I was on a elk hunt with my nephew on the weekend and as this was his first hunt I was "second shooter". we had about a 175-200 yard shot on a nice size bull we both fired and my shot felt good but he stated to walk off I knew he was hurt but it looked like a long track. when we got up to where he was, I saw him 50 yard still on his feet in the trees. we put him down and later that night I dug my 6.5x55 out of his front shoulder. I have taken 3 elk and a moose with federal fusion 6.5x55 and all have gone thru and threw. this round has always had great penetration and never been stopped by a shoulder blade before even on a moose. any thoughts?
6.5x55 stopped by elk shoulder?
- Thread starter jogforfun
- Start date
Phat Eagle
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Fraser Valley, BC
Maybe an oblique angle so it glanced off without penetrating??
boss351cleveland
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Down by the river
I find factory 6.5x55 loading weak especially in the US brands , this is because they are worried about putting out hot ammo with old milsurp 96 mausers around . With modern actions loading can be much hotter . Im guessing you were shooting 140gr bullet? thats more than good for deer but anything bigger I would look into the Norma ammo like the 156gr Oryx , best 6.5 bullet for large game.
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I have taken lots of elk with fusion. this is off the their website
Fusion® technology has transformed hunting—whether you hunt whitetails or coyotes; elk or bears. The construction process electrochemically fuses the bullet jacket to the core for impressive weight retention and game-dropping energy transfer.
Fusion® technology has transformed hunting—whether you hunt whitetails or coyotes; elk or bears. The construction process electrochemically fuses the bullet jacket to the core for impressive weight retention and game-dropping energy transfer.
It's not the bullet, it's the light factory powder load. My brother shoots 6.5 Swede, and he is currently working up a hand load.
boss351cleveland
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Down by the river
Maybe you did take lots but this time you had issues , any 140gr common factory loads are not really the best for Elk or Moose in my opinion, they are loaded down to be 96 mauser safe. If your going to take anything bigger than a deer with a 6.5 swede reliability you better reload something hot with good heavier bullet ie. Barnes ,Norma or shell out the cash for high end custom ammo . lol People ask for advice then don't like what they hear . YOUR AMMO SUCKS FOR LARGE GAME .....
I have tried many rounds including hand load Norma and Nosler customs. The federal fusion have proven to be the most accurate round in my sako 85 out to 300 yrds and this is why I shoot it. I have no issue putting out the dollars for ammo. I am asking for thoughts on what could cause this one round not to act as others have.
Purple shoulder
Regular
- Location
- Winnipeg MB
Shoulder blades aren't consistent across their span. There is a web up the centre that is thicker and harder while on each side of that web its not much tougher than a rib.
BlackPowderBurner
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- the chesterfield
As far as I'm aware, it's the old Norwegian Krags that the American lawyers really have nightmares about.
Hmm....I sent a 7mm mag 175 tsx at 80 yards this year into an elk quartering away. Found the bullet under the hide on the far side, and it sure looks Purdy. Also, the bullet went through the shoulder bone and thick flesh. So yes, elk are tough critters and some times need to bleed. Moose at 10 yards, 30-06 165gr, stood there for about what seemed to be a full minute to bleed out. Bottom line....dead elk, dead moose. 200yds on heavy game is near the optimal distance for that class of cartridge. Past that delayed kills appear to be normal.
So what part of the equation is the bullets failing? Did it penetrate 15" of elk? Did it expand and leave you a very nice mushroom with at least 70% weight retention. If yes, then this is not a bullet fault. You cannot expect bullet pass through on heavy game from a range of cartridges. Heavy quartering shots with shoulder on off side normally provide a bullet trophy as my box of recovered mushrooms attests.
I would chalk that one up to the normal category. Post a pic of the mushroom, as those 6.5s offer some pretty nice viewing.
Elky....
So what part of the equation is the bullets failing? Did it penetrate 15" of elk? Did it expand and leave you a very nice mushroom with at least 70% weight retention. If yes, then this is not a bullet fault. You cannot expect bullet pass through on heavy game from a range of cartridges. Heavy quartering shots with shoulder on off side normally provide a bullet trophy as my box of recovered mushrooms attests.
I would chalk that one up to the normal category. Post a pic of the mushroom, as those 6.5s offer some pretty nice viewing.
Elky....
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Sometimes the most accurate ammo doesn't mean best hunting ammo, i do reload for hunting and target purposes and some of my accurate loads are pretty anemic for hunting purposes .
