6mm /.243 hunting success on Big Game

Unckebob

WKR
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Aug 21, 2022
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949
Which ballistic tip? I’ve had exits in elk with the 95


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90g Ballistic Tip out of factory Nosler ammo. One shot into the boiler room and that Axis deer was not going to last long. Her insides were goo and she didn't last long. Bust, she did bound off before expiring.

If I was hunting in West Texas again, I would definitely consider it for a whitetail hunt.

In terms of woodsmanship, I would give myself a low C. I'll be by myself with nobody to help me track the animal in unfamiliar woods.

Plan A: high shoulder shot, I can find some sort of rest and a good shot.
Plan B: if I have to shoot offhand ill I aim such that I have the most margin of error.

In either instance, I want a pass through 100% of the time to help me with the tracking. If I get lucky and get one in close, it could be less than 50 yards. I am worried a softer bullet traveling 3000fps with grenade in the vitals or shatter if I hit the shoulder.
 
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amassi

WKR
Joined
May 26, 2018
Messages
3,658
90g Ballistic Tip out of factory Nosler ammo. One shot into the boiler room and that Axis deer was not going to last long. Her insides were goo and she didn't last long. Bust, she did bound off before
If I was hunting in West Texas again, I would definitely consider it for a whitetail hunt.

In terms of woodmanship, I would give myself a low C. I'll be by myself with nobody to help me track the animal in unfamiliar woods.

Plan A: high shoulder shot, I can find some sort of rest and a good shot.
Plan B: if I have to shoot offhand ill I aim such that I have the most margin of error.

In either instance, I want a pass through 100% of the time to help me with the tracking. If I get lucky and get one in close, it could be less than 50 yards. I am worried a softer bullet traveling 3000fps with grenade in the vitals or shatter if I hit the shoulder.

The 95 grain ballistic tip and 95 gr combined technology are tougher bullets than the 90. Designed for elk hunting with 6mm.

The partition is also never the wrong answer, front half trauma back half penetration. Doubt you can catch one in an axis.
 

eric1115

WKR
Joined
Jun 26, 2018
Messages
602
108 eldm at about 2400 fps on a couple of mulie does last night (side note, youth doe hunts with multiple kids, suppressor is an absolute game changer in terms of being able to harvest more than one deer out of a group)

Both deer ran about 30-35 yards, died 20 feet away from each other. Both were good shots, one grazed the top of the heart and the other was just above it.

Blood trails were present but not dramatic. Both bullets exited, both chest cavities were full of chunky soup.

Very impressed with this bullet so far, and the suppressed 6mm ARC is an amazingly kid friendly delivery system.
 
Joined
Oct 14, 2023
Messages
993
Location
Houston (adjacent) TX
I
108 eldm at about 2400 fps on a couple of mulie does last night (side note, youth doe hunts with multiple kids, suppressor is an absolute game changer in terms of being able to harvest more than one deer out of a group)

Both deer ran about 30-35 yards, died 20 feet away from each other. Both were good shots, one grazed the top of the heart and the other was just above it.

Blood trails were present but not dramatic. Both bullets exited, both chest cavities were full of chunky soup.

Very impressed with this bullet so far, and the suppressed 6mm ARC is an amazingly kid friendly delivery system.
have a buddy that’s been whacking deer left and right with it and that’s why I’m building a 6cm for the wife and daughter to shoot.
 

eric1115

WKR
Joined
Jun 26, 2018
Messages
602
What are shooting the 6 ARC in?
Howa Mini. I chopped the stock front and back, built up a vert grip and thumb shelf with epoxy putty, worked on the trigger, cut down the 5 round mag to be a flush fit 3, etc. Fair bit of work to make it what I wanted, but very happy with it now. I have a post on here somewhere with the work I did to it.
 

Adluginb

FNG
Joined
Feb 7, 2020
Messages
1
90 grain ELDX at roughly 2900 FPS impact velocity, delivered via my trusty .243 Montana. Buck was walking at me in long grass, bullet entered base of neck slightly right of center, exit was explosive out the opposite side...bullet gave the buck a buzzcut right down the spine after exiting. Bang flop.
What distance?
 

SloppyJ

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Joined
Feb 24, 2023
Messages
907
Advice needed: I am going on a hunt in two weeks in a heavily wooded bottomland where shots will be under 100 yards. Understanding that (1) I will not get to scout until the night before the hunt, (2) my tracking skills are mediocre at best, and (3 a shot animal could end be very difficult to find, I want to do my best to anchor a shot deer as much as possible. Range will be under 100 yards. I 100% want an exit wound for tracking.

A few years ago, I took an Axis doe at 87yds using my 243 and a Nosler Ballistic Tip. Her chest cavity ended up like soup, but she didn't bleed a drop and ran about 30 yards.

Understanding I don't want a pencil hole either, I am trying to decide on ammo.

Options:
  • Hornady Outfitter 80g CX copper bullet
  • various soft points or tipped bullets like the SST
  • something bonded like the Federal Fusion (maybe)
Knowing I need an exit wound, which style bullet should I use?

Do you want to be picky about a shot? IMO if you're looking pass through, go for a double lung. With that said, it's going to run. I had a shoulder/heart shot on a buck this weekend and he dropped. Shot a doe 10min later a tad high and got both lungs. She ran 50yds and crashed. This was with a muzzleloader though.

I've never had a problem with a soft point bullet and a double lung shot. Often it's baseball size holes on the exit side. That's probably what I would recommend. This is coming from a guy who doesn't have much western experience but all I do is hunt the thick timber. You might get lucky and when that bullet fragments, it could take out part of the heart. I'm assuming this is for deer, if it's for elk, i'd be going with the bonded or copper bullets. That's just my opinion.
 
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Mar 6, 2016
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Pig and yote this weekend, 6CM doing work. Both shot at 100 yards or so. 1” exit on the pig, didn’t pay much attention to the yote.


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Spoonbill

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Jan 15, 2020
Messages
713
I’m researching and laying the ground work for a 2023 Tikka semi-custom in 6mm-06. Attached are a couple of handload tables I located online. I’m planning on a 24”, 1:7 barrel to stabilize the 95 grain and above 6mm bullets, and especially interested in the 115 grain Berger VLD.
Did you ever build a 6-06 on a tikka? If so did you run into any issues with mag length?
 
Joined
Mar 16, 2021
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Location
Western Iowa
Did you ever build a 6-06 on a tikka? If so did you run into any issues with mag length?
I've decided to go with .25-06AI. The published max cartridge length for Tikka LA mag is 3.34". I tested mag length restrictions with 134 ELDMs when creating a dummy round. SAAMI for .25-06 is 3.25" max COAL, and I was able to seat the 134 from 3.2905-3.30" without any Tikka mag length or action issues. Any longer than that and the tips would snag on the action occassionally, and that's not something I want to happen in the heat of the moment. PBB will throat the .25-06AI chamber to accept the 134's just off the lands.

I'm not sure how long the 6mm 110 or 115 are, but I'm able to seat the .257 115 Nosler BT in my factory barrel just off the lands at 3.216" COAL.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2020
Messages
644
Whitetail buck shot at 40 yards. 6 creed/ 108 eldm 2756 mv. No exit, slowly trotted about 40 yards. Very good blood trail. Almost 100% liver shot
 

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Joined
Aug 10, 2015
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I don't have a kill yet to share, but we did a fun little test today. Basically, I made a 2.5 gallon bag of Jell-O and stuck an elk shoulder blade in there.

This is not Form's special CIA Jell-O, just regular Walmart Jell-O in a bag. I'm aware it probably has some limitations of translation to flesh.

At 270 yards, I set out an archery target and on top I propped up the bag of Jell-O with a couple gallon jugs of water. I laid out some tape on the bag to mark the primary axis of the the bone.

My intention was the center punch the thickest part of bone between the joint and blade end.

At the shot, I watched the bag absolutely explode. The blast radius was several feet wide with the bone end being 6-8 feet away from where the blade fell. I was able to recover some of the jacket and a small bit of lead from one of the gallon jugs. Also recovered from the jug was the fragment of bone shown in the blue cap.

The rifle is an old Ruger .243, I believe the twist is 1:10. We were shooting factory Hornady 90gr ELD-X. The fragments weighed 29.5gr on my cheapo Lyman scale.

My lady has a cow elk tag for our fourth rifle season and will be carrying this rifle. Hopefully we get a chance to add another data point here.
 

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CTXhunter

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Feb 3, 2021
Messages
135
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Texas buck, 200 yards. 108 ELDM out of a 16” 6ARC. Both lungs were complete jelly, barely nicked top of the heart. Went 40 yards, paused, went down in sight. Caliber sized entry, golf ball exit. Pretty cool to watch the impact at 200 with the mild (and heavy) 6ARC
 
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