Whitetail bullet
- Thread starter Mercracing
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I know that the cheap little 129gr Sig Venari SP will turn into a little ball of hate in pigs. I have only ever recovered 1 out of the 6.5 Creedmoor. Those that exited did so thru a hole about the size of my thumb. I don't remember where I bought them but they were about $220 for 12 boxes shipped. I carried them last fall to shoot a deer and never saw a cull to shoot.
Sounds like the perfect excuse to buy a short little .300 BO
txaggie1
Well-Known Member
Allot of bullets out there - i'm partial to 130 grain scirocco's in my 6.5's will stand up to the velocities of my 6.5-300 and performs flawlessly in my creedmoor and all in between. Now I also shoot 130 accubonds factory ammo for my 264 and have no complaints.
eldx bullets remind me of nosler ballistic tips - incredibly accurate and if your shooting behind the shoulders probably work just fine for the slower rounds or at distances with hot calibers. I've just seen to many come apart in 3000plus FPS rounds at under 100 yards. Just my experience, but if you ask enough people who tried to break shoulders with those things usually had a bad experience.
Barnes is an excellent choice but the opposite of what we just talked about, they are so tough that if you don't shoot through the shoulders, liable to never find it because the bullet didn't expand.
Know your rifle/bullet and your limitations and goals. For me the swift bullets are a great in between, i've blow through shoulders with respectable meat damage (meaning fairly minimal) and i've shot behind the shoulders and if i trail them either way it's been under 25 yards with and easy trail. If your looking for budget stuff, i believe you get what you pay for and ammo is the cheapest part of the hunt, look for savings elsewhere not where it counts. Premium bullets/ammo hang trophies and fill freezers, leave the cheap stuff for varmints and hogs.
eldx bullets remind me of nosler ballistic tips - incredibly accurate and if your shooting behind the shoulders probably work just fine for the slower rounds or at distances with hot calibers. I've just seen to many come apart in 3000plus FPS rounds at under 100 yards. Just my experience, but if you ask enough people who tried to break shoulders with those things usually had a bad experience.
Barnes is an excellent choice but the opposite of what we just talked about, they are so tough that if you don't shoot through the shoulders, liable to never find it because the bullet didn't expand.
Know your rifle/bullet and your limitations and goals. For me the swift bullets are a great in between, i've blow through shoulders with respectable meat damage (meaning fairly minimal) and i've shot behind the shoulders and if i trail them either way it's been under 25 yards with and easy trail. If your looking for budget stuff, i believe you get what you pay for and ammo is the cheapest part of the hunt, look for savings elsewhere not where it counts. Premium bullets/ammo hang trophies and fill freezers, leave the cheap stuff for varmints and hogs.
Mercracing
Well-Known Member
In the past, I have used old Rem Core Lokt. The reason I am looking past them is they did not expand as I had hoped.
txaggie1
Well-Known Member
try the factory swift's little upper end on pricing, but if they shoot in your rifle you won't balk at performance as far as factory ammo for 260 IMO.
Mercracing
Well-Known Member
I'm not concerned about the price. They're hunting bullets, I won't be going through them fast at all.
Phil Rizzo
Well-Known Member
I'd go with 130gr Nosler Accubond.
If the angle isn't quite what you wanted, they will still reach the destination.
WITH expansion
If the angle isn't quite what you wanted, they will still reach the destination.
WITH expansion
Did you harvest the game? It has been a while, but I used Core Lokts for a long time, many years ago, with many successful harvests. As you can tell, we all have varying bullet preferences, and you can pay a premium on some of the recommendations. Before transitioning to Berger bullets (my go-to bullet of choice, but I have plenty of other different bullet designs/brands), I was a long-time Nosler (NP, NAB, NBT) user. I am not trying to convince you to switch to Berger bullets; I am just sharing my experience. With Berger, I stopped worrying about expansion, weight retention and pass-throughs up to 1KY.
Since you are not concerned about the price, you might consider the 100g ESP Raptor.
This is probably the most versatile bullet-design out there. You can load it with or without the tip and load the bullet backward. Good luck!
We killed a ton of deer with 24 and 22" barreled 260s. Ranges have been 5 to 425 yards but most have been 50 to 200. My all time favorite is the 125 Partition. I like the 100 Partition as well. Both will give you some bruising, the front end is actually pretty soft, but they kill very quick and will leave more deer than hole when their done. Not far behind I really like the 130 Sierra HPBT Game King and the newer TGK. Tough cup in core that have a very similar wound channel to the Partition. Also had good luck with all the Tsx/TTSX weights with a little less pronounced wound channels. Accubonds and Sciroccos produced wound channels very similar to the TSX as well. I only killed a couple with Bergers and they were with the 130 VLDH. Very quick to turn the lights out, but just a little more trauma than I prefer. I have not killed any deer from the 260 with Hammers but in several other 6.5s they have been a quick killer in all weights tried and they seem to bruise very little meat. Yep most any bullet will do.
txaggie1
Well-Known Member
Ammo and guns are like a marriage, some work perfect - others are a disaster. I'd take a couple samples and whatever performed to your standards get 100 rounds of it sell the rest and probably last you a long time. If i find a factory blend that I like i gather them up knowing they may discontinue something. Shooting a 260 you know all to well it's not usually something your buying at walmart on the shelf, and nothing sux worse then being dependent on a factory limited run caliber.
That's why i bought 200 rounds of nosler accubonds many years ago for my 264 - lol still shooting them!
That's why i bought 200 rounds of nosler accubonds many years ago for my 264 - lol still shooting them!
The Badger
Well-Known Member
130 accubonds or hornady interlocks. I'd prefer a slightly tuffer bullet at that range to hold together and make it out the other side. Love when they drop right there but a blood trail is sure nice when tracking them a short distance in thick woods.
Mercracing
Well-Known Member
Oddly enough during the last "ammo shortage" my local scheels almost always had 260 factory ammo. So I grabbed 10 or so boxes over time. I don't think i'll ever use it all, especially if I try and find a reloaded round to use.
txaggie1
Well-Known Member
yep if someone would have it - it would be scheels! LOL
