Match bullets for hunting

[cdschoonie]

I use them along with Sierra Game Kings. Prefer 175gr-185gr Berger VLD Hunting in 30 cal, but I'll use 178gr ELD-X in 30 cal if I can't get the Bergers. I use 140gr SST, 130gr Berger Hybrid AR, and even 136gr Scenars in 6.5 in both a Man Bun and a 260. They're all HP so they are legal and every deer I shot with one drops where it stands. The only time I've had an animal run off was with a soft point.

OTM aren't FMJ like people think and they don't burn through like an icepick the way FMJ might do or like people might think. The tip deforms and the bullet will yaw and if they exit, the hole is the size of my fist.

Is that my 6.5 cm?

 

[retrieverman]

Is that my 6.5 cm? View attachment 318876

Yes, yes, it is.

Edit to add. As much hype as 6.5 CM has gotten, I see A BUNCH of rifles in that caliber for sale on the used market. What’s up with that? Is there already some newer whiz bang caliber everyone is going to?

 

[PanhandleGlocker]

Yes, yes, it is.

Edit to add. As much hype as 6.5 CM has gotten, I see A BUNCH of rifles in that caliber for sale on the used market. What’s up with that? Is there already some newer whiz bang caliber everyone is going to?

Yeah. 6.5PRC

 

[retrieverman]

Yeah. 6.5PRC

By the sheer volume of rifles in 6.5 CM I see for sale, I don’t believe the majority are “upgrading”. If I was a betting man, I’d say that most bought their gun after buying into the hype and realized it was mostly just hype and got buyer remorse.

 

[JEVapa]

Is that my 6.5 cm?

Yes, lol. I say Man Bun because that what all the S-talkers like to say...with their 2MOA groups

 

[JEVapa]

By the sheer volume of rifles in 6.5 CM I see for sale, I don’t believe the majority are “upgrading”. If I was a betting man, I’d say that most bought their gun after buying into the hype and realized it was mostly just hype and got buyer remorse.

I would agree with you but like all things that get blown way out, they not only realized that it wasn't all it was cracked up to be, but that they aren't all they're cracked up to be.
People were getting them thinking they'll be able to shoot better, be some kind of PRS guy and have Fakebook likes, and whatever. But what they realized, is that no matter what they do, if they're a 2 or 3 MOA shooter, they're still a 2 or 3 MOA shooter, and a cartridge that is subMOA doesn't help. Then they buy some super "subMOA" gun that's really MOA or bigger on a good day, and they see nothing improved.

It's not the cartridge, it's the human. I like 260 Rem... there's nothing a 6.5CM can do that a 260 Rem can't. But the hype says the CM is better when in real life it's not.

But back to Match Projos for hunting...Nothing at all wrong with them IMO. They will kill a deer as dead as a soft point.

 

[ssgrock3]

isn't precision ammo; like an smk kinda a hunting round

 

[Norman]

isn't precision ammo; like an smk kinda a hunting round

Indeed it is.

The last deer I killed with a rifle I used a 168 grain GMM. The exit would was around the size of my palm. This year if I get to hunt for myself I’ll be using a bonded bullet. Although the last gun kill I had was with a 12ga. slug at 16 yards. She was on the ground dead before I could work the action.

 

[swampratt]

I found 1 bullet that penciled through even at high velocities 3000 fps.
Sierra 2156. 155 Palma
I shot 2 deer and it was bang flop and they got right back up and bolted tiny hole in and tiny hole out.
Now the 2140 Sierra is awesome. 165 GK HPBT.
178A-max 155 and 168A max all have done perfect for my deer killing.
178 will destroy both shoulders, you have been warned.

 

[dennishoddy]

By the sheer volume of rifles in 6.5 CM I see for sale, I don’t believe the majority are “upgrading”. If I was a betting man, I’d say that most bought their gun after buying into the hype and realized it was mostly just hype and got buyer remorse.

Well, I won a Ruger American at a DU banquet in the man bun 6.5 CM. First trip to the range with Lapua 108 grain Scenar HP bullets I reloaded, it printed a 3/8" three shot group at 100 yards several times, so I'm happy with the accuracy. The next part of the story will be when a deer is shot with it. With a speed of 3100 fps, I'm pretty sure it will take any deer down that bullet encounters as long as I do my job.
Like you, I don't understand the mass migration away from that caliber.
As we all know, it's not the caliber that kills or speed. It's the performance of the bullet and placement. Manufacturers have convinced the gun buying public that an additional 200 fps will make the gun into a laser to kill an additional thousand yards out there.

I found 1 bullet that penciled through even at high velocities 3000 fps.
Sierra 2156. 155 Palma
I shot 2 deer and it was bang flop and they got right back up and bolted tiny hole in and tiny hole out.
Now the 2140 Sierra is awesome. 165 GK HPBT.
178A-max 155 and 168A max all have done perfect for my deer killing.
178 will destroy both shoulders, you have been warned.

The Sierra 165 grain HPBT Game King in .308 diameter does the most internal damage on a deer of any bullet I've ever seen after doing an autopsy on the carcass. Everything internally is jelly.