What twist for a 6mmbr

[nickish]

I am new to the 6mm br but have decided to embark on getting one. I'm going to use the rifle for game and some recreational plinking with pals. The rifle must be able to fire bullets of over 100 gr for deer then I would like to experiment with a few lighter loads . A barrel of what twist would be best?

 

[chino1969]

My personal opinion is that a 6mm BR doesn't have enough boiler room for deer hunting. It will shoot a 105 grn. bullet just fine on paper at 300 or 600 yds. but I don't know of any seasoned deer hunters that would consider even using one.
Chino69

 

[chino1969]

dmoran,
I'll take your word for it, I just wouldn't personally use one. I'm a little specialized when it comes to my rifles and each one has a specific purpose; I have six different rifles just for varmint hunting. Over the edge? You bet! Seriously, most guys I know use .308's or .243's for PA. Whitetails.
Chino69

 

[Klong]

I think a 6 BR would be fine for most whitetail deer. I have one in a Tubb 2000 and shoot 107 gr bullets at around 2900 FPS. This is not much slower than the factory 100gr 243. I have no feeding problems with this round in the Tubb, but do know of a couple of people that tried to make this round work in some other bolt actions that have had feeding problems. I am not saying that it can't be made to feed though. If it were me, I would look at a regular 243. Good luck!

 

[ReedG]

I think the 6BR is a very capable caliber for whitetail deer. The thing I like mostly about it for hunting is that most hunters can shoot it enough to become very good shots with it. We have such great bullets to choose from today.

Day after day at my range I see guys with the "big guns" cringing and flinching and sighting-in with two shots because it hurts too much to shoot more. Magnums have their place but a well-placed bullet from a nice light 6BR will do the job just fine.

I've always mused over the fact the 55-gr. .223 Remington load was developed to kill 150-lb. humans, and has done that to lots of them, but it is ridiculed as a "deer rifle". A 64-gr. Winchester softpoint in the boiler room will put a deer down as fast as anything I've seen.

 

[ghermitage]

I've always mused over the fact the 55-gr. .223 Remington load was developed to kill 150-lb. humans

I wonder what the requirements really were? It has long been said that not-immediately-fatal but incapacitating injury costs the opposition more.

With varmint bullets, the 223 is a great fox round,reloading 204R tonight for use tomorrow on foxes as it happens).
But varmint or soft point bullets aren't legit in a military context, and a military jacketed 55gr bullet isn't an obvious choice. If quick kills was the plan, maybe there was reliance on multiple hits.

I guess there will be people on the list with personal experience of such matters, experience I definitely don't have and don't want to have. I have to wonder though, if a military jacketed 55gr is so effective, why were 30 cals carried around though so many wars?

 

[nickish]

Thanks for your replies. It would seem I have opened another debate!

I live in Scotland where our native Roe deer can be legally shot with a .222 and a bullet of 55gr. It's a small deer and wonders around at little more than 60 lb,mature). So from reading comments my choice of the 6mm br would seem sufficient for the task of these. To shoot Red Deer the caliber must be greater than .240 and the bullet heavier than 100gr. So it should be sufficient for hinds and calves.

Thanks for they comments. 1 in 8 it is then!

 

[ghermitage]

To shoot Red Deer the caliber must be greater than .240 and the bullet heavier than 100gr.

Interesting. In this part of the world,Australia), 270W with 130gr is considered minimum for Red Deer. Maybe it is usual to stalk to closer distances in Scotland.

I believe the Germans have laws that require the bullet to have a certain kinetic energy at the time of impact, so how far away the deer is factored in to the law. That seems like a good approach, but there are some complexities there, such as is the bullet travelling fast enough at impact to act properly.

I read somewhere that 2000 fps was the minimum impact velocity for a hunting bullet to act appropriately, though of course there will be some variation in that due to bullet construction. In the absence of a particular figure for your bullets, maybe the thing to do is to look at the ballistics of your bullet at the velocity you will lauch it at, and see where the velocity drops to 2000 fps and take that range to the maximum range.

 

[johnsopa]

I've always mused over the fact the 55-gr. .223 Remington load was developed to kill 150-lb. humans, and has done that to lots of them, but it is ridiculed as a "deer rifle". A 64-gr. Winchester softpoint in the boiler room will put a deer down as fast as anything I've seen.

Not that I would recommend it for everyone, but I have taken my last two PA bucks,8 pt and 9 pt) using a Savage 223 loaded with 75 gr A-MAX bullets. I shoot neck shots and both were taken at 100 yards or below. Both just dropped.

A good 6BR load seems to be close to what a mid-range 243 is loaded to and 243's have taken plenty of deer.