This being my first hunting season with the 6.5 Grendel, I thought I would turn to the forum for some analysis and input on what I experienced.
I took a nice sized 6 pointer (small rack but then, I don't eat the rack) yesterday morning. He was @ 110 yds. My handload was a Nosler 120 gr BT with a muzzle velocity of 2546 FPS. By my calcs, it was doing around 2350 FPS when it hit the buck.
The shot hit the left shoulder blade, broke the back, perforated the lungs, and passed through the right shoulder blade. The BT, what was left of it, lodged just under the hide on the far side. We found pieces of the lead core and jacket here and there in the meat. The copper jacket in the photo contained bone and flesh, no lead.
Did the Nosler do its intended job? The buck dropped right on the spot, so yes, it did. It was dead by the time I got to it (about 10 minutes), blood from its nose. One thing I noticed right off, I couldn't find the entry point of the bullet. No blood on the hide, clean as could be. At the time, I didn't know there was no exit point. I probably looked a little silly rolling the buck back and forth looking for bullet holes.
Having never hunted with the Nosler BT nor the Grendel cartridge, is the condition of the bullet typical? I realize it had a hard life for those few milliseconds it broke the skin and then ground to a halt, but it leaves me wondering if I should be looking for something that maintains more of that mushroom shape I've come to expect from using heavier bullets from a .308 Win or similar.
Many thanks in advance for your input.
I took a nice sized 6 pointer (small rack but then, I don't eat the rack) yesterday morning. He was @ 110 yds. My handload was a Nosler 120 gr BT with a muzzle velocity of 2546 FPS. By my calcs, it was doing around 2350 FPS when it hit the buck.
The shot hit the left shoulder blade, broke the back, perforated the lungs, and passed through the right shoulder blade. The BT, what was left of it, lodged just under the hide on the far side. We found pieces of the lead core and jacket here and there in the meat. The copper jacket in the photo contained bone and flesh, no lead.
Did the Nosler do its intended job? The buck dropped right on the spot, so yes, it did. It was dead by the time I got to it (about 10 minutes), blood from its nose. One thing I noticed right off, I couldn't find the entry point of the bullet. No blood on the hide, clean as could be. At the time, I didn't know there was no exit point. I probably looked a little silly rolling the buck back and forth looking for bullet holes.
Having never hunted with the Nosler BT nor the Grendel cartridge, is the condition of the bullet typical? I realize it had a hard life for those few milliseconds it broke the skin and then ground to a halt, but it leaves me wondering if I should be looking for something that maintains more of that mushroom shape I've come to expect from using heavier bullets from a .308 Win or similar.
Many thanks in advance for your input.
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