It has been noted by African big game hunters that round and flat nose bullets, at moderate velocities and ranges under 150 yards, provide two important key killing parameters for big game hunting. First, round and flat nose bullets hit like a hammer, and deliver more energy on entrance and throughout the bullet path than a traditional jacketed spitzer. More often dropping game instantly. Secondly, it has been observed that round and flat nose bullets, at moderate velocities, tend to remain on the same path and not be deflected as easily as spitzers. For those reasons, I like round, flat nose, and semi-spitzer for short range brushy conditions like across Northeastern USA.
The 6. 5mm Hornady 160g is a true round nose with a worked up max load of 43 grains Winchester 760 powder delivering 2635 fps (24 inch barrel) via Labradar delivering a whopping 1879 ft-lbs at 100 yards per JBM Ballistics.
No pressure signs in my rifle, recalling that each rifle is different, so don’t assume that your rifle can handle this heavy load. The Ballistic Coefficient is expected to be low, with round nose creating drag, at .283 G1 BC. But its Sectional Density is a whopping .315 and that translates to best-of-the-best in penetration and mushrooming with the round nose. JBM Ballistic data for the 160g below out to 400 yards. The 160g delivers deer killing energy out to 300 yards. Nice! Even nicer is a 1.2 inch Cold barrel 4 shot group below.
I shot targets in each quadrant and below is the sum of 4 shots, marked in pencil, at 100 yards with a cleaned and solvent degreased bore. I swabbed the bore with each shot with solvent degreaser, and waited 10 minutes between shots. The very first shot was the low 6 o’clock bullet.
UPDATE- Seating Depth resulting in a COL of 2.65 inches later was determined to significantly tighten 3 shot cold bore group to 1/2 inch. This round nose bullet apparently needs more space away from the rifling.
JBM Ballistic Calculated Table for 160 grain Round Nose Hornady below. Great power for brushy terrain short range with plenty of smack down energy.
| 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 | *** | 2635.0 | 2.454 | 2466.3 | 0.000 | 0.0 | *** |
| 50 | -0.0 | -0.1 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 2464.3 | 2.295 | 2157.1 | 0.059 | 2.1 | 4.0 |
| 100 | -0.0 | -0.0 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 2300.1 | 2.142 | 1879.3 | 0.122 | 4.3 | 4.1 |
| 150 | -1.6 | -1.0 | 3.3 | 2.1 | 2142.2 | 1.995 | 1630.1 | 0.189 | 6.7 | 4.2 |
| 200 | -5.1 | -2.4 | 6.1 | 2.9 | 1990.5 | 1.854 | 1407.4 | 0.262 | 9.2 | 4.4 |
| 250 | -10.8 | -4.1 | 9.8 | 3.7 | 1845.2 | 1.719 | 1209.4 | 0.340 | 12.0 | 4.6 |
| 300 | -19.1 | -6.1 | 14.7 | 4.7 | 1706.8 | 1.590 | 1034.8 | 0.425 | 15.0 | 4.8 |
| 350 | -30.3 | -8.3 | 20.7 | 5.7 | 1576.2 | 1.468 | 882.5 | 0.516 | 18.2 | 5.0 |
| 400 | -45.1 | -10.8 | 28.2 | 6.7 | 1454.3 | 1.355 | 751.3 | 0.615 | 21.7 | 5.2 |
Good Shooting!
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