Which brand/bullet to choose in 6,5x55 for roe deer stalking?? HELP!

[Stover Rover]

If you reload, the Sierra 140gr SPBT Gameking or Sierra 120gr ProHunter work very well. I use both but prefer the slower 140's that still have the trajectory of a 243 but with more energy, I use them on Muntjac to Red.[/QUOTE]
Ditto the above
Plus I had good accuracy in a Sako L691 and RPA Interceptor with Norma Alaska round nose 0.7 MOA in the Sako 0.3 MOA in the RPA. It does run out of steam quickly as they have a poor BC, 250m would be max range.
Norma used to produce a cartridge called Radjur, 139 grain at 770 m/s. They were accurate in the Sako and used on Roe and Fallow to good effect.

 

[Glendine]

Anything from 120gr up will do. The norma with the nosler bullets are very good. That said he 140gr seem to be what my 6.5 loves and the partitian would be my choice

+1

Glendine.

 

[Edinburgh Rifles]

Be aware that an awful lot of the European made 6.5x55 is made for heavier game than we have in the UK

The harder stronger bullets like Lapua Mega, Norma Vulkan/Oryx, RWS H Mantel coupled with lower terminal velocities of the 6.5x55 can result in smaller wound channel from lack of expansion.

Home loaders with modern rifles chambered in 6.5x55 have the benefit of increasing the charge levels to those similar to the 6.5x47, 6.5CM or the 260rem

I personally would look for a more expansive bullet that doesnt require the higher terminal velocity to be effective
Interlocks, Partitions, RWS Conepoint, Norma Softpoints, Gameking
The new ELD-X have a good few reports of solid performance having the ballistic tip and AMax style expansion. This is not frangible in 6.5 but mushrooms like a standard cup and core

In non lead Barnes TTSX are very slippery but have a very small meplat and a reputation of pass through without expansion on small game, at range or low terminal velocities.

 

[Dalua]

The harder stronger bullets like ..... RWS T Mantel

I thought T-Mantel is a bog-standard softpoint?

 

[Edinburgh Rifles]

Good spot
meant H-Mantel

I thought T-Mantel is a bog-standard softpoint?

Cone Point

T-Mantel

H-Mantel

 

[tomblincoe]

Nosler Partition seem excellent. I have only shot about 5 deer but they seem to expand rapidly on smaller deer to give humane kills and then the rear core punches through pretty much anything...

 

[Vipa]

I absolutely love Norma Vulkans and so does my rifle... the 6.5 swede works very well with heavy for calibre bullets (even though they actually aren't!!) Your main issue though will be sourcing them, they can be a bit like rocking horse droppings and they are bloody expensive at £50 + a box..

A good option if you are reloading though, the actual bullets are relatively good value... quite a bit cheaper than Nosler partitions for example. But youll have to buy them in form Europe. The importer of Norma doesn't bring the reloading components in so you wont find any in the UK.

I have 125 factory Vulkans but have that backed up with a few hundred Partitions for reloading...

Vulkans expand perfectly on even small roe and always do the job... don't look at the Oryx.. whilst a good bullet, it is designed very much for bigger game

 

[Essexsussex]

Both my 243 and 6.5x55 rifles seem to shoot any rws very accurately. Don't know why this should be, it may just be fluke but if I have recently bought a 7mm Rem Mag and will start with rws expecting good accuracy.

 

[Azazelbe]

Hi everybody,

First of all, thank you very much for all who made the effort of replying and giving their advize or even send me private messages.
Sorry for the somehow late reply. I was abroad last week and didn't really have the time to send a proper answer.

Well, from all that I read on this and some other forums where I didn't post but read some comparable threads, I could make some conclusions. Whether they're the right conclusions, we still have to see

Some info that made me make a choice:
- I'm not a reloader, so bullet types and powders that are not available as factory loads are not really useful to me
- Barnes, Nosler, Federal, Sierra, Lapua...these (I believe) typical American brands wouldn't be available in 99% of the hunting shops in my neighbourhood. Ordering online is prohibited in Belgium. So if it's not available anywhere around me again, rather useless. I appreciate the advize but I can't do a lot with it if I can't get my hands on it. What would be availbale typically in the average hunting store would be RWS, Norma, Winchester, Hornady (in some shops), Geco, Sako (in some)
- I will use this round/caliber primarily for stalking roe deer (like 90% of the time). The other 10% will be the occasional boar or red deer that crosses my path while stalking for roe taking in mind that I want and I'm allowed to shoot it at that moment. So I'm looking for the better bullet for the 90% of the occassions.



What I read here and on some other forums:
- What shoots best in my rifle is the one to take
- 140 grain and 156 grains both have good efficiency but the 140 grains might be a little better for the longer range shots
- 6,5 x 55 doesn't have the best BC, so if a bullet is available with a slightly higher BC that's an advantage over the lower BCs
- Nosler Partitions seem to be doing a great job but are maybe a bit more efficient on CXP3 game (red deer, elk, etc). On thin-skinned CPX2 game they might not be mushrooming as good as on elk etc and might just fly through the body of a roe when not hit on the shoulder. Will they kill, sure, but not having a dog myself I would like to have the roe drop at the spot in most, not to say all cases
- RWS DK seems to be doing a good job but it's ballistic charts are based on a 74 cm barrel, while I will be shooting from a 58 cm standard Blaser R8 barrel. I don't have the equipement nor do I want to do the trouble of recalculating the whole shabam. If you can do that, great, I'm even a bit jealous, but I just don't want to go there.
- Some of the mentioned bullets are not available for this caliber. Like the Hornady ELD-X, a bullet I chose for my 300 WIN MAG, unfortunately not available in 6,5 x 55
- So I need a softer bullet that mushrooms immediately on impact with high accuracy and knock-down power for longer shots without too much fragmentation to prevent meat damage.

Taking the above in mind I came to the following top 3:

- Hornady SST 140 gr (for their higher velocity and higher BC, giving them a bit more knockdown power)
- Norma Nosler Partition 140 gr
- Norma Oryx 156 gr

I will go to the shooting range and sight the rifle/scope in at 100m. Starting with the Hornady SST and work my way down.
The bullet that gives me the most accuracy will be the one I'll go with.

Last week I sighted in my Merkel RX Helix in 30.06 with a Swarovski 1-6 x 24 for driven hunts.
I sighted in at 40 m with RWS HIT 165 gr
After some final adjustment clicks, the last 3 shots went bullseye bullet in bullethole Pretty impressed with their accuracy.
The round that shoots as well as this one in the 6,5 will be the one I want/need

Fred