Bullets favored for hunting from the ARC

[CZ527 Guy]

Hello: All.

Understand we are largely in a state of work with what you can get & Experience is largely limited with many bullets on game. Yet Ill reach out & ask what bullets that are available & those that may be harder to acquire, What bullets are looking more favorable for the 6mm Arc in your eyes & why.

My view favors The following at this point. Yes this is based on personal availability thus far.

For Varmints Ill settle on 85 gr pulled spire points based on price and availability in the current market.

For Hunting Whitetail or mule deer I think Ill favor the Berger 108 grain Elite hunter though I have a lot of good options including the following bullets
1.) Pulled 100 gr Hot core.
2.) Hornady 100 gr Sp
3.) 103 gr Hornady Eldx
4.) 85 gr Hornady GMX
5.) Pulled Federal 85 gr all copper Fusion.

Wish I lived in wild Hog country so I could put all of these to the test. Expect all of these would do well inside of 200 yards where nearly all of my shot opportunities come in to play.

[grayfox]

I would not use the 108 for hunting, imo too much chance of a pencil-through. The eldx works I know from experience. I also have some 95's, 95 Noslers, 95 sst's, and what seems now to be available, the berger 95 hunters, whether the classic or vld. From my 20" I can get the 95's to 2780-2800 which is good for at least 200-225 yds for deer. For 95's be mindful of coal - check for your barrel.
No experience on hogs however.
I do personally favor the poly or brass tip bullets since when I tried some 100 sierra SBT's, and hornady btsp's, all of them got a nick or shave on the lead tip so the nose was not symmetrical.
O I almost forgot my sleeper bullet (again it has been in stock) is the 90 gr eldx - should be good, also the 90 gr Sierra tgk...

[Trashy]

I have had excellent results with the 95 gr. Hornady SST. The SST has accounted for 3 whitetails (2 bucks, 1 doe) and 25 hogs and counting, knocking on wood but so far all bang flops. I am working on a load using 105 gr bthp and A2520 for a different rifle that is showing promise. The 95 gr SST is sitting on top of Lever and CCI 450’s, it’s clocking 2880 +/- from a 20” barrel using a Caldwell G2. Hope this helps

[CZ527 Guy]

In the CZ 527  w controlled round feed all rounds are feeding super, where the nick or shave that Grayfox touches on simply have proven to not be - a concern. Factory loads are proving to be some of my least favorite rounds with a crazy difference in velocity and  less than accuracy from my 22" barrel.

Still I gave the 103 grain ELDX reloads a a serious try and my reloads  did fine in terms of accuracy and extreme spread. They were primarily reloaded for my bolt gun and velocity did fine up to 2840 fps with an ES of 5 that is right single digits. The faster load is in single didget extreme spread.

Two water jug test were ran, one at 2300 muzzle velocity & the other at the 2840. The water jugs were shot at 100 yards. The lower velocity round was shot through a 1/2 gallon milk jug & 3 more 1 gallon jugs. This bullet was stuck in the off side of the 4th jug.The bullet retention came in at 74ish percent retention. Then you may not be surprised that the 2840 bullet had completely shed the core by the time it had  entered the last jug.

That faster bullet that left the barrel at 2840 fps passed through 3 1gallon jugs and the jacket & maybe 15 grains of the core made it in to the fourth jug.

I come away with the opinion that this 103 grain ELDX will only be acceptable for my use if I reduce the load a good deal from top end. Expect the ELDX will do quite fine for those using the 16" AR barrels. I would have moved on to other bullets except I ran out of water jugs. O-well another day.

[Jurive]

I have loaded some 90gr sgk that shot decent groups at the suggested coal. Even tried imr4166 powder. Velocity was in the 2585 range out of an 18”. No pressure signs so should be able to get more fps

[CZ527 Guy]

Suppose Ill clarify a little more what I was hoping for in terms of hunting performance bullets. Along with accuracy my goal for a hunting bullet is a picture perfect mushroomed bullet that roughly doubles in diameter. This premium hunting bullet should retaine 70% or greater of the initial weight to insure good penetration in the event the shot placement may be less than preferred.

With this in mind Ill share that I have been a bit disappointed with every cup and core bullet I have tried thus far at upper velocities. Today I tried the 108 grain Elite Hunter and the Hornady 100 grain core lock BTHP. At 100 yards both bullets came completely unglued, in each case the core was completely shed. GRRR

In most cases I expect the bullet will do a very well in putting down the game animal. Yet being a meat eater & intending to eat my game, Id prefer if there was less or even no chance of small bits of lead dispersed in my table fair.

I feel the faster twist can offer more centerifical force than these 6mm bullets may be meant to handle.


Looking like Ill be favoring a all copper variety hunting bullet for the 6mm ARC based on test done thus far.

That being said I can see where many may be pleased with the cup and core bullets. If I was hunting near property lines & just needed to insure the game went down right now the cup and core would get greater consideration.


Guess Ill just keep the high shoulder hit in mind for the all copper bullet if property boundary's are of concern.

[Long Range Gage]

My question is this: Personally, I feel comfortable shooting mule deer at up to 500 yards. That is, my skills are sufficient that I believe that I would be able to make an ethical kill here in AZ at that range with the appropriate cartridge. What do you all think the ethical kill range for the 6arc is up to on mule deer?

[CZ527 Guy]

IF you are talking a long barrel & preferably bolt action rifle the 6mm Arc may be up to the task ,with the right bullet & load combination

[CZ527 Guy]

Aside from accuracy & some rifles are easily up to this task my concern works out to be impact velocity at your personal intended max limit. Question we need to be answering is will your bullet choice expand adiquitly at the retained velocity of 500 yards in the case of LRG's stated upper limit.

Personally Id feel better in a few respects with more gun if I shot the more gun equal or better at the 500 yards. Id be giving the 6mm Creedmoor or 6.5 Creedmoor serious consideration for mule deer over 450 yards. Again you still are needing ammo with a bullet that is up to your task of expanding at lower velocities experienced at those distances.

If you are not practicing at those distances perhaps you should not be hunting at those distances either. If you are practicing at those distances Id encourage you to set up a series of 6 milk jugs or similar sized containers and attempt to test and catch your bullet in a milk jug. That milk jug is about the size of the vitals or your Mule deer.

If you are able to reliably punch those milk jugs at 500 yards and the bullet performance (expansion) is on the order of doubling the diameter. Then Id say go kill your mule deer. If not then changes need to be made to Either your ammo, firearm or upper limits. Just my honest opinion.

As for factory ammo it looks like you are falling below a preferred 1000 ft lb threshhold over 400 yards. https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle...-hunter#!/

[r.tenorio671]

My question is this:  Personally, I feel comfortable shooting mule deer at up to 500 yards.  That is, my skills are sufficient that I believe that I would be able to make an ethical kill here in AZ at that range with the appropriate cartridge.  What do you all think the ethical kill range for the 6arc is up to on mule deer?

...I would suggest a quick way to determine the viability is run the numbers on what you have previously used at those ranges (caliber/bullet/fps) and run those against your intended 6ARC ammo in JBM Ballistics or some other ballistic calculator that gives the ft. lb. energies across the range of distances you might encounter.

[Bill]

90gr BT, it just works, driven fast at 3100fps out of my 22inch Howa mini.

the 100gr BT worked well out of my 25-08 and the 120gr BT out of a 6.5x55 the same. Mostly 100-160lb Hogs.

Nosler BT no fuss gets the job done

[CZ527 Guy]

LRG I am of the opinion that if you can get your hands on some Berger 108 GR Elite hunters that your range of 500 yards is doable. At least in my case the Elite hunter leaves me with more confidence than anything else I have tried. Though I do not have a range that takes me out to 500 yards so only speculation at this point.

[Long Range Gage]

Check my post under Bolt Action/Documenting Uintah Precision from first shot for details but I was getting about 3050 FPS with the 90 gr ELD X with groups around 3/4 inch.

[Newmexican]

Very interesting thread. CZ, your disappointing experience with cup-and-core bullets has me thinking hard about the Barnes 80-grain TTSX BT in a hunting application from my Savage bolt gun. I doubt I would ever shoot beyond 400 yards at a deer or an antelope, and I have had very good luck with Barnes Triple Shocks in larger calibers. Being an old Oregon boy, (John Nosler's younger brother Steve used to drop by and chat when I worked in retirement at the Sportsman's Warehouse in Medford) I'd also consider Nosler's 95-grain Partition, although these don't have the highest BCs compared to the competition.

[CZ527 Guy]

Sorry to agree that imy experiences with cup & Core bullets are largely bullets have been disappointing @ least in terms of weight retention. Yet my goal of high retained weight may certainly also be seen as a negative in some respects. Second day of deer season last fall I recognized an opportunity at the largest whitetail deer I have seen during rifle season.

Conditions on that second morning of season were not conducive to getting a shot opportunity on the brute that morning. I opted to back out un detected & come back for an afternoon / evening hunt. I also opted to switch to the most accurate & heaviest cup & core hunting bullet I have worked with to date in the 6mm ARC. This was really open country & 300yards plus shot opportunity were likely.

The 80 grain TTSX will be a great option IMHO inside of 200 yards with a bolt action 6mm ARC. My confidence in that 80 grain TTSX may start to faid rapidly over 200 yards & as the hunt is close to what could be closet controversial property lines. If I really need a DRT result Il generally prefer a premium heavy for the 6mm caliber, cup & core hunting bullet.

If the all copper bullets were more cost effective I just might be able to practice enough to trust the 6mm TTSX to a greater degree.

I recently acquired another cup & core hunting bullet that Ill be putting to the testing regimen for accuracy & integrity. really looking forward to nicer weather to further test the 100 grain TGC.

[Old Marine]

What about bonded bullets? More money like copper and in my limited experience not as accurate. It seems to me that all copper should be easier and cheaper to produce than cup and core. Is the price of copper the reason for the high price?

[CZ527 Guy]

My perception is the material cost along with the manufacturing process along with R&D + markup are reasons for increased expense. Manufacturer and so the end user will experience the increased expense of the monolithic bullet. Id expect manufacturing cost represents a bigger share of this cost than increased material cost, though both factor in.

Apparently the presses that are used for the many steps of forming up a bullet cup & achieving a uniform core for each cup are more cost effective than the machinery to produce the monolithic bullets. Cycle time to form a cup may be a fraction of a second or so Id expect.

The monolithic bullet I suspect is machined with a turning process / (Lathe work) along with final finishing processes that I do not fully understand. The cycle time for the Lathe or turning work will be say 30 to 50 times longer than forming the cup for example. The machining process comes with a whole new set of QC concerns to boot, or so Id expect. These companies have been pressing cup & core bullets & refining those processes for a lot of decades.

The machining processes for the monolithic bullets in a high production fashion has been taking place for 2 decades at most. Suspect refining the QC & cycle times has presented a whole new set of challenges with the accuracy & expansion characteristics we are striving for.

[CZ527 Guy]

2022 bullet options are looking better, though one of the lead free bullets I have been seeking looks like she will be late to the party. Really was hoping to get a chance to reload the 90 grain CX well b4 season.

Working with what is available I ran nearly 50, 85 grain Controlled Chaos bullets through the CZ 527 this weekend in 2 tenths increments. Everything shot fairly well. Though I think Ill settle on a near max load of LVR in my rifle that is yielding 3070 FPS & a bit under a MOA. Tried this load with both federal 205 primers & Rem 7.5's & the Remington looks to be the clear winner in terms of accuracy with this load.

[alwie]

I am planning on using Barnes Bullets 6mm 95 Gr. LRX bullets. They are lead free. I read an article about hunting with lead free bullets and was sold on the idea.

[SBRSarge]

I am planning on using Barnes Bullets 6mm 95 Gr. LRX bullets. They are lead free. I read an article about hunting with lead free bullets and was sold on the idea.

I’m very interested in this bullet as well, but need a factory offering as I don’t reload.

I like the fact that it is designed to perform well at longer ranges/lower velocities which bodes well for normal range shots out of my SBR.