Question With pics

[Tcrocker]

I just picked up a used AR in 6.5 Grendel with a 16" barrel. I am using Hornady factory ammo 123gr SST for now. Plain to start reloading soon. But anyway I had this small buck come out on at about 40yd was able to find a window through the trees (had a snow and ice storm my shooting lanes are screwed up). Hit him and he ran about 50yds and died. The bullet didn't go through the deer and the jacket separated from the core. I got both pieces just under the skin. And the entrance hole was bigger than the exit hole. Is this normal for this caliber of did I just get a defective bullet?
6.5.PNG6.53.PNG6.57.PNG6.54.PNG

[VASCAR2]

The 123 grain Hornady SST is a cup and core bullet and at close range at higher velocity you’ll see the bullet expand, shed it’s jacket and fragment if the bullets hit bone. The SST has reduced penetration if used at close range. As the distance increase and velocity drops there is less tendency to fragment and the SST tend to penetrate deeper. The higher the velocity the greater chance of bullet jacket core separation (loss of bullet mass) and reduced penetration.

The solid monolithic copper bullets like Barnes 100 grain TTSX and 120 grain Barnes TSX normally expand and perforate the target.

The Hornady 123 grain SST, Nosler 120 grain Ballistic Tip, Sierra 120 grain Pro Hunter and 120 grain Speer Hot Core all exhibit the same behavior and are designed to perform at moderate velocities which are suited to the 6.5 Grendel. The manufactures have to balance jacket and core hardness to work at various distances within estimated velocities. The guilding metal jacket/cup and lead core bullets generally destroy a lot of tissue at short range but may not perforate the target which inhibits a large blood trail.

The bonded core bullet like the Ferderal 120 grain Fusion has better chance of retaining weight/mass if used at close range with higher velocity.

[tward1604]

you had a deer dead withing 50 yards. There was no defect.

[tracker12]

Just because the animal died does not mean the bullet performed properly. Interesting info from Vascar. So does that mean that the SST is not a good close range bullet

[terrywick4]

+1 on this Vascar I read this somewhere on the SST but I don't remember where.

The 123 grain Hornady SST is a cup and core bullet and at close range at higher velocity you’ll see the bullet expand, shed it’s jacket and fragment if the bullets hit bone. The SST has reduced penetration if used at close range. As the distance increase and velocity drops there is less tendency to fragment and the SST tend to penetrate deeper. The higher the velocity the greater chance of bullet jacket core separation (loss of bullet mass) and reduced penetration.

The solid monolithic copper bullets like Barnes 100 grain TTSX and 120 grain Barnes TSX normally expand and perforate the target.

The Hornady 123 grain SST, Nosler 120 grain Ballistic Tip, Sierra 120 grain Pro Hunter and 120 grain Speer Hot Core all exhibit the same behavior and are designed to perform at moderate velocities which are suited to the 6.5 Grendel. The manufactures have to balance jacket and core hardness to work at various distances within estimated velocities. The guilding metal jacket/cup and lead core bullets generally destroy a lot of tissue at short range but may not perforate the target which inhibits a large blood trail.

The bonded core bullet like the Ferderal 120 grain Fusion has better chance of retaining weight/mass if used at close range with higher velocity.

[mdram]

shot placement is also a factor
i have taken deer at that range with a 30-06. same thing with a heart/lung area shot
small hole in, big hole out. and they run 50 or more yards
they are dead, they just dont know it

switch to neck, and they drop in thier drops

[VASCAR2]

Whether the 120-123 grain cup & core bullet in 6.5 Grendel is a good bullet at close range can only be determined by the user. The exact situation reported by the op has come up numerous times. A good friend has taken numerous antelope in Wy to distances exceeding 500 yards with 120 grain Nosler BT from a 24” 6.5 Grendel. The next thread where Pa_Allen took a nice white tail buck at 325 yards with a 16” 6.5 Grendel indicates the 123 grain SST can take game.

If a hunter knows most shots will be at very close range with a high powered rifle that might indicate a different bullet may be desireable. The 100 and 125 grain partition bullets would likely perforate any white tail deer at 50 yards or less. The Barnes monolithic 100 & 120 grain TTSX/TSX should also perforate the target.

Many deer are taken in Illinois every year with foster 12 and 20 gauge slugs. The exact same thing happens where a slug will hit a deer and it may run after being hit. Biggest difference is there is usually a significant exit hole and may produce a better blood trail.

I know many hunters who use a neck shot at close range where a hit in central nervous system usually anchors the deer.

[Double Naught Spy]

Tcrocker, why don't you tell us what it is that you wanted the bullet to be doing and why you think it failed.

Your goal was to kill your deer and that goal was met.

You probably wanted the bullet to expand and I would guess that happen quite nicely based on the hole through the rib cage.

So what is it that you want this bullet to be doing?

[pajasonc]

If you still got the a exit the bullet did really well. Ideally the bullet enters game penetrates a inch or two, expands very rapidly causing as much damage as possibly and then what remains exits. this performance will lead to more DRT shots than something that penetrates through and through with decent expansion but with out a real wide wound, IE something like a barnes ttsx. The nice thing with the 123 sst is their is enough weight and the bullet has enough SD that it still offers pretty good penetration while expanding quickly

[Tcrocker]

I would expect the entrance wound to be smaller than the exit and a though and through seems like it acted more like a varmint bullet hit and massive damage. I been hunting with big bore rifles and I know dead is dead but it's just not what I expected.
6.5 bullet.PNG

[ricsmall]

The entry was so large because of the close range/high velocity. There was so much energy transferred from the bullet rapidly expanding the energy took the path of least resistance and blew back out entry. I saw this with a buck my son shot with his m700 bolt Grendel I built him. 100 grain noslerBT at near 3k fps versus a Deer at 63 yards. Blew blood a good three feet out of entry and exit wounds. My fist would go in entry wound. Exit was probably 2” diameter. As the Deer ran 45 yards across the field, the blood spray was visible with the naked eye. I would say at 100 yds and closer a mono bullet is better. Or a very heavy and heavily constructed c&c bullet.

Richard

[Tcrocker]

Thanks for the info , so at closer ranges how about a Barnes bullet?

[Double Naught Spy]

I would expect the entrance wound to be smaller than the exit and a though and through seems like it acted more like a varmint bullet hit and massive damage. I been hunting with big bore rifles and I know dead is dead but it's just not what I expected.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]10895[/ATTACH]

It really does not matter which side has a larger hole. I don't see a good picture of this "exit wound" that you are talking about. All your pics are so small that I can't find the exit wound. Got a closeup?

The picture of your bullet looks like it performed very well. Your description of the bullet stopping ulinder the skin on the other side (so no actual exit wound, right?) is what many hunters would consider to be optimal because the bullet dumped all of its energy inside of the deer.

There is the very likely reason that your "entry wound" into the thoracic cavity is so large is because the bullet struck a rib, apparently just about dead center, blowing up that section of the rib and the adjoining intercostal connective tissues. That is like where your bullet did a lot of expanding and then traveled, expanded, through the thoracic cavity doing a lot of damage and losing energy along the way before exiting the thoracic cavity and being captured under the skin.

Unless you were looking for the bullet to exit the body, I would say that it performed extremely well.

[doofus65]

Tcrocker, I think you're looking for a bonded bullet that combines expansion with weight retention.

Off the top of my head, I'm not sure how many of those are available to 6.5G (edit: for reloading).

[rickt300]

Looks like plenty of damage and penetration to me.