Monolithic vs bonded hunting bullets in 6mm / .243 caliber

[SD guy]

I like projectiles that retain 60% of the original weight or better for hunting. My application is working with muzzle velocity from 2700 fps up to 3000 ish FPS. I seem to lean on projectiles ranging from 85 grains up to 108 grains. I do not mean much about the experience folks have had with 6mm bonded bullets, nor do I see much relating to the monolithic use on game. My experience has primarily been with the 90 grain monolithic offerings.

With the 90 gr monolithic offerings my velocity has been running a bit over 2900 FPS. Ranges of shots thus far have not exceeded 100 yards by much as of yet. Performance on game has been very satisfactory. If I were to try a bonded bullet, May I experience any more satisfactory results over the monolithic offerings?

 

[dk17hmr]

Assuming you are talking about whitetail deer...At 100 ish yards it doesn't really matter. Solid copper bullets need all the speed. Bonded lead core might work/expand better for lower impact velocity from my experience.

I like shooting copper solids for hunting in my fast rounds like my 25-06AI and 6.5 short mags. If it's going 3400+ fps I like to have a copper load. But I have used 110gr Barnes in 300blk and 6.8spc with great results on game as well

 

[Gary in MD]

My experience has been with the 95 grain ballistic tips and the 80 TTSX.
The 95 BT out of a 243 win and a 240 wby, has worked very well with good expansion and exit wounds, it is a tougher bullet than people think and is very accurate.
The 80 grain TTSX has been like a lazer out of the 240 wby, pushed fast. Shoots accurately and has dropped them in their tracks.
Also killed a few with the 95 grain Nosler partition years ago with no complaints.

 

[SD guy]

Whitetail & perhaps Mule deer, may be on the menu. Bolt action 6MM ARC w 22" barrel is the launching platform. Suppose I may be asking myself if a 90 gr Accubond may out perform the Hornady CX at longer ranges. (more reliable expansion) Suppose I am anticipating limiting shot distances to something near 300 yards. In cases where I feel comfortable closing the distance to something considerably closer, that would be the goal more often than not.

Of course I would still need to see if I could find a load that will shoot reliable small groups.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Likely the velocity will be under 1900 fps @ 400 yards, I don't trust copper solid expansion under 2000 fps. That would seem to be your limiting factor, the lead core would still have working velocity. Although a "softer" deer bullet (SST) would work better at long range.

 

[Jack O'Connor]

Whitetails and mulies have the same chest wall thickness and it does not require a Premium bullet to smash through and produce ghastly wound channels. Badly damaged chest organs always translate to quick and humane kills. My .243 rifle shoots into tiny clusters with Winchester Deer Season 95 grain ammo. Deadly performance with light recoil. Jack

 

[SD guy]

Likely the velocity will be under 1900 fps @ 400 yards, I don't trust copper solid expansion under 2000 fps. That would seem to be your limiting factor, the lead core would still have working velocity. Although a "softer" deer bullet (SST) would work better at long range.

How about the Accubond at longer ranges 400 perhaps 500 yards?

 

[Tommie]

The Swift A-Frame is a bonded partition style bullet. Kinda the best of both worlds (if your gun will group with them).

 

[SD guy]

The Swift A-Frame is a bonded partition style bullet. Kinda the best of both worlds (if your gun will group with them).

Looked into this based on recommendation. Swift offers a Sirocco .243 dia offering, no A-Frame offered in the .243 diameter.

 

[SeabeeKen]

Whitetail & perhaps Mule deer, may be on the menu. Bolt action 6MM ARC w 22" barrel is the launching platform. Suppose I may be asking myself if a 90 gr Accubond may out perform the Hornady CX at longer ranges. (more reliable expansion) Suppose I am anticipating limiting shot distances to something near 300 yards. In cases where I feel comfortable closing the distance to something considerably closer, that would be the goal more often than not.

Of course I would still need to see if I could find a load that will shoot reliable small groups.

I've done a lot of testing with hunting bullets over the last 30 years or more.
When I tested Hornady GMX/CX bullets, I found they are made from gilding metal which is harder than pure copper. I shot the first deer with a GMX, a doe, at 75 yds with a 280AI and she just took a few steps and stood there. Shot a second time and she dropped. The post mortem revealed the first shot did not expand at all. Same size in and out. The second did expand. Never touched another. A bonded bullet like the accubond is tough but I prefer the copper monos.
IME, Hammers and Barnes are awesome. I've killed dozens of deer with barnes and NEVER a failure of any kind. I've used 22, 24, 25, 28, 30, 338, and 9.3, as well as 45 in my muzzleloader.
5 years ago I tested Hammer bullets. Spectacular performance! The PDR groove design caused no fouling at all in any of my rifles and enabled 100+ fps more speed compared to Barnes and lead core bullets. The absolute hammers are a bore rider bullet and will run 150+ fps faster than lead core. I have dropped deer in their tracks with the 90 gr absolute hammer running at 3475 fps. The 75 gr hammer hunter performed just as well. I also took deer with hammers in 22, 24, 35, 28, 338 calibers.
Hammers are designed to have the petals break off immediately upon entry and move on as secondary projectiles and this they do well. We have recovered a few petals under the hide on the off side.
Accuracy with hammers in my rifles is always under .5" and most of the time .2" or better. I cant recommend Hammers highly enough.
Mono bullets dont usually require heavy weights as they are much tougher. I've used 51/2 grain in 22 cal, 69 gr AH in 243ai and 6mm rem ai, 75 & 90 gr in 250ai and 257ai, 101 gr and 120 gr in 7x57ai and 284 win, 175 gr in 338 RCM and never a hiccup.
Best part is no lead in the meat. Always full penetration, never recovered a mono

As a footnote, I find that both hammers and barnes are not sensitive to seating depth. I typically jump them .050 to .250 and they still shoot tight.

 

[SD guy]

See my experience in the last 2 seasons with the 90 gr CX in the 6mm ARC bolt action 7.5 twist 22 " barrel, bit over 2900 FPS muzzle velocity has been very reliable within the parameters I have used them under. They have done rather well for me on 4 deer & numerous water jug test. All of these examples were near 100 yards circumstances. Though I suppose I have not allowed the opportunity to put these to the test at further distances as of yet.

Had very fine results with 87 grain Absolute hammers on 2 whitetails as well at similar distances.

 

[CJ6]

I like bonded bullets. Swift, Nosler, Woodleigh, Hornady, TBBC. Pick the one that shoots best and have at it.

 

[WV Hitman]

I've taken 2 deer at 400 yds. & a 55# javelina in AZ at 177 yards with double shoulder shots & 85 gr. Nos. ABs in my 6mm AI Encore handgun. All 3 dropped. Exit holes were about 3/4" & internal damage was 1 3/34 to 2 1/2". Little bit more damage & holes on closer shots. Great bullet in all my handguns.

 

[Lefty2506]

As far as bonded bullets go, IMHO, it keeps the jacket from separating from the core, but that doesn't really matter too much. By the time the jacket separates, the bullet is often pretty flat. In those instances, I'd rather have something with a slightly thicker jacket regardless of whether its bonded or not.

I'm a big fan of the monolithic, but IMHO, you have to be picky about which ones you use. I do NOT like bullets that fragment or tumble for hunting. I want a bullet that expands well and penetrates deep. The only ones I'm aware of so far that are designed to actually expand are Barnes, Maker, and Cavity Back. From what I've seen so far, Barnes work well so long as they are running over 2000 fps on impact. Full transparency, I've only used them in my 25-06, but I had no complaints. I've always wanted to use them in my Savage muzzleloader, but the thing kicks so hard that I don't want to take the abuse of working up a new load for it. Maker and Cavity Back appear to either use a softer copper alloy or have designed the bullet to expand better than the Barnes does at lower speeds. I haven't had any experience with the Hornady or Federal factory monolithic bullets so I'm not sure how they do. Something tells me they need to be running 2000 fps or more on impact, but that's just a guess on my part.

For the past several years, I've been using a 6.5 Grendel and a 300 Blackout. On the Grendel, I'm running a 105gr MKZ in the neighborhood of 2800 fps and have had excellent expansion and penetration from 50 yards out to 300 yds. All have been pass throughs, with one at 300 penetrating over 30" on a nice buck before exiting. That buck was quartering away heavy. The bullet went in just behind the rear rib, had good expansion doing quite a bit of damage to the near lung, ripped through the heart, and existed the just forward of the off shoulder which impressed the snot out of me. I've shot it out to 400 yds on water jugs and had reliable expansion, but I don't really have any hunting areas that go that far out. Only a couple of my stands will present shots out to 300. Most are 220 and under. I've intentionally taken nice does (130 lbs field dressed) at 200-220 yds that were quartering toward me just so I could punch through the shoulder. Every one produced an exit wound and a good wound channel. I get sub 1/2 moa out of it pretty regularly which is an added bonus.

On the 300 blackout, a buddy of mine had a 110gr Barnes fail to expand, so I've avoided them. Last year I took a doe at around 80 yds with a 120 SIG Elite Hunter, and was not impressed. It didn't hit any bone. The entrance wound had NO expansion, and the exit wound looked like it had just barely started to expand. I tried some 110gr T-Rex from Maker Bullets, but I wasn't able to get them to shoot well. I have some 125gr MKZs that I was able to work up an accurate load for so I'm going to give those a try this year and see how they do on fur. I have a sneaking suspicion that it will be my favorite for the 300 blackout which is why I've been saving it for last.

Cavity Back has a 6mm 92gr MKZ with a G1 BC of .470. I would think that would be an ideal choice for a 6mm ARC, and should work well to at least 300 yds. They offer loaded ammunition as well. Another friend of mine has tried their loaded 6.5 Grendel ammo and not had great accuracy out of it, but I also wasn't impressed with the accuracy he got out of anything else as well. Might be the tool, might be the nut behind the wheel. Not sure. I just know that I was able to find a couple of handloads that shot their bullets very accurately, and it didn't take me much effort to get there. And YES, the whole "cavity back" thing is a gimmick. I don't care because the bullets are accurate (both from my Grendel and my 300 blackout), have a high BC (which aligns with my ballistics software out to 500 yds), and have given me the exact terminal performance that I'm after on game. They are also expensive, but have a lifetime hunting license for my state, I reload my own ammo, and process and package all my own game, so I'm okay with spending $1-$2 per shot for 10 rounds a year (including confirming zeros).

Maker offers a 85gr T-Rex, but I don't have any other information on it.

 

[Jack O'Connor]

I've always been able to stalk much closer than the person who suggested 400 or 500 yards. Chuck Adams, Fred Bear, and Howard Hill have been archers who stalked even closer. It is not reasonable to shoot much farther than 275 - 325 yards, in my opinion. Jack