Larryh128
Silver $$ Contributor
I am a fan of the 6.5 Saum/Gap cartridge, with that said, I have put together several for myself and friends. I sold one of my Gaps to a bud, these are all hunting rifles built on ARC actions with various manufacturers barrels and in MDT HNT 26 chassis. I have a couple pet loads and only shoot Barnes 127 gr. LRX bullets. My go to load is RL-26 at 62 grains. Velo and accuracy are impressive. 20" tube will get 3225fps and a 24 will be at 3425fps. When my bud questioned if it was enough cartridge for elk I said absolutely. A group of them hunt elk in CO every year, so far both of the guys who took Saums have killed big elk, one at 323yds and one at 440 yds. 323 went 20 yds, 440 went 40 yds. The bull at 440 was quartering to so it was shot near front shoulder and bullet traveled thru the opposite hip and lodged under the hide. This is the 1st LRX that I've seen recovered. The petals were gone but the front was mushroomed and rest of bullet intact. I can't imagine the petals surviving that much bone. For any 6.5 doubters, you don't need a 180-200 gr bullet to kill big critters. Hope this report helps someone.
