Changing from 123 SST to something else ?

Hey guys, my son shoots 6.5 Grendel and has done for a couple of years. We pretty much worked up a good load with the 123g SST which was easy to get good accuracy and have pretty much gone hunting since. It has accounted for everything from magpies, to lots of goats with no complaints..... However, he recently shot a nice spiker which was lying down about 70 yards away and well below us in a creek bed, a nicely placed shot and it died instantly and never even moved. Again, we never found the bullet (so we thought) but after cutting up the heart at home for lunch (yes he loves that ! ) to our amazement there was the projectile, which was cool but only a shredded copper jacket remained and no lead core. Is that normal ?

Anyway........made me think this bullet is obviously capable but as he gets older (15, going on 16) and wants to shoot more deer maybe we should look into an alternative projectile ? (I appreciate the grendel has limitations but we would like to stick with it for the mean time, since he's very confident with that little rifle.)

Cheers, pete

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Originally Posted by Dusty Fog

ive used a partition 125 to good effect,,tahr to (wapiti)fiordland deer to wallabies,,just not a long range load in the grendel but works great out to 250

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That's good to know....Wapiti that's a nice score for the Grendel !....Partition was on the radar, have you ever tried the Ballistic Tip ?

I too have used 125gn partitions in my 6.5TCU (almost ballistically the same as the Grendel) only shot 1 deer with them and it fell over............. dead.

Have you considered Nosler LRAB 129gn which is better bc and as they are designed to expand at a lower velocity might work well.

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Originally Posted by mikee

I too have used 125gn partitions in my 6.5TCU (almost ballistically the same as the Grendel) only shot 1 deer with them and it fell over............. dead.

Have you considered Nosler LRAB 129gn which is better bc and as they are designed to expand at a lower velocity might work well.

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Makes sense that a bullet like that would work well at lower velocities, although I think the partition might be more suitable and not run into issues with mag length with a long projectile. Partition is down to 1800 fps for min expansion, which is very low. The funny thing is of all the goats he has shot, the SST appears to kill better at 150-200 yards vs close stuff, might be coincidence but would appear that way.

if you want it to kill faster up close,move point of aim forwards,to in front of leg rather than behind it.....or my personal favourite break both shoulders,they dont go anywhere when you take the front wheels out...hitting bone is a big advantage....

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Originally Posted by Dusty Fog

goats are a different kill to deer

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Agreed

I know with the 7m08 the 139sst generally is a Good option so in a 6.5 the 123 SST would make sense.
There is no one wonder bullet and we have different expectations.
Some want a bullet to do through both shoulders and leave an exit hole, (bugger if the aim is out and you get a pin hole.)
Others want a bullet to blow up after just passing by a rib and no exit hole (bugger if aim is out and you get a leg bone)

On the assumption you are hunting goats and north island deer;
Like the 7m08 your 6.5 Grendel is at the lower end of the velocity spectrum for its caliber so I think you would be best served staying with a frangible /soft bullet,
Ie the SST you are currently using or Berger 130gr VLD hunter or 135gr classic hunter, or ELD-M.
Plenty of others but I have only experience with these 3.

Logic being initial velocity is down and you are not shooting heavy wide animals so you need a bullet that will open up readily and deliver energy into the target.
Goats and most NI deer are not very wide across the chest cavity.
Zq

Pretty typical for the sst to come apart, only a problem if lacking sectional density and hence penetration.
Going up in weight may give more penitration and more consistent performance .

Thanks for the input guys....as @ZQLewis said there is always a trade off pretty much like most things in life. It would seem the 120gr. Speer Gold dot and the 125 gr. Nosler Partition sound like good options to try so if anyone has some first hand experience with either let me know....

The projectile hasn't failed in doing its job at the end of the day You could go heavier if you're worried about penitration like has been said earlier. But it hasn't failed because it killed the deer. Don't worry about it.

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Originally Posted by Pete_D

Makes sense that a bullet like that would work well at lower velocities, although I think the partition might be more suitable and not run into issues with mag length with a long projectile. Partition is down to 1800 fps for min expansion, which is very low. The funny thing is of all the goats he has shot, the SST appears to kill better at 150-200 yards vs close stuff, might be coincidence but would appear that way.

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NABLR for a Grendel? Much better options than that, and the high BC is wasted, plus they are very expensive for shooting goats. It’s a bonded projectile and not a great long range design as it relies on retained velocity at longer range thanks to high BC.

ELD-M is a better option if you want a projectile which expands at low velocity. Still likely to lose its jacket on a big deer, but will expand better when going slowly. It’s a funny thing that ELD-M, which is not designed for game shooting is a better projectile at long range and low velocity than the NABLR, which is supposedly designed for that purpose. Partition is a great option for deer too if you want a projectile which holds together and penetrates better.

heavier and softer....speer make lovely soft projectiles,always have.

Following on from spitifres comments,
ELD-X and short range and ELD-M for long range but they have difference load data, I would just pick 1 good average bullet and develop great bullet placement skills.
The X gives good penetration and will take out the shoulders etc, but not so traumatic further out.
The M is not ideal if you are shooting through a heavy shoulder at short range.

However every bullet has exceptions.
I've had a Sierra GK 225 gr smash a shoulder on a very large red stage, poleaxed him to the ground but then 2 minutes later he got up, Lots of shock but not a fast bleed. (Previously smaller NI red stag's this bullet has gone through and smashed both shoulders and exited.
And I've had (fallow at 125mtr 243 ELD-M smash a Hip joint up, pass through the remun and the sternum to be found under the skin between the fore legs.

I say we all get a bit would up over this topic (me included), Shoot what you have confidence in as a confident shooter will make better shoot placement decisions and that's more important that the bullet.
Z