Category Archives: Bullet Tests and Reviews.

Tests for accuracy and hunting performance

6.5 Creedmoor: Hand-Loaded Nosler 129g ABLR and Hornady 160g Round Nose Deer Hunt Combo? Update at 150 yards

Posted on by

On my northern Maine deer hunt this fall,  I want options.  I am sold that my Weatherby Vanguard 6.5 CM with my Hornady 160 grain round nose is great for a shorter range woods hunt. The round nose has more knockout punch inside of 100 yards and is not as deflectable in brush as a spitzer. However, it limits me to just short range of say 150 yards.

Ok, suppose I am in an elevated stand that overlooks a clear-cut that is 300 yards of open stumps and out walks a wall hanger buck at 280 yards.

With just the 160 grain set-up, I would not be able to attempt a  shot.  Accordingly, I loaded up some 129 grain Nosler AccuBond Long Range bullets that I had in my cupboard to see where they would impact my 160 grain round nose scope set up at 100 yards. Guess What? The 129 grain heads hit the exact same spot as the 160 grain heads. What? Yes they did! What does that mean? It means that I can use either bullet at closer range but, more importantly, it means that I can use the 129 grain Nosler ABLR for longer range open shots with minor elevation adjustments. Wow!

I hand loaded the 129 grain Nosler ABLR’s with a near-max load of Hodgdon H4350. COL was set at 2.75 inches.  The bullets exit the barrel at just over 2800 fps and group at 1 MOA at 100 yards. I put the data into JBM Ballistics Trajectory calculator. And if I adjust the elevation to 1.8 inches high at 100 yards it is basically zeroed for 200 yards. My maximum point blank range (MPBR) is 280 yards. At 280 yards, as seen below, that 129 grain bullet delivers 1500 ft-lbs of energy. Plenty for a big whitetail deer.

UPDATE: After writing this article, I bench-rested one cold shot of each load at 150 yards with a 100 yard zero waiting 10 minutes between shots and degreased the already clean barrel at each shot. The 129 grain Nosler ABLR was dead center low by 1 inch. The 160 grain RN Hornady fell just over 2 inches from dead center. Both bullets were just over an inch apart.

Honestly, I think it is astonishing that both a light and heavy bullet of different head designs and loaded with different powders, different speeds/ballistic coefficients and cartridge overall lengths can be so close to one another, essentially striking the same spot out to 150 yards. I think a clean barrel that has been solvent degreased contributed to the accuracy of these cold shots as well and eliminated a barrel cleanliness variable. Gravity and the aerodynamic drag (BC) of the round nose beyond 150 yards will make it fall faster (19 inches) and lose deer killing energy at 300 yards. The 129 grain Nosler ABLR will lose little energy, and drop 7.5 inches at 300 yards. And can reach beyond 400 yards with sufficient energy as seen in the 129 grain data below. Which bullet do you think, inside of 100 yards will deliver more energy inside the deer? I think the round nose wins that one. But from say beyond 150 yards the 129 grain Nosler takes over the most energy delivered inside the deer. 

See the JBM Ballistics Output Data below. https://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmtraj-5.1.cgi

 

Output Data
Elevation: 5.314 MOA Windage: 0.000 MOA
Atmospheric Density: 0.08269 lb/ft³ Speed of Sound: 1073.7 ft/s
Maximum PBR: 280 yd Maximum PBR Zero: 239 yd
Range of Maximum Height: 135 yd Energy at Maximum PBR: 1549.1 ft•lbs
Sectional Density: 0.264 lb/in²
Calculated Table
Range Drop Drop Windage Windage Velocity Mach Energy Time Lead Lead
(yd) (in) (MOA) (in) (MOA) (ft/s) (none) (ft•lbs) (s) (in) (MOA)
0 -1.5 *** 0.0 *** 2810.0 2.617 2261.4 0.000 0.0 ***
25 -0.2 -0.9 0.0 0.1 2764.4 2.575 2188.6 0.027 0.9 3.6
50 0.7 1.4 0.2 0.3 2719.3 2.533 2117.8 0.054 1.9 3.6
75 1.4 1.8 0.4 0.4 2674.7 2.491 2048.9 0.082 2.9 3.7
100 1.8 1.7 0.6 0.6 2630.6 2.450 1981.8 0.110 3.9 3.7
125 1.8 1.4 1.0 0.8 2586.9 2.409 1916.6 0.139 4.9 3.7
150 1.6 1.0 1.4 0.9 2543.7 2.369 1853.1 0.168 5.9 3.8
175 1.0 0.5 2.0 1.1 2500.9 2.329 1791.3 0.198 7.0 3.8
200 -0.0 -0.0 2.6 1.2 2458.6 2.290 1731.1 0.228 8.0 3.8
225 -1.3 -0.6 3.3 1.4 2416.6 2.251 1672.5 0.259 9.1 3.9
250 -3.0 -1.1 4.1 1.6 2375.1 2.212 1615.5 0.290 10.2 3.9
275 -5.1 -1.8 5.0 1.8 2333.9 2.174 1560.0 0.322 11.3 3.9
300 -7.5 -2.4 6.1 1.9 2293.2 2.136 1506.1 0.355 12.5 4.0
325 -10.4 -3.1 7.2 2.1 2252.9 2.098 1453.5 0.388 13.6 4.0
350 -13.7 -3.7 8.4 2.3 2212.9 2.061 1402.5 0.421 14.8 4.0
375 -17.5 -4.4 9.7 2.5 2173.4 2.024 1352.8 0.455 16.0 4.1
400 -21.7 -5.2 11.1 2.7 2134.2 1.988 1304.5 0.490 17.3 4.1

 

22-Jul-21 07:55, JBM/jbmtraj-5.1.cgi

Even if I don’t make any adjustment to the scope for the 100 yard zero using 160 grain scope setup , I am only 3.5 inches low at 200 yards with the Nosler, still in the kill zone, but I need a steady field rest to make those distant shots. I have a walking stick with a pop up V  rest that I have used before from an elevated stand that works well. I used it similarly from an elevated stand to take a lone spike buck at near to 300 yards a few years back. It looks like I will take both bullets on this hunt. Brush hunt with the Hornady RN and Clear-Cut hunt with the Nosler.

Good Hunting!

©Copyright 2021

Reloading Data Sites to Remember

Posted on by

For those who do research on line for hunting bullet load data you may already be aware of load data from the following sites from a powder perspective and a bullet perspective as well. Enjoy!

https://www.hodgdonreloading.com/reloading-data-center   

The second site is Alliant Powder and similarly has rifle, pistol and shotgun load data.  https://www.alliantpowder.com/reloaders/index.aspx

Nosler has a load data site too for rifles that has great data for Nosler bullets. Click the Load Data below. 

https://load-data.nosler.com/

Speer also has rifle load data for Speer bullets below.

https://reloadingdata.speer.com/SpeerReloading/Rifle

Hornady has load data that has not been published in their handbook yet so it is limited.  In fact, the Hornady handbook #11 has loads and powders not shown even in their limited load data site.  Note: Hornady’s 11th Edition Handbook is specific to Hornady bullets. 

https://www.hornady.com/support/load-data/

There may be other sites I have not highlighted here but these sites cover much of the rifle load data except for companies that will not fully publish and desire you to purchase their handbook. 

Sierra has a limited load data site. 

https://sierrabullets.wordpress.com/category/load-data/

 

Hunter Value of Hornady 6.5mm 160 grain InterLock Round Nose Loads in Forest Terrain

Posted on by

This 6.5mm InterLock® Round Nose was designed for shorter ranges say under 150 yards in forest terrain on deer, bear and even moose. This round nose, maximizes delivered energy (like a hammer) more so than a spitzer for the same distances.  With some luck,  I did find some bullets on-line and made a purchase. One of the outstanding attributes of heavy 6.5mm bullets is that the Sectional Density (SD) of say 160 grain 6.5mm bullet is about 0.328. It translates to bullet penetration, in spades. Couple that wallop of penetration at the get-go with a round nose and you get a huge mushrooming bullet that acts like a plow that resists deflection and exits leaving a significant wound channel and blood trail that is easy to see.

I endeavored to find an accurate load for the Hornady 160 grain for my 6.5 Creedmoor rifle. I worked up and hand loaded 43 grains of WIN 760 powder per the 8th Edition Hornady Manual. and achieved a one inch group at 100 yards delivering over 2635 fps. This powder produces one of the fastest and accurate loads.  This is slow compared to say a 130 grain spitzer traveling at 2900 fps but the slower, heavier 160 grain has far more penetration on larger big game. The Swede’s use it on their moose in the 6.5×55 Mauser cartridge that is very similar to the 6.5 Creedmoor! Just keep your shots short to say 150 yards.

This bullet fills a niche for shorter range big game and I hope it stays. It is a great New England round in the northern spruce of New Hampshire or Maine for those who hand load the 6.5, like myself.

I have found that Hodgdon has a helpful on line load listing for Pistol, Rifle, and Shotgun by going to the reloading data center at https://imrpowder.com/

Below is an article I have written on Flat Nose and Round nose bullets that adds to your understanding.

Flat Nose and Round Nose Bullets for Big Game

There are new powders to try too. Have fun!

Good Shooting!

©Copyright 2021

 

 

The Venerable 30-06 in a T/C Encore Pro-Hunter with Nosler E-Tip

Posted on by

The Nosler Expansion Tip (E-Tip) Hunting bullet is a copper alloy monolithic (solid) hollow point spitzer designed for long range but has both short and long range benefits. No, it does not have surface shock like a round or flat nose but it is capable amazing energy transfer and no lead to deal with.

As I said in my last article that round and flat nose are great brush busters however for bottleneck cartridges they are in very short supply at this time. It just so happens that I own a T/C Encore Pro Hunter Muzzle Loader and a 30-06 Springfield Interchangeable barrel. Honestly, I had it set up for muzzleloader and it shoots real sweet so I resisted making the conversion to 30-06 until now.  I gave in to the temptation because in my ammo cupboard I just happen to have some store bought Nosler 168 grain Expansion Tips (aka E-Tips) cartridges.  I successfully used them on a 350 pound wild boar hunt a few years back. The shot was 30 to 40 yards max.

I will show you what it did. Here is the entrance wound.

Busting through the super tough shield on both sides, here is the exit wound below! Keep in mind that the boars “shield”  forced the bullet to fully expand just on entrance and give up a ton of energy inside the animal before exiting. I would not expect this massive damage in a thin skinned whitetail.

Energy delivered was on the order of 2600 to 2700 ft-lbs. More than enough for Moose but you see the copper alloy stays together up to 95% intact says test data. These images are from the Nosler website; www.nosler.com

E-Tip Lead Free Bullet Mushroom Effect

Gel test below by Nosler.

Lets take it to the range! I knew that it was likely not going to shoot MOA because I remember mumbling about the 2 to 2.5 inch groups at 100 yards. Yep, that is what I got 2.5 inch groups at 100 yards. I did notice that the cold shot was dead on. Although I prefer moa accuracy, this works well for hunting in the thick stuff like the boar above. If I hand loaded this, I can get it to MOA for sure. The boar certainly did not know the difference!

Good Hunting!

©Copyright 2021 All Rights Reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

6.5 Creedmoor Superformance Load Data with Lapua Mega 155 grain Soft Point Flat Nose

Posted on by

As I have written in recent articles, round nose and flat point bullets in short range thick brush environments, can deliver more immediate impact energy to the big game you are hunting at shorter ranges under 200 yards than with some of the long range designed spitzer bullets. The reloading issue is, to get a round or flat nose bullet in a bottleneck cartridge, you must find the bullet and hand load it. Sadly, many round/flat nose bullets are no longer manufactured or are reduced to special manufacture runs. The Lapua Mega 155 grain flat points have a brass jacket and are very hard to find, if at all. The Lapua Reloading Manual is no longer available.

Accordingly, I had to determine the cartridge overall length – COL to the lands in my rifle,  which are 2.68 inches and then I back off the lands to 2.64 inches. I used a spent case and pinched the opening to hold a bullet marked with black magic marker and loaded it in the rifle and closed the bolt. Note: Hornady says COL Max is 2.8 inches for the spitzers. My max COL is much less. Caution: Each rifle may be different. These calculations and data are for my rifle only, a Weatherby Vanguard Weatherguard with a 24 inch barrel topped with a Leupold VX-3. 

My research of reloading data found that Sierra and Hornady had some data for 150, 153 grain and 160 grain bullets. Powders were typical, such as IMR 4350, H4350, IMR 4831 but one powder stood out, it was Hodgdon’s Superformance powder. The powder was published by Hornady for the 153 grain A-Tip Match up to 42. 9 grains max load providing 2650 fps. Superformance allowed me to work up a load safely to higher energy than the other powders but not at max load. 

I did so in half grain increments beginning with 39.5 grains and looking for any signs of overpressure like a really flat primer or gas leaks. I did so with 2 shots for each 1/2 grain increment followed by case and primer inspection, all was normal. I stopped at 41 grains and loaded three rounds for group. I did not chrono these but based on the 153 grain data by Hornady I was in the 2550 fps range. The primers were still rounded and not flattened.  Here is my group at 41 grains of Superformance at 75 yards, no wind. Looks like 1/2 inch group. Nice!

Below is the Trajectory and Energy table at 2550 fps. Delivered energy for elk is said to be 1500 ft-lbs, thus we are good for elk at 180 yards. 

This load is for Northern Whitetails with a flat-point, should mushroom very well. It will be devastating on a 300 pound whitetail buck at under 100 yards at 1800 to 1900 ft-lbs,  A Hammer in anyone’s book!

Calculated Table
Range Drop Drop Windage Windage Velocity Mach Energy Time Lead Lead
(yd) (in) (MOA) (in) (MOA) (ft/s) (none) (ft•lbs) (s) (in) (MOA)
0 -1.5 *** 0.0 *** 2550.0 2.375 2237.6 0.000 0.0 ***
25 -0.3 -1.2 0.1 0.2 2487.5 2.317 2129.2 0.030 1.0 4.0
50 0.5 1.0 0.3 0.5 2425.9 2.259 2025.1 0.060 2.1 4.1
75 1.0 1.3 0.6 0.8 2365.2 2.203 1925.0 0.092 3.2 4.1
100 1.1 1.0 1.1 1.0 2305.3 2.147 1828.8 0.124 4.4 4.2
125 0.8 0.6 1.7 1.3 2246.3 2.092 1736.4 0.157 5.5 4.2
150 -0.0 -0.0 2.5 1.6 2188.1 2.038 1647.6 0.191 6.7 4.3
175 -1.2 -0.7 3.4 1.9 2130.8 1.985 1562.4 0.225 7.9 4.3
200 -2.9 -1.4 4.5 2.2 2074.3 1.932 1480.6 0.261 9.2 4.4

 

I compared this Energy data to my earlier article on my downloaded .375 Ruger. See below. 

Speer Hot Core Semi-Spitzer 235 g 375 Ruger Downloaded for Big Northern Whitetails Or…

The 6.5 Creedmoor with the Lapua Mega 155 grain Flat Point is the clear winner for energy, and will mushroom on the entrance of the hide, but either cartridge and bullet will do the job well for the loads discussed. 

Good Hunting!

©Copyright 2021 All Rights Reserved. 

Round Nose Bullets and Semi-Spitzer – Brush Buster for Big Bucks – Updated with Miller Stability

Posted on by

Note to readers: I have updated this article with the Miller Stability Formula from JBM  Ballistics which says 160 grain Round Nose is Stable enough in the 6.5 Creedmoor. Read on…

I have been a fan of round nose bullets to hunt deer in heavy cover thus I began to investigate my options for using my 6.5 Creedmoor that I used well on Texas deer; except with round nose bullets to provide more instant surface shock on entry and perhaps deflect less in heavy brush and a larger exit wound. Below is another article I penned recently.

Flat Nose and Round Nose Bullets for Big Game

What began to surface in my investigation is that there are very few companies which offer 160 grain round  nose in the 6.5 CM in a rifle with 8/1 twist rate.

Tim, a long time reader writes to try the Lapua Mega 155 grain round nose but it is not in stock anywhere I looked. This bullet has a length of 1.248 inches and would be over stabilized in my 6.5 Creedmoor according to Bison Ballistics below at a speed of 2400 fps. However, the  Miller Stability formula on the other hand in JBM  Ballistics below says the Lapua round nose 155 is stable enough and shades it in green. Tim is sending me some of the Lapua Mega 155 grain heads to try! Thanks Tim!

http://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmstab-5.1.cgi

https://bisonballistics.com/calculators/stability

In addition, the Miller Stability calculations from JBM ballistics says the Hornady 160 grain round nose, also not in stock,  with a length of 1.257 for Hornady’s round  nose is also STABLE according to the Miller Stability Formula which equals 2.445

I will  have to prove that out at the range if I can get some round nose bullets for the 6.5 Creedmoor.

If I cant get any of these round noses to test and validate then I would lean toward my .375 Ruger with my Speer 235 grain semi-spitzer below that I hand load down for deer delivering nearly 2000 ft-lbs at 100 yards.

The Speer 235 grain semi-spitzers are more round nosed and are great for brush and shorter distances to say 150 yards and will drop a deer in its tracks.  What is so great about round nose bullets is that the rounded nose is already mushroomed to a degree, as the bullet strikes the hide of the animal providing instant radial shock thus the deer have a tendency to drop right where they are hit.   Below is a chuckhawks article that talks about bullet shapes and likely killing power. A good read!

https://www.chuckhawks.com/big_game_bullets.htm

Good Hunting!

© Copyright 2021 All Rights Reserved.

 

 

 

Great Deer Cartridges for New Hampshire Deer

Posted on by

Here in New Hampshire we have a variety of fields and forests. There are southern zones that do not allow rifle hunting however with that said, calibers such as the 243 Winchester to 300 Winchester Magnum and everything in between are great choices. Young and women hunters are often seen with the 243 Winchester and 6mm as they has very low recoil and great deer killing energy with a well placed shot. These are not ideal for heavy brush. Next is the 7mm-08 (based on the .308 Winchester case and necked down) and all the new and old 6.5mm cartridges but still not great for heavy brush. These are also easy on the recoil and bullets weigh more and have better penetration with a bit more recoil.

The 7mm cartridge’s are geared for longer range and higher energies, such as the well known 7mm Remington magnum.  Perhaps one of the most often used cartridges is the .308 Winchester, hard hitting and medium recoil. Northern hunters opt for the .270 Winchester, 30-06 Springfield, and 300 Winchester Magnum because of their fire power. But these aforementioned cartridge’s come with lots more recoil. Recoil sensitive shooters should stay away from these cartridges unless hand loaded down in power, something I am very good at.

As far as bullets go, I prefer bonded bullets, where the copper jacket is bonded to the lead, which makes for a bullet that mushrooms correctly and stays together. If you hand load your cartridge then the world is your oyster for bullet choices. My favorites are the Nosler Partition and the Nosler AccuBond. The latter is my go-to big game bullet. Veteran hunters who prowl in heavy timber use larger calibers in the 40 or 50 caliber class. My brother’s thick timber rifle was the venerable 444 Marlin and others shoot the 45-70. Both great cartridges. Often flat points or the newer rubber tipped 240/260 grain heads. Again, if you shoot regularly, consider loading your own ammo as I do. It is great fun and you get to customize the load and bullet for the rifle, the game, and the hunter too.

Good Hunting!

© Copyright 2020

Flat Nose and Round Nose Bullets for Big Game

Posted on by

Today’s bullet sales and profit seems to cater to where the bullet volume is. Specifically, sales cater to the long range crowd, shooting very low drag bullets and to the big game long range crowd. Long range in this case is beyond 200 yards which is a common sense limit for round nose ammo. Yes, I am one of those guys who likes to play with long range stuff but what about a hunter who owns rifles of odd calibers and/or those hunters who invariably do not hunt long range such as the deer hunters of my state of New Hampshire. These hunters often harvest deer in the woods at 40 to 60 yards on average with bullets that are of long range design.

And finally to those who believe, like  me, that a well placed round or flat nose or semi-spitzer bullet will drop game faster than a fully pointed spitzer would because more energy is delivered to the animal given that the range to the game animal needs to be relatively short, say 100 yards or less. Of course energy, frontal area of the bullet, and sectional density play a part.

The tug of a bullet entering game hide is, for all practical purposes, crushingly more powerful for a round or flat nose bullet than for a pencil pointed bullet which pokes a hole in the hide. In fact, you can often hear the slap (surface shock) of a flat or round nose which often instantly drops the game and highly recommended for dangerous game. I shot a red doe with a .375 dia flat nose bullet traveling at 1500 fps and she went 20 yards. Similar to the .375 Winchester or 38-55.. That speed is too slow for a spitzer to even open up and mushroom. Spitzers often need at least 1800fps to mushroom adequately. Semi- spitzers mushroom faster as they are more rounded.

Of course there are pro’s and con’s.

I have harvested deer with spitzers which mushroom ideally and have harvested with round and flat nose as well. Both work! My limited experience is that game seems to drop more often, on the spot, with round or flat nose than with spitzers give that it is short range. On long range I trust Nosler AccuBonds and E-Tips. Round nose and flat nose bullets are still out there. Hornady, Barnes, Speer and Sierra  makes them too.

My Texas buck in 2018 was taken with a muzzleloader and semi-spitzer tip and a flat hollow point design under the tip. He never took a step. Of course 150 grains of powder and a 300 grain bullet dropped him right there because of the huge energy delivered and frontal surface area.

My brother loves his 444 Marlin lever action with 240 grain flat points for New Hampshire thick stuff. Otherwise he likes his 300 win mag that does it all. I like the .375 Ruger for hunting everything because I handload. Of course, if it is a rifle, I love them all and of nearly every caliber.

Great campfire fodder!

© Copyright 2020

 

 

More 375 Ruger Reduced Load data for Deer and Black Bear – Updated

Posted on by

These websites below offer experienced hand loaders more research options for powders that provide reduced loads in the .375 Ruger for deer and black bear. I use magnum rifle primers in load development to ensure complete ignition. Carefully work up new loads inspecting each case after firing. I do not advocate the data in these websites but provide them for your information and fun to read articles.

https://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/.375+Ruger.html

I do read that A 5744 works well in the .375 Ruger for reduced loads though I have not loaded or shot it.

375 Ruger Reduced Loads from Chuck Hawkes with A5744 Powder below and grain weight loads.

https://www.chuckhawks.com/reduced_big_bore_loads.htm

IMR 4227 used in Handloader Magazine for 375 Ruger

https://www.handloadermagazine.com/reduced-rifle-loads

Hodgdon Reduced Rifle loads below using the 60% rule with H4895 powder below.

https://hodgdon.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/h4895-reduced-rifle-loads.pdf?_ga=2.52837998.715241781.1595099969-1370190430.1595099968

I am lucky to have purchased one of the last cans of SR 4759 powder and am successfully using that for my deer hunting load development for .375 Ruger.

Good Shooting!

 

Best Loading Powders With Nosler Big Game Hunting AccuBond or E-Tip Bullets for 6.5 Creedmoor

Posted on by

The 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge provides extremely fine accuracy in today’s big game hunting rifles and is easy on recoil. As a big game cartridge it provides ample energy and penetration in the 120 grain, 129 grain and 142 grain Nosler AccuBond and solid gilding copper E-Tip for deer, bear, and elk and has taken moose as well as numerous African Plains Game species.  I love Nosler’s!

The Nosler AccuBond™ is a world class polymer tipped bonded core boat-tail bullet which mushrooms extremely well from 1800 FPS to 3200 FPS. I took a bull moose last fall with the 300 grain AccuBond out of my Ruger African in .375 Ruger resulting in a one shot kill at 100 yards. See the  Moose Hunt here using the search tool. The moose stood as my friend says, transfixed, for just a few seconds and collapsed right there. The bullet mushroomed to nearly 3/4  inch and piled up under the hide on the far side.  Ok, back to the Creedmoor.

https://www.nosler.com/accubond-bullet

The AccuBond is already a short or long range bullet but for those who want to reach out beyond say 400 or 500 yards, Nosler has the AccuBond LR with extremely high ballistic coefficients to maintain killing energy at ranges of 700 to 800 yards in many cases. Of course you would need to practice at those ranges to ethically hunt.

Hand loading this cartridge is identical to most bottle neck cartridges such as the .270 Winchester or .308 Winchester.

Powders that work extremely well for Nosler bullets are Reloader 15 (RL-15) and IMR 4895. My go-to Hunting Powders! I will say that H4350 is a fine powder for long range target at say 600 yards.

In fact for the 129/130 grain bullet,  RL-15 powder is the most accurate providing 2810 fps out of a 24 inch barrel and is the most accurate of the several powders Nosler tested. I have burned more RL-15 powder that most.

The E-Tip is lead free but only offered in 120 grain bullets for the 6.5 Creedmoor. It is sports a solid gilding (alloy) copper body with a polymer tip. For those who prefer lead free, this is a fantastic bullet that maintains virtually 95% of its weight as it mushrooms. Reloaders are advised to work up loads for this as a starting load and work up your load. IMR- 4895 is perhaps the best powder for energy and accuracy for the 120 grain head. Most of todays all copper bullets are pure copper and can leave copper deposits in the barrel at  high velocities making cleaning sometimes more difficult. Not so with the E-Tip as it is a harder copper alloy coined as gilding copper.

 

Load some today and see what I am talkin’ about.

Good Shooting!