Best Bang Flop WT Deer bullet for 6.5x55
- Thread starter 6point5
- Start date
Gone Huntin
Member
- Location
- SouthEastern Ontario
I've been using Sierra GameKing bullets for the past 20 years or so for whitetails. With good shot placement results vary from bang flop to very short tracking jobs.
I think bang flop is more luck than bullet construction.
I have had 2 bang flops. Both were spine hits because for various reasons my bullet hit higher than I intended.
I try to put a bullet through the boiler room. I prefer a slightly heavy bullet. 180 in 308, 160 RN in 5.5x55. The usual result is a dead deer moose that does not know he is dead and runs up to 50 yards. Usually less.
I have had 2 bang flops. Both were spine hits because for various reasons my bullet hit higher than I intended.
I try to put a bullet through the boiler room. I prefer a slightly heavy bullet. 180 in 308, 160 RN in 5.5x55. The usual result is a dead deer moose that does not know he is dead and runs up to 50 yards. Usually less.
madtrapper143
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Steep Rock Lake NWO
I shoot old CIL Imperial component 160 grain round nose bullets. Using H4350 with a 24" barrel they get close to 2500 fps from my 1906 sported Swede Mauser. I shot one deer broadside up close and the heavy old 160 did not expand much and the deer ran a distance but was recovered. Since then I aim at the low shoulder to hit bone and upset the heavy bullet better. This fall I shot a buck quartering to me in the low front shoulder right side. Bullet broke shoulder got top of heart and lungs and liver and exited out of last rib on off side. Bang flop. Excellent bullet performance. My old Swede just shoots long 160's the best. With new short throat sporters maybe not so good for this bullet. SST's and Ballistic Tips (140 gr. .264 cal) provide some spectacular one shot drops but guys in our camp experienced so much meat damage that we quit using them.
Darryl
Darryl
I've read somewhere before that bang flops depend on the timing of the heart when the bullet hits. I may have it backwards, but it was along the lines of if the heart is contracting in then they can run after being hit.
If they are hit while the heart is pumping blood out then it sends a pressure wave through the blood vessels which rupture/do all kinds of damage instantly to the nervous system and they fall over.
Obviously this is for a heart area shot where a shockwave will put pressure on the heart, head/spine/other shots are on their own for this theory.
If they are hit while the heart is pumping blood out then it sends a pressure wave through the blood vessels which rupture/do all kinds of damage instantly to the nervous system and they fall over.
Obviously this is for a heart area shot where a shockwave will put pressure on the heart, head/spine/other shots are on their own for this theory.
I have used the Hornaday 140 grain spire point with 44 grains of IMR 4350 in 6.5x55 to DRT a few deer. It works as well for that as anything else. Remember that DRT is a sometimes thing. The first mule deer I shot with my 6.5 ran almost 200 yards with virtually no lungs. He was like a coiled spring because he was aware that I had been following him over the last 3 draws and was starting to close the distance on him. Once the bullet hit him he took off like a lightning bolt.
All of the DRT deer I have shot have been totally unaware of me.
All of the DRT deer I have shot have been totally unaware of me.
Hand Skills
CGN Regular
- Location
- In the 'heartland', southern SK
This is true. The same physiology is at play when a hockey player gets hit in the chest with a puck and it stops his heart. It happens, but it's rare. my results hunting deer indicate there is a 5-10% chance of this result. I mainly use bonded bullets.
Some like to use 'frangible' bullets for deer - they provide a greater peak energy transfer, but IME relying on hydrostatic shock for bang flop is ill advised. the ballistic tip used to be one of those, but the design was modified recently - it now sports a thicker jacket, and holds together better than it used to on impact. I have seen bang, flop, but then the deer gets up and runs 100m.
The most reliable 'bang flop' results come from disrupting the upper CNS - I've had pretty consistent bang flops when targeting the base of the head - gotta be close, and the deer must be still. I do not recommend head shots, but I do take them when conditions are perfect. Bullet construction does not seem to influence the gruesome result here.
Statistically, Remington core-loks are at the top of my list for bang flop results, but I am confident bullet placement has more to do with it than the 'magic of the core-lok'. Placed through the upper shoulders/base of the neck they are very effective but result in turning 10-15% of the deer into dog food (bloodshot).
OP I think you might do well to carefully define 'good placement'. In my experience there is no magic bullet, but there certainly are a couple of 'magic locations' that will drop a deer on the spot when a bullet is placed there.
These days I favour avoiding the shoulders when harvesting deer - if I need some margin of error, low through the lungs is where I point.
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Agree 100%
Yep on 120 NBT. Also look into the 125 Partition.
Frangible tiped bullets like nosler ballistic tip or hornady sst expel energy fast. if placed right will be best for knock down but can have issues with penetration if not placed in a good spot. I prefer penetrating bullets like TTSX, often won't have the knock down but I feel they are the most reliable. Partitions are probably the best of both worlds but I prefer non lead. I'm also a bow hunter so an animal that runs is normal for me.
Hornady ELD-Match, if you see a sectioned cutaway of their jacket thickness - it's a bullet that will come unglued. They make them in 6.5mm 100gr, 120gr, 123gr, 130gr, 140gr, 147gr. I would bet the 120-130gr versions placed into the heart/lungs would create a lot of damage for the first 10" of wound channel
