Heading out to northern mo. On a whitetail hunt and need to come up with some good loads for my savage model 12 with shilen 8 twist barrel. All I have shot in it so far is lapua factory 95gr loads. Going to order some varget, berger 95 vld, and 105 vlds. Any suggestions or pet loads you guys would like to share for hunting deer?? Most shots will be this side of 300 yards. Thinking the 95s with about 30 grains of varget, but im worried about not being able to jam them in the lands if they will still shoot. I know they have a really small bearing surface. Any advise would be appreciated!
Need advise for 6mmbr whitetail loads
- Thread starter jreedtn
- Start date
JamesinAsheville
Silver $$ Contributor
http://www.accurateshooter.com/cartridge-guides/6mmbr/ This gives a good starting place
jreedtn: Just askin? Why do you feel you "need" VLD's for shots out to 300 yards?
I tried working with VLD's in several of my 8 twist 6BR's (Bartlein & Krieger barrels), and found them to be very critical of bullet seating depth. Never did find a good combination & since then use nothing but the plain vanilla 105 Berger's #24428. They bring home the money in the local BR varmint for score match's fired at distances to 500 meters maximum. Not suggesting you use them, they are not recommended for hunting, but there are plenty of dedicated hunting bullets out there (Sierra 100 gr. #1540, flat base and 100 gr. #1560, boatail), just 2 examples. Both these bullets have very generous bearing surfaces.
Also, if you're talking about jamming bullets, and it's a hunting situation, better hope you don't have to unload the rifle after jamming the bullet. I can guarantee you will stick the bullet in the throat, case full of powder will be extracted & powder will be dumped all over the front of the receiver. You'll then be "out of business" with that rifle.
VLD's are designed for longer distances ( a lot further than 300 yards), and for that, yes they are a better choice with their higher BC numbers, but I see more dis-advantages than advantages at 300 yards and less.
And, as a final late note: As stated by Berger, VLD's do not necessarily have to be jammed, they may do very well just touching, or even with some jump. Much better in a hunting situation, and the deer will never know.
I tried working with VLD's in several of my 8 twist 6BR's (Bartlein & Krieger barrels), and found them to be very critical of bullet seating depth. Never did find a good combination & since then use nothing but the plain vanilla 105 Berger's #24428. They bring home the money in the local BR varmint for score match's fired at distances to 500 meters maximum. Not suggesting you use them, they are not recommended for hunting, but there are plenty of dedicated hunting bullets out there (Sierra 100 gr. #1540, flat base and 100 gr. #1560, boatail), just 2 examples. Both these bullets have very generous bearing surfaces.
Also, if you're talking about jamming bullets, and it's a hunting situation, better hope you don't have to unload the rifle after jamming the bullet. I can guarantee you will stick the bullet in the throat, case full of powder will be extracted & powder will be dumped all over the front of the receiver. You'll then be "out of business" with that rifle.
VLD's are designed for longer distances ( a lot further than 300 yards), and for that, yes they are a better choice with their higher BC numbers, but I see more dis-advantages than advantages at 300 yards and less.
And, as a final late note: As stated by Berger, VLD's do not necessarily have to be jammed, they may do very well just touching, or even with some jump. Much better in a hunting situation, and the deer will never know.
Erik Cortina
Team Lapua Brux Borden Captain
I used to shoot 30 gr. Varget with 105 VLD's in my 6BR. I would start with that.
Kimber
NRA Benefactor Life Member
I have a Rem 700 with a 1 in 10 twist 24inch Kreiger barrel, action was blue printed and barrel was chambered by GreTan. I shoot 75 Vmax, 205 Feds and 30.0 grs. Varget at 2950 fps. in a Lapua case, 30.5grs. will show pressure.
I agree with others, there are better choices for bullets, the 85 gr. Sierra HP is very accurate and with a good shot to the front shoulder the deer won't suffer, I would keep my shots to 200 yds. with it. The 100 gr. Sierra spitzer also works well and will exit on a longer shot leaving a blood trail.
I agree with others, there are better choices for bullets, the 85 gr. Sierra HP is very accurate and with a good shot to the front shoulder the deer won't suffer, I would keep my shots to 200 yds. with it. The 100 gr. Sierra spitzer also works well and will exit on a longer shot leaving a blood trail.
I am thinking of taking my Cooper 6BR with 8 tw and Leupold 6.5-20 scope along this year when I hunt long fields. Being a single shot makes it even more challenging. It loves the 105 gr. Hornady A Max over 30.3 grs. Varget. But I have no clue as to the efficiency of that bullet for deer hunting.
Just killed my first deer ( a doe) with my 6BR using Sierra 85gr SPT Varminter bullets at 160yds. It was a neck shot and the bullet dropped her dead in her tracks, bullet exited and I was very pleased. It load was only 27.5gr of N135.
We took our first whitetail with a 105amax out of a 243win at 240 yards and the bullet did just what any bullet could be expected to do. Small entrance hole and a quarter sized exit hole. Both lungs were taken out and she ran about 30 yards.tenring said:
Good shooting
Those shooting highly accurate 6mm for deer. I recommend you address an issue not discussed on this thread. Bullet performance. Almost all of the bullets discussed so far have J4 jackets and are unreliable over the long haul for successful game recovery. Yes, the deer die but some run off to be never found because of no blood trail. The Swift Scirocco 90 grain bullet, Barnes 85 grain XXX, Nosler Accubond 90 grain and Nosler Partitions all will shoot great in the smaller 6mm cases and give you a better chance of game recovery. A brain shot is a brain shot, a neck shot below the ear is a neck shot below the ear it does not matter what bullet you shoot. But a shoulder or heart lung shot is a whole other story. Controlled expansion bullets tend to make both entry and exit holes. Bullets work on four different methods to kill: hyrostatic shock, hemoragenic shock, physiogentic shock, and psycogenic shock. Trailing a wounded deer is much easier with a good blood trail. Fast expanding bullet may drop a deer in it's tracks or it may send them to the races. Internal bleeding does not help with the trailing of a deer. Beleive me I have shot my share of deer.
Nat Lambeth
Nat Lambeth
jreedtn said:
Just my 02, but you are shooting deer out to 300 yards. You are getting WAY to anal about tuning your load. If your 6br with 105's shoots 1 MOA, that is way more than you need at 300. I wouldn't worry about the seating depth.
On the other side, we are all accuracy NUTS, and some how we NEED that gun to shoot 1/4 moa for us to function properly....kinda hard wired into our DNA. Fine tuning the load takes extra shooting, which is where the fun is.
So, I understand the NEED to tune the load as a shooter, but in reality, you don't really NEED a 1/4 MOA gun. My guess is that you will be under 3/4 MOA with ANY bullet in ANY weight with ANY powder without any tuning at all....kinda hardwired into the 6BR's DNA.
my savage stryker 9'' barrel barns 85gr tsx 26g rl 7 2340 fps 4 hogs no deer yet none run more then 20 yrds. Good Shooting Larry
Upgrades & Donations
This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.