264/6.5mm bullets?

[HeadDamage]

When I used to hunt with a 6.5x55 my favorite deer bullets where 120gr Nosler Solid Base. I noticed that they don't seem to make these any more. What do you guys like for deer bullets in 6.5x55? I hunt large foothills mule deer and whitetail. I'm thinking the 120gr Barnes triple shock looks good.

 

[Bishopus]

The 140 grain Nosler Partition is hard to beat... the 120 grain is probably enough, but if you're hunting the Alberta foothills there's always the chance you'll run into a mule deer that's really f'ing big, or quartering away. The 140 grain seems like good insurance to me, especially since recoil is already so light in the swede.

 

[troutseeker]

I use the 130 grain Barnes TSX and would not hesitate to shoot a moose with it. In my modern Ruger 6.5X55 I push them at 2700fps and could probably go a little faster.

Troutseeker

 

[762nato]

I shot 4 deer last year with a 129 gr. Hornady, even on a large Ontario buck (220lbs) with a long angle heart shot I had over 19" of penetration to get in there and get the job done. Shot a small doe this year with a 6.5 130 TSX, head on shot, did her end to end with a large dramatic puff of fir comming out her backside, cut most of the ribs off on one side(at 2650fps .260 rem). Hornadys are allot cheaper than the Barnes...

 

[catnthehatt]

I loaqd for four diffferent fellas for the 6.5X55, and know several more.
The Seirra 160 SMP has taken many moose and deer for us, with no lost animals and very few second shots.
Excellant bullet for that particylar caliber.
I have also loaded sopme with thhe 140 Game King, but I like the heavier bullet.
Cat

 

[josquin]

...The Seirra 160 SMP has taken many moose and deer for us, with no lost animals and very few second shots.
Excellant bullet for that particylar caliber...Cat

Interesting to hear some feedback on Sierras. One usually hears how accurate they are but rarely anything on their performance on game. I should pick some up for my 6.5 x54 M-S.

Stuart

 

[todbartell]

I shot a deer with the 140 gr GameKing a few years ago and although it flattened the buck, the bullet didnt hold together veyr well and only penetrated about 10 inches lots of bloodshot meat too

Ive shot deer with the 140 gr Nosler Partition (excellent) and a couple with the 130 gr Barnes triple shock (excellent).

120 gr TSX & 125 Partition would be two other good choices. At the velocity of a 260 or 6.5x55, the 129 & 140 gr Interlocks would work well too, I bet

 

[Scott_N]

Here's another recommendation to try out the TSX line. The TSX is quickly becoming my favourite hunting bullet.

 

[dizzy dan 1]

TSX all the way120 or 130gr.DAN>>>

 

[HeadDamage]

Ok... TSX 120gr will be the first bullet to try.

 

[ivo]

I have only used the Partitions and the Gamekings in my .264 Win Mag but both performed very well. I stuck with the 140gr Gamekings because they were a slightly more accurate bullet.

My dad has been using this rifle now for about 5 years and we have only recovered 2 bullets from it. This year we recovered one from a 2 1/2 year old bull moose (about 50 % weight retention) and the bullet last year was from a big cow elk (also about 50 % weight retention).

As a side note about Gamekings I used them as a hunting bullet in my .338 Lapua Mag(215gr) and they have dropped everything the have hit with one shot(Pronghorns to Moose), and no I haven't recovered any yet.

 

[Battle River]

125 gr Nosler partition is a very good choice in the 6.5x55. I have yet to use the Triple shock. 129 Hornady is also a great lead.

I too have used the Solid base with success. Luckilly I picked up 400 bullets for later use