Favorite 6mm bullet for deer.

[CaptainMal]

Loading up some more 6mm Rem. with Hornady 100 gr. Interlocks right now. Flat base probably has been discontinued but used them for decades with all positive results. Good penetration close and better out to 300 yards.

Now playing with the boat-tail versions and see no difference. Been using them since the 1960's to kill deer. Not one a year but say every-other year. Too many guns to stick with one. It's just that this year I plan on using the old 600 for the first kill after muzzleloader season. The Hornady 100's work and they are not expensive so practice is encouraged.

 

[Mudcat]

105 berger Hvlds for 150-400 yard shots (we hunt over wide open fields from ground blinds or treestands with rail rests). For hunting in the woods where shots are 25-100 yards, we use the 87 or 95gr Hvlds. Avoid sholder/bone hits and you usually drop them right in their tracks.

 

[eggman]

My favorite 6mm bullet for deer is the Sierra .243 dia. (6mm) 85 gr. HPBT GameKing #1530 . Used to have a 6mm/6.5-284 sporter that I used this bullet .

Rodney

 

[Capt. Oblivious]

For the last year or two here in South Africa I have been hunting with the 90gr Swift Scirocco out of my Sako .243
We don't have any white tails here but our Impala is very similar in build and the bullet worked flawlessly on them as well as some off the bigger species like Blesbok

This year I hunted exclusively with Scirocco's in all my rifles except in my .375 where I used A-frame's

 

[kochie]

95 grain berger

 

[xpilot]

Sierra 85gr HPBT

 

[NCVarhtr]

After reading thru this, it looks like everything from the 105 Bergers to the 70 Gr. Sierra Blitzking will take Deer clean and easy. Over the past 55 years I have taken something over 350 Deer all across North America, including Canada, Kansas, Wyoming etc. For a long time I really thought you needed something in the .270 Win. Class to harvest Deer. For the last 12 years I have used a 6 BR and while I have had an opportunity to test several bullets, I have found that a 65 Gr. bullet, when properly placed, will drop Deer in their tracks---every time. There is a spot about the size of a Grapefruit or Softball at the junction of the Shoulder and backbone where the central nervous system runs, that will totally and completely cause DRT-every time. I think a lot of the decision in making a Bullet choice depends on personal beliefs, feelings based on experience and what friends have said. Deer are easy to harvest cleanly and effectively....Placing the bullet in the exact right spot is all it takes....

 

[dkhunt14]

I have used the Sierra 85 Grain HPBT in 6MM and 243 WIN. It is accurate and really kills. The downside is a lot of Blood shock but it drops them in their tracks. I also know of six or seven bears killed with it and they all dropped in their tracks. One was a 500 yard shot on a 350 pound Bear out of a 6 IMP and it never took a step. Matt

 

[sirius27c]

What kind of Berger 105's are being used?

 

[WindSurgeon]

My antelope getter is a 100 grain Sierra GameKing Spitzer Boat tail (product number 1560) shot out of a .243 winchester. The soft point really expands on thin skin game animals and it works well for longer range shots bucking the wind. Using 39.5 grains of 4350 to get 2800 fps out of a 21" barrel. Longest kill to date is a 420 yard antelope out in Wyoming on a windy day (its always windy on the prairie). Bullet placed in the boiler room dropped the goat within 20 yards of impact. Shortest shot, 25 yard neck shot on a whitetail deer on Minnesota (should have had my bow). Dropped him where he stood.

I am not an advocate of using target bullets for hunting purposes. There are so many good, heavy hunting bullet options with high BC's I don't see the need.

 

[dkhunt14]

What kind of Berger 105's are being used?

I would think most people are using the 105 VLD hunting bullet because of the thinner jacket. The Hybrid is a target bullet with thicker jacket. I didn't shoot any deer with the 6mm Berger, but have shot a few with 30 cal 210 VLD hunting and the 338 Elite, both of which are thinner jacketed. Both of these have opened and done their job. I think people get mixed up and don't know that they have hunting and target versions. Matt

 

[Changeling]

What kind of Berger 105's are being used?

I would think most people are using the 105 VLD hunting bullet because of the thinner jacket. The Hybrid is a target bullet with thicker jacket. I didn't shoot any deer with the 6mm Berger, but have shot a few with 30 cal 210 VLD hunting and the 338 Elite, both of which are thinner jacketed. Both of these have opened and done their job. I think people get mixed up and don't know that they have hunting and target versions. Matt

Hi Matt. I think you hit the proverbial nail right on the head!

 

[Dan Hall]

Berger 87 gr VLD hunting #24524 has always worked for me in my 10 twist Dakota Predator.

 

[AckleymanII]

I posted earlier on the 95g partition, about the same result as a 30/06 with a 150g bullet.

I also had good success with a 85g Barnes tipped triple shock with 44.5g of R#19 with a win primer seated .050 off the lands(Rem 700-243 Winchester). The 85g Tripple shock does not leave much of a blood trail, but innards are jello.

I am not happy with a Sierra 85g BTHP, no exit, run for 50-75 yards with no blood trail, and 50 yards can be a long ways when you are hunting in a jungle.

The 100g Hornady BTSP and the flat base are a poor mans partition and they perform well on 240 lb deer in Kansas.

I had hit and miss luck with 100g Core locts and Sierras which loose their cores.

Swifts turned my bore to a copper plated mess, great on animals, however.

Lots and lots of 243 shooters here swear by the 95g nosler ballistic tip AND the 95g SST(the SST is tougher). The 95g Nosler BT runs a tad undersize in dia and is a boat tail. Some guns will not stand an undersize bullet and also do not like a boat tail bullet. The 95g SST is a flat base and is a larger bullet in dia than the Nosler, let your barrel pick.

Today, I would have to give the 90g Nosler Bonded a shot, shoot some hogs with it, hogs are the true test of a bullet. Hunting is hunting, you can't always pick a broadside shot. Much of the time you may have to shoot them through the rear of the ribs and hope for an exit through the front shoulder or vise a versa on a quartering frontal shot.

If you are on a budget, the 100g Hornady flat base will get the job done in spades, no kidding. I shot Cow elk with this bullet with no losses and rarely ever moved out of their tracks, same with the 95g nosler partition on cows elk..small one was 450 lbs.

The 243 AI and the 6 AI are awesome performers, and the additional velocity means that you use a tougher bullet for 35 yard shots, that leaves out Sierra and Core locts.

 

[tclaunch]

Our bucks are around 125 - 175.
Some have been around 200 but that's a big'in.
The thing about the Accubonds is it doesn't seem to
matter what cal., they all seem to have pass throughs.
And on yotes, they just fold up and the exits are about
3/4". My oldest son (14) hunts with a 264 Win Mag and
uses the 130's . We LOVE'EM...


Kermit

I am an Accubond fan as well, they make a 90 as mentioned. I have 3 boxes of them, but nothing chambered to test them yet. I have a Bartlein Rem Varmint contour, I need to pick out a reamer and get to testing. I fully trust the bullet.

 

[nakneker]

I've used a lot of 6mm bullets over the years. Raised 7 kids hunting deer and elk, they all started with a 6mm variant. The 85 grain partition has been around forever but it's the favored bullet for deer/antelope in our house. My daughters reload too, they have a great selection of bullets to choose from and at the end of the year it seems I always end up replacing the partition stack. I've grown fond of the Berger 105 vld hunting bullets too, seen some wicked kill shots with them.

 

[ab_bentley]

I've been using the 70gr Varmagedon from nosler. At 3175fps from the 6-223 the deer just crumple in a pile with a chest or neck shot. Nailed one earlier this year at 430yds with a forward neck shot and she didn't move. If I weren't using those, I'd be using the Sierra match king 70gr bullets.

Adam

 

[JRS]

+1 for the Accubond. Hunting bullets for meat…. target bullets for paper.

 

[Toby Bradshaw]

Hi 40x guy, I was hoping someone would talk about the Barnes bullets. I tried some years ago but couldn’t get very good accuracy from them. Have they straightened out that problem?
How is the accuracy with your son's rifle. What kind of groups does he get at 2 and 300 yards?
I have always thought the Barnes bullets showed great penetration possibilities. Do you get complete penetration on lung shot deer every time ?

I use the 85gr Barnes TSX in a 6BR on medium game and nearly always get an exit wound. They don't expand as dramatically as cup and core bullets, though. In my experience the TSX is responsive to seating depth, but always will shoot best somewhere well off the lands. Seating depth test of 85gr TSX below (3 shot groups, 100yd, off a bipod), with 95gr Berger VLD groups shot at the beginning and end of the test as controls. I've never been able to get the Barnes to shoot as well as a really good cup and core bullet, but they are plenty good enough for deer. (I've shot deer and pronghorns with the 95gr VLD, which produced quick kills but also a lot of bloodshot meat.)

 

[agr516]

I know that some will disagree with me on this but I have now shot a few whitetail does with the Berger 105 hybrids and had nothing but good success. Attached is a picture of the damage caused to one of the most recent ones. I shot two does from a group, one right after the other at just over 280yds. The first was quartering to me slightly and the second was quartering to me quite a bit more. The photo is of the one that was quartering to me at a pretty sharp angle. Both deer were hit high shoulder and hit the ground like they were dropped from a helicopter. The 105's were shot from a .243 AI at 3,160fps. I have not shot a deer with them beyond 300yds so I cannot speak for their long range performance but do feel confident enough in their performance to take some incrementally longer shots with them.