot of info and pictures from this bullet.

 

[83cj-7]

We shot one cow with it at a hair over 200 yards. Bullet was mushroomed in the off hide. She went 10 yards and fell over. Both lungs destroyed. I can echo everything CJ says. It’s an amazing bullet at these low velocity’s. The cow was last season with a .243 squib loaded at 2775 so almost identical to the 6x45.

That’s freakin awesome!

 

[83cj-7]

We have permits for 3 farms this year so far. I will try to take pictures and record data.

 

[Timberline001]

That’s freakin awesome!

Glad you turned me into that bullet. It’s been a hell of a tool for kids over the years.

 

[83cj-7]

Glad you turned me into that bullet. It’s been a hell of a tool for kids over the years.

, Glad to hear

 

[Timberline001]

I wish I had more pictures. We have to pack everything out for the most part so I usually get right to breaking it down and don’t think of documenting what it does. We’ve shot so many with it and it’s so consistent in how it damages tissue I don’t even think to take pictures anymore. It’s definitely a lot more consistent than the 6.5 and 7mm eldm’s and bergers I shoot in the bigger guns. The path on behind the shoulder shots is always about the same and shoulder blade shots all look similar. I’m guessing it mostly has to do with the slower velocity.

 

[KyleR1985]

Glad i had this conversation in private and bought a couple thousand 87 seconds from midway haha!

 

[Timberline001]

Glad i had this conversation in private and bought a couple thousand 87 seconds from midway haha!

They can be hard to get! The damage control hunters in Africa buy a ton of them.

 

[ridgeline]

For those interested ! An initial test drive of Hornady 80 VT's in my 18" 1:7" 3 groove Pacnor.
The Garmin velocity numbers ran 2906fps through 3027fps with no pressure signs observed.
Will load more at about 3K fps and stretch her legs...

 

[Thegman]

That’s 200-300 deer with the 87. No idea how many in total the 5 or 6 of us have actually shot. I’m gonna guess 600-800 including all cartridges. It’s been an awesome teaching tool about what it really takes to kill deer. Oh, and those deer all got eaten by someone!
Velocity is anywhere from 2700 down to 1200. There was one farm that I killed two in an evening at 800+ yards. If I recall correctly, one had an exit and one didn’t. Both fell within 50 yards of being hit.

Thanks for all this info, super interesting. When you do get exits, what size(s) are they usually? Wondering about how it does in leaving blood trails, though it sounds like most of your deer don't go far enough for one to really develop anyway (??).