Pls recommend a 120 gr 6.5 bullet for Texas Deer

[Zcarp2]

Trying to stay away from the listed varmit bullets.  

What have you used and what velocity?  

I will be using them in my (10 y.o.) daughter's 6.5 Jap and can load to any velocity IF the barrel shoots them.  I am looking for a starting point only for a lighter load.  I am leaning toward Speer or Sierra and will consider Hornady.  Would like a nice round nose, but most of these are spitzers.

Zcarp2

[Graybeard]

The 120 Nosler BT is highly recommended at about 2300-2400 fps in the 6.5 JDJ handguns. I'd say pushed to that velocity it would do well. Or just use the Hornady 129 SP or Nosler 125 PT and push to whatever velocity achieves good accuracy.

[ricciardelli]

Sierra 120 HPBT and H-335 From 33.2 grains to 38.0 grains
 Remington 9-1/2 Primer

[Questor]

I've used both the Speer 120 Hot Cor and the Nosler Ballistic Tip 120 in the 6.5JDJ at 2300fps. They both work great and have no preference for either one. I tried the Noslers after being satisfied with the Speers because I wanted maximum ballistic coefficient.

I believe both bullets were designed for the 6.5 Swedish, so if you can keep your velocities consistent with the 6.5 Swedish, you should be alright.

One concern: Was your gun designed to work with heavier bullets? If it was designed for the bigger  bullets I wonder if it will shoot the 120s well.

[Zcarp2]

The 6.5x50mm Arisaka round was designed aound the 139 gr bullet, I believe.  That gives me a little room to move.  I want to shoot to find out if the old military bore is still accurate enough for hunting.  I have my concerns, but have been amazed before.  May need a stout load to get the accuracy.  We will see.  Waiting on dies now.

Did you use the speer Hot-Core hunting or just paper punching?  I don't have access to a load testing range - meaning where I can haul wet newspapers out and shoot loads into them.  I am curious as to what lower velocity bullet will do.

I looked at the Nosler, but am under the impression that they like the higher velocity for downrange performance and don't want to kick her too much on the practice range.  The rifle has been sporterized and cut down before I got it - it's a cute little, LIGHT rifle - the stock is ugly, though I am working on that.  

My other option is a varmit bullet at low velocity.  Controlled expansion instead of viloent expansion.

We shall see.

[Lone Star]

The Ballistic Tips do not require high velocity to work, in fact they work very well at lower velocities.  I used them in various specialty pistols launched between 2200 and 2500 fps and they performed extremely well, even out to 250 yards.  Your rifle's twist rate is plenty to stabilize the BTips at any reasonable velocity.  They would be my choice for the velocity range you'll get from that Ari.

[TNrifleman]

You might consider the 125 grain Nosler Partition. This bullet works beautifully in my 6.5x55 rifle on whitetail deer.

[Steve P]

I have a 6.5 x 55 and use the 140 partitions.  I am very happy with them.  Someone mentioned the Sierra 120s, in my experience, they blew appart.  I would not use them if given the choice.

Just my experience.

Steve  

[Slamfire]

My Type 38 Carbine prefers the 129 Hornady so much, that I have no experience with the others in an Arisaka. The maximum loads in the Lyman manual are too hot for my rifle, so I stick to the starting load from there.  The loads in Hornady's book are a bit milder.

[Questor]

Zcarp2:

In answer to your question about my use of the Speers and Noslers, I am referring to hunting effectiveness. I shot two sheep with the Speers, one dropped instantly and died. The other was instantly incapacitated. The Nosler was on a pronghorn, it died instantly.  You don't need high velocities with either bullet. As I said, muzzle velocity on mine was around 2300fps.  Ranges varied from under 100 yards to over 250 yards.

[Questor]

Zcarp2:

Don't use a varmint bullet. Please. Go with the 120s and use a starting load if you want lowest recoil and good performance. These bullets are very popular with handgun hunters for the very reason that they are effective at relatively low velocities.

[Zcarp2]

Thanks for the replies - the varmit bullet is my last (and not preferred) choice.  

I will look into the 139 gr Hornady's and Noslers.  Thanks for giving me confidence in the slower velocities with the Noslers - they have a good rep with the Handgunners that I know.  But they also go for MAX punch out of the short barrels.

The starting point will be with slow Speer 120's that I picked up now that I have heard that they will work.  Moving toward the 140's in the future.  Let's see how fast she shoots these up.

I want to start a little slower than 2200 fps on the range and build up.  It is a small light rifle and I don't want to turn her off.  She shoots the .22's wonderfully - even with a too long LOP.  This will be her first center fire with a matched LOP for her (and my son).  She's more fired up than he is.

Thanks to everyone for the information - I hope I can return the favor.

Zcarp2

[Questor]

You have nothing to worry about. The 2300 fps loads I use in a 4 pound handgun have mild recoil muzzle blast.  She'll do fine. If my son's experience is any indication, recoil won't be much of an issue, except initially. We dealt with the recoil issue by my explaining to him that the shotgun has recoil because it needs to shoot the heavy load of shot. I told him it is important to shoulder and cheek the gun properly to avoid discomfort. He fired the first shot and it went well. The second shot was not properly cheeked and it smacked him. After that he was OK with it because he had learned the difference between a good hold and a bad hold. The 20 gauge has a lot more recoil than that 6.5 will have.  

I still think the varmint bullets are a really bad idea. I don't expect them to penetrate adequately, even if you slow the bullet down a lot.

[Zcarp2]

The varmit bullets are designed for a certain velocity as are the medium game bullets.  At some point, you will slow the medium game bullets down and they will fail to perform (needle through the game - no expansion).  Slowing down the varmit bullet will lead to "controlled expansion".  That is my fear here and the reason for looking for a nice round nose design (ala 160 gr Hornady's).  I like the Speer 120's for this reason compared to the Reminton PSP or the Noslers Spitzer.

I was even playing with the idea of starting at subsonic velocities and building up.  Literally, a pop gun.  The 6.5 Jap with it's small case capacity seems like a nice way to try it.

Compare this to shooting 30-30 bullets out of a 308 at 30-30 velocities.  You still get bullet performance out of the chosen launch platform at lower than optimal velocities.  

Thanks for telling me about your son's experience Questor - I did not handle it so well with my daughter.  She does want to try the 410 on the next range trip, but initially shyed away from it.  I thought that I had lost her.  I can't tell you how bad I felt about this.  My son surprised me and shot all the 410's up before she changed her mind.  

Not having testing facilities available is the reason I am looking at other's experiences.
Zcarp2

[cal sibley]

The Hornady 129gr. PSP is an excellent round for deer.  I use them in my 6.5x55s and they're quite accurate as well.  Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal