LukeSoutherner
Member
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.
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.