6.5mm 140 gr Berger VLD

[elkaholic]

I have shot deer and elk with a 6.5-284 with the 140 berger Vld's @ close & long range on deer and elk they seem to work pretty well at all ranges for deer but the ELK I shot @ close range didn't work out very well I was by myself and on the first shot I heard a big smack and I knew I had to of hit it but the elk didn't even act like it was hit it I shot twice more and both were misses and just gave up on shooting after that so i watched it go across the face for about 5 minuntes then all of the sudden it started to spin in a circle and went down i got lucky and got a little shrapnel in the lungs the was really no blood trail from where i shot it and where it died the bullet basically exploded on impact if it hadn't of been on a huge face that takes an elk about 10 minutes to go across i would have never known i even hit it let alone found it but i have had pretty good success with 140 @ long range with cow elk

I've been reading through this thread and this is exactly what I would have posted. It will make a great deer bullet, especially at 260 velocities at closer ranges. The problems begin when you have to penetrate too much meat and bone when struck at high velocity (as you found out)! This could happen on a large deer shot at the right angle, but is far less likely. The lower side of the velocity range can cause just the opposite problem (not enough expansion). In this case, I always try to hit something solid, like the shoulder, to cause more expansion. When used with this in mind, they are a fast killing bullet.........Rich

 

[Greyfox]

Having shot about 25 deer and antelope I have found that the high sectional density of the bullet will give complete penetration on broadside chest shots with good internal damage from 50-100 yards. The key for close range shots is to keep the muzzle velocity under 3000FPS. If the velocities are driven much higher the bullet can come apart on close range shoulder/bone impacts. Overall, I think it is one of the best balanced mid caliber bullets available. The key is to use the "hunting" version. IMO.

 

[ShootnMathews]

I've been reading through this thread and this is exactly what I would have posted. It will make a great deer bullet, especially at 260 velocities at closer ranges. The problems begin when you have to penetrate too much meat and bone when struck at high velocity (as you found out)! This could happen on a large deer shot at the right angle, but is far less likely. The lower side of the velocity range can cause just the opposite problem (not enough expansion). In this case, I always try to hit something solid, like the shoulder, to cause more expansion. When used with this in mind, they are a fast killing bullet.........Rich

The 8 pt was a A very large bodied deer and it was a quartering away shot. So it had to penetrate quite a lot of meat. I am very happy with performance on both animals.

 

[Greyfox]

Having shot about 25 deer and antelope I have found that the high sectional density of the bullet will give complete penetration on broadside chest shots with good internal damage from 50-100 yards. The key for close range shots is to keep the muzzle velocity under 3000FPS. If the velocities are driven much higher the bullet can come apart on close range shoulder/bone impacts. Overall, I think it is one of the best balanced mid caliber bullets available. The key is to use the "hunting" version. IMO.

Sorry for the error: should be "50-1000 yards"