Intermediate cartridges for deer

Calibre choice can be a touchy subject when you try to rationally test the varying performances between certain cartridges, people often have a favourite and that is that! That’s fine but similarly just because you have used the same ammo for deer or foxes for years, it does not mean it is necessarily the best. To me the extra noise, recoil and cost of ammunition of the larger calibres can be counteracted by precise bullet placement and performance with a light recoiling smaller powder charge cartridge.

Most deer that I shoot are at short range, 150 yards is a long shot in fact 50 yards is more the norm and at these distances ‘normal’ calibres like 243/308 Win can often be overkill. You can down load the case if you reload which I do frequently, but something designed around a smaller powder charge will always be more efficient. The low muzzle report and recoil are both beneficial to the stalker and neighbours and with correct bullet construction just as lethal!

MIRACLE CALIBRES?

So what calibres are there? Two are now common placed examples and the others are newcomers. These include the 6PPC and 6mm BR with the newer 6.5x47 Lapua and 6.5 Grendel and 6.5 Creedmoor. Each utilises a short and rather fat case design for its length that seems to give that efficient powder burn to achieve good velocities with minimal powder but with great consistency which is the key really.

The 6PPC and 6.5 Grendel utilise one of the best kept secrets in ballistics and that is the .220 Russian case that is expanded at the neck to the required calibre and then fire formed to the new cartridge dimensions. The 6mm BR is nothing more than a stubby .308 case at approx half size and the 6.5 x47Lapua is a 3⁄4 size .308 Win necked down to accommodate the slim 6.5mm projectiles with the Creedmoor ‘the ultimate’ .260.

BALLISTICS

Starting with the 6PPC, an absolute gem of a case that has dominated the Bench Rest target game for decades, but also has a loyal following amongst British hunters too. Ballistically this has the minimum capacity with some of the lighter bullets not making the grade however with a suitable barrel with rifling twist to stabilise a 70-grain bullet or larger 1 in 12 or less, the PPC is superb, barrels should not be less than 24”.

29.25-grains of Hodgdon H322 powder sends a Hornady 70-grain Soft Point out of a custom 26” barrel at 3352 fps/1747 ft/lbs energy. Just large deer (roe+) legal but it wins hands down with light recoil and ease of moderation. Also it’s easy to spot your shots and suffer no flinching that ensures far better shot placement than with a heavier recoiling calibre.

Alternatively a Berger 80-grain Varmint over 26.0 grains of RL 10X powder can deliver 3118 fps/ 1726 ft/lbs. It`s super accurate too and the new 88-grain VLD Hunting bullet looks good and I will try later.

BR BETTER?

A better bet in terms of practical calibres is the 6mm BR, due to the normal or standard .308 size head, unlike the dedicated PPC size, it suits far more rifles. Lapua make cases that need no work prior to reloading and as such are a more realistic proposition, and that’s from a chap who uses a 6 PPC!

Again a small charge of only 29.5-grains of either Vit N133 or Hodgdon Benchmark propels a 70-grain Nosler Ballistic Tip at 3362 fps/1757 ft/lbs from a 26”. The BR case is better suited to the heavy bullets as it is often throated thus and a 100-grain Game king can be shot at 2969 fps and generate 1958 ft/lbs energy with a charge of 33.5-grains of RL17. Similarly a 100-grain Norma Oryx gives 2789 fps/1728 ft/lbs with 29-grains of Vit N140. These are all legal limit for some deer species but in reality in a real world deer stalking scenario are incredible performers where it matters.

260/6.5

The .260 Remington is a versatile 6.5mm cartridge but there are three new 6.5’s that have taken off in Britain. First is the unusual 6.5 Grendel which is nothing more than an ‘improved’ 6 PPC case necked up to accommodate a 6.5mm bullet. At first glance it looks incapable of pushing a pea up a straw so small are its dimensions but ballistics are ballistics and the Grendel is just right.

Although you can use lighter bullet weights I will start at the 129 grain weights primarily the Hornady SST loads which have worked very well for me over the years. Again seated rather long which is good as they feed well through a standard magazine size with little modification, a 129grain SST with a load of 28.5 grains IMR 4895 generates 2535 fps velocity and 1840 ft/lbs energy from a 24 inch barrel. More than good enough and with a bullet as slim and high ballistically coefficient as the 6.5mm is very wind bucking indeed and thus loses less energy at longer range also.

If you up the ante to a 140 grain bullet, say the Hornady Interlock, a good, deer- proven projectile then the same load of 28.0 grains RL15 generates 2407 fps and 1802 ft/lbs, still in safe pressures. With that type of performance you now hopefully can see why bother with anything that kicks more and uses more powder at sensible deer ranges?

The second choice is a little more conventional and may be the best of the bunch, why? Lapua make the cases so they are extremely good. They use a small rifle primer to aid in consistent powder burn for this powder charge weight and being an in between round with regards length terms, possibly bridges the gap between .308 size derivatives such as the .260 Remington better than say the smaller 6mm BR case.

Editor Pete Moore shoots a Grendel (Cz 527 custom with 22” tube) and favours lighter weights with a 100-grain Nosler Partition. With 29.3-grains of Vit N530 it’s producing 2799 fps/1751 ft/lbs, it works on deer and foxes giving reliable pass throughs and certain kills. For more weight a 123-grain Hornady SST factory load generates 2580 fps/1826 ft/lbs.

6.5 LAP

The new 6.5x47 Lapua with 47mm case length, a .308 is 51mm, so you are between that and a BR cartridge of just over 39mm. As they say the proof is in the pudding and it will send a 129-grain Hornady SST out of a 24 inch barrel with 1 in 8 twist rifling at 2671 fps/2044 ft/lbs with only a powder charge of 36-grains RL 15. 37.0 grains ups the velocity to 2782 fps for 2218 ft/lbs in the Lynx 94 rifle.

Sorry but that’s superb, similarly switching to a heavier bullet that I like with a 140 grain Berger VLD Hunting a charge of 36.5-grains IMR 4007 gives a healthy 2586 fps/2079 ft/lbs. Or change the powder to RL15 and 35-grains pushes this Berger at 2781 fps/2405 ft/lbs. Well deer legal in any part of the GB and super efficient with minimum fuss, noise, recoil, you name it the 6.5x 47 Lapua does it.

CREEDMOOR

Finally is the 6.5 Creedmoor. Introduced by Hornady in 2007 this is another attempt to maximise the .260-type case. In fact it’s an absolute cracker and cannot be improved on! Case length is 1.920” with an overall length of 2.80”, in other words a good sized boiler room for combustion and throated to maximum to accommodate the max powder and still cycle through a standard magazine.

You can push a 120-grain Ballistic Tip at 2937 fps with a load of 44.5-grains of RL 17 or 40-grains of Varget for 2894 fps from a 24” barrel with a 1 in 8 rifling twist rate. 129-grain SST bullets really work in the Creedmoor and you can top 2812 fps/2265 ft/lbs with a load of 43.25-grains of IMR 4350. Downrange this 0.485 BC bullet will retain 1998 ft/lbs at 100 yds and 1711 ft/ lbs at 200.

The 140-grain bullets are maximum really and a Nosler Accubond generates 2815 fps/2464 ft/lbs. Best powders are the RL 17 and Hybrid 100 V works well with 42.5 grains each.

REALITY CHECK/CONCLUSION

That’s just the 6mm and 6.5 mm cartridges there`s still the .257 to .30 cals which I will look at later. The truth is this, if you own a .243, 260 or .308 rifles would you re-barrel it for one of these newer more efficient calibres? Honestly probably not, but if you only stalk in more populated areas or at short ranges then each of these cartridges are certainly worth consideration. Yes, you have to choose the bullet weight and velocity carefully to stay deer legal for some species or regions, but for the smaller species of deer and doubling as a good fox rifle you have a super efficient cartridge with any of the above mentioned. You will also appreciate the lack of recoil, noise and accuracy both to your reloading and also to less venison damage that may be caused by larger calibres.