Sierra 6mm TMKs Terminal Ballistics Evaluations

[ChrisAU]

Any reason to do 107's over 116's or 116's over 107's? I've got both, and have shot a bunch of 107's. Just got 200 116's. My 18" 6 Dasher pushes the 107's at 2750, thinking I could hit 2650-2675 with the 116's. The 116's have minimal edge on wind/energy, while the 107's carry an edge with elevation travel (forgiveness in my mind) and speed.

My question would be would one perform noticeably better than another in killing? A thread on LRH got me worried about the 107's and is pretty much why I ordered 116's. I've witnessed first hand what 77's do out of my 22 CM to a few dozen animals.

107 TMKs

Guys I have been running 6mm 107 TMKs for the last two weeks out of a 6mm Creedmore. The gun is an AR 10 so I stopped at 2800fps to cut a little noise and be nice to the gun.. I've killed 25 whitetail does with them presently. I have not been impressed. Shot with thermal kills have been from...

www.longrangehunting.com

 

[43.6N]

Any reason to do 107's over 116's or 116's over 107's? I've got both, and have shot a bunch of 107's. Just got 200 116's. My 18" 6 Dasher pushes the 107's at 2750, thinking I could hit 2650-2675 with the 116's. The 116's have minimal edge on wind/energy, while the 107's carry an edge with elevation travel (forgiveness in my mind) and speed.

My question would be would one perform noticeably better than another in killing? A thread on LRH got me worried about the 107's and is pretty much why I ordered 116's. I've witnessed first hand what 77's do out of my 22 CM to a few dozen animals.

107 TMKs

Guys I have been running 6mm 107 TMKs for the last two weeks out of a 6mm Creedmore. The gun is an AR 10 so I stopped at 2800fps to cut a little noise and be nice to the gun.. I've killed 25 whitetail does with them presently. I have not been impressed. Shot with thermal kills have been from...

www.longrangehunting.com

I don’t think there will be enough difference to make a difference.

Both will probably shoot amazing out of your dasher.
Neither will be the weak link in your system.
If you ascribe to the maximal sectional density possible, the 116 is the pick. But reading through that post, I don’t think sectional density was his complaint. He wanted more wound volume and instant drops. He even mentioned going to the 95gr just to get more velocity and frag.

 

[huntsd]

Any reason to do 107's over 116's or 116's over 107's? I've got both, and have shot a bunch of 107's. Just got 200 116's. My 18" 6 Dasher pushes the 107's at 2750, thinking I could hit 2650-2675 with the 116's. The 116's have minimal edge on wind/energy, while the 107's carry an edge with elevation travel (forgiveness in my mind) and speed.

My question would be would one perform noticeably better than another in killing? A thread on LRH got me worried about the 107's and is pretty much why I ordered 116's. I've witnessed first hand what 77's do out of my 22 CM to a few dozen animals.

107 TMKs

Guys I have been running 6mm 107 TMKs for the last two weeks out of a 6mm Creedmore. The gun is an AR 10 so I stopped at 2800fps to cut a little noise and be nice to the gun.. I've killed 25 whitetail does with them presently. I have not been impressed. Shot with thermal kills have been from...

www.longrangehunting.com

hell thats not good for those of us who want the 107s to work! I don’t know anything about bullet construction but Hard to imagine 9gr makes a huge difference in performance.

Great review for the 116s from @Formidilosus not so great for the 107s from a culler

 

[Formidilosus]

Any reason to do 107's over 116's or 116's over 107's? I've got both, and have shot a bunch of 107's. Just got 200 116's. My 18" 6 Dasher pushes the 107's at 2750, thinking I could hit 2650-2675 with the 116's. The 116's have minimal edge on wind/energy, while the 107's carry an edge with elevation travel (forgiveness in my mind) and speed.

My question would be would one perform noticeably better than another in killing? A thread on LRH got me worried about the 107's and is pretty much why I ordered 116's. I've witnessed first hand what 77's do out of my 22 CM to a few dozen animals.

107 TMKs

Guys I have been running 6mm 107 TMKs for the last two weeks out of a 6mm Creedmore. The gun is an AR 10 so I stopped at 2800fps to cut a little noise and be nice to the gun.. I've killed 25 whitetail does with them presently. I have not been impressed. Shot with thermal kills have been from...

www.longrangehunting.com

hell thats not good for those of us who want the 107s to work! I don’t know anything about bullet construction but Hard to imagine 9gr makes a huge difference in performance.

Great review for the 116s from @Formidilosus not so great for the 107s from a culler

I am dubious about the reports. It sounds like behavior of the TGK, not TMK; and, the overall descriptions from that poster sound “odd”. I have not seen a vast sample of animals with the 107gr, however what I have seen is typical TMK behavior.

 

[Scottyboy]

I took delivery of UM loaded 116 today (thanks to this report) hoping they shoot well and make for a good recipe for black bear

 

[huntsd]

I am dubious about the reports. It sounds like behavior of the TGK, not TMK; and, the overall descriptions from that poster sound “odd”. I have not seen a vast sample of animals with the 107gr, however what I have seen is typical TMK behavior.

Does seem odd the 95/116 work well but somehow the 107s don’t

 

[rickyw]

Love this data, especially recording how quickly the animal went down.
Would love to see this for bears.

 

[jonnyviceroy]

Does seem odd the 95/116 work well but somehow the 107s don’t

My spring bear this year really disagrees that the 107s don’t work. I had a polar opposite experience of that gentlemen’s write up and experienced very typical tmk behavior. Bear died within 40 yds and wouldn’t have made it any further had it not been on such a steep hillside.
Looking forward to using it more this fall on some deer and elk.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Love this data, especially recording how quickly the animal went down.
Would love to see this for bears.

116 TMK on Bear…


1: Average sized black bear boar.

Impact location- Entered high at 3rd rib and shattered the rib. Exited through the offside scapula clipping the bottom of the spine on the way out as well.

Impact Speed- 2,150ish FPS.

Animal Reaction and Distance Travelled- Bear spun 180 degrees and hunched aggressively. Ran at a labored pace for roughly 20 yards and collapsed. A couple large ground flails and he was dead.

Wound- Two finger sized entry immediately after the rib immediately opened into a fist sized wound channel. Shoulder and bottom of spine near exit had large bone fragments missing and many bone fragments stuck in what was left of the offside lung. Broadside lung was half mush. Bullet exited offside hide and was not recovered.


2: Above average sized black bear boar.

Impact Location- First (and fatal) shot entered at the shoulder/spine junction and exited breaking the 6th rib where it meets the spine (quartering to shooter). 2nd shot entered and exited the middle of the neck with the bear on the ground.

Impact Speed- Roughly 2,300 FPS for both shots.

Animal Reaction and Distance Travelled- He dropped on impact, zero yards. Reaction was consistent with “high shot” behavior. With fear of only paralysis, an immediate follow up shot was placed into the neck. DRT.

Wound- 1st shot the broadside shoulder and bottom of spine showed massive damage and fragmentation. Bear would have been 3 legged if the spine wasn’t hit. Offside lung was missing nearly the entire top half. Wound channel extended as far as the stomach. Broke through 6th rib and exited. No bullet recovered.

2nd shot entered neck and hit the top of the spine creating a complete mess of a wound that nearly fully severed the spine. Bullet exited and was not recovered.


I’ll be hunting and involved on hunts using 116 TMKs nearly exclusively for likely 50 or more big game animals before the end of 2026; including moose, caribou, elk, deer, etc. I’ll do my best to try and post results from my field note book as killing rolls on.