How to select a bullet?

[timmymic]

How do you go about selecting a bullet? Solids, standard hunting. long range hunting or match bullets?

I have a 6.5 prc with an 8 twist. I am looking to hunt deer, elk and bear to 600. To this point I have loaded and seeing decent groups with the 140 accubonds but the BC is not great so was looking for other options, not ruling them out yet.

I have considered barnes ttsx, hammer hunter, matix, accubonds, 156 berger EOL, 147 eldm.
Open to any other suggestions and any information on why you chose that bullet would be appreciated.

 

[Blacktail]

What about ABLRs as well? I had good luck with 143 HHs in my 280ai on deer and antelope from 80 to 400 yds all DRT or no more then 5 steps. They were going 3180 fps and shooting .5-.75" I only bring up the ABLR as my buddy raves about them in in s6.5 x284 at 2800 fps. I also got a load to shoot in the .2s with my same 280 and 168 ABLRs I haven't chronographed them yet

 

[snox801]

Well I used to do it based on bc. No longer.
Now what I do is decide what I'm gonna hunt and max range. That range is somewhat dependent on bullet. For example I started with the 147eld from my creed because of bc. Then I started looking at the FPS for opening. I decided that I waa comfortable shooting to 600 with it on game. After comparing drop charts I decided my best bet was the 124 hammer hunter. So I switched to that and have been very happy. Much less drop at my normal hunting distance 400 and under and capable of still doing what it needs to at 600.
The added speed makes 300 yard and in easy because of the little drop. Plus the bullet is so tough being copper I can take anything up close and not worry about it. I can say I'm much more pleased with the performance of that over the 147. Both did the job but I've always got an exit and good performance with the hammer.
Basically I didn'tneed a high bc for the range I intended to hunt with. If shooting steel different story and have a second load for that.

 

[Garyinmt]

I've been waiting for the right opportunity to bring up the subject of lead core vs copper bullets for some time and since you asked about bullet selection, this seems like the right time. I was part of a Master Hunter class last summer where the drawbacks of lead core bullets were thoroughly discussed. I was surprised to learn that fragments of lead from lead core bullets can range far from the actual wound channel in an animal. Now you may say so what, and if you're as old as I am, that's probably true. However, if you are a younger person of child bearing age, especially women, you should be concerned about ingesting lead fragments in the wild game you and your family eat, especially if you have young children. The lethal effects of ingesting lead has been well documented in waterfowl, and while it probably won't kill you or your children, it can have undesirable effects on children's learning abilities, cognitive and motor skills.
Minnesota DNR did a study on fragmentation of various lead core bullets a few years ago and it's an eye opener as to how far lead fragments travel within an animal, even with a chest cavity hit. Different brands of bullets have different tendencies to fragment and that is detailed in the study. Go to the MN DNR website and search for bullet fragmentation study and read the results for yourself. As a result of this study and several others, there is going to be an increasing push to move away from lead core bullets in the future, whether we like it or not. There are an increasing number of ranches here in Montana that are already requiring the use of non-lead ammunition. I went to all copper bullets for hunting 2 years ago because I have 2 young grandchildren who eat some of the wild game I harvest. Each of you should consider your own situation and act accordingly.

 

[snox801]

Ya I'm not worried about the lead part at all. Mine was based simply off performance. Each has a benefit so I choose which fits for my intended purpose. But for most people monos will do everything they need as well or better than cup core so why not be safe.

 

[Westernhuntr]

I've been waiting for the right opportunity to bring up the subject of lead core vs copper bullets for some time and since you asked about bullet selection, this seems like the right time. I was part of a Master Hunter class last summer where the drawbacks of lead core bullets were thoroughly discussed. I was surprised to learn that fragments of lead from lead core bullets can range far from the actual wound channel in an animal. Now you may say so what, and if you're as old as I am, that's probably true. However, if you are a younger person of child bearing age, especially women, you should be concerned about ingesting lead fragments in the wild game you and your family eat, especially if you have young children. The lethal effects of ingesting lead has been well documented in waterfowl, and while it probably won't kill you or your children, it can have undesirable effects on children's learning abilities, cognitive and motor skills.
Minnesota DNR did a study on fragmentation of various lead core bullets a few years ago and it's an eye opener as to how far lead fragments travel within an animal, even with a chest cavity hit. Different brands of bullets have different tendencies to fragment and that is detailed in the study. Go to the MN DNR website and search for bullet fragmentation study and read the results for yourself. As a result of this study and several others, there is going to be an increasing push to move away from lead core bullets in the future, whether we like it or not. There are an increasing number of ranches here in Montana that are already requiring the use of non-lead ammunition. I went to all copper bullets for hunting 2 years ago because I have 2 young grandchildren who eat some of the wild game I harvest. Each of you should consider your own situation and act accordingly.

Aside from poor terminal performance on deer and elk, this is the main reason I'm no longer hunting with Bergers or ELDM'S.
I've discovered tiny lead shrapnel in the backstrap, and shoulder meat from lung shots with both of the above mentioned bullets.

 

[timmymic]

I took the overwhelming advice from the site and ordered some 124 hammer hunters. My dad is in the middle of a beautiful 6.5 prc build so we are splitting the first 50 to each work up a load and see how are guns like those billets.

 

[snox801]

You made a great choice. I have been extremely pleased with the 124gr hammer. I've dropped many many deer, pigs, a audad, and nice Corsican ram, and a few sika deer with that bullet out of my 6.5 creed. Longest kill was 489 yards on a pig with a still 22mph wind but it was steady.
Also if found it helpful to shoot 50-100 rounds of something cheap like eld out of a new build to get the barrel broke in. Then give it a good scrub down, then start your load work with hammers or other premium bullet. You will usually see a speed gain.
Nothing wrong with starting with hammers if you are not gonna shoot it a ton. Just be sure to keep an eye on your velocity from the first load. You can sometimes see a good gain in speed so the load may need to be adjusted.

 

[timmymic]

You made a great choice. I have been extremely pleased with the 124gr hammer. I've dropped many many deer, pigs, a audad, and nice Corsican ram, and a few sika deer with that bullet out of my 6.5 creed. Longest kill was 489 yards on a pig with a still 22mph wind but it was steady.
Also if found it helpful to shoot 50-100 rounds of something cheap like eld out of a new build to get the barrel broke in. Then give it a good scrub down, then start your load work with hammers or other premium bullet. You will usually see a speed gain.
Nothing wrong with starting with hammers if you are not gonna shoot it a ton. Just be sure to keep an eye on your velocity from the first load. You can sometimes see a good gain in speed so the load may need to be adjusted.

This actually works well I have about 100 accubonds down the tube now.

 

[snox801]

Perfect you will be all set. I didn't have a single charge weight shoot more than .5 Moa.

 

[timmymic]

Perfect you will be all set. I didn't have a single charge weight shoot more than .5 Moa.

Are you loading the .020 off for that?

 

[snox801]

Fact is I've never measured it off the lands.
I loaded just short of my mag length. Magpul mag and did a ladder. When they all shot that good I didn't try to mess with it. Mainly because most were around the .3 moa so even at .5 moa which was the worst. I would run out of speed before that caused me to miss a animal. 600 yards roughly 3". I haven't had a ton of time to play with it with my other projects going on. But when I'm in my new house I will be going higher with my charge and playing with seating a bit. Mainly to see if I can get to or over 3000 FPS and keep good groups and safe pressure. Sitting at just over 2900 now With no .
pressure. Hammers do not seem to care very much about seating depth.
In fact my new way to load them is to do one round of each charge weight till I find pressure. Then back off 1 gr and do a 5 shot group. If it shoots good which they have then I see where the velocity spread is at. If single digits I leave if not I'll go either side of that charge and see.

 

[timmymic]

Fact is I've never measured it off the lands.
I loaded just short of my mag length. Magpul mag and did a ladder. When they all shot that good I didn't try to mess with it. Mainly because most were around the .3 moa so even at .5 moa which was the worst. I would run out of speed before that caused me to miss a animal. 600 yards roughly 3". I haven't had a ton of time to play with it with my other projects going on. But when I'm in my new house I will be going higher with my charge and playing with seating a bit. Mainly to see if I can get to or over 3000 FPS and keep good groups and safe pressure. Sitting at just over 2900 now With no .
pressure. Hammers do not seem to care very much about seating depth.
In fact my new way to load them is to do one round of each charge weight till I find pressure. Then back off 1 gr and do a 5 shot group. If it shoots good which they have then I see where the velocity spread is at. If single digits I leave if not I'll go either side of that charge and see.

Wow that almost seems to easy! But thats what I have been hearing from others as well! I am running a 6.5 prc in a long action so I have more than enough length to really stretch them out so looking forward to that!

 

[snox801]

Ya that should be a nice setup. With that speed they should be amazing and very little drop for your distance