6.5 bullets

[clintbailey]

I'm fixing to start loading for a 6.5-06 my dad gave me a while back. I put a 4-16 Vortex PST on it and have got it sighted in pretty good with some 129 grain Hornady SP's that came with rifle.

Thinking about trying some 120/123 gr SMK's, just wasn't sure about how they would perform for hunting. Looking for a bullet that will do good for both hunting and long range, though I'm sure there's not one perfect for both at same time. Probably be hunting coyotes mainly, but want something that will work for deer as well. Any suggestions would be great! Thanks Clint

 

[F16mickey]

generally I'm not a huge fan of the Nosler ballistic tips for deer. but its sounds like they may work for what you intend to do.

 

[dennishoddy]

Coyotes don't take a lot of bullet to kill them.
I'd find a bullet that will take the big game your targeting and use the same on coyotes.

I'm pretty sold on the monolithic bullets out now for about anything. Started out with the Barnes MZ copper rounds, and had great luck with them, recovering several bullets that mushroomed perfectly, and retained 100% of their weight.

Lately, I've been using the Barnes in Center fire rounds for deer and elk. BOOM! Down!

 

[MoBoost]

I've head good luck with 129 SST in 6.5x55 and 6.5x47L

SMK and A-Max are not recommended for hunting. I've taken a doe at 360 yards with A-Max and it punched a golf-ball through the boiler; expansion was obviously instant. I also shot a bob-cat from 60 yards - and again the expansion was instant. I personally wouldn't recommend it for meat hunting.

 

[ASP785]

For Coyotes, the SMK's are just fine. The jacket will typically shred itself and the lead core will usually upset making quick work out of any varmint. Most of my shots are 300+ yards out of a 260 Rem so closer shots may vary in performance. I usually use the 142 SMK's. As others have said, its the deer that you will have problems with. Penetration is just not reliable enough to hunt dear with the SMKs. Can it be done? Sure, its just when I hunt deer I want something that won't shred it jacket and penetrate unreliably. I think your best bet would be Berger's hunting round. I have not used it in .264 bore diameter but the .30 caliber hunting round has worked well for me on deer sized game. It is designed for hunting while still having a high BC for longer range shots.

 

[clintbailey]

Thanks guys. I've got so I rarely rifle hunt for deer, Black Kettle is just too crowded for me usually. So I thought about trying the 95 gr VMax, which should be pretty fast out of this rifle, for coyotes as the guys with the 6.5 Grendels all love that bullet. I'm wondering if the extra velocity will make up for lower BC at longer ranges, not counting the extra wind drift on this lighter bullet.

 

[Huckelberry75]

The 6.5-06 is already a bit of a barrel burner, zipping a 95 vmax at hot velocities will only speed this up. The 6.5-06 is a great cartridge, for multi purpose, look at either the 123 Amax or 130gn Berger VLD-H. You should be able to run them at about 3000fps without much trouble. Just tune the seating depth and then tune your powder charge..or do that in reverse, either way has worked for me.