6 ARC Question

General RE LEE said:

When looking at the ballistic table for my preferred 6 ARC load (Howa Mini bolt action), 1000 + lbs of KE goes out to 375 yards. My load is the 103 grain ELDX and it's 1800 FPS + out to 600 yards.

For whitetail deer, would you base your max terminal distance on the minimum 1000 lbs KE or 1800 FPS thresholds? Depending on which one, I have either an ethical 375 yard deer rifle or 600 yard deer rifle.

FWIW, I have no plans shooting a deer at 600 yards.

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TRG65 said:

There's a YouTube channel Frontline Rejects that does some long range water jug tests. They might have done an eldx. See what you think of the performance at distance.

I regularly take my ARC to 600 practicing on steel. I use the 108. Usually I set my distance based on velocity, but in this case I'd probably use energy.

Having wounded deer in the 200-400 yard range at the end of the day, which is when deer usually come out where I hunt, I tend to be conservative in my shot choice and distance.

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haisardao said:

I'd go for velocity on impact, on tipped bullets 1800 fps impact velocity is my threshold, and 2000 fps for non tipped hollow points as Bergers.

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General RE LEE said:

Coming from 308 and 6.5 Creedmoor for whitetail, the 6mm ARC seems a tad "marginal" but I've never killed medium game with a 243 bullet.

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Hudge76 said:

I think you'll be just fine using the 6 ARC on whitetails. There was a picture of a guy a couple years back that killed a brown bear here in AK with a 6 ARC. That I do not recommend. Come to find out, my oldest son when to high school with the guy and chatted with him about it. I'll just say, it took a few shots to put it down.

For deer, I have killed a few whitetails growing up in AR with my dad's .243 Win. I thought of buying a Howa Mini in 6 ARC as I really like my mini in 6.5 Grendel. I've also been eyeing a 1:8 twist .243 Win in a Tikka or Remington 700. Went to look for Varget on Saturday, walked in to one of the local places that has guns and groceries here and they had a managers sale. I walked out with a Tikka T3X Lite SS for $605. It was marked down from $868.

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Fish4Food said:

The more I read about this little lead slinger, the more I want to get one.

I've had good luck with a Howa Mini 6.5 Grendel. Might just have to get a 6 ARC

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