Thread: Deer Projectiles for 6mmPPC

I've measured the twist by running a tight patch down the bore seeing how far the rod needs to go for one full revolution. Its about 12.5".

Looking at bullet stability stats in Litz Applied Ballistics Vol 2 (it only goes out to 10" max for .243) stability of some bullets like the Nosler 70 and 80 gr Ballistic tip and Hornady 75gr V-Max will be quite poor.
The most stable seems to be the Sierra 70gr Matchking and 80 gr Sierra Blitz, which should be OK; they do have a bit lower BC, and are the shortest at under 0.9" long.

However, most 6mm bullets 80gr or less are intended for target shooting (Matchking) or varmints (Nosler BT varmint and bliztking). Sierra doesn't make a gameking in that weight as far as I can see. The market is saying that the 6MM PPC (and similar shorties) are good for target and varmint but not really for deer.

So, why does this gun have such a slow twist ? It was made in the late 1980s, when velocity was king. We didn't have range finders, so flat shooting cartridges had an advantage for hunting. On the range, 6mmPPC would have been much better in the wind than the 55gr bullets in the .223. Nowdays this flat shooting advantage is lost and the wind advantage is with high BC, heavy for calibre bullets and we see 75 gr in .224 . The rifle is designated the "hunter" model and has a 4 shot hinged floorplate magazine. There was another model that was single shot for target. So this model was intended for hunting but more for big varmints like hares, maybe muntjac, roe or coyote or in NZ south island wallaby specially where there's a bit of wind. Not so much as a light deer cartridge. In theory the 6mmPPC would be superior to the .223 for small deer but would need a faster twist barrel than this.