Hey 6.5 guys

[STI]

You will be fine with both your rifle and load as long as you practice with it at longer ranges. If you can hit a target the size of an "A4 Page" at 600 then you will be "minute of chamois" I would also suggest 500 yards is a long shot from personal experience in the area

 

[toddcox35]

Im thinking of hunting elk this year with my 6.5 creed. Ruger American I've been shooting sierra game kings sbt 140. And they are pretty solid groups at 100. I'm using superformance powder 46.2 gr. And CCi primers. 2800 fps @4500' elevation

 

[WildRose]

Have an invite for deer and chamoix in NEW ZEALAND. I believe my husky 6.5 swede mauser is gonna take the flight with me. I have been shooting 140 game kings and 140 sst's with fantastic results as far as accuracy .25 moa or better! @ 2650fps (book) I have not fired on game at more than 350yards . The ph says 500 yard shots on deer and chamoix all day. I see the bergers vld's have a .612 bc . Wont be headed down under for months so i have load development and practice time. If any of the experienced 6.5 long range hunters would care to share their thoughts , i would greatly appreciate it.

I'm not bg on the Berger's even though I think they are made by great people.

The Hornady Interbond is the best, most consistent lead core hunting bullet I've tried over the last thirty years or so and the Nosler Accubond is a very close second.

Last year started shooting the Peregrine VRG4 and VLR's, a solid red copper bullet with a brass plunger and used them on a pile of deer and hogs including some very big hogs in my .260 Rem's.

I have yet to have one fail to expand at any range and even at very close rang they do not separate and will not break apart. Due to differences in density the monometal bullets cannot match the BC of similarly shaped lead core bullets but the difference is negligible out to at least 600yds as most people and most weapons aren't capable of shooting any better than the bullet is capable of.

I shot a truck load of the 132gr but have some 140's and hopefully more on the way soon. If you are capable of putting it where it belongs they will not fail you.

 

[shooter7]

You'll be fine running a 140gr hunting bullet at 2600+. In my experience, albeit fairly limited, bergers are not the best hunting bullet in lighter cartridges. Yes they shoot great and have high bc's but don't necessarily perform well in all circumstances.

I have killed 3 animals with my 260rem that I had built last year. First was an elk. I'll probably never shoot one again with it. He stood there and soaked up 2 shots at 65 yards. Third shot I broke his neck.

Second animal was a Corsican ram on a Texas ranch hunt. He was facing me and I hit him just a hair right of dead center in his chest. He crumpled only to get up 5 seconds later. He stood broadside and then I hit him somewhere just below the spine. He ran off into the brush never to be seen again. Tracked the poor creature for 600 yards through the cactus and brush, (an experience I hope to never relive).

Third was a Texas Dall. 35 yards broadside. Center punched thru both shoulders. I wasn't gonna make a 500 dollar mistake twice.

Bergers are super destructive out of my 300wm though. I'll never shoot anything smaller than an elk with it unless I absolutely have to. Almost tore my muley buck in half last year.

I'm gonna side with WildRose and say just use a good, accurate, hunting bullet and send it.

 

[codyadams]

You'll be fine running a 140gr hunting bullet at 2600+. In my experience, albeit fairly limited, bergers are not the best hunting bullet in lighter cartridges. Yes they shoot great and have high bc's but don't necessarily perform well in all circumstances.

I have killed 3 animals with my 260rem that I had built last year. First was an elk. I'll probably never shoot one again with it. He stood there and soaked up 2 shots at 65 yards. Third shot I broke his neck.

Second animal was a Corsican ram on a Texas ranch hunt. He was facing me and I hit him just a hair right of dead center in his chest. He crumpled only to get up 5 seconds later. He stood broadside and then I hit him somewhere just below the spine. He ran off into the brush never to be seen again. Tracked the poor creature for 600 yards through the cactus and brush, (an experience I hope to never relive).

Third was a Texas Dall. 35 yards broadside. Center punched thru both shoulders. I wasn't gonna make a 500 dollar mistake twice.

Bergers are super destructive out of my 300wm though. I'll never shoot anything smaller than an elk with it unless I absolutely have to. Almost tore my muley buck in half last year.

I'm gonna side with WildRose and say just use a good, accurate, hunting bullet and send it.

I will say that I have seen elk soak up 3 hits with a 300 win mag at pretty close range and act nearly unphased, and take over a minute to go down...elk are just tough creatures. I hear sheep can be too, though I have no experience. I have also seen them get hit with a 130 grain out of a .270 and drop in their tracks, both with similar hunting bullets. Not trying to denote your experience at all, but sometimes strange things just happen in hunting scenarios. I have had good experience with my Bergers while hunting, but then again I have only shot one animal under 440 yards with them, and my farthest was 925. The one close shot was a doe mule deer at 80 yards with a 185 VLD out of a .308 going 2650. But, performance on that animal was good. The farther shots was out of a .260 AI.

 

[shooter7]

I know what you mean codyadams. My first elk was a cow that I shot at 297 yards. I was using a 7mm rem mag with berger 168 classics moving about 2950 from the muzzle. She took three hits before she fell over. Everything in front of the diaphragm was jelly. She just didn't want to go down.

In my opinion, bergers are a drug. They shoot so good I just can't quit em.

 

[timmay]

Lots of good advice already about bullet selection but Id just like to add one more that gets overlooked. The Speer BTSP. Its a very good hunting bullet for long range deer. Every rifle I have shoots these very accurately and they have the perfect medium/stout construction for a long range hunting bullet. Not too hard that it won't open and not too soft to where you get blow ups on short range shots.
Also mentioned the ELD-X and also the ELD-M great long range hunting bullets.
You mentioned the Burger VLD and thats another excellent choice.

 

[Cleveland48]

I think very highly of the 140 Sierra Gamekings. They have worked great for me in a 6.5 CM, 260 Rem, and 6.5x55. Good luck with the 140 Speer Hot-Cor also. This deer season I'll be using the 120 TTSX. They shoot amazing, but little worried they may be too tough for our deer. This is my first time using a mono bullet. With RL 16 it's running 2900 fps through my 24" barrel. So I'm hoping expansion won't be a problem, but if it is I have the old faithful Gamekings for a back up.

 

[MTSLW]

You really can't go wrong with the 140 game kings. I've killed a half dozen deer and elk with them out of my .270.
All of the bullets mentioned will do the trick. One more you could try is the Berger 130 AR Hybrid. I used them in New Zealand on a tahr and Chamois earlier this year and was impressed. Also they have a .56 BC.
I was shooting a tikka in a 6.5 Swede wildcat so they were moving at about 2990 in my 20" barrel. Grouped sub .5" were easy to load for.

 

[SouthTXBowhunter]

Lots of great advice, so far. I prefer the Berger HVLD's normally but my new custom 6.5CM is shooting factory 140gr Eldx consistently right at .35moa. Lol! Not sure why I need to hand load any more. LoL! Nonetheless, I was playing with some Nosler Ballistic Tip 140's in my wife's Savage 10/110 Predator Hunter 6.5CM and I had them shooting under .4moa at 2825fps with 43gr of H4350 in Lapua small primer brass. I don't know how many whitetail and hogs we've killed with those same BT's out of factory ammo over the past few years, before I started loading for her. At least out to 350yds (her max comfort zone) the terminal performance was terrific and it's hard to argue with that accuracy.

I did see that Berger is testing 155gr Elite Hunters in 6.5mm. Those would be awesome in that Swede, if they came out in time. Just FYI

 

[Zen Archery]

For deer at that distance I would use the Berger VLD Hunter.
But run data through a ballistic calculator to make sure you are getting the ft.lbf of energy you are wanting for 500 yards.
If you're Hornady SSTs are producing desirable energy at 500 yards I would not switch for deer sized animals.