Hornady 6.5CM Ammo Choice

The hornady superformance and outfitter cx seem to be their two lines you hear about that most frequently have poor precision. Not that they cant do well but more frequently than others they do poorly from what I gather. Worth trying in your rifle.

Agree with others that the hornady american whitetail, winchester deer season xp, and similar might be good options.

dont mean to hijack the thread but I was just about to buy the SST's for my 308. Are they that bad? I used federals (the blue box) last year and did not like them one bit. Was looking at the SST's as an alternative for whitetail.
Why didn't you like the blue box?
 
For whitetails out to an extreme range of 500 yards, would you choose the 140-grain ELD-M, 143-grain ELD-X, orthe 147-grain ELD-M?
 
Best advice I can give is pick one and don’t overthink it! As long as your impact velocity is at or above what the mfg recommends send it with confidence. I have shot deer with the SST and they have been very explosive at close ranges but that is how they were designed. The CX will most likely give you pass through and massive blood trails. With that being said I always overthink bullet choice and typically buy more to try every year!
 
I’ve been using the 165 gr sst in my 30-06 for years and I’d resonate what people have been saying about it causing lots of damage at close range. I typically only take that rifle setup on close(200 yards and in) hunts. I prefer it on deer/bear drives because it often drops them. As for accuracy out of my TC Venture, I’m getting about 2” groups which is good enough for the ranges I shoot it at. Also in SE PA most gun shops carry it so I really can’t complain with it.
 
I’d stay away from the SST’s and I don’t use the ELDX.. Within the family we had two whitetails that we never recovered with those hornady bullets. I shot a mule deer at 150 with my 300 PRC in 212 ELDX, made a huge mess. I now shoot Berger 215’s and my family members in their 6.5 creedmoors are using partitions now.
 
The hornady superformance and outfitter cx seem to be their two lines you hear about that most frequently have poor precision. Not that they cant do well but more frequently than others they do poorly from what I gather. Worth trying in your rifle.

Agree with others that the hornady american whitetail, winchester deer season xp, and similar might be good options.


Why didn't you like the blue box?
It shot so so groups out of my gun. Unfortunately around me there wasn't a ton of 308 options and I was in a pinch on time to get ammo. I hit one doe on the run which I definitely factored in but the she went like a mile before dying. Probably a one off and circumstances but I wasn't sold on them.
 
I do not shoot SSTs, ever. They break apart too easily. In your case, I’d do the CX but there are a lot of better options IMO. Hornady’s American Whitetail line is a good one.
Yeah I agree Hornady’s American Whitetail line is a good round on deer. I’ve killed lots of deer with it out of a 6.5 CM. Cheap, stupid accurate, good penetration and little meat damage.
 
once i ran out the the 140 amax i went to 143 eldx and have killed a pile of deer both whitetail and muleys and an elk. At distances that make people uncomfortable not needing to fire more than one shot at each.
 
dont mean to hijack the thread but I was just about to buy the SST's for my 308. Are they that bad? I used federals (the blue box) last year and did not like them one bit. Was looking at the SST's as an alternative for whitetail.

If they're the 150gr SST, expect to catch a lot of them in the offside hide. Between myself and couple of friends we have shot a truck load of deer with that bullet in a .308. We had just as many not exit as did exit. Both situations created a lot of trauma.
 
To the OP. I've killed one buck with the 129sst Superformance load. 150lb buck at ~50 yds. He soaked it up and ran no more than 100yards. Come to find out, the bullet struck a rib on impact and veered back through the liver, and stopped just under the hide on the off side.

The SST is soft and will create large wounds. I have shot them from .30-06, .308, 6.5cm, .270win. It didn't take me long to learn to stay off of the shoulders with them.

Here's pictures of the 129 pulled from the buck I mentioned above.
 

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