Norma golden target bullets?

[BarCO]

Has anyone used these hunting on bigger game? I have a bunch of 143 6.5 prc ammo and was curious. Thanks.

 

[Browninglover1]

The 130's in a 6.5 Creedmoor were the worst bullets I've ever used on big game. 3 shots through the vitals on a mule deer and he didn't even act like he cared. I grabbed a different rifle to finally kill him and when doing the post-mortem not a single one of them created any substantial damage. It would have taken him hours to die.

I have seen some success stories with them, but seem to find more bad than good, at least with the 130s.

 

[fmyth]

The 140's in a 6.5 Creedmoor were the worst bullets I've ever used on big game. 3 shots through the vitals on a mule deer and he didn't even act like he cared. I grabbed a different rifle to finally kill him and when doing the post-mortem not a single one of them created any substantial damage. It would have taken him hours to die.

I have seen some success stories with them, but seem to find more bad than good, at least with the 140s.

Norma doesnt make 140G Golden Target ammo in 6.5C so maybe you are referring to the 140G Soft Points? What "vital" organs did the 3 Norma 6.5C 140g soft points hit? What distance? I am curious because I have a bunch of this ammo on the shelf.

 

[Browninglover1]

780 yards through the lungs. Absolute pin holes. People who say that any bullet through the vitals will kill an animal are just wrong. With a pointy bullet, the tissue is stretched by the bullet before it actually pokes through, and when it rebounds the hole left over is truly a pin hole.

We couldn't figure out where the heck I was "missing" when trace looked great but he was showing no signs of impact. I ended up sending some into his neck and some too far back as well trying to get him down. Not a single one showed any signs of opening up.

Before big game season, I shot lots of rabbits with them and they blew them up nicely. That field data combined with lots of success photos on Prime's website gave me confidence to hunt with them. One bad experience and I'll never do it again. That being said, people complain about Bergers in the same way and I've never had anything but great success with Berger.

 

[Browninglover1]

And the 143 might perform much differently. But the 130's are forever on my sh*t list. lol

 

[Browninglover1]

I think I misspoke, pretty sure they were 130s BTHP. I'll edit my other posts to reflect that.

I'll try and dig up my velocity data but it was high enough I wasn't worried.

 

[Browninglover1]

Found my old ballistics profile and ran the numbers for the elevation and temp I was at that day. Impact velocity of the 130 Golden Targets was 1990 FPS.

 

[wind gypsy]

Just looking at golden target bullets, there is nothing about their construction that suggests they should have consistent favorable terminal performance.

 

[JGRaider]

Just looking at golden target bullets, there is nothing about their construction that suggests they should have consistent favorable terminal performance.

This.....wondering why a guy would use them on a deer hunt in the first place. when there are numerous, proven, 6.5mm bullets available. That being said, my son and I have identical Sako S20 PRC's, and those 143 Golden Targets are stupid accurate in those guns.

 

[Browninglover1]

Just looking at golden target bullets, there is nothing about their construction that suggests they should have consistent favorable terminal performance.

Why not? They look just like a Berger which are absolute killers.

 

[wind gypsy]

Why not? They look just like a Berger which are absolute killers.

Mostly because of the closed point. Suppose if it’s hollow and jacket was soft enough I could see them disrupting ala Berger but still doesn’t seem ideal.

 

[Browninglover1]

The 130's I used had similar size hollow points as Bergers and blew up jack rabbits like crazy. I really thought they'd behave like a Berger on big game, but in my experience they didn't.
Ironically, the only other two bullets I've seen that failed to perform was a Hornady Interlock that didn't expand (but did kill the deer fairly quickly) and a Nosler Accubond that blew up and didn't reach the vitals. The second shot with the Accubond was textbook performance and the cow elk was dead in seconds.

 

[JGRaider]

Good Lord.........can't make up stuff like this.

 

[BarCO]

Have had great performance with eldm was curious if these were as devastating on big game.

 

[Weldor]

I've used them in my 6.5 prc, 3 deer down no problems . No real super distant shots, 107, 289, 564. They did the job, but there are better hunting bullets out there. I bought a case because they were the only ammo available at the time. Good brass for reloading too.

 

[ShortMountain91]

Following along as my 6.5 PRC likes them too. I agree the look a lot like a berger so the same thought went through my head

 

[JGRaider]

No offense to anyone, but the way they look has zero to do with the way they perform. FWIW, they are stupid accurate in my Sako S20 PRC as well. So are the factory Norma Bondstrikes for that matter.

 

[ShortMountain91]

No offense to anyone, but the way they look has zero to do with the way they perform. FWIW, they are stupid accurate in my Sako S20 PRC as well. So are the factory Norma Bondstrikes for that matter.

Agreed but the fact that it's a hollow point is one attribute that may make the bullet lend well to hunting which is the same attribute as the berger. I'd like to see someone cut one in half so we can compare jacket thickness to the berger which would be another attribute that may lend well to hunting. Also there is a video on YouTube where someone shot one of the golden Target rounds (143 gr 6.5 CM) into ballistic gel and it looks like it performed great but it was at point blank so may differ at range. All the more reason I'd like to hear if anyone has some real world experience with these rounds in game

 

[Ajaxer]

This.....wondering why a guy would use them on a deer hunt in the first place. when there are numerous, proven, 6.5mm bullets available. That being said, my son and I have identical Sako S20 PRC's, and those 143 Golden Targets are stupid accurate in those guns.

The 143 Golden Target also shoots great in my S20 PRC. Do you, by chance, have an average/best estimate of muzzle velocity out of your s20?

 

[TheViking]

Quit shooting animals with Target rounds and then being disappointed in the results.