Looking for pass through

[HANGum HIGH]

The ELDX is just a new sleek SST with a fancy tip. They blow up just like SST. I stopped using both for big game, good bullets for coyotes

And I've used both eldx and SSTs and have had zero issues. Every animal has been recovered. One went a little far but that was 100% on my shot placement. SST dropped 2 cow elk in their tracks. I will continue to use them.

 

[Ga6570]

I have taken almost a dozen deer with various bullets in a 6.5 sweede but none have left an exit hole. All shots have been sub 350 yds broadside type shots. All deer did the same thing and die, but there was little to no blood trail. I am wanting to find a bullet that will give me an entrance and exit hole on whitetail. What bullets should I consider? I have shot sst, eld-x

Pick up some 127gr LRX by Barnes, they will do it.

 

[Panhandle Pete]

I have taken almost a dozen deer with various bullets in a 6.5 sweede but none have left an exit hole. All shots have been sub 350 yds broadside type shots. All deer did the same thing and die, but there was little to no blood trail. I am wanting to find a bullet that will give me an entrance and exit hole on whitetail. What bullets should I consider? I have shot sst, eld-x

I have taken almost a dozen deer with various bullets in a 6.5 sweede but none have left an exit hole. All shots have been sub 350 yds broadside type shots. All deer did the same thing and die, but there was little to no blood trail. I am wanting to find a bullet that will give me an entrance and exit hole on whitetail. What bullets should I consider? I have shot sst, eld-x

I have taken almost a dozen deer with various bullets in a 6.5 sweede but none have left an exit hole. All shots have been sub 350 yds broadside type shots. All deer did the same thing and die, but there was little to no blood trail. I am wanting to find a bullet that will give me an entrance and exit hole on whitetail. What bullets should I consider? I have shot sst, eld-x

I have shot quite a few antelope,deer and elk with Nosler Accu Bond and Partition bullets, I have found that on pass thru shots it depends on the range, thus velocity, I have had complete pass thru on an elk at 360 yards and had them stop just under the offside on a 35 yard broadside mule deer.

 

[nwhunter]

I have shot mule deer and blacktail deer with various 6.5s, 6.5x257, 6.5x55, 6.5x06, 264-win mag, range from 50-500 yards, all with various 140 grain loads and never recovered a single bullet over the past 56 years. I think most were probably old style Speer.
But as several have mentioned, Hammer bullets would surely fully penetrate a whitetail deer.
The deer I killed this year was with a 186 grain hammer from a 338/06. My only complaint would be very little blood on exit side, the exit hole looked like it had been shot with a 338 wadcutter. But it dropped dead where it was shot.

 

[DCBenn88]

I have taken almost a dozen deer with various bullets in a 6.5 sweede but none have left an exit hole. All shots have been sub 350 yds broadside type shots. All deer did the same thing and die, but there was little to no blood trail. I am wanting to find a bullet that will give me an entrance and exit hole on whitetail. What bullets should I consider? I have shot sst, eld-x

I have to say I am shocked to hear this. I have been shooting a Swede for the past 22 years and have used just about every bullet that has been made and always get a pass through, that includes Elk. What kind of ammunition are you using currently? What region do you hunt as well? Shot placement?

 

[hmbleservant]

This is easy. Shoot the TTSX (or perhaps the GMX). These are 100% weight retention bullets. The 120gr WILL (except for the most extreme shot angles/game sizes) exit WITH velocity leaving great exit wounds. Aim at the lower third for the best blood trails. Watch your beyond your target though, I've seen these bullets kill 2 deer at same time 65 yards apart, LOL.

Another tip or 2. The heavier the bullet the better the penetration, but the less emphatic the kill. Most agree to match the bullet weight to the target, so perhaps a 120gr for awesome penetration exit wounds, but 100gr for enough to exit on the smallest deer and dump a ton of energy in the animal.

Hammer bullets are great bullets from most accounts, however they are not designed to be 100% weight retention bullets. They do lose weight and therefore don't penetrate as deep, however they do provide a good balance of pentration and particularly emphatic kills to to there fragmenting design. Many see these as "the best of both worlds", however if it's truly penetration you are after then look mo further than the heaviest ttsx/gmx (a few other 100% weight retention solid copper designs oit there also).

Also, note that these bullets don't expand at as low of velocities as the eld/berger bullets so check your min expansion velocities and respect your limits (still easily reach out a few hundred yards). The hammer bullets expand at lower velocities (ask the forum here for numbers I don't have) once again helping them with their slreputation of a good do-it-all design.

There are a lot of other middle of the road premium bullets that will exit 90+% of the time FYI (nosler partition, trophy bonded, swift a frame, etc.) But the solids are king here. Point is you have been shooting about the softest deer hunting bullets there are, so plenty of room to grow (in penetration).

For what it is worth I like the heavy eldm bullets very much as a good compromise for max range and slow cartridges on small game up close. 147 eldm in creed. But if I want to guarantee exits then that's when the 120gmx/ttsx come out.

Hope this all helps.

 

[Solomon]

I have taken almost a dozen deer with various bullets in a 6.5 sweede but none have left an exit hole. All shots have been sub 350 yds broadside type shots. All deer did the same thing and die, but there was little to no blood trail. I am wanting to find a bullet that will give me an entrance and exit hole on whitetail. What bullets should I consider? I have shot sst, eld-x

A good old nosler partition will punch all of the way through

 

[FEENIX]

I suspect you are recommending the plain Accubonds, not the Accubond Long Range flavor. In my experience the AB's outperform the ABLR's on the business end.

You are correct, the NABs, not the NABLR.

 

[javman]

I have taken almost a dozen deer with various bullets in a 6.5 sweede but none have left an exit hole. All shots have been sub 350 yds broadside type shots. All deer did the same thing and die, but there was little to no blood trail. I am wanting to find a bullet that will give me an entrance and exit hole on whitetail. What bullets should I consider? I have shot sst, eld-x

Scenars!!! Never look back!!!

 

[Raudy707]

Two holes in a boat always sinks faster than a boat with one. I agree with you on liking pass throughs for blood trails...if needed. Since 1990 I've shot Partition's and Accubonds. 60+ deer, 100 hogs, half dozen elk. Recovered 3 bullets. 25-06, 270 and 300 wm. Now I have some uber cool high BC bullets and 75% I'm recovering frag or jackets. Animals are still dead. I also shoot Hammers and E-Tip and LRX bullets in certain cartridges. 100% pass through but limited sample size maybe 8 or 10 animals. All dead and recovered. The placement is key as always, but even more so with the cup and core high bc bullets. If you want to plow through shoulders a Partition, Trophy Bonded Tip or Mono-metals will do the trick. Good luck.

 

[skipglo]

Barnes TTSX is what you seek young Jedi. I have a collection of "recovered" bullets which are Swift A-Frames, Hornady Interlocks, and Nosler Partitions. I have no Barnes Bullets in that collection, never recovered one. Everything I shot with them were recovered quickly with no tracking.

X2

 

[greenejc]

I have taken almost a dozen deer with various bullets in a 6.5 sweede but none have left an exit hole. All shots have been sub 350 yds broadside type shots. All deer did the same thing and die, but there was little to no blood trail. I am wanting to find a bullet that will give me an entrance and exit hole on whitetail. What bullets should I consider? I have shot sst, eld-x

What bullet weights are you shooting?

 

[Chas1]

Core-lokt will do the trick.

 

[greenejc]

If I go with a mono style bullet should I drop to the 120's to keep the speed up? If I stick with a more traditional bonded bullet are the 140 class bullets going to give me the results I'm looking for? The only downfall to the swede or any mid caliber 6.5 is the lack of speed obtained for the terminal results I'm looking for.

Go with the 140's and your sectional density will be better. You can launch them from the Swede (56.5X55? ) at around 2750fps or faster (look for European data for this round because the SAAMI data is lower pressure, I believe) but the B.C. is higher than most lower weight bullets. The mass and sd of the bullet will give it much better penetration with any type or flavor of bullet. Chas 1 is right, too. Core-lokt will do the trick.