Top 6.5 G deer rifle bullet options

[LRRPF52]

“Best” is going to fall into basically 3 categories with differing opinions and experiences, with all of them having a long track record of putting down medium game for the past 20 years.

Those 3 categories will be:

A. Premium bonded or partitioned cup and core bullets (copper jacket, bonded or sectioned lead core)

100gr Nosler Partition
120gr Federal Fusion
125gr Nosler Partition
129gr Nosler Accubond Long Range
130gr Nosler Accubond
130gr Swift Scirocco

Of those, people seem to like the 120gr Federal Fusion, 125gr Partition, and 129gr ABLR the most. 129gr ABLR expands down to 1300fps, is very soft, makes a big hole, has a high BC so it doesn’t lose its momentum as fast.

B. Lead-free monolithic bullets

95gr Maker T-Rex
100gr Barnes TTSX
105gr Cavity Back MKZ
110gr Controlled Chaos
115gr Barnes VOR-TX TTSX
118gr Cavity Back MKZ

120gr Barnes TSX
120gr Barnes TTSX
120gr Hornady CX
120gr Nosler E-Tip
123gr Fort Scott TUI

C. Standard cup and core controlled expansion hunting bullets that are 1/3 to 1/2 the price of the premiums, and can be practiced with more if cost is a factor.

90gr Federal TNT
90gr Nosler Varmageddon
95gr Hornady V-Max
100gr Sierra HP
105gr Sierra Blitzking
120gr ELD-M
123gr ELD-M
123gr SST
129gr SST

Some cup and core hunting bullets are priced in the premium category, like the 100gr and 120gr Nosler Ballistic Tips.

Of all those, various tipped 123gr Hornady bullets have been the most popular due to production volume and consistency. 123gr A-MAX used to be very popular for hunting, even though it was a target bullet. Hornady saw how many people were hunting with it, then made the 123gr SST. A-Max line was replaced with the ELD-M. The A-Maxes and ELD-Ms actually expand down to lower impact speeds and exhibit relatively-controlled expansion like an SST, but are more prone to jacket separation. SST has the mechanical lock in the jacket in the base core, as well as the cannelure.

Even though the 90gr TNT is a varmint bullet, at Grendel velocities, it seems to demonstrate controlled expansion and adequate penetration both on deer and hogs. The new 105gr Sierra Blitzking seems to show a lot of promise, balancing superb accuracy, flat trajectory, controlled expansion, and medium game thorax penetration.

The 129gr SST has been a well-known fast-killer on deer from the start, and is one of the original Alexander Arms factory hunting loads.

If you want lower recoil and fast velocity within 100 yards, the 90-105gr bullets will give you that in spades. I get 2700fps from the Factory Federal 90gr TNT out of my 12” Grendel, and 2900fps out of the 17.6” Grendel.
If you want deep penetration and higher chances of a large exit, the bonded bullets with lower expansion threshold are the route I would consider. The Cavity Back MKZs or Makers expand down to low impact speeds, so they are something to consider. The terminal performance of the CBB and Maker monoliths are pretty devastating.

DoubleNaughtSpy has extensive video documentation of the performance of a lot of different 6.5 Grendel ammunition on hogs. 123gr SST has been a staple, while 90gr TNT was the most surprising in how well it does on hogs. Some of the most impressive wounding effects were seen with the 105gr CBB MKZ.

The next thing to consider is how much meat damage you’re willing to cause, vs how important fast kills or tracking are. Either way, most deer go down within 25 yards in the extensive game surveys we have done on the forum.