Bullet choice for deer?

[Drift]

I have loaded the 125gr Nosler Partation and it feeds without problems. And sub 1"groups. Again ,more than you really need to pay for a deer bullet . The Remington core loct 120gr s work well and cost less.

[Drift]

I strongly recomand the 129gr Hornaday spire point. And the 130gr Swift Scirroco for hunting bullets.

[SDguy]

Have to agree w Drift on this one. Unless you have a desire to go lead free My testing has been limited to the 123 grain SST, 129 GR SP and 100 grain TTSX. I to was bothered how the SST fragments . Did some test ON 1 gallon jugs of water last week was disappointed with complete core seperation at 100 yards from a 24" 1 in 9 barrel.

This week I ran the 129 grain SP through a similar test. I will be very comfortable with this 129 grain SP out to 300 yards for sure. Text book Mushroom is what my test have Yielded Thus far.

http://www.65grendel.com/forum/showt...lock-load-data.

[diddlyv]

Think the 95 grain Lehigh Defense pill would be ordered by the doctor for WT Deer? Here in AZ they generally run 100 lbs or less.

[kmon]

This year I will be running one I have not seen in this thread. The Nosler 129gr Long range accubond, expands down to 1300 according to Nosler and with the BC it really doesn't like to slow down to quote LRRPF52. SD of .264 and BC of .561 isn't bad. Reloads from the boltie 2500fps and very close to that from the 24 inch barreled AR will reach further than I plan to shoot at game.

DNS didn't have any problems with them not penetrating with the PF loads he tried on hogs if I recall correctly.

[JASmith]

Think the 95 grain Lehigh Defense pill would be ordered by the doctor for WT Deer? Here in AZ they generally run 100 lbs or less.

Beware the minimum opening velocity. The advertised number is avout 2,000 fps. There are indications that it needs closer to 2100-2200 fps to reliably open.

Run ballistics calculations with your planned load, weather, temperature and altitude to see how far out you can reach. If that meets your needs, go for it!

[6.5 Grendel]

What about the 143gr ELD-X ? I played with this some using Leverevelotion powder I was able to hit 2350-2400fps easy in a 20" 1:8. I just ordered some 140gr ELD-M's to test next.

[JASmith]

Go with it!

Just remember to keep your shots closer than the distance where the velocity drops below the 1800 fos specified by Hornady.

Given the BC, those ranges should be far enough out that eithical accuracy will likely become an issue before they don't expand.

[dammitman]

Fantastic thread,,,,,

[SDguy]

Tested 125 grain partition on 5 water jugs lined up

As the title leads one on for comparisin I tried the 125 grain partition on 5 water jugs lined up with 32.6 grains of Leverevolution. Only fired 3 rounds 1st two on paper to verify my zero w this load. 3rd round was fired into the series of 5 water jugs.

Results was penetration into the 5th jug. Sorry to report the front portion of the partition shed all lead by the 4th jug of water. Weight of the in tact portion is 78.2 grains for a little less than 63% retained weight. Mushroom averages out to roughly .53
24" 1 in 9 twist barrel.

The slug to compare agenst thus far is the Hornady 129 grain SP for me. The mushroom on this bullet averages out more on the order of .590 with a retained bullet weight 92.8 grains whitch provides roughly 72% retained weight.

By my standards the 129 grain SP bullet comes out on top due to the retained weight and larger mushroom. Mind you either bullet will dispatch a deer and dare i say an elk quite well. All else being equal I will prefer the 129 grain SP based on my testing thus far. Don't hurt that the 129 grain cup and core SP is one of the least expensive .264 offerings on the market.

each of the above loads should have been working with a muzzle velocity near 2800 FPS

For you AR guys with the shorter barrels and lighter loads your milage may vary considerably.

[SDguy]

Tested 125 grain partition on 5 water jugs lined up

As the title leads one on for comparisin I tried the 125 grain partition on 5 water jugs lined up with 32.6 grains of Leverevolution. Only fired 3 rounds 1st two on paper to verify my zero w this load. 3rd round was fired into the series of 5 water jugs.

Results was penetration into the 5th jug. Sorry to report the front portion of the partition shed all lead by the 4th jug of water. Weight of the in tact portion is 78.2 grains for a little less than 63% retained weight. Mushroom averages out to roughly .53
24" 1 in 9 twist barrel.

The slug to compare agenst thus far is the Hornady 129 grain SP for me. The mushroom on this bullet averages out more on the order of .590 with a retained bullet weight 92.8 grains whitch provides roughly 72% retained weight.

By my standards the 129 grain SP bullet comes out on top due to the retained weight and larger mushroom. Mind you either bullet will dispatch a deer and dare i say an elk quite well. All else being equal I will prefer the 129 grain SP based on my testing thus far. Don't hurt that the 129 grain cup and core SP is one of the least expensive .264 offerings on the market.

each of the above loads should have been working with a muzzle velocity near 2800 FPS

For you AR guys with the shorter barrels and lighter loads your milage may vary considerably.

[FLS]

I've killed a lot of game with partitions from 6mm- 30 cal. The nose section opens fast and the rear continues to penetrate. The 125s accounted for a bunch of deer and hogs out of my 260. One of the better 6.5 mm hunting bullets I've used. Second choice would be the 120 Ballistic tip. I've killed a bunch of game with them as well. SSTs have been hit or miss. They tend to blow up even at moderate velocities.

[Rugerfan.64]

Sierra 120 gr Pro Hunter. Worked like a charm with my daughters 260 pushing them about 2550 fps. Shes grown up now and they still work great pushing 2850 fps or so out of that same 260. I don't see how they would not work out of a Grendel running 2550 - 2620 or so.

[Jakal]

Nosler 129grn ABLR::I have not used this bullet yet but will in my Lilja 6.5 pistol 12.5 barrel. It is clocking right at 2160 fps with 27 grains of XBR8208. Since it opens up at 1300 fps, I can get a 200 yard zero with a 220 yd shot still at 1000 foot pounds energy.

Shows it still running at 1540 fps at 500 yards with 681 foot pounds energy. Coyotes watch out!

[apynckel]

What's a good way to test hydroshock with these boolits cruising around 2600 fps? I have a 123gr SST workup that I'd like to see how it expands. I'm assuming this is probably not feasible at a shooting range?