79m1a-texas
Well-Known Member
Shot a cow elk at 375 yards a couple of weeks back. Used the 140g Acuubonds. My go to 6.5 bullet.
Thanks for sharing this. Congrats to you and your son. I use my 260 Rem on everything with the 140 grain Berger bullets. It's never failed me yet. I would not hesitate to shoot a elk with my 260 Rem out to 1200 yards at 6,000 plus altitude.In the recent past I have smiled at posts questioning the competence of the 6.5 having enough horsepower to anchor big tough animals such as elk. My son returned last week from a hunt on a public land wilderness area of Colorado which I am attaching photos. This bull was shot with his 6.5Gap4s shooting a Berger Hybrid 140 gr at 3150 fps. The Berger warmed up the elk at 578 yds., it took one step and was DRT. The shoulder was broken, chest cavity organs were turned into a jello smoothie, and the bullet was recovered lodged in the hide on the "off side". The 140 gr bullet retained 80 gr (57%), lost 60 gr. (43%)... typical of expected Berger performance. This big bull scores 364" B&C . Another bull which was bigger was being watched at 1770 yds, but this one walked out of the timber and daylight was going to be an issue as far as getting to the larger bull. No bullet "blowing up" on impact, no excessive destroying of meat, no long-suffering animal, no failure of the bullet to penetrate.
out standing bullIn the recent past I have smiled at posts questioning the competence of the 6.5 having enough horsepower to anchor big tough animals such as elk. My son returned last week from a hunt on a public land wilderness area of Colorado which I am attaching photos. This bull was shot with his 6.5Gap4s shooting a Berger Hybrid 140 gr at 3150 fps. The Berger warmed up the elk at 578 yds., it took one step and was DRT. The shoulder was broken, chest cavity organs were turned into a jello smoothie, and the bullet was recovered lodged in the hide on the "off side". The 140 gr bullet retained 80 gr (57%), lost 60 gr. (43%)... typical of expected Berger performance. This big bull scores 364" B&C . Another bull which was bigger was being watched at 1770 yds, but this one walked out of the timber and daylight was going to be an issue as far as getting to the larger bull. No bullet "blowing up" on impact, no excessive destroying of meat, no long-suffering animal, no failure of the bullet to penetrate.
Congrats! In my youth, before the Army taught me how to shoot better, I used Remington factory 140 Gr Core-Lokt 264WinM ammo to collect three young to medium sized elk, the farthest at about 400 yards that bucked once, ran about 50 yards and died. My first and still vivid memory of elk. I learned to get closer and the other two dropped dead on the spot. All three shots in the heart or lungs. I think lung shots with high energy loads work the best and 140 grains is more than enough as a Ute friend of mine used a 243 back then, with 100% results.In the recent past I have smiled at posts questioning the competence of the 6.5 having enough horsepower to anchor big tough animals such as elk. My son returned last week from a hunt on a public land wilderness area of Colorado which I am attaching photos. This bull was shot with his 6.5Gap4s shooting a Berger Hybrid 140 gr at 3150 fps. The Berger warmed up the elk at 578 yds., it took one step and was DRT. The shoulder was broken, chest cavity organs were turned into a jello smoothie, and the bullet was recovered lodged in the hide on the "off side". The 140 gr bullet retained 80 gr (57%), lost 60 gr. (43%)... typical of expected Berger performance. This big bull scores 364" B&C . Another bull which was bigger was being watched at 1770 yds, but this one walked out of the timber and daylight was going to be an issue as far as getting to the larger bull. No bullet "blowing up" on impact, no excessive destroying of meat, no long-suffering animal, no failure of the bullet to penetrate.
In the recent past I have smiled at posts questioning the competence of the 6.5 having enough horsepower to anchor big tough animals such as elk. My son returned last week from a hunt on a public land wilderness area of Colorado which I am attaching photos. This bull was shot with his 6.5Gap4s shooting a Berger Hybrid 140 gr at 3150 fps. The Berger warmed up the elk at 578 yds., it took one step and was DRT. The shoulder was broken, chest cavity organs were turned into a jello smoothie, and the bullet was recovered lodged in the hide on the "off side". The 140 gr bullet retained 80 gr (57%), lost 60 gr. (43%)... typical of expected Berger performance. This big bull scores 364" B&C . Another bull which was bigger was being watched at 1770 yds, but this one walked out of the timber and daylight was going to be an issue as far as getting to the larger bull. No bullet "blowing up" on impact, no excessive destroying of meat, no long-suffering animal, no failure of the bullet to penetrate.
I shoot the exact same round from my 6.5SAUM (or GAP4S). I get my Ammo from Copper Creek Ammo. Sound like you might too, as 3150 is their quoted speed. I have shot 3 WT does, 4 Aoudad, and 2 big Catalina goats with it. It has punched completely through every animal, including one goat front to back. Aoudad and the goats are thick, tough animals. I've been impressed with that bullet's performance for sure. I'm in Idaho, right now, hunting elk with a 300WSM, but next year I may bring my 6.5SAUM as it's lighter. I think it would do all I need.In the recent past I have smiled at posts questioning the competence of the 6.5 having enough horsepower to anchor big tough animals such as elk. My son returned last week from a hunt on a public land wilderness area of Colorado which I am attaching photos. This bull was shot with his 6.5Gap4s shooting a Berger Hybrid 140 gr at 3150 fps. The Berger warmed up the elk at 578 yds., it took one step and was DRT. The shoulder was broken, chest cavity organs were turned into a jello smoothie, and the bullet was recovered lodged in the hide on the "off side". The 140 gr bullet retained 80 gr (57%), lost 60 gr. (43%)... typical of expected Berger performance. This big bull scores 364" B&C . Another bull which was bigger was being watched at 1770 yds, but this one walked out of the timber and daylight was going to be an issue as far as getting to the larger bull. No bullet "blowing up" on impact, no excessive destroying of meat, no long-suffering animal, no failure of the bullet to penetrate.
I shoot the exact same round from my 6.5SAUM (or GAP4S). I get my Ammo from Copper Creek Ammo. Sound like you might too, as 3150 is their quoted speed. I have shot 3 WT does, 4 Aoudad, and 2 big Catalina goats with it. It has punched completely through every animal, including one goat front to back. Aoudad and the goats are thick, tough animals. I've been impressed with that bullet's performance for sure. I'm in Idaho, right now, hunting elk with a 300WSM, but next year I may bring my 6.5SAUM as it's lighter. I think it would do all I need.
Funny thing how mental biases work. People don't understand or care to learn about physics. If you asked the same people if a 7 Rem Mag is enough gun for elk, most/ all would say "Heck yeah!" They'd probably tell you a .270 is plenty for elk too. But they might claim a 6.5 is too small. It wouldn't have enough "knock down power." Yet they fail to realize that 140 gr bullet going 3150 FPS or so IS a classic 7RM factory load, especially 20 years ago or more. It's a typical load their grandpa or father might have used, and they would brag about how many elk he killed with it. Copper Creek is getting 3000fps from the 153gr Hornady A-Tip. That's even more of a rival to typical 7RM Ammo. The 6.5 SAUM is doing that! And each similar weight bullet will have a much higher BC in 6.5mm vs 7mm. So the 6.5 will outrun the 7 out at distance. It's science. It's undeniable. And it doesn't matter what some guy "thinks."