Thread: Is a 6.5x55 enough gun for Thar

Originally Posted by Tahr

Good advice. Ive been a bit inclined to shoot them where I estimated the crease was to avoid shooting too far forward, and consequently have had quite a few of those slow killing lung shots. They die, but can gallop a long way with all legs working and it usually ends badly over a bluff.

Done the same thing on this bull. 150m shot front on hit him good. He ran and I shot him again broadside, missed the shoulder joint and hit through the lungs. He fell a long way down the face and broke one horn clean off which I miraculously recovered enroute to where he lay. 130gr swifts from the 6.5 single shot. Would have been better to get a broadside shot at the original location and drop him there. I was lucky it ended the way it did, it was a dodgy recovery involving hanging onto a tussock on the edge of a bluff and using the other hand to do the cutting work.

Originally Posted by K95

I remember Derek Johnson wrote an article about tahr hunting for NZHunter. He reckoned verticle crosshair on the front leg and 1/3 of the way up the body if I remember correct. Should break the shoulder join.

This is 10x clearer advice than mine as to actual placement. Just remember the shoulders are like a overly top heavy body builder so projectile choice matters. I've broken shoulders of reds with the 162 amax but I'm not pushing high speeds and I'd be skeptical if the penetration is there. Anecdotally iv seen a 139 sst out of a rem mag mangle the muscle on the front shoulder and it didn't do much to the bone with a few bits of projectile tearing up the internals. The Tahr ran a long way and took about 6 hours to find.

Originally Posted by imaca

@Stocky do you mean they SHOULD be shot quite far forward because the shoulder is tough, or people incorrectly shoot them quite far forward because they don't know the anatomy?

No I don't kind of two separate points I failed to separate. The further forward(past the shoulder blades) the tougher and the less important stuff until your just skimming the sternum. I've seen a few shots go through just the mane no meat. Same as most animals though the actual shoulder and shoulder blade is good if your projectile is tough enough and you have enough energy to anchor it. Just be careful as some of the lighter constructed bullets don't like dense muscle and bone much. Otherwise behind the shoulder means less resistance for the bullet on lighter calibres.

Originally Posted by Stocky

More importantly learn where in the puffball is the shoulder. They are tough in the shoulders and are often shot quite far forward in the mane.

Very good point.

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Sure is good enough

Plenty im debating flicking both my magnums and using only 260 i shot a few with my old swede all died well

Unlike a deer, the front legs on a tahr are similar size and muscle mass to the back legs. This sets a minimum cartridge size (about 308 in my opinion).
Also a bull tahr is quite a large animal, perhaps not quite as big as a cattle beast bull but getting in that way.
I'l go with the advice from forum member @Tahr (and other experienced hunters on here). Try and break bone. Avoid angling from behind crease lung only shots.

Easy as, they're just another animal that you need to get shot placement right.
Alot of guys use big bangers as to try sack them on the spot as they can bolt into dirty bluffs gorges etc.
Can be pretty windy down there too so having a bit of horsepower is quite handy to buck the wind.
Ya gotta walk and retrieve the animal so you might as well stalk closer to start with if possible to do so

Definitely more than enough gun for tahr. As with anything shot placement is key and knowing your rifle. Low recoil and knowing your rifle is much more important than a larger caliber.

What accubond are you using @imaca? I hate the old white tip ones on thar.
Seriously, while I know they're accurate and all that jazz I have had more issues with them in faster cartridges than a non mag 6.5 and 7mm on thar than anything else. I hear they improved them but never run across the new ones. SST is another I hate.




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Originally Posted by R93

What accubond are you using @imaca? I hate the old white tip ones on thar.
Seriously, while I know they're accurate and all that jazz I have had more issues with them in faster cartridges than a non mag 6.5 and 7mm on thar than anything else. I hear they improved them but never run across the new ones. SST is another I hate.




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@R93 they are the white tipped ones. I bought them in the US about 4 years ago, I also have some Nosler 140 gr partitions that I haven't worked up a load for yet.
What are you using?

I've been fortunate enough to be in on a few hundred tahr kills and can assure you that a 6.5 is ample. As has been said above, shot placement is the most important, regardless of calibre. And dont think you have to emulate the Duley's - there forte is long range, your average tahr hunter is less than 300. No need for the long shots, you've still gotta go and recover them so may as well close the distance before you pull the trigger. Take the 6.5 and hunt with confidence, you will not be disappointed.

Originally Posted by Husky1600

I've been fortunate enough to be in on a few hundred tahr kills and can assure you that a 6.5 is ample. As has been said above, shot placement is the most important, regardless of calibre. And dont think you have to emulate the Duley's - there forte is long range, your average tahr hunter is less than 300. No need for the long shots, you've still gotta go and recover them so may as well close the distance before you pull the trigger. Take the 6.5 and hunt with confidence, you will not be disappointed.

Thanks mate, that's good advice, also mentioned by Pongo

I was going to use my 6.5 Swedish on everything.

Are you reloading? Factory ammo unless using premium European ammo is really crap. Slow speeds.

You're much better off with a low recoil chambering, accurate and fast enough to drive an appropriate bullet than a magnum if you've not shot them much

Originally Posted by Russian 22.

I was going to use my 6.5 Swedish on everything.

Are you reloading? Factory ammo unless using premium European ammo is really crap. Slow speeds.

You're much better off with a low recoil chambering, accurate and fast enough to drive an appropriate bullet than a magnum if you've not shot them much

Yeah I'm reloading 140gr Nosler Accubonds. Getting about 2800fps and cold bore shots exactly where I expect them to be