Why 129gr. 6.5mm Bullets?

mmattockx

mmattockx

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If my hunting rifle in 6.5x55 will shoot 140gr. bullets well, what use would 129gr. bullets be for me? A bit more velocity, lower BC, more wind drift and less penetration. What would I gain in terms of game performance to bother with the lighter bullets?

Thanks,
Mark
 
They would shoot a big flatter for you....it all depends what rifle you have....barrel twist etc. Some rifles may prefer 129 vs 140 . For my 6.5x55 I prefer the 140's but that's just me...I want to go light I right to the 85 gr. hp's and shoot pretty good too.

Basically if your gun likes the 140's then I wouldnt' bother looking at the 129gr.
 
In the ballistic program I ran I compared 140's to the 130 gr accubond. Because it has such a high ballistic coefficient, and because of the higher velocity, it out-performed the 140's. I only calculated out to 500 meters, because past that I don't shoot. In my 6.5x55 I killed several deer with the 120 grainers. Variety is a good thing. More options means more opportunities.
 
Pathfinder said:
Basically if your gun likes the 140's then I wouldnt' bother looking at the 129gr.
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That was pretty much my question.

Huntin' Gun said:
In the ballistic program I ran I compared 140's to the 130 gr accubond. Because it has such a high ballistic coefficient, and because of the higher velocity, it out-performed the 140's. I only calculated out to 500 meters, because past that I don't shoot. In my 6.5x55 I killed several deer with the 120 grainers. Variety is a good thing. More options means more opportunities.
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I was looking at the Hornady SST's in 129gr and 140gr. Form factor is the same between them, so the difference in BC is just the change in weight. The 129 tested at a BC of 0.483 and the 140 would be 0.524. Plugging that in with equivalent muzzle energies and the same zero shows that the 129gr has 2.4" less drop and 0.61" more wind drift at 500yds with a 10mph cross wind. Not much in it either way, really.

I am OK with variety, and if my rifle didn't like the 140gr I would certainly try the 129's just to see. I guess that answers the question.

Thanks,
Mark
 
Swede 6.5x55

For deer hunting it doesn't make much difference 140 or 130gr.
HOWEVER for MOOSE,YOU SHOULD USE THE 160 OR 140 no lighter, my preference would be the 160gr.
(I've never yet seen a ballistic program kill a moose.)
Take care and enjoy your 6.5X55 great caliber.
Bill.
 
b72471 said:
For deer hunting it doesn't make much difference 140 or 130gr.
HOWEVER for MOOSE,YOU SHOULD USE THE 160 OR 140 no lighter, my preference would be the 160gr.
(I've never yet seen a ballistic program kill a moose.)
Take care and enjoy your 6.5X55 great caliber.
Bill.
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That may be true for cup and core bullets but the 130gr TSX will out penetrate every 140 and 160gr bullets out there.
 
My old M96 shoots the 129gr Hornady bullets very well. I just happened to start (and promptly finish) load development with a nearly MOA load based on the 129's with RL-19 right around 2700fps but I had a little more trouble getting 140's to shoot as well, so I stuck with the 129's.
 
bcsteve said:
That may be true for cup and core bullets but the 130gr TSX will out penetrate every 140 and 160gr bullets out there.
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+1

this has been my experience too .

i've been serioulsy thinking about going to a 120 grain x bullet because of this .

looks like hornady is also making a solid copper alloy bullet similar to barnes's x bullet . this might be a slightly cheaper alternative .
 
I'm shooting 120gr TSX in my .260 Rem and shot two mullies with them. Both bang flops with complete penetraton. This year I'm trying the 120gr TTSX for a change.
 
It's just nice to have variety I think. It seems to me I've heard more guys with 264 win mags shooting 129gr bullets than 140's, which seems weird to me. I shoot 140gr SST's, but I would try 129's if I got a stupid good deal on them.
 
160's

I was going to try Hornady 160grain rn in my Tikka 695, but if I can remember correctory in Steve's post, they didn't penetrate and more than 140 grain?? Am I right?
 
Northman999 said:
It's just nice to have variety I think. It seems to me I've heard more guys with 264 win mags shooting 129gr bullets than 140's, which seems weird to me. I shoot 140gr SST's, but I would try 129's if I got a stupid good deal on them.
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This is where I am at and why I asked. I have 140gr SST's loaded up for testing and some 140gr Game Kings after those. I was thinking about the 129gr SST's as well, but I couldn't see anything the 129gr gives me that I don't get with the 140gr. bullets. Of course, that assumes this rifle likes the 140gr. bullets, but it shoots pretty well with 140gr Federal blue box ammo and I am sure I can get ammo matched up to the rifle better than Federal can.

Mark
 
I'd have to see that to believe it.I've never found a 156-160 gr bullet even in many moose.Always two holes in + out. I use either 42gr of IMR4350 or N-204 and the two above bullets.I have nothing against the 129's or 140's but penetrate like a 160.Don't think so? Kinda why the early elephant hunters chose them in the first place.Penetration through a meter of skull bone in a straight line...........Harold
 
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