Note to readers: I have updated this article with the Miller Stability Formula from JBM Ballistics which says 160 grain Round Nose is Stable enough in the 6.5 Creedmoor. Read on…
I have been a fan of round nose bullets to hunt deer in heavy cover thus I began to investigate my options for using my 6.5 Creedmoor that I used well on Texas deer; except with round nose bullets to provide more instant surface shock on entry and perhaps deflect less in heavy brush and a larger exit wound. Below is another article I penned recently.
What began to surface in my investigation is that there are very few companies which offer 160 grain round nose in the 6.5 CM in a rifle with 8/1 twist rate.
Tim, a long time reader writes to try the Lapua Mega 155 grain round nose but it is not in stock anywhere I looked. This bullet has a length of 1.248 inches and would be over stabilized in my 6.5 Creedmoor according to Bison Ballistics below at a speed of 2400 fps. However, the Miller Stability formula on the other hand in JBM Ballistics below says the Lapua round nose 155 is stable enough and shades it in green. Tim is sending me some of the Lapua Mega 155 grain heads to try! Thanks Tim!
http://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmstab-5.1.cgi
https://bisonballistics.com/calculators/stability
In addition, the Miller Stability calculations from JBM ballistics says the Hornady 160 grain round nose, also not in stock, with a length of 1.257 for Hornady’s round nose is also STABLE according to the Miller Stability Formula which equals 2.445
I will have to prove that out at the range if I can get some round nose bullets for the 6.5 Creedmoor.
If I cant get any of these round noses to test and validate then I would lean toward my .375 Ruger with my Speer 235 grain semi-spitzer below that I hand load down for deer delivering nearly 2000 ft-lbs at 100 yards.
The Speer 235 grain semi-spitzers are more round nosed and are great for brush and shorter distances to say 150 yards and will drop a deer in its tracks. What is so great about round nose bullets is that the rounded nose is already mushroomed to a degree, as the bullet strikes the hide of the animal providing instant radial shock thus the deer have a tendency to drop right where they are hit. Below is a chuckhawks article that talks about bullet shapes and likely killing power. A good read!
https://www.chuckhawks.com/big_game_bullets.htm
Good Hunting!
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Ed,
First thanks again on your load for the 375 Ruger with the the 235 grain bullets. It works great for deer and wild pigs; and is just plain fun to shoot.
As for your 6.5 CR have you looked at the Lapua 155 grain Mega bullet? I have loaded some for my .260 Remington using a starting load from the Lapua website for the 6.5 Swedish. They shot well enough to be a hunting load. Unfortunately, since I changed jobs and locations, I have not had a chance to do any further work on the load. I believe my Ruger 77mk2 is a 1 in 8 rate of twist. I would like to pair this loading with a more aerodynamic in the 120 and 130 grain range for longer shots at antelope etc.
Have some fun and stay safe!
Ed,
I have a question for you… Why do you think a 6.5mm 140 grain bullet is inadequate for Texas whitetails ?
Tim,
I killed a nice little buck at 100 yards with the 140g AccuBond in Texas this past November. Heart Lung shot and went only 20 yards and piled up dead. See my article on texas whitetail hunt in 2020. Exit wound was small. See that article with video.
Not inadequate. Exit wound was small. No blood. AccuBond Bullet did not seem to expand more as I hoped. And I have had great success with AccuBonds generally
Good tip. Did look up Lapua Mega 155 but out of stock at Midway, Brownell’s and Graf for all of Lapua line. Maybe try later this spring.