Which 6.5 bullet for elk?

Starting to get supplies gathered to start loading for my 6.5x284. Trying to figure out what bullet to start with for developing a good elk/mulie load. Was narrowing it down to either the 142g ELD-X or the 140g Berger Hybrid. Am a little partial to the Berger after shooting a back bear this year with a 30 Nosler and 215 Hybrids after seeing what a great job they did. Any helpful insight would be great, and trying to also stick with the Hodgden powders, but again any other insight would be greatly appreciated, thank you in advance.

I am running the Berger 140 Elite Hunters through my wife's 6.5-284 with great results. She killed a buck antelope @ 550 yards and a small mule deer buck @ 293 yards this year. Both 1 shot kills quartering slightly toward her. Identical shot placement (tucked tight behind the shoulder in the crease and exiting last rib). Both bucks traveled about 20-30 yards before tipping over. I have been very impressed with these bullets. I also shot a coyote @ 80 yards with same load. Left about a baseball sized hole on exit.

I have never used the hybrids on game but i have had great results with the 140VLD and elite hunters. Really come down to which bullet your rifle shoots the best. They both should work fine

The ELDX is a bad mutha!! Shoots great out of my 6.5-284 Norma. Hammered a nice bull elk last month with the 200gr ELDX in my 300 WSM. Bang, flop!! I like the Bergers, but you better be shooting for lungs and not hit bone. I've had a few friends have them fail on them (pencil in/pencil out) and will never shoot them again. I talked with one of the ballisticians at Berger and he told me that their bullets perform best between 1800-3000 fps and work best on soft tissue/vitals, so don't try a high shoulder shot. There's a reason the Gunwerks guys switched from VLD's to the ELD-X's. Great BC's and great performance on game

If you want the best of both worlds, buy some Hammer Bullets. They will destroy anything they hit.

I run a 140 HVLD in my 6.5 SLR @ 2850, and it hammers game.
I loaded 140 Hybrids in my buddy's 6.5 SAUM, and they are magic, a couple clients of his took some Mulies and a couple good bulls with them this year. 3120fps
I also loaded 140 Hybrids in another buddy's 6.5-06AI, and he took an antelope at 530, and a good muley at 711. 3100fps

Use that 30 Nosler instead of that 6.5

dougduey said:

I like the Bergers, but you better be shooting for lungs and not hit bone. I've had a few friends have them fail on them (pencil in/pencil out) and will never shoot them again. I talked with one of the ballisticians at Berger and he told me that their bullets perform best between 1800-3000 fps and work best on soft tissue/vitals, so don't try a high shoulder shot.

Click to expand...

This is not true, last year 8 point high shoulder 30 cal 168 gr 300wsm Berger classic hunter at 3200 fps M.V. ....DRT.

Last year 7 point, 6mm 105gr HVLD 6AI at 3340 fps m.v.
...DRT.
Both high shoulder shots!

Deer are light skinned medium sized game. Comparing deer to elk and moose is like comparing a rabbit to a deer. VLDs are notorious splat'rs, no big secret there which is why most people are hunting with their target hybrids.

I've used 140 accubonds and 140 Berger vld in my 264wm, both at 3100~ fps. Both killed elk just fine, although in slightly different ways. Don't shoot them in the *** and you'll be just fine

I have shot enough deer and elk with 140 VLD's to know they work just fine in my 6.5x300wsm, from 250 to quite aways out there.

I have taken two bulls, one with 140 AB and one with 140 HVLD in 6.5-284, both did a good job. If I get another, it will be with a 150 Matrix in my 6.5 Sherman.

Use the heaviest 6.5 bullet. After all, the 140 grainers in the .270 kills lots of elk every year. Not sure I would shoot an elk at long range with a 6.5 when I have a 30 nosler lying around. However, beware the curse of humping a LR gun as you almost always find a target too close!

My wife used a 87 grain VLD on a buck at 275 and it when through the far back ribs destroying the liver 1 lung and still went through the of side shoulder bone and muscle only to stop about 1/4 inch from exiting the shoulder. bullet was completely mushroom out. I haven't weighed it yet but I would guess about 1/3 its weight. the bullet was only doing about 2850 leaving the barrel. Velocity and drop date has been confirmed out to 850 yards with this load so I know it running between 2850 +/- 10fps. So the shot was about 18 to 22 inches of penetration. Mule deer buck quarter away shot. So the 140VLD would be my first choise. Another thing to add to this...I shot about 4500 of them to date which my 6.5x284 Norma which really started to go south around 4500 rounds. I've been through 6 or 8 boxes of Lapua brass on this rifle as well. Generally getting 10 loaded on each case. Only down fall is I have never shot an big game animal with this gun. It was my fun shooting gun. The whole time I never once sorted or had to weigh out from berger. I just pick straight from the box and load them up. Sad thing now is the throat is eroded away and it wont hold 1/2 minute like it has. Time to re-barrel.