6.5x55 Terminal Ballistics

[LukeSoutherner]

Right, I'm sorry if this has been covered before but I'm confused!

I've got a very nice Mauser M03 in 6.5x55. Accuracy at 100m with 45.5gr H4831 and 140gr Nosler Partition is about 3/4". Good enough for stalking. The rifle is great.

Been up in Scotland for the past week for 3 days of stalking stags and a hind today (lucky me!). All 4 red deer died, but nothing like when I've taken my .308 up in the past. Exit wounds have been not as expansive as I was expecting, and with the hind today the bullet simply did not expand. This may have been in part my fault as the hind was in between 3/4 and broadside on, and I aimed too far forward. Bullet went in front chest, went through one lung, and out of rib cage. Poor thing ran about 300-400m before dying. ****ed off with myself for that.

Before I went I chrono'd rounds, but the chronograph was shot by another member of my club (!), and so I don't trust it's accuracy. With a specific load of 48gr, it gave a 200fps spread and my reloading is normally around the 20fps spread mark! Going to try a different chrono in the next couple of weeks to get an accurate speed to the bullet.

With the .308 last year the stags were visibility struck down by the bullet imparting a lot of its energy to the deer. This time wth the 6.5x55 the deer ran on even with good shots to bloth ungs and heart (albeit 50 yards), and weren't knocked down as they were last year. Should I try a light bullet going faster? I feel like it's not imparting enough energy to the animal, which is what I'm after.

What's going on?? Any advice or experience would be much appreciated. I want a load that will knock deer down and cause massive internal damage for the fastest possible kill with this round. I hate seeing them suffer.

 

[Wills]

A .270 will solve your problems Ive used Remington premier accutip, federal game kings and Winchester silver tips all to devastating effects.

I can relate to this with the hind and 6.5x55, although all mine have keeled over in 50 metres, this was with federal fashions I was given when I bought the rifle. Those rounds are quite hard and have been using SSTs since but not taken a hind yet with them; I will this season.

 

[ejg]

All deer I saw being shot with the 6.5x55 all ran away. It certainly is not a 308. Although I must say it was mainly due to wrong choice of bullets/load. All who favour the 6.5 all mention penetration, not much good if you are shooting a small deer.
I have no time for the Swede.
edi

 

[I. Farticus]

On reds, I'll be going heavier with a 156gr round than my usual 140gr SST

 

[Benji53]

Get a .243 problem solved

 

[Mungo]

6.5x55 is a marginal cartridge on larger bodied animals unless you know what you're doing with hand loads.

Seen more runners with it than with any other cartridge, by an order of magnitude.

People like to use it because they feel it carries a certain connoisseurs cachet.

Really not a round to be used without extensive testing and load development - and, frankly, life is too short.

I suppose it's the same sort of argument as Landrover v Toyota. One is boring and soulless, but works reliably out of the box without any thought. The other has mythology and romance, but requires great personal dedication and knowledge.

The mistake that people make is to think the logic works the other way: 6.5x55 is used by some of the best and most effective, therefore if I use it, I shall become equally good. Wrong: they use it because they know enough to make it work. But you can be just as effective, with far less knowledge and experience, by using something else. Needless to say, this irritates the reloading geeks.

 

[willie_gunn]

The only time I've shot with a 6.5x55 was with a borrowed rifle and factory loads when I went moose hunting, for which it is a popular caliber apparently.

It seemed to do the job more than adequately.

I had no idea I was a connoisseur!

 

[Selous]

Lots of information on here

http://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/6.5x55.html

the partition bullet you used is rather well thought of by the author

 

[willie_gunn]

Oh, and if it makes you feel any better, I've had both red deer and muntjac run after being well hit by a 150gr .308

Deer, it seems, don't read the ballistic manuals.

 

[Hanechdene]

If an animal runs after being shot it is to greater or lesser extent to the amount of adrenaline and bullet placement.

If the bullet is placed through the top of the heart or immediately above it, the animal will either drop on the spot or move only a few paces.

 

[sauer]

If you hand load and your rifle is a modern made item then use the SKAN data I'm told.

Paul

 

[.25-06]

If the bullet is placed through the top of the heart or immediately above it, the animal will either drop on the spot or move only a few paces.

Not every deer reads and abides by that one Sika seem to raise an eyebrow and I'm sure can be heard to say 'not likely' as they prance off.

I've found the older Barnes bullets made a hole and inflicted terminal damage but nothing ever fell over straight over. Nosler ballistic tips seem to leave a red haze drifting in the sunshine somewhere between the two lies perfection. I know someone had a recent run of good luck using 150 grn at the stags they fell in their shadow.

 

[Tom D]

Sounds like you need a softer bullet. The narrower (smaller caliber) you make a bullet for any given weight the further it will penetrate assuming it is of the same construction, however since most deer rifles will produce exits on all but the largest animals the more penetration you have the more energy is wasted on the ground behind the deer. You can counter this by using a fatter bullet which obviously means changing caliber or by using a softer bullet which will expand faster and dump more energy inside the beast before it exits. Its pretty simple really. One reason why the 6.5 may drop a moose better than it drops a roe. The amount of resistance the bullet meets is affected by the size of the animal, and wether you hit bone. So for lighter animals use a softer bullet, or push it much faster... The 6.5 should be more than capable of giving you the instant poll axe if you use a softer bullet or possibly a lighter one pushed faster. Vmax anyone?

 

[LukeSoutherner]

Thanks for all your responses. Very helpful.

Sounds like you need a softer bullet. The narrower (smaller caliber) you make a bullet for any given weight the further it will penetrate assuming it is of the same construction, however since most deer rifles will produce exits on all but the largest animals the more penetration you have the more energy is wasted on the ground behind the deer. You can counter this by using a fatter bullet which obviously means changing caliber or by using a softer bullet which will expand faster and dump more energy inside the beast before it exits. Its pretty simple really. One reason why the 6.5 may drop a moose better than it drops a roe. The amount of resistance the bullet meets is affected by the size of the animal, and wether you hit bone. So for lighter animals use a softer bullet, or push it much faster... The 6.5 should be more than capable of giving you the instant poll axe if you use a softer bullet or possibly a lighter one pushed faster. Vmax anyone?

This is similar to what I was thinking, especially since 6.5 bullets are considered 'long for calibre' compared to other calibers. So, I'm thinking that a lighter, and so shorter bullet, will be slowed more by the impact on tissue, and hence expand more effectively. Not sure how to find a 'softer bullet', as I thought using soft point bullets was the way to do this. Thinking ballistic tipped heads might be better. People do talked about the Amax as being effective...

Seen more runners with it than with any other cartridge, by an order of magnitude.

Not the first time I've read that.

thepartition bullet you used is rather well thought of by the author

That's exactly why I chose the Nosler Partition in the first place after reading that article. However, my anecdotal data does not coincide with his!

Deer,it seems, don't read the ballistic manuals.

If only...

 

[Tom D]

The new Hornady 143gn ELDX might be worth a try, that or the nosler BT.

 

[takbok]

Don't know much about the 6.5x55 but I would try some conventional 120gr softpoints at a high velocity. Wont be far off a 130gr load from a .270 then.

If you want to spend a bit more then I think Barnes does a 100gr TSX. This, driven as fast as you can, should be good.

 

[LukeSoutherner]

Thanks...will have a look. Availability can be an issue but I'll have a search near me (West Yorks).

Thinking about it, people might slag off 6.5x55, but why do people rave about 6.5x47, and .260? Once the bullet leaves the barrel, it doesn't matter what the original case was in as much as the bullet ballistics are found from the speed and bullet weight. So, there must be a way of getting a good expansion on these bullets otherwise 6.5mm would never have taken off. Might just need to sort out the speed.

Will have a look at 120gr soft points - this is my next idea - lighter bullets going faster. 100gr TSX might be worth a look too.

 

[Tarvie]

Bullet placement, bullet placement and bullet placement! Have just come back from Perthshire and shot 4 stags using my Sako 75 Swede with 140grain Norma Nosler partitions doing 2,600fps and all dropped on the spot. Used to use 140gr Federal powershock and chronoed those at between 2,450 and 2,500 fps but the stags still seemed to go down ok. The swede isn't a magic calibre but you do need to understand it- as said it has great penetration so if you push lighter bullets too fast it will just pencil through. I personally don't like 120g bullets because its easy to drive them too fast. 140 grain at moderate speed 2,600-700 seems optimum and 140 gr partition or Sierra Game Kings are great.

 

[dave 67]

I have shot red,roe and muntjac deer with a 6.5x55 using 129gn SST, 120gn Nosler BT and 156gn Lapua Mega , I have had drop on the spot kills and also runners, distance made no difference the only thing that did is as stated before bullet placement.
I am of the opinion that if you hit the heart you are more likely to not have a runner, 2 inches back and clip both lungs it's dead but will run until blood loss causes it to collapse.

 

[Tom D]

Bullet placement, bullet placement and bullet placement! Have just come back from Perthshire and shot 4 stags using my Sako 75 Swede with 140grain Norma Nosler partitions doing 2,600fps and all dropped on the spot. Used to use 140gr Federal powershock and chronoed those at between 2,450 and 2,500 fps but the stags still seemed to go down ok. The swede isn't a magic calibre but you do need to understand it- as said it has great penetration so if you push lighter bullets too fast it will just pencil through. I personally don't like 120g bullets because its easy to drive them too fast. 140 grain at moderate speed 2,600-700 seems optimum and 140 gr partition or Sierra Game Kings are great.

Sorry but it's the complete opposite, a light bullet pushed too fast will blow up, possibly without reaching the vitals. Slow bullets are far more likely to pencil as they lack the impact velocity to open them up. Following your logic the 204 Ruger would be the perfect Cape buffalo round.
Bullet choice is a compromise between expansion and penetration, velocity increases expansion and reduces penetration, (due to the increased expansion). So you want enough velocity to give expansion but enough weight to give adequate penetration. Then you have bullet construction to take into account. A really soft bullet, Vmax for example, fired at high velocity at a large animal may explode in the first 6 inches of flesh and fail to reach the vitals. Fire the same bullet at the same velocity at a small animal and you could blow it to bits. Fire that bullet at a medium sized animal and it might be perfect.. you need to match the calibre, velocity, and bullet to the game that you are looking for.

This is an age old conundrum, it is what spawned the 'premium' bullets like the Nosler partitions. A soft front half mated with a solid rear half, this is supposed to give you the best of both worlds; rapid expansion for lighter animals and deep penetration for heavier game....