6.5 PRC Elk bullet

[7718Sallee]

Ballistically I thought the 156 Berger’s were going to be my do all but I listened to the podcast today on my drive home and Joseph recommended 127 barnes and said the Berger’s were not a good elk load due to lack of penetration. I’d like allot more info

 

[PredatorSlayer]

I'm going on a hunt in October in New Mexico, Unit 10. To say I'm excited is an understatement. I'm going to be carrying my 6.5 PRC with a 20" Bartlein barrel. I've been getting around 2830 with the Hornady factory 147 ELD-Ms with excellent accuracy. The rifle also shoots ELD-X's well, but it seems like there are many mixed opninions/experience on them for large game. I don't believe either of these to be an ideal elk bullet, and was wondering what everyone else has used with success?

My top considerations right now are partitions and accubonds, but would like to hear some experiences, positive or negative, on any of the other choices out there in this caliber. Thanks!

I have been shooting the 143 eldx in my PRC and The performance on elk, muley’s and black bears have been awesome!

 

[mzurovec]

Ballistically I thought the 156 Berger’s were going to be my do all but I listened to the podcast today on my drive home and Joseph recommended 127 barnes and said the Berger’s were not a good elk load due to lack of penetration. I’d like allot more info

I also was hopeful I could put that 156 to work. Based on what I heard on the podcast, Bergers could really be a poor choice if the shot ends up being marginal (they discussed the quartering to shot). He was concerned that the bullet in that situation would not penetrate enough tissue/bone to get to the vitals and that you'd have a very long tracking job ahead.

As somebody who has never killed an elk, I would have to think that a 156gr pill hitting an elk up close (2800 fps) would deliver enough energy to break some critical bone in that scenario. Penetration would obviously suffer compared to a bonded bullet, but it would seem to me that there is still enough going for the shot to be effective.

That said, I'm leaning toward Barnes, an Accubond, or the ELD-X. I wish there was a bonded or monolithic bullet with a decent BC in the 150gr range. If you know of one, let me know!

 

[JakeSCH]

I also was hopeful I could put that 156 to work. Based on what I heard on the podcast, Bergers could really be a poor choice if the shot ends up being marginal (they discussed the quartering to shot). He was concerned that the bullet in that situation would not penetrate enough tissue/bone to get to the vitals and that you'd have a very long tracking job ahead.

As somebody who has never killed an elk, I would have to think that a 156gr pill hitting an elk up close (2800 fps) would deliver enough energy to break some critical bone in that scenario. Penetration would obviously suffer compared to a bonded bullet, but it would seem to me that there is still enough going for the shot to be effective.

That said, I'm leaning toward Barnes, an Accubond, or the ELD-X. I wish there was a bonded or monolithic bullet with a decent BC in the 150gr range. If you know of one, let me know!

What is the twist rate of your barrel? There are other options if you have a 1-7 or a 1-7.5 twist and you hand load.

Also, what range are you looking to kill an elk? The 127 LRX is plenty to kill under 600 yards and the wind drift @ 600 yard with 10 mph wind is only 4" more than the 140 bergers EH i shoot. (my LRX accuracy node is just north of 3200 fps)

At "real" hunting ranges the BC of the LRX is plenty.

However, if you did have a faster twist barrel I would consider the 131 or 139 hammer hunters.

My recommendation is the grab the hammers or the LRX and don't over think it. They will do an excellent job.

If you really want to increase your BC, check out federals ascent bullet. They are bonded lead with a copper shank which increase the BC will allowing part of it to remain in-tact.

Buy Terminal Ascent Component Bullet for USD 79.99 | Federal Ammunition

Shopping for the Terminal Ascent Component Bullet - Learn more about the latest Terminal Ascent Component Bullet and other hunting or shooting gear at Federal Ammunition.

www.federalpremium.com

 

[WTFJohn]

I also was hopeful I could put that 156 to work. Based on what I heard on the podcast, Bergers could really be a poor choice if the shot ends up being marginal (they discussed the quartering to shot). He was concerned that the bullet in that situation would not penetrate enough tissue/bone to get to the vitals and that you'd have a very long tracking job ahead.

As somebody who has never killed an elk, I would have to think that a 156gr pill hitting an elk up close (2800 fps) would deliver enough energy to break some critical bone in that scenario. Penetration would obviously suffer compared to a bonded bullet, but it would seem to me that there is still enough going for the shot to be effective.

That said, I'm leaning toward Barnes, an Accubond, or the ELD-X. I wish there was a bonded or monolithic bullet with a decent BC in the 150gr range. If you know of one, let me know!

I put a 180gr Federal Fusion from a .300WM into the shoulder of a cow at about 20 yards and got no exit would and not so great penetration into her vitals. The shoulder was 98% destroyed, with a few chunks of core & jacket making it through. Previously I had great luck with that round on deer & elk, but I haven't bothered with it since.

ELD-X in my brothers 6.5PRC dropped a cow at 200 last year with little fuss or fanfare, this year he's switching to a Barnes 127. In the .300 above I have taken 7 or 8 animals personally with the 180 Barnes TTSX with drop-in-their-tracks results, and have watched another 1 or 2 taken with a 165gr .308 TTSX to the same result. Shot placement matters, but I'll take 127 gr getting to where it needs to through almost anything vs a 150+gr that doesn't go more than a few inches once it hits bone and fragments.

 

[mzurovec]

What is the twist rate of your barrel? There are other options if you have a 1-7 or a 1-7.5 twist and you hand load.

Also, what range are you looking to kill an elk? The 127 LRX is plenty to kill under 600 yards and the wind drift @ 600 yard with 10 mph wind is only 4" more than the 140 bergers EH i shoot. (my LRX accuracy node is just north of 3200 fps)

At "real" hunting ranges the BC of the LRX is plenty.

However, if you did have a faster twist barrel I would consider the 131 or 139 hammer hunters.

My recommendation is the grab the hammers or the LRX and don't over think it. They will do an excellent job.

If you really want to increase your BC, check out federals ascent bullet. They are bonded lead with a copper shank which increase the BC will allowing part of it to remain in-tact.

Buy Terminal Ascent Component Bullet for USD 79.99 | Federal Ammunition

Shopping for the Terminal Ascent Component Bullet - Learn more about the latest Terminal Ascent Component Bullet and other hunting or shooting gear at Federal Ammunition.

www.federalpremium.com

Twist rate is 1:8. I have been looking at the Hammers, and looks like I could get by with the 134gr with that twist.

The Terminal Ascent bullet looks promising, but nobody has them in stock anywhere that I could find.

I genuinely appreciate the feedback. Hunting the "perfect bullet" is quite a rabbit hole to go down, and it's clear there are a lot of "right" choices out there.

 

[mzurovec]

ELD-X in my brothers 6.5PRC dropped a cow at 200 last year with little fuss or fanfare, this year he's switching to a Barnes 127. In the .300 above I have taken 7 or 8 animals personally with the 180 Barnes TTSX with drop-in-their-tracks results, and have watched another 1 or 2 taken with a 165gr .308 TTSX to the same result. Shot placement matters, but I'll take 127 gr getting to where it needs to through almost anything vs a 150+gr that doesn't go more than a few inches once it hits bone and fragments.

Great feedback on the ELD-X. I am leaning towards the Barnes at this point, but need to jump on it quick!

 

[6mm Remington]

I also was hopeful I could put that 156 to work. Based on what I heard on the podcast, Bergers could really be a poor choice if the shot ends up being marginal (they discussed the quartering to shot). He was concerned that the bullet in that situation would not penetrate enough tissue/bone to get to the vitals and that you'd have a very long tracking job ahead.

As somebody who has never killed an elk, I would have to think that a 156gr pill hitting an elk up close (2800 fps) would deliver enough energy to break some critical bone in that scenario. Penetration would obviously suffer compared to a bonded bullet, but it would seem to me that there is still enough going for the shot to be effective.

That said, I'm leaning toward Barnes, an Accubond, or the ELD-X. I wish there was a bonded or monolithic bullet with a decent BC in the 150gr range. If you know of one, let me know!

120 gr. Nosler E-tip - B.C. .497
130 gr. Nosler Accubond - B.C. .488
140 gr. Nosler Accubond - B.C. .509
140 gr. Nosler Partition - B.C. .490

 

[Kenn]

Barnes has said that they were going to offer 127 grain 6.5 PRC ammo, but it still hasn’t been released. I’ve seen it listed as out of stock, but the Barnes website doesn’t list it. I want to try it but I get amazing groups with the ELD-X so no urgency. I’d like to move to a monolithic bullet if possible

 

[GreyGhostHunter]

Any bullet under 140 is too light. Anything under 160 is light but ok under 300 yards. IMO Elk are big, tough and deserve respect.

 

[Ryan Avery]

Ballistically I thought the 156 Berger’s were going to be my do all but I listened to the podcast today on my drive home and Joseph recommended 127 barnes and said the Berger’s were not a good elk load due to lack of penetration. I’d like allot more info

Anyone that thinks 156 Berger or 147 ELD-M will not penetrate on an elk is naive. A 6.5 PRC would not be my first choice for elk but we have shot quite a few with those two bullets and they have worked great from 80 yards to 715 yards.

 

[Kurts86]

The 127 LRX would be my recommendation for a 6.5mm elk bullet and even moreso on the faster 6.5mm rounds. In my experience the Barnes x bullets are a great choice when you are shooting a bullet on the light side for a given game species. The Barnes bullets also benefit from a bit higher velocity because they really need ~2,000 fps at impact to open up really well compared to 1,800 fps on more conventional lead cores bullet.

I’ve recovered 2 Barnes TTSX 6mm bullets that had 97 and 99% weight retention respectively. On paper they seem light but you also have to remember that copper is around 10-15% less dense than your typical lead core bullet so the 127 Barnes has the same volume as a 140-143gr bimetal bullet. Looking at bullet length the 143 eldx is 1.44” and the 127 LRX is 1.40”. On top of that Barnes G1 data is dead on and isn’t inflated by 10% like you see on the Hornady offerings.

My only experience with the 127 gr LRX was on a WT deer at 300 yards with a 6.5 creedmoor and the bullet did really well with a lot of internal damage.

A big advantage with mono bullets is that they perform really consistently regardless of angle of impact and the tissue type they hit. My experience with the ELD-X bullets is that you are gambling on folding up an animal dead right there or going further than you thought it should have. There is just a lot more variability to have 2 dissimilar metals and a variable mechanical interlock. For me the ELD-X is a bullet I’d feel more comfortable for elk once you get to the 200 gr 300 mag loadings and can gamble a big more on how efficiently the energy gets transferred.

 

[JakeSCH]

Anyone that thinks 156 Berger or 147 ELD-M will not penetrate on an elk is naive. A 6.5 PRC would not be my first choice for elk but we have shot quite a few with those two bullets and they have worked great from 80 yards to 715 yards.

agree about the 6.5 PRC being on the low end and we were are not arguing that those bullets will not penetrate or even work...I just wouldn’t count on them punching through elk shoulder / bone like I would a mono bullet.

It was more about not limiting shot opportunities because you may only have a single opportunity.

@Ryan Avery are you comfortable putting those two bullets through the elk shoulder or straight on if necessary?

 

[Ryan Avery]

agree about the 6.5 PRC being on the low end and we were are not arguing that those bullets will not penetrate or even work...I just wouldn’t count on them punching through elk shoulder / bone like I would a mono bullet.

It was more about not limiting shot opportunities because you may only have a single opportunity.

@Ryan Avery are you comfortable putting those two bullets through the elk shoulder or straight on if necessary?

I put a 147 through a bulls shoulder at 80 yards. It blew right through it. I have zero issue with the shoulder shot or straight on shot. Where I don’t like the the little 6.5 bullets is if something goes wrong and it’s a gut shot.


This is the bull at 80 yards. My wife broke both shoulder on a bull at 715 yards. It’s on YouTube if you want to see it.



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[jfs82]

Barnes has said that they were going to offer 127 grain 6.5 PRC ammo, but it still hasn’t been released. I’ve seen it listed as out of stock, but the Barnes website doesn’t list it. I want to try it but I get amazing groups with the ELD-X so no urgency. I’d like to move to a monolithic bullet if possible

I talked to them about a month ago and they said supply chain issues around brass are keeping them behind schedule (nosler said the exact same around their prc e tip) and they were expecting release around October now.

 

[JakeSCH]

I put a 147 through a bulls shoulder at 80 yards. It blew right through it. I have zero issue with the shoulder shot or straight on shot. Where I don’t like the the little 6.5 bullets is if something goes wrong and it’s a gut shot.

This is the bull at 80 yards. My wife broke both shoulder on a bull at 715 yards. It’s on YouTube if you want to see it.

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Good to know and thanks for sharing. Glad it worked for you both, i've just seen it go wrong with the 143 ELD-X...but your experience on elk >>>> mine and I trust what you say.

All that said, I will still be taking my 300 WM and 181 gr hammers on my elk hunts this fall. I'll save my PRC for my mule deer hunts

 

[Ryan Avery]

Good to know and thanks for sharing. Glad it worked for you both, i've just seen it go wrong with the 143 ELD-X...but your experience on elk >>>> mine and I trust what you say.

All that said, I will still be taking my 300 WM and 181 gr hammers on my elk hunts this fall. I'll save my PRC for my mule deer hunts

I would never argue that bigger is better for elk


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[Ryan Avery]

Good to know and thanks for sharing. Glad it worked for you both, i've just seen it go wrong with the 143 ELD-X...but your experience on elk >>>> mine and I trust what you say.

All that said, I will still be taking my 300 WM and 181 gr hammers on my elk hunts this fall. I'll save my PRC for my mule deer hunts

Sidenote, from what I’ve seen from the ELD-X I would choose the ELD-M over them.


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[mzurovec]

Lots of good stuff to go through here. I've enjoyed all the helpful responses!

 

[AaronPage]

No mention of the 156 Berger?

Was thinking the same thing.