Currently using Sako Gamehead Pro 140gr but nearly out and I'm looking at what I can buy from my LGS, and perhaps going a bit lighter. He has a good supply of Hornady Whitetail 129gr and S&B SP 131gr. Rifle is a 24in barrel Bergara HMR Pro. For use on fallow and roe. any views on either please, particularly the Hornady and the effectiveness on the deer? I tried S&B 6.5x55 SP in another rifle and couldn't get a good group out of them but happy to try them again.
Experience of 6.5CM factory rounds please?
- Thread starter GBR66
- Start date
Ok its just a 6.5mm bullet - Remember that ! I don't know your twist rate as you don't state it . If its 1-8 it should handle almost every bullet in 6.5 mm.. lead or copper , now I advice you buy a box of premium copper like the Barns and make sure to clean all previous fouling in the barrel ( back to bare metal job) .
I don't know how well you shoot with this sort of rifle and how much experiance you have but if its maybe not much , get some one who is a well proven to shoot it. If they do good then we cannot be blaming the tools
I don't know how well you shoot with this sort of rifle and how much experiance you have but if its maybe not much , get some one who is a well proven to shoot it. If they do good then we cannot be blaming the tools
Thanks Bowland, but I'm now sorted on the 6.5x55, that's a second barrel on my Merkel Helix Alpinist, which I now leave as .30-06 mainly for Sika and longer walks (very consistent accuracy and extremely effective with 165gr Sako Gamehead Pro) as I have the Bergara in 6.5CM. I'm just looking at those S&B or Hornady rounds as a locally available option for the Creedmoor. Particularly interested on views on the Hornady Interlocks on the receiving end, the Gamehead Pro ballistic tips do a fair bit of damage but I like that for sika, not so necessary for fallow. I was going to say I don't need copper but of course I will for Roe in UK.... .
AM_Lillycombe
Well-Known Member
The only factory loads I’ve tried for me and my Schultz and Larson victory 6.5creed 22inch:
S&B shot terrible! Massive groups.
129gr Hornady whitetail (Lead tip interlock not the new one) shot small groups out to 300m and never had a runner. Consistent expansion. Unfortunately I found it too soft on larger animals. 2700fps
129gr Hornady super performance SST (not the copper version) very accurate but inconsistent expansion. Either straight through with no expansion or cataclysmic expansion…
Currently hand loading 100gr ELD-VT for use on roe/muntjac only. Very much the same results as the super performance sst aka either no expansion or total devastation. 3188fps
I will be switching up to something around the 120gr mark next. But sticking with hand loads.
Ok so you still use lead for deer ? your 6.5 x55 is pretty much the 6.5 cm of course I doubt you will keep lead very far into the future
Thanks for that, very useful - I will try the Whitetail - I have the .30-06 165gr BTs for bigger/harder beasts. Not allowed to homeload here.
The EU moved a 5 year lead transition period for >5.6mm and 15 years for <5.6mm in December '25 "in response to pressure from member states" rather than the initially proposed 18m transition period...so another 5 years to make the move although I'd have a fair bet they will kick it down the line again! Yup I only bought the 6.5x55 barrel as it was the last new one before Merkel stopped making them, so that lightweight rifle is .30-06 and second rifle is the heavier 6.5CM - both do the same job, much easier to keep/recover the sight picture quickly with the latter which is helpful on our fallow ground which is pretty heavily wooded.
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